If the last few days taught us anything it's that the NCAA men's basketball tournament can't get here fast enough. Let's face it the human brain can only take so much horror, tragedy, disgust, and revulsion before it shuts down completely. Indeed, when Thomas Paine wrote the line, "These are the times that try men's souls," he had no clue they'd be just as pertinent in the 21st century as they were in 1776.
It all begins tomorrow night and Wednesday with the play in games. A ritual which has come to be called the, "First Four." It involves eight teams so far on the edge of the bubble the selection committee couldn't bring themselves to give them actual berths in the tournament. To get to the real deal, which begins Thursday, these guys have to settle things between themselves in order earn a spot.
Although I never put money on the First Four plenty of others are doing exactly that as these words are being typed. And it will be a rather large wad of cash.
The American Gaming Association estimates $8.5 billion will be wagered on the tournament by approximately 47 million Americans. That accounts for roughly one in every five adults residing in these United States. The sum itself is just a shade under half the $18 billion Donald Trump wants for his, Great Wall.
According to the AGA's estimates things break down this way: $4.6 billion will be bet on up to 149 million brackets. $3.9 billion will be wagered at sports books on line, with a legal bookmaker, or some pal who went to a different school than you. $4 plus million will be put on the line at casino sports books, or on legal apps.
In addition, $2.4 million will be wagered with illegal bookies. Another $5.2 million will be put at risk online, but with illegal offshore sites.
When you see numbers like those, to quote Dr. Emmet Brown, in the movie, "Back to the Future." "We're going to see some serious shit."
So much so, NBC News cited a stat from the Chicago outsourcing firm, Challenger, Gray, and Christmas. Their estimate is this year's tournament could cost businesses up to $1.7 billion in lost productivity. That is a lot of live streaming on the job and out right hooky.
Hey, everyone needs to take a break once and a while these days. Especially in the current business environment. Hit a game, or games big, go deep into the brackets unscathed and that discontinued bonus you used to count as part of your yearly income could magically reappear.
As usual I'm in on the action, or at least I will be by Wednesday. After the disaster last year I'm spending much of my time today and tomorrow poring over stats and trends. Let's face it, some teams are coming in hot while others, like Oklahoma, are on life support after starting the season with impressive wins.
Then there is Duke. My sordid history with that misbegotten gang from Durham has been well documented over the years. This season they are completely dependent on a child prodigy named Zion Williamson. With him they appear unstoppable. Without him, which they were for a couple of weeks thanks to a wrenched knee, they're downright pedestrian.
And let's be honest, just the notion of laying a bunch of cash on some eighteen year old who has never been to the dance and might have a gimpy knee reeks of what could be described as naivete--or worse, blatant self destruction.
Well, sometimes a great leap of faith is called for when faced with logic, observable facts, and the odds. If we didn't make them every now and then there wouldn't be any big winners, or religions. On the other hand there is a reason tens of thousands of losers over the next three weeks will be asking themselves, What the fuck was I thinking.
Which ever the case we can all, at least for a few moments during the 21 plus days of the tournament, step away from crazed xenophobia and mass murders. We can focus on something other than rampant corruption, a screeching, polarized, media, and treasonous behavior. In short we can take a break from, The Age of Trump.
That alone is worth the price of admission. Enjoy it while you can America. Just beware of Tennessee. They might be a two seed, but did you see what Auburn did to them this weekend?
3-18-19
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