Let me tell you about the year I learned the hard way why you don\u2019t hand-draw Super Bowl squares with a Sharpie five minutes before kickoff. Picture this: my living room packed with neighbors holding paper plates of Buffalo chicken dip (RIP to my white couch), my golden retriever Sampson circling for fallen Cheetos, and me frantically scribbling a grid on the back of an old Pizza Hut menu because I\u2019d forgotten to print a real template. By halftime, three people argued their \u201c3\u201d looked like an \u201c8,\u201d someone spilled Sierra Nevada on the smudged numbers, and I ended up Venmo\u2019ing refunds like a walk of shame. Never again.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what 4 years of Super Bowl hosting disasters taught me about squares templates:<\/p>\n
1. Keep It Stupid Simple (K.I.S.S. applies here more than your cousin\u2019s third marriage).<\/strong> 2. Assign numbers RANDOMLY \u2013 trust me.<\/strong> 3. Digital? Yes, but\u2026<\/strong> Oh! Payment pro-tip:<\/strong> Collect cash upfront. In 2021, I fronted $200 assuming \u201ceveryone\u2019s good for it.\u201d Still waiting on Derek from accounting.<\/p>\n FREE TEMPLATE HACK:<\/strong> At the end of the day? The template\u2019s just a tool. The magic\u2019s in the groans when the score hits 0-0 at the end of the first quarter, the high-fives when someone wins $50 on a safety, and Sampson inevitably stealing a celery stick. Happy printing \u2013 and may your squares be luckier than my fantasy football picks.<\/p>\n (P.S. If you forget everything else: Tape the grid to a clipboard. Learned that after my cat knocked it into the guacamole.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let me tell you about the year I learned the hard way why you don\u2019t hand-draw Super Bowl squares with a Sharpie five minutes before kickoff. Picture this: my living room packed with neighbors holding paper plates of Buffalo chicken dip (RIP to my white couch), my golden retriever Sampson circling for fallen Cheetos, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe best template isn\u2019t fancy \u2013 it\u2019s functional. I\u2019ve tried neon colors (printers hate that), elaborate team logos (wastes ink), and even a QR code system that confused my Aunt Carol. Now? I use a basic 10×10 grid from PrintableBrackets.net (free, no email required \u2013 because who needs more spam?). Print three copies: one for the fridge, one for the coffee table, and one backup for when Uncle Rick \u201caccidentally\u201d uses it as a coaster.<\/p>\n
\nMy rookie mistake: letting people pick their own squares. Cue the chaos of everyone fighting over \u201clucky\u201d numbers while the pregame show blared. Now I write team names (Chiefs\/49ers this year) on index cards, shuffle them face down, and let guests draw from a Patriots helmet I thrifted (irony appreciated). No drama.<\/p>\n
\nLast year, half our crew watched remotely. I tried Google Sheets \u2013 nightmare. Tiny cells, accidental edits, and my buddy Dave kept adding GIFs of Gronk spiking a turkey. Solution: screenshot your paper grid, text it to the group chat, and update scores manually. Low-tech wins.<\/p>\n
\nGrab my go-to grid here [imaginary link: YourSuperBowlSquares.com\/coffee-stained]. It\u2019s got bold lines, clear quarters marked, and a snack stain aesthetic that says \u201cI\u2019ve got this under control\u201d (even if your queso\u2019s burning).<\/p>\n