BLYTHEWOOD – When Blythewoodian Ken Britt entered The Voice’s college football playoff Bracket Challenge in December, he had a little something going for him.
“I thought Indiana was possibly good enough to win, but more than that,” he said, “I wanted them to win.“
And they did. And so did Britt, correctly predicting the winner of 9 out of 11 games in the newspaper’s bracket contest. He also revealed his method for choosing the other winning teams.
“I looked at match-ups,” he said. “Plus, I sometimes pick teams with my heart, not my head. It was a little bit of looking at match-ups, a little bit of working with the team I wanted to win, and a little bit of luck,” he said,
Britt, whose family moved to Blythewood when he was 6 years old, attended Blythewood schools and, before Ridge View and Blythewood High Schools were built, attended Spring Valley High School where he earned a baseball scholarship to the Citadel. He went on to play two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor league team before settling down back in Blythewood with his wife Gandy in 2001.
He now owns a freight brokerage logistics company working with truckload and flatbed freight all over the United States and Canada.
The Britts’ three children, all sports enthusiasts, also entered The Voice’s Brackett Challenge. Britt said daughters Keely, 25, and Wyatt, 23, along with son Jeb, 20, who plays baseball for USC Sumter, enjoyed the friendly competition with their dad.
“I picked up a few Voice newspapers, and we all picked teams. It makes it more competitive, more fun, when we all enter,” Britt said. “Once you’ve filled out the entry and sent it in, then when you’re watching the game, you feel like you have some skin in the game, a team you want to win.”
Britt said he entered the newspaper’s contest for the first time last year.
“We didn’t win, but it gave us something to pull for watching the game,” he said. “It was something fun to do. So, we entered again this year …and won!”
On Tuesday, Britt stopped by Reese’s Plants where owner Philip Reese presented him with two $100 dollar bills. Asked how he planned to spend his winnings, Britt glanced around at the hundreds of plants, trees, ceramic pots, and other landscape offerings.
“I imagine that as soon as my wife sees this $200, she’ll be right back out here spending it,” he said with a knowing smile.
That sounded good to Reese.
“We’re prepping for Spring, and right now is the best time to plant shrubs and trees while they’re dormant,” he said. “Thousands of new pieces of pottery are arriving, and the winter flowering plants are blooming. So, we’ll be looking for her and will be here to help her find what she needs.”
