The Most Emotional Investment

With the first round of the NCAA Tournament over and the tears of joy and tears of defeat being cleaned up we can reflect on what was a wild, wild first round.

When you sit down and fill out your bracket you think in your head that you should probably pick a couple upsets, but you never pull the trigger. You NEVER think to pick a 15 seed over a 2 seed, right? You have that 2 seed going to the Elite 8, the Final Four, and potentially have them winning the National Championship. That was the case for many of us when we picked Michigan State. Sparty can’t lose to a 15 seed, could they? Tom Izzo, who many think is the best coach in March but only has one title to show for it, wouldn’t let his team look ahead and dismiss Middle Tennessee State. Michigan State was one of the heavy favorites to cut down the nets in Houston come April. They had a 95% chance to beat Middle Tennessee State. That’s when the emotional investment takes over.

When you fill out your bracket there are certain teams who you feel strongly about because they are the teams that can give you that near perfect bracket. The bragging right that your bracket was better than your friends and co-workers. Which is what we all hope for come March. On ESPN.com, their Tournament Challenge will update you after every game with the percentile you’re in and that’s really what has dragged me in year after year. To know where I stand against everyone else on ESPN.com, and there are roughly 13 million brackets that were filled out, It’s an extreme attachment.

I was at a bar watching Friday’s late afternoon games and while I was watching Michigan State’s title hopes slip away, I was torn between being a true fan of the sport and the spectacle that is March Madness and enjoy this improbable upset, and being devastated that one of my Final Four teams lost in the first round to a team who probably had no business being victorious. I stood there looking at the TV with a feeling of anger towards Michigan State because they messed up my bracket. Let me repeat that so you can understand how crazy I am; I stood there looking at the TV with a feeling of anger towards Michigan State because they messed up my bracket. Sports, right?

I’d be willing to bet that I wasn’t the only person who watched the end of that game and was angered that your bracket, and likely your money, was going down the drain. I stood there thinking, “how in the hell did this just happen?” It was like I became a real fan of Michigan State and could feel the pain of Spartan nation everywhere. The part that might be even worse is that Middle Tennessee State will likely lose next round to Syracuse.

March is a time of year where the temperatures hopefully start to rise, and with this whole global warming thing it’s going that way, people start to feel good because of the weather, spring breakers are doing shots of things they’ve never heard of, and March Madness brackets are being busted. With those busted brackets brings an emotional investment for teams you have never and will never cheer for other than this one time. Why can’t we enjoy the games? Why can’t we just sit there and enjoy moments like this. We get so wrapped up in this that is completely takes over. Let’s just sit back, relax, control our heart-rates, and enjoy arguably the best time of the year in sports.