“Amusement” is defined as, “the state or experience of finding something funny”; “the provision of enjoyment of entertainment”; “something that causes laughter or provides entertainment”.
RCN, like many companies I’m sure, runs an NCAA basketball bracket pool that is strictly “for amusement only”. There is no fee to enter; there are no financial rewards, except for a modest gift certificate. The REAL big prize, however, is owning the bragging rights that come with winning and, trust me, that is the best gift of all.
There is a little extra pressure that accompanies my selection because I am the Sports Director and expected to know what I am talking about (a mistake in their judgment, not mine). And, when I handed in my pool, it certainly did not help when I bragged at our staff meeting that there was not much sense in anyone else entering the competition. They would just be wasting their time. The winning bracket had been filled out and handed in BY ME.
I also placed my selection in a “hermetically sealed envelope” (I have no idea what that means) so that no one could see my picks until the games actually began. When asked which team I selected to win it all, I refused to answer or, even worse, offered up some obnoxious answer.
Now, truth be told, after last year’s results, my confidence level was way down. I went into the Championship game needing only favored Wisconsin to knock off Duke and, as it should be, the championship of RCN Bracketology would be mine. But Duke won! Not Wisconsin! And I lost to Linda (not her real name – I wish I didn’t have to use my real name either) who made her picks based on uniform colors, nicknames, team mascot, the handsomeness of the coach, or some other nonsense. Suffice it to say, she knew NOTHING about college basketball. AND SHE WON! (I hope I don’t sound bitter).
Linda (still not her real name) rubbed her victory in my face and just this past week offered to aid me with my picks this year and made sure others in the company knew she was willing to “help” me make my selections. My response was not very nice and, as you can imagine, I could not wait to conquer this year’s bracket and put her in her place.
Until… Friday! #15 Middle Tennessee State (who?) beat Michigan State 90-81! You see, I picked Michigan State to win it all! I did not pick them to lose in the FIRST ROUND, SECOND ROUND…!! (Did I mention I am the Sports Director?). And then, to make matters worse, Middle Tennessee State lost in the second round to Syracuse by 25 points!!
So as I sit here at my desk ripping up my copy of the NCAA bracket, I await the wrath of my fellow workers. The worst response will most certainly come from Linda (I hope I never hear her real name again). She has North Carolina and Kansas in the final and both are STILL ALIVE. Geez!
So I can assure you, as far as I am concerned, this exercise is far from “for amusement only”.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- It was nice to see Villanova get by the second round of the NCAA Tournament. And they did it with ease, beating Iowa 87-68, so that no last-second heroics were necessary. It is their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2009.
- Temple and St. Joseph’s were not so fortunate. Temple lost in the first round 72-70 to Iowa on a last second put-back. Replays showed the scorer pushed off to get the rebound and should have been whistled for a foul. And St. Joseph’s put up a strong fight against #1 Oregon losing by five. That game kept me up until 12:05 on Monday morning. I find it hard to leave any game once I look in because almost all the games come down to the last few possessions.
- The team that beat Parkland and knocked them out of the PIAA AAAA Basketball championship in the quarterfinals won the state championship on Saturday night. Roman Catholic beat Alderdice 73-62 and repeated as state champion. Alderdice was ranked #1 all year long and had only lost one game until Saturday. So, Parkland lost to the best 73-60. No shame there.
- Private schools continue to dominate both the boys’ and girls’ basketball championships in Pennsylvania. They won six of the eight titles this past weekend. The complaints of an “unlevel playing field” will certainly continue.
- As I write this, the ‘76ers and the Flyers will not make the NBA or NHL playoffs. Do you believe that the ‘76ers have not won 10 games? As of this Monday, they were 9-61. Unbelievably bad! The Flyers still have a chance. Thank goodness for Villanova.
