Even if your cube isn’t equipped with a Beer Launching Fridge, it’s going to be difficult to hide the fact that the “Big Dance” has overtaken your brain. But it’s OK … your bosses know that you’re more concerned with NCAA reports than TPS reports, that you’re more focused on hoops brackets than Excel spreadsheets and that you’re more involved in halftime speeches than motivational speakers.
A recent survey revealed that there will be an estimated $1.2 billion in lost productivity during the NCAA Tournament. Employees are predicted to spend an average of 13.5 minutes on various hoops sites, which translates to $3.78 in average hourly wages. Live streaming video of tourney games could add to the lack of productivity and a simultaneous increase in mysterious sicknesses – think the West Bracket Virus instead of the West Nile Virus.
With 22 million workers nationwide expected to check results on college basketball Web sites during the tourney, there are two approaches that businesses can take to account for the three-week-long presence of the “Road to the Final Four.” One, companies can try to turn it into a way of boosting morale and fostering conversations and interpersonal relationships, hosting small viewing parties during lunch hours or offering refreshments related to the tournament. Or, companies can attack the trend … which, apparently, 6 percent of businesses surveyed apparently intend to do. How? By installing tracking software that will monitor where employees are pointing their browsers and offering periodic reminders that they should be working and not concerned with the basketball going on. Come to think of it, you can probably tell a lot about the company you are working for and your long-term prospects with that organization by which approach they take to deal with March Madness.
Either way, I trust you’ll find a way to follow your brackets, get a modicum of work done and enjoy the country’s premier sporting event all at the same time. Or, if you think random thuggery and Rucker Park hoops is the pinnacle of the sport, you can watch an NBA game and hope to witness six different misdemeanors, a possible felony, no charges drawn and zero bounce passes. The choice is yours … but HR is waiting for your answer.
A capsule look at “Big Dance” predictions form Scooter the Irish:
Pool One (“Blind Midget Patrol”):
Elite Eight: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 3 Oregon (Midwest); No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 2 UCLA (West); No. 4 Texas vs. No. 2 Georgetown (East); No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (South)
Final Four: No. 1 Florida (Midwest); No. 1 Kansas (West); No. 2 Georgetown (East); No. 3 Texas A&M (South)
Title Game: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 3 Texas A&M
Champion: No. 1 Florida (86-79)
Notable Upsets (by region):
Midwest: No. 11 Winthrop over No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 10 Georgia Tech over No. 7 UNLV
West: No. 12 Illinois over No. 5 Virginia Tech, No. 10 Gonzaga over No. 7 Indiana
East: No. 8 Marquette over No. 1 UNC, No. 11 George Washington over No. 6 Vanderbilt, No. 10 Texas Tech over No. 7 Boston College
South: No. 12 Long Beach State over No. 5 Tennessee, No. 12 Long Beach State over No. 4 Virginia
Pool Two (“Tyler’s Deviated Septums”):
Elite Eight: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 3 Oregon (Midwest); No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 2 UCLA (West); No. 4 Texas vs. No. 2 Georgetown (East); No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (South)
Final Four: No. 1 Florida (Midwest); No. 1 Kansas (West); No. 4 Texas (East); No. 3 Texas A&M (South)
Title Game: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 3 Texas A&M
Champion: No. 1 Kansas (78-71)
Notable Upsets:
Midwest: No. 10 Georgia Tech over No. 7 UNLV, No. 10 Georgia Tech over No. 2 Wisconsin
West: No. 13 Holy Cross over No. 4 Southern Illinois, No. 11 VCU over No. 6 Duke
East: No. 12 Arkansas over No. 5 USC, No. 14 Oral Roberts over No. 3 Washington State
South: No. 10 Creighton over No. 7 Nevada
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