Still Crazy After All These Years: March 2015

Still Crazy After All These Years

Astral Facts, March 2015

Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Still Crazy After All These Years

Humanities Scientists have interests that extend beyond the classical forms of literature, art, and philosophy, for drama, film, and sports as entertainment also fall within our purveyance.  While the Natural Scientist may ponder how the final minute in a basketball or football game can actually last as long as ten minutes or more, the Humanities Scientist only revels in the splendor of life not controlled by the clock or other technology-imposed concepts that squeeze the essence out of the vintage of life with a mechanical whine!

No clearer evidence of this can be found than the national frenzy occurring every year around this time with the “March Madness” associated with college basketball.  It has been estimated that nationally over four million hours of productivity are usually lost during the time of the national basketball tournaments as workers are distracted by the events on the hardwoods. 

Even years after our own college days, we can experience those frenetic times from the past surge up from the unconscious and subconscious domain of the spiritual hard drive.  In the past, workers would have the radio on, with regular distractions stimulated by the emotions in the announcers’ voices in the background.  Local and national television only exacerbated these distractions, adding sight to the sound and bringing the distractions to the foreground.  The Internet spiked this even further, as people began to watch the scenes in their cubicle workstations.

 Supervisors and managers then began to patrol the hallways and cubicle aisles to crack the whip and get the workers back on track.  (Several of the websites, such as CBSSports.com, ESPN.com, and even NCAA.com offered a “boss button” in the corner of the screen.  A quick click at the approach of a supervisor, and the screen changed to a complex multi-colored spread sheet.)

However, more recent research has shown that those lost man-hours (not so many “woman-hours” have been lost in the past, but that is changing with further emphasis on the Women’s Tournament) are actually more than doubled in later productivity as a result of the “bonding” and camaraderie created as workers share “the ecstasy of victory and the agony of defeat” as their teams soar and/or crash and burn.  

This is intensified as the “office pools” stimulate interest in even the obscure match-ups not involving the individuals’ own alma mater or hated cross-town or intra state rival, for each game means points added or lost toward bragging rights in the ‘hood.

However, more than just bragging rights are involved.  This year it has been estimated that nationally approximately $9 billion will be involved from the twenty-five cent office pool antes up to the open match book bets in places like Las Vegas and discreet off-shore financial cachets.

The challenge significance will be once again underscored by a presentation from The White House on Tuesday or Wednesday with President Obama's selections in his bracket with an explanation of his prediction of the "Final Four" and the White House personal projections for the eventual winner.

Because our mission in the two-year colleges is to prepare students to transfer to appropriate four-year colleges and universities or directly to the workplace, for the past 14 years in conjunction with the Popular Culture class I have taught, I have offered my students an opportunity to determine if they are “Smarter Than A Teacher” by taking the online March Madness Tournament Challenge hosted by ESPN.  In addition to teachers and students, the “pool” also is open to anyone else in the greater community in order to “randomize” the population sample involved.  (Minimum age is 13, so the supposition is you have to be smarter than a 5^th grader!  However, you can still get advice from a 5^th grader!)

While this only involves “Bragging Rights in the ‘Hood” with no financial aspect in our Green River group, the group itself will be part of the national pool conducted by ESPN.  The national winner does receive a $20,000 Best Buy gift card and a trip for two to Hawaii.  Several years ago, a 16-year-old high school sophomore from Alabama was the national winner, so anything is possible!  The details as I present them to my students are listed below:

Are You Smarter Than A Teacher? 

Now is a chance to prove it!    Non-credit activity: English, 101, 126, 128, and 185.

March Madness “Sanity” Test

Go online to the ESPN Fantasy game home page:  http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2015/en/game

Click on the GET STARTED link and then register to participate through the “sign up for free” link and set up your personal user name and personal password.  

Once you create your entry, you can join the group. (If possible teachers should include a “T” at the end of the entry name.)  Our group is Green River. 

Sunday, March 15 was the day for the choosing of the 64-68 teams for the national college basketball tournament.  Between then and 9:00 in the morning of Thursday, March 19 (when the first game in the tournament starts) you can fill out your predictions regarding the winners of each round of the tournament.

(Note: You must fill out all the information including the final winner before the first game starts on the morning of the 19^th.)

You may compose as many as ten different versions of how you predict the tournament will end.  (Thus, if you have Gonzaga beating Kentucky in the championship game, you could also do a revised version with Kentucky beating Gonzaga.) 

After you register the first entry and join the group, you can select the “create another bracket” to prepare another entry.  (If you select the “my brackets” link you can create another bracket as well.)

You will be competing against a group of teachers, members of the community, and your classmates to see how many are smarter than the teachers!!

Six years ago a sophomore high school student from Alabama had the best result in the nation, winning $10,000.  This year the top prize (in the nation) is $20,000 and a trip to Hawaii.  In our group, top prize is bragging rights in the ‘hood.  Almost the same!

Note: Since 2001, students have finished first eight times (including one female student, so this isn’t only a male domain), teachers have won three times and members of the community (including my wife one year!) have also won three times.

Even now, the anticipation of the referee’s whistle seems to be calling from the past and the future!  See you again after that final whistle, which is only a signal to anticipate the next starting tweet!

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a somewhat regular presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices during the academic year.