Madness Abounds
March Madness has begun. The first round games are well underway. Some are already in the books. All across the country, people are sneaking a peek at the scores (or more) at the office and some (like one of our associate editors) has taken time off to enjoy the festivities at home.
For the fan, March Madness needs no explanation. It is one of the most fun events in sports–64 NCAA basketball teams battling it out for the right to be number one.
For the non-fan, March Madness is a head-scratcher. Why would perfectly sane men and women spend hours trying to complete their brackets with winning guesses and then spend more hours watching to see if their guesses were correct?
For some, there is money on the line. In nationwide contests, there is some serious money involved. In the office pool, there is generally only coffee money. But money doesn’t explain it all. In countless offices and online groups there is no money involved–only pride or some silly prize.
Psychologists can probably tell you more of what makes the MM fan tick, but here’s my two cents. There are only a relative handful of people capable of playing basketball at the NCAA division one level. Only the best teams in the division make the tournament. And only a few players on those teams do things on the court that are noteworthy. Guessing the winners, however, is something anyone can do.
Here at Randall House, we have our own contest every year. No money is involved and the company buys lunch for the winner. Surprisingly, our winners are often not the guys with all the basketball knowledge or inside tips. Last year, something like 7 of the top 10 finishers (including the winner) were female, and most were not big basketball fans.
I can’t speak for everyone, but since I can’t be on the floor shooting the winning basket, the thing within my reach is to try to guess who will do it. In a time when there is not a lot of good news to report, that seems like a bright spot to savor.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
I think that a lot of it has to do with the desire to be right. All year pollsters tell us who the best teams in the nation are. Then at the end of the season a select group sits in a room and then produces brackets with seeding – essentially telling the nation who should win and who should lose. There is something in us that wants to prove them wrong – that knows that they are wrong – and the trick is to get it right. Add to that the amount of people that think that they are right and you have madness.
Along with that comes the casual or non-fan who has no idea what school is “better” than the other and picks winners based on team mascots, uniform colors, etc. and picks better than the analysts and that infuriates the real fan. So next season the cycle is perpetuated, but with more fervor each time.