Basketball, brackets and beer: They all go together in the annual rite called March Madness. And sports bar fans are just as mad as other basketball fans. Madder, maybe.

We're running our own brackets, seeking the best sports bar in South Florida.

With the help of readers' nominations, we've come up with an Elite Eight. And with the help of a crack panel of hedonistic judges, we've winnowed it down to the Final Four.

It was a tough assignment.

Our judges were wooed by a free afternoon of beer, sports and greasy food. Intrepid MiamiHerald.com producer Adam Beasley led one team; the equally intrepid Fred Tasker, better known as The Miami Herald wine columnist, led the other.

Our most significant finding: If you plan to pee on the day you visit a sports bar, try to do so before you go or after you're home. Sports bars are crowded with people drinking beer. And, given the adage that you don't really buy beer, but only rent it, the bathrooms -- with a notable exception or two -- were overwhelmed. We won't dwell on this.

The second conclusion: The deep-fried chicken wing is the most delicious and most unhealthy foodstuff on the planet: Ten tiny, tasty wings are 586 calories, 41 grams of fat, 29 of them saturated, and 150 grams of cholesterol. You might as well beat yourself with a stick.

On the other hand, South Florida has some truly marvelous sports bars.

Here, in brackets, are the Final Four.

Now we need you. Go to MiamiHerald.com and vote for your favorite among the Final Four. We'll publish the results in next Saturday's Tropical Life, then have a face-off and publish the champ in our April 3 Sports section.

Keep in mind we're not very serious about all this. We're like Cyndi Lauper. We just want to have fun.

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