Bits & Pieces

The Psychology Of Bracketology

By Kim J. Harmon

 

Some company that has nothing better to do that track and calculate specious numbers has said that the NCAA Tournament will cost employers almost $100 million a day in lost productivity as workers fill out brackets and cut out early to watch the early tip-offs.

Well, then, let’s get to it!

Now, when it comes to filling out the brackets, I believe there are two camps of people – those who think they know everything about college basketball and those who know nothing about college basketball (some in the first group actually belong in the second group, but you can’t tell them that).

Maybe before filling out your brackets, you should take a short quiz –

1. Who is LaMarcus Aldridge?

2. Rajon Rando?

3. Taj Gray?

4. Paul Davis?

5. Jamar Wilson?

6. Where is Belmont University?

7. What is the nickname for the University of Albany?

8. What conference does Pacific play in?

9. What the heck does mid-major mean?

10. How does Bradley (20-10, 11-7 in Missouri Valley) get into the tournament and Missouri State (20-8, 12-6 in Missouri Valley) not?

11. If Oral Roberts University doesn’t beat No. 1 seed Memphis in the opening round will the noted televangelist – for whom the school is named – get “called home?”

There may be someone out there who can answer all of those questions but he or she will almost certainly beat a hasty exit out of the NCAA pool. You see, the people who watch a lot of college basketball during the winter and actually know who guys like Rajon Rando and Paul Davis really are sift through their sheets trying to plot out the regions while picking teams like Bradley or Bucknell or Northwestern State to be the dark horse candidates this year.

But the people who only watch college basketball when the NCAA Tournament rolls around generally pick along the seedings (you know – #4 over #13, #3 or #14) and more often than not that’s the way the tournament tends to go.

Perhaps too much knowledge is a dangerous thing.

That’s why I should do okay in this bracket thing (although I never do). I watch only a little college basketball during the year, focus a little bit more when the conference tournaments roll around and then really tune in when the NCAAs start.

Well, it’s 11:27 am on Monday and first tip is a little over three days away and I have to start filling out my bracket with my proven (that is to say, un-proven) system.

(pause)

And at 11:44 am I have Connecticut coming out of the Washington, D.C., region because who is going to stop them … North Carolina? I have Boston College coming out of the Minneapolis region because once they get by Pacific in the first round it will be smooooooth sailing past Villanova and Ohio State. I have Gonzaga coming out of the Oakland region because it has, possibly, the NBA’s No. 1 pick and that has to count for something. And I have Texas coming out of the Atlanta region because I’m tired of all the Duke and JJ Redick talk and can we please just move on?

In the Final Four, Connecticut will overcome Boston College and Texas will hammer Gonzaga, holding Adam Morrison to 12 points and four rebounds and possibly forcing him to shave his cheesy mustache. And in the championship the Huskies will slip past the Longhorns to cut down the nets in Indianapolis.

Mark my words.

Or, better yet, don’t mark them. In our pools, I’m usually out of the running by the Sweet 16.

All joking aside, I love the opening day of the tournament. That – and the opening day of the major league baseball season – are the two best days of the year.

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Remember – Goose Gossage, former fireballing reliever of the New York Yankees (and a half dozen other teams) will be the guest of honor on May 11 at the Newtown Babe Ruth Baseball League banquet at the Waterview Inn on Route 34 in Monroe.

Only a limited number of tickets are available. Goose will not only be the special guest, he will be signing Babe Ruth baseballs (for $25).

A ticket for the banquet, which includes dinner, beverage and dessert, costs $20. If any tickets remain on the night of the banquet, they will cost $25. Children under 5 years old are free, but only children with paid admission are eligible for door prizes.

There will also be a silent auction with numerous memorable items to bid on, a raffle, door prizes, a trivia contest and an audio/video presentation.

Items at the silent auction include memorabilia autographed by current major leaguers Randy Johnson and Tom Glavine, and sports legends Yogi Berra, Tom Seaver, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Jim Palmer, Tony Gwynn, Rod Gilbert, Joe Frazier and Gossage. Some other auction items are box seats to see Barry Bonds play the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, New Jersey Nets tickets, a night at the Dana Holcombe House and dinner at local restaurants.

Go to www.newtownbaseball.com for ticket information.