Surely the pandemic must be coming to an end. We are about the begin the much anticipated NCAA playoffs which will be played in a virtual bubble in Indianapolis. With the play in games behind us – the brackets are set. The tournament was cancelled last year due to COVID and it cost networks like CBS and Turner over a billion dollars in revenue. It is estimated this year will see over 47 million fans bet on the outcome of the events. Gonzaga is favored to win, one betting company took $2850 on the Zags to win it all at plus 350 odds. If the bet comes in they pay $12,825 and it is reported by BetMGM that 26.7% of the bets they have accepted are on Gonzaga. A $20,000 bet on Illinois would pay $55,100. You get the idea, the less likely a team is to win the higher the odds and the bigger the payout. How about the odds that any one of the millions of fans who fill out a bracket get it 100% correct? It has never happened – but for a knowledgeable fan your odds are estimated at 1 in 120.2 billion. It is wonderful to welcome sports back as a part of our lives. I am rooting for the Zags, which does not bode well for them.
Why do they call it March madness? Henry V. Porter, a coach in Athens coined the phrase nearly sixty years ago to describe the excitement surrounding the Illinois state high school basketball tournaments. Coincidentally, the first NCAA men’s college tournament began in the same year, 1939. It took nearly 50 years before the annual national tournament was wisely branded as March Madness.
It seems logical that the idea of madness in March came originally from Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll alluded to behavior of the European hare, Lepus Europaeus, in his fanciful work. March is the breeding season of the hare and they are unusually wild in that month, when they leap, box, and chase each other around the countryside during courtship. In the 2010 Disney version of Alice, the hare is named Thackeray Earwicket, his picture above tells the story.
Maybe the explanation for the seemingly “mad” behavior of our legislature can be blamed on the month. The legislators turned down a $6 million grant to evaluate the best methods to deliver early learning to Idaho. This same group is voting to eliminate power ball from lottery options in Idaho, costing the education system over $14 million each year. They are threatening to stay in session to make sure we properly spend the nearly $500 million that was begrudgingly accepted for education in Idaho from the Cares Act. One of our legislator’s made national news with his statement about laws or policy that would allow women to leave the home. Only this week one of the non masker legislators contributed his COVID infection and exposure to fellow Education committee members. Not to mention a $400 million tax cut that threatens over $800 million in federal funding.
Certainly this craziness will pass—right? Odds are it will not unless each of us who see the “madness” get involved for change.
Go Zags, Please keep wearing those masks. Mike.