Nathan Birr - The Official Site
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Books
  • Inspiration
  • Contact
  • Reviews
  • Links


"...With All

My Mind"


Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"
-Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

Contact Me

 

3/16/2015

0 Comments

 

Bracketed In

What is it about brackets that makes us go wild? Yesterday the Selection Committee released the 68 teams in the men’s NCAA tournament, and the tourney is talk of sports radio and work water coolers (are there really still water coolers?). But brackets aren’t just for men’s college hoops. The women’s game has grown in popularity recently, and across the country, boys and girls state tournaments are also underway. All of them involve brackets. Two teams. Theoretically written in chalk. On parallel lines joined together by a vertical line. Often connected to other such “brackets” to form a larger “bracket.” Ideally, in multiples of four, but odd numbers can be incorporated with creative use of byes (see the Big Ten in past years). The more the merrier.

It’s not just basketball either. It’s the new college football playoff, with a bracket of only four. In fact, it’s playoffs in every sport (unless they reseed each round like the NFL does). But it isn’t just sports. In recent years, ESPN Radio hosts have debuted a variety of voter-based brackets, ranging from best coaches to top DJs to favorite cereals or superheroes. And listeners have flocked to their websites to vote. So what is it about brackets? If my co-workers played cards on their lunch break, I couldn’t care less. But if they put their names in bracket-format on a sheet of paper hung in the lunch room, I’d be all over it. Give me Alice over Susan and Betty over Joann!

And if brackets aren’t enough, we also have seeds. Iowa beating North Carolina is humdrum, unless Iowa has a small little 9 by their name and North Carolina has a little 1. Then suddenly it’s a huge deal. Valparaiso and the College of Charleston mean little to us until they’re a 12- or 13-seed that advances a few rounds, and then we’re all about the Crusaders and Cougars. Last year, Connecticut won the men’s national title. No biggie, they’ve done it before. But they were a 7-seed. Stop the presses! Now imagine that ladies’ card game, only Alice has a (1) by her name and Susan has an (8). So much for getting anything done at the office.

So what is it about brackets and seeds? Why do we go ga-ga over them? Is it just that we love upsets? I mean, Cinderella’s a nice story and all, but if you put ol’ Cindy on the 16-line and her step-sisters as a #1-seed, it’s an all-timer, right? Is it the opportunity for betting? Gambling exists with any sporting event, brackets or not. I’d like to opine about how it relates to the core of who we are as Americans, but I can’t find the connection. Evolutionists would say it’s just survival of the fittest resonating within us, but then why do we pull for 13- and 14-seeds instead of 3s and 4s? Maybe it’s about looking smart, correctly filling out that bracket, besting friends, family, and coworkers. I wouldn’t know—I’ve never done it.

Why do we love brackets? Why does March Madness make us, well, mad? I can’t say. And I don’t care. I just know the brackets are here, the seeds are out, and I’ve got picks to make!
Tweet
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2018
    July 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All

    Author

    I'm a thinker. For better or worse, my mind is always running. As a writer, I also love the method of communication. I think there's an artistry to it. This blog is my way of giving my constant thinking a place to express itself artistically.

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2022, Nathan Birr