[Capybara]

Seriously, I don't get it... help me understand.

I get why it's fun for people ON THIS FORUM, that's different -- obviously a lot of us degenerate gamblers DO know the teams and DO actually know the way Saint Louis plays, or why Long Beach State is dangerous, etc.

BUT, when your average casual sports fan HAS NO FUKKING CLUE ABOUT A SINGLE TEAM other than Kentucky or UNC, WHY DO THEY even BOTHER with brackets???!!!! It's just throwing darts at a board, why is that even fun? It's just playing the lottery but picking 53 numbers instead of 6. Don't see the allure. So it totally confuses me why it's like the biggest thing in life for people to fill out brackets.

[dudekid]

because its fun? because all these games are coin flips anyway, so why not try? its just like the superbowl, not everyone bets football but everyone watches the superbowl, getting caught up in the madness is fun and something to do, i dont see whats wrong with that

[ngates815]

My dad is a "casual" sports fan. He hardly watches college hoops. He watches the Bulls.

We do 2 different brackets for who has to buy lunch for a month.

1 bracket we rotate picking teams...then we both fill out a bracket separately...

Yes it's pretty much throwing darts at a board...But it's fun for the non-fan because it's something for them to get excited about and follow a little bit...It's always fun to get up in the morning or check after work to see if your "darts" were lucky and won.

People will watch the superbowl, just because it's the superbowl, doesn't matter if they are fans or not.

March madness it like the superbowl, it draws people in for the fun of it, and it spans a few weeks.


Pretty easy to see why people enjoy filling out brackets. It's all luck...gamblers are no better than casual fan's at filling out brackets.

[cbiscuit]

You're too much of a gambler. Far too many reasons to list but within Corporate America alone you have millions with college degrees who are represented by their team in tourney or their archrivals are in so they root against them. This translates to long distance calls, emails etc to co=workers all over the place and even competing companies. The tv aspect, it is available everywhere, every bar, every airport, every waiting room etc and it is THE BIG DEAL every March. A total novice to college hoops can get involved by filling out a bracket and hoping to win a prize or bragging rights. Thats just a part of it, I totally get the appeal of it all.

[Capybara]

Good points by all of you.

[JohnGalt2341]

Seriously, I don't get it... help me understand.

I get why it's fun for people ON THIS FORUM, that's different -- obviously a lot of us degenerate gamblers DO know the teams and DO actually know the way Saint Louis plays, or why Long Beach State is dangerous, etc.

BUT, when your average casual sports fan HAS NO FUKKING CLUE ABOUT A SINGLE TEAM other than Kentucky or UNC, WHY DO THEY even BOTHER with brackets???!!!! It's just throwing darts at a board, why is that even fun? It's just playing the lottery but picking 53 numbers instead of 6. Don't see the allure. So it totally confuses me why it's like the biggest thing in life for people to fill out brackets.

Before I even finished reading the first sentence my thoughts were because it's so similar to playing the Lottery. People love playing the Lottery for some reason. I tried explaining to my sister why the Lottery is such a rip off and her comment was "well SOMEBODY has to win". I think that's how most people feel about it.

NCAA Tourney brackets are 10 times better than the Lottery though... the reason why is... I've never played in or even heard of an NCAA Tourney bracket that only pays out 50% of all the money collected.

[Capybara]

You're all making good points, so I'm trying to figure out why I can't make sense of the appeal... I'm thinking that it's because I'm too mathematical/odds-based/reason-based -- in other words, it would totally rub me the wrong way to sit there and RANDOMLY pick which 12 will beat which 5, which 10 will beat which 7, and then AGAIN, which 5 will beat which 4, which 6 will beat which 3, and then AGAIN, which 3 will beat which 2...etc. It's just SOOO much guessing, yuck, gross!!!

I mean, yeah, obviously I know we're all guessing every time we make a bet... but fukk, at least we think we have some kind of edge or insight leading us to make them!!

