Bracketology

Its one of the most wonderful times of the year, with spring coming, St Paddy’s day around the corner and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tourney. Across the nation, men and women are filling out their brackets in the hopes of wining an office pool or an online contest or both. By the time you read this I’ll have already filled out 9 brackets; 2 for work, 1 head to head with my mom, 1 head to head with my buddy, and 5 online contests to win some cold hard cash. That sounds like a lot and it is. I’ve been filling out brackets since I was in junior high. Hell, I was running the pools back then.

Brackets appear to be the most innocent of sports gambling. The ups and downs of the tournament lend themselves to the basketball neophyte and the winners aren’t usually the ones who pour over stats and match ups. It’s a once a year event where people that don’t usually pay attention to sports can participate and unlike the Super Bowl it’s a multi day event.

Unfortuantely for sports fans, bracketology is not all fun and games. I propose that bracketology is a perpitrater of a greater trend in sportsfan culture; the confusion of the fan. Back in the 80’s you picked teams you wanted to cheer for and then you suffered in their defeats or basked in their glories. However with the widespread advent of bracketology and fantasy sports we have seen fan loyalty questioned. Now I’m not talking about fans turning their backs on their teams and cheering for another simply because a few bucks are riding on the outcome. No, I’m talking about the seed of doubt being planted in that fan’s mind. The idea that you might secretly want your team to blow a 5 point lead against Southwest Alabama St. or that your defense bends enough to allow Adam Vinateri to kick a 50 yard field goal. I've struggled with these questions and I know many that have. Perhaps this is nothing but perhaps its part of a growing trend where greed and personal acheivement outweigh fandom. Just something to hmm about this Monday night....now go fill out your brackets.