You’ve kept a close eye on all the contenders. You know all the favorites in the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. You are a walking talking encyclopedia of college hoops. You are going to breeze through your bracket.
But the funny thing is you will probably lose that $500 grand prize to a woman your mom works with who doesn’t know the difference between a Gonzaga Bulldog and a Butler Bulldog.
March Madness is the time of the year when the most ordinary of people can become a sports predicating super hero. Their only super power is pure luck. Congratulations, you watched every game of the Mid Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament and Susan from HR is going home with the big money and you will never get that time back.
College basketball diehards have one goal come tourney time. It isn’t the money. They want to prove to the world that they know more than the fates. It’s a type of college basketball hubris.
The allure of March Madness isn’t the opportunity to win stacks of cash. It’s that in one shining moment, the impossible can happen. When Iona beats Duke in the first round it isn’t awesome because you predicted it. It’s awesome because it’s Duke and Iona. Where the hell is Iona?
Nobody had any fun that year all the No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four. I’d rather see a top-seeded team’s fans crying instead of celebrating.
Every college kid and young professional has convinced himself or herself that an Insider subscription to ESPN will be the path to easy riches.
Sorry to say, but every tournament pool is just another form of the lottery. The best bracketologist has as much a chance as Susan from HR. So enjoy the next few weeks for what they are: The ultimate example of sports at their most breathtaking.