Edit: I wrote this before I read Galt's reply -- Galt, yeah, we're sort of saying the same thing!

[dudekid]

to add to that point with the lottery, you can think of it as: yahoo, for example, giving you a $10,000 or $5 million freeplay...to put it in gambling terms, at least...you get a perfect bracket, you win 5 million no cost to sign up no ifs ands or buts...you get the best one on yahoo and its 10k...sure the chances are insanely small but its worth a try!

[Frisco]

It allows both degenerate gamblers and casual sports fans to have an interactive experience. My wife fills out a bracket every year and I think she has actually done better than me the last 2 years. Her methodology is to pick the most ferocious mascot in games that look like a coin flip lol

[terpkeg]

This is like asking why it is fun for someone who is not an alcoholic to go out and drink occasionally. Because doing a bracket is gambling which is a rush and fun for most in moderation.

[Capybara]

This is like asking why it is fun for someone who is not an alcoholic to go out and drink occasionally. Because doing a bracket is gambling which is a rush and fun for most in moderation.

Haha, great analogy!

But again, it was never a "why do casual fans like the rush of gambling" question... of course I get that. It was a "Why do people think a one in a million chance is fun" kind of question. If you're going against 20 people, then sure, you could win... but it seems like a lot of people do their brackets online against like 2 million other people. Without having had a clue about a single one of the 64 teams. That's what makes no sense to me.

[PickWinnerAllDay]

Have you never worked at an office type job? I don't work there anymore but I still entered 2 brackets in the office pool at my old job... it is fun to get bragging rights if you win.

As for there being no skill in picking brackets, slightly disagree with that. I've gotten 2nd 2 out of the last 5 years and won once out of 150 brackets or so on average. But I do fill out two.

[seaborneq]

It's one of the few times in life where the medical doctor is not necessarily smarter/lucky than the hobo. In brackets, even the hobo wins sometimes, hell maybe most of the time. The hobo can stare down the doctor and then prove it. The bracket is the great equalizer.

[Capybara]

Have you never worked at an office type job? I don't work there anymore but I still entered 2 brackets in the office pool at my old job... it is fun to get bragging rights if you win.

As for there being no skill in picking brackets, slightly disagree with that. I've gotten 2nd 2 out of the last 5 years and won once out of 150 brackets or so on average. But I do fill out two.

Yeah, I won last year! And I still don't get why so many people like making so many picks of teams they know nothing about... I mean when the Super Bowl comes, even your casual sports fan knows "Oh, okay, it's Brady against Peyton Manning's brother, who beat him before... hmm, I think Brady will win this time." They can at least think SOMETHING! This is still just hilarious to me to envision countless millions of people sitting there with their pencils going 'What does SDSU stand for?... Is Murray State really a school?".... it's just bizarre...

[terpkeg]

Haha, great analogy!

But again, it was never a "why do casual fans like the rush of gambling" question... of course I get that. It was a "Why do people think a one in a million chance is fun" kind of question. If you're going against 20 people, then sure, you could win... but it seems like a lot of people do their brackets online against like 2 million other people. Without having had a clue about a single one of the 64 teams. That's what makes no sense to me.

haha, yea i understand. Like the previous reference to the lottery with the online brackets everywhere that give away one million dollars if you pick every game right. Should be worth more than a mill if you can do that.

[Emily_Haines]

Just a game created by the globalists to keep your mind off how bad you're getting fuked.

[Capybara]

Just a game created by the globalists to keep your mind off how bad you're getting fuked.

Has Emily Haines gone brunette, is that her in your avatar?? When is she gonna do another solo record, her first one is great! The last Metric one was disappointing to me.

[cankid]

Ever game is sudden death, one chance thats all

[upscope]

Why do people play slot machines?? I don't see the allure in that either

[baskets]

Just a game created by the globalists to keep your mind off how bad you're getting fuked.

lol, you cannot be this stupid. would highly doubt you've ever been outside of your own country as well