March Madness

Back from a short hiatus scrambling to finish work before Easter weekend and then going to see the folks during Easter weekend. But in that time, March Madness has descended upon us.

I haven't found the article--and I'll update if I do--but I heard on the radio today that well over a billion dollars are "lost" due to the NCAA tournament. That astounding figure is primarily attributable to lost productivity; in other words, workers "waste" time on filling out brackets and such and thus their employers "lose" money that they could have made had those workers been, well, working. Hmm, maybe that should have been the economic stimulus package--banning the NCAA tournament. Then again, armed rebellions aren't pretty.

Quite a tourney so far though. Everyone in DC was very excited since so many DC area teams made it--Georgetown, George Mason, and American. They are now, um, less excited since all three have now lost. I may be the only person around here that is NOT shocked that Gtown fell to Davidson. That Curry kid is unstoppable.

The one thing though that I notice every year about the tourney is the universal hatred of Duke. Duke could be a 16 seed and people would still cheer like crazy when they lose. So what is it about Duke? Why not the same hatred of UNC or Kentucky or UCLA? In any event, my new Final Four picks: UCLA, Texas, Wisconsin, UNC. Out of those, I hope Texas and UNC face off in the final--the more opportunities to see their cheerleaders, the better. Because those two squads have the best acrobatic and athletic talent, of course. (Disclaimer: E, I swear my dastardly co-clerks made me write this in at letter-opener-point).

UPDATE: Here's the article. $1.7 billion . . . those are some awesome fans.