Athletic Aesthetic

The Bracket Racket

becoming more conflicted about the NCAA tourney brackets

Luc Anthony |

Bracket Talk.
 
Bracket Talk.
Hi, my name is Luc Anthony, and I'm a recovering bracket pool picker.

(Hi, Luc.)

I have been an avid follower of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament for about two decades, first captivated by the early rounds in 10th grade. That spring, one of my Memorial teachers turned on the TV in class to watch Marquette during that unusual season when three Wisconsin teams made the NCAAs. Back in 1994, even ONE team from this state making the field of 64 was considered an accomplishment. However, three teams? To heck with the lesson plan!

Watching thrilling basketball games in class was fun, yet I didn't quite relate to the idea that you could also win these things called "tournament pools." Around that time my dad would take part in pools at work and ask me to make bracket picks as well. This was all for fun; neither him nor me, nor really anyone in my family, has had gambling problems, so the financial hit never exceeded about 10 bucks-a-year. My biggest issue then was trying to pick the results of 63 basketball games, without being a die-hard basketball fan.

Watching my RA compile updated standings after each round, seeing how my picks were faring against my classmates and friends ... I got hooked.

However, once I got to college and participated in the pool on my dorm floor, I got hooked by the concept. Again, not because of money, but competition. Watching my RA compile updated standings after each round, seeing how my picks were faring against my classmates and friends ... that got the juices flowing. Becoming more of a college basketball fan as I grew towards my 20s helped with my interest.

I have participated in tourney pools most years since, never more than two- or three-per-year (maybe also joining one of those Sweet Sixteen pools). Since the standings of how my friends and colleagues compared to each other were almost as interesting as the games themselves, I have managed most pools I participated in for the past few years.
This year started no different, gearing-up to manage and take part in the pool for the 2011 tournament. Yet something odd happened to me: I didn't feel like filling out a bracket. I had casually followed college basketball this year, knew the good teams and the ones with potential to surprise in good and bad ways. However, I didn't feel I knew enough information to make educated picks like in other years, and also found myself mentally consumed with my career and other hobbies. My interest was lacking. I'm ever more tight-fisted with my money ... even $5-$10 max.


Tournaments are becoming tougher to pick, with a new "First Four" two days before the tournament really starts (like the new confusing Super Sectional in the state basketball tournament). My self-imposed deadline to turn in the brackets rolled-around on a Thursday at 11am, and my own pool lacked something: my own bracket.

I had always pondered what following the tournament would be like without hoping a team would win so I could win a pool. I've had my share of successes, winning my friends' pool my senior year and coming in 2nd place in two pools last year. Yet I always had that battle of wanting one team to win as a fan, and their opponent to win as a pool participant. How about the years I'd pick against my favorite team, the Gophers? Doesn't this go against the Code Of Fandom?

The concept was crystallized this year watching Marquette play Syracuse during one game. If I had done a bracket, I know I would have picked Syracuse to win in that round, yet I usually want Marquette to win. This year, that conflict of interest is gone, and I could purely root for Marquette simply because I like them. Is that not what sports should be about?

Will I ever participate in a pool in the future? Perhaps. The social aspect of competing with your friends is the real draw for me and most people, allowing the person who picks teams by their colors to win many of these pools. For now, though, I'm content to root for who I want. And, if I'm lucky, one year I'll get to spend those $10 I would have lost in losing brackets on a Gophers championship t-shirt.