GLS: MARCH SADNESS

By Dave O’Malley and Scotty Mincher

Did you know that it’s seventy thousand times more likely to pick the correct Powerball numbers than it is to fill out a perfect NCAA tournament bracket? I mean, probably. I didn’t actually do the math, but people have won the Powerball and, to my knowledge, no one has even come close to filling out a perfect bracket. (I do take pride in the year only two of my teams made it to the Sweet 16). So, what makes this impossible activity so popular? Why does the “madness” seep into the lives of, seemingly, reasonable people every March? We hope to find out in this installment of “Goal Line Stance” with Scotty Mincher and Super Dave O’Malley. Allow me to continue…

Whenever YSN hosts an event, it’s always special. Anything can qualify as an event: high school football, the NFL Draft, National Signing day…anything. So, when we were invited out for the first day of the 2021 NCAA tournament, we were naturally stoked. I compare the feeling to going on a class field trip. It was exciting. We had three TV’s, a table stupid with food and the #2 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes slated for the second game. It was going to be a good day…

Scotty Mincher is the quintessential Ohio sports fan. A Cleveland season ticket holder with a scarlet and grey bloodline. Scotty has experienced his share of memorable sports moments. Both highs and lows. So, when we settled in at YSN on that first Friday of the tournament, with the Buckeyes game looming, Scotty was both nervous and confident. (A rare combination for the Ohio sports fan with confidence usually being the odd man out). YSN was buzzing. After getting our fill of buffalo chicken dip and an inordinate amount of dental jokes during the Colgate game (“If they win they get a plaque” -A. Hartwig) it was 2:07 eastern time and the Buckeyes took the court…

Fast forward two hours…

There is nothing worse than your team getting bounced out of the tournament on the first day. Making matters even worse is if it’s a colossal upset. Nine times a #15 seed has taken down a #2 seed, a winning percentage of 5.71. It is also a certain bracket buster. The Buckeyes lost to Oral Roberts. It happens…

And this is where the conflict of the NCAA tournament comes into play. For years, I never filled out a bracket. I felt this would compromise the excitement of the games. Everyone loves an upset but very few people will pick upsets. This is the classic head versus heart story. I never wanted my picks to dictate my interest in the games. So, with Scotty’s beloved Buckeyes falling in the first round and his South region obliterated I wondered which hurt worse. For Scotty, it was definitely the Buckeyes, his favorite team, losing. But this is not the case for most…

Each year when the tournament begins there are, basically, about a dozen teams with a legitimate chance to win it all. Maybe less. In 2021, 37 million Americans filled out a bracket. Unless all 37 million people are pulling for these same twelve teams, most fans leave disappointed due to errant picks. Scotty is an anomaly. Like many people filling out this year’s bracket, I picked Gonzaga to win it all. For many reasons. For one, they entered the tournament as the #1 overall seed at 26-0 with an excellent mix of upper and underclassmen. Plus, the name Gonzaga is cool. It’s like the sound when Batman punches a villain (unapologetic boomer reference). As of this writing, Gonzaga is in the Final Four. The Buckeyes are not…

And this is how March Madness evolves into March Sadness over the course of a few weeks (or a few hours). Whether it’s due to your favorite team losing (rare) or because of poor picks (epidemic), at the end of the day only a handful of fans are truly happy. (Hopefully, this year, most of these fans live in the greater Tacoma area). But one thing we can be sure of is next March the “madness” will inevitably return and millions and millions of fans will flock to fill out losing brackets. In a way, it makes sense because as we all know, sports is just an endless loop of madness and sadness that, if you’re lucky, comes with buffalo dip…