Things I Want My Daughter To Know: March Madness

It’s entertainment.

March Madness is a college basketball tournament that derails job productivity every March. It usually ends on the first weekend of April with the Final Four, and a championship game. Your mother wishes it was never invented.

The tournament was created in 1939. Phog Allen, a famous coach from Kansas, is credited with the original idea.

Four divisions are created, each with 16 teams. Each team is ranked in their division, 1 to 16. When these rankings, called seeds are announced, fans love to fill out brackets. These brackets serve as predictions as to which team will win the tournament.

Now, having been a March Madness fanatic for several years, I can honestly say that creating a bracket certainly adds to the enjoyment of the tournament. It gives you teams to support, and games to pay close attention to. However, it also detracts from simply enjoying a good competition.

Bracket pools are also a big part of the March Madness experience. People pay money to put their bracket, or brackets, in to a group with friends. Your bracket then competes against all of your friends brackets. In the end, whoever created the best bracket wins all the money that everyone paid to submit their bracket. It’s gambling, essentially.

I was introduced to bracket pools in 1993. I had no idea what I was doing, so I picked all the top ranked seeds in every game. This is typically considered to be amateur as it never happens that all top ranked teams win. While this tournament was no exception, it was exceptional in that three of the four #1 seeded teams made it to the final four: North Carolina, Michigan, & Kentucky. Kansas was seeded #2, and was also in the Final Four. North Carolina and Michigan advanced to the championship game, and I chose North Carolina to win. My friends thought I was ridiculous for choosing UNC, because Michigan was expected to win, and had all the best players.

However, Michigans star player, Chris Webber, called a time out in the final minute of the game. The only problem was that Michigan was out of time outs (you are allowed three per half in college basketball). This resulted in a technical foul (when an opposing player is allowed to attempt to gain points unguarded). Those foul shots allowed UNC to take the lead, and they won the game 77-71. My friends said I was lucky. They were right.

I had fun, though. This is what I want you to know, the point of sporting tournaments: having fun.

It’s fine to root for your favorite team; even passionately. Don’t let it ruin your day when they lose, though. I’ve let this happen to me. Living in a place like Kansas City, you’ll just be depressed all the time because our teams always lose. However, enjoy sports for what they are: entertainment. They are nothing more.

Sports really mean nothing in the big picture. They may bring pride, and a sense of accomplishment to a city, but it is short lived. Once the high of a win is gone, you still have to fight your battles, whatever they may be. So, don’t be afraid to take part in the escape of a sporting event, but don’t base your mood on the win or loss. It is shallow to do so.