NCAA 'madness' brings us together | Paul Helvey

Some argue that the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament is a colossal distraction that hits America like a tsunami at the same time every year. This is especially true here in “basketball country,” where people still brag about a season from 40 years ago (IU fans), consider an entire season a success if their team beats UK (U of L fans), or turn off the TV every time they show the replay of that Christian Laettner (UK fans).

While some data was released a few years back that claimed that American businesses experience approximately a 15 percent dip in productivity during the first week of the tournament, I offer a slightly different, more positive perspective on March Madness.

In our current political climate, we desperately need apolitical venues that bring us together for enjoyable reasons. In other words, we need events that draw people out of their political turtle shells and allow them to unite and disagree on different fronts. Sure, people get really emotional about their teams. But, let's be honest; exchanges between sports rivals are usually far less heated than those that occur between members of opposing political factions.

Furthermore, filling out brackets reminds us that we, too, can be wrong. In fact, it shows us how often we are wrong - which is a lot. To this day, no person or computer program has ever successfully picked every winner of every game correctly. Ever.

The point is, we need reminders of our humanness– of the fact that we are fallible. Even if we think we know it all (and most of us do think that, especially when it comes to sports), the fact remains that we do not. Being wrong keeps you humble. The whole process becomes an exercise in expressing confidence in our choices but also being forced to accept when those choices turn out to be erroneous.

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The value of March Madness is that it brings us together. This is especially important for those who might otherwise never be brought together due to racial, religious, or political differences. Furthermore, March Madness supplies even the most boisterously confident of us with a healthy dose of humility; a reminder that everybody gets it wrong at one time or another.

March Madness is a wonderful reminder that anything is possible. Almost every year, we see teams that no one has ever heard of knock off a giant that was supposed to be unbeatable. It shows us that on any given night, anyone can be defeated. Which makes sense when you consider that, for the most part, the players are just kids anyway.

Whether we know it or not, this lesson gets translated to our own personal lives. That’s what the NCAA Tournament is all about, really – that no matter how big or far-fetched your goals and dreams might seem, anything is possible.

Of course, many of us overlook the fact that any team that makes it into the NCAA tournament has been working long and hard to get there. There’s really no such thing as luck at this point. Players and coaches have been doing much more than dreaming about going to the Big Dance – they’ve been working for it.

So, I know my bracket’s going to be busted, and so does anyone reading this who filled one out. That’s not why we do it, though. Who would have ever imagined that being wrong can be so much fun?

Paul Helvey is an English teacher and newspaper sponsor at Iroquois High School in Louisville, Kentucky, a local musician, and a proud fan of college basketball.