{"id":78082,"date":"2016-03-21T15:43:49","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T15:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78082"},"modified":"2023-04-13T20:33:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T20:33:00","slug":"behind-mic-amusement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-amusement\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic: Amusement Only?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAmusement\u201d is defined as, \u201cthe state or experience of finding something funny\u201d; \u201cthe provision of enjoyment of entertainment\u201d; \u201csomething that causes laughter or provides entertainment\u201d.<\/p>\n

RCN, like many companies I\u2019m sure, runs an NCAA basketball<\/a> bracket pool that is strictly \u201cfor amusement only\u201d.\u00a0 There is no fee to enter; there are no financial rewards, except for a modest gift certificate.\u00a0 The REAL big prize, however, is owning the bragging rights that come with winning and, trust me, that is the best gift of all.<\/p>\n

There is a little extra pressure that accompanies my selection because I am the Sports Director and expected to know what I am talking about (a mistake in their judgment, not mine).\u00a0 And, when I handed in my pool, it certainly did not help when I bragged at our staff meeting that there was not much sense in anyone else entering the competition.\u00a0 They would just be wasting their time.\u00a0 The winning bracket had been filled out and handed in BY ME.<\/p>\n

I also placed my selection in a \u201chermetically sealed envelope\u201d (I have no idea what that means) so that no one could see my picks until the games actually began.\u00a0 When asked which team I selected to win it all, I refused to answer or, even worse, offered up some obnoxious answer.<\/p>\n

Now, truth be told, after last year\u2019s results, my confidence level was way down.\u00a0 I went into the Championship game needing only favored Wisconsin to knock off Duke and, as it should be, the championship of RCN Bracketology would be mine.\u00a0 But Duke won! \u00a0Not Wisconsin! And I lost to Linda (not her real name \u2013 I wish I didn\u2019t have to use my real name either) who made her picks based on uniform colors, nicknames, team mascot, the handsomeness of the coach, or some other nonsense.\u00a0 Suffice it to say, she knew NOTHING about college basketball.\u00a0 AND SHE WON!\u00a0 (I hope I don\u2019t sound bitter).<\/p>\n

Linda (still not her real name) rubbed her victory in my face and just this past week offered to aid me with my picks this year and made sure others in the company knew she was willing to \u201chelp\u201d me make my selections.\u00a0 My response was not very nice and, as you can imagine, I could not wait to conquer this year\u2019s bracket and put her in her place.<\/p>\n

Until\u2026 Friday!\u00a0 #15 Middle Tennessee State<\/a> (who?) beat Michigan State<\/a> 90-81!\u00a0 You see, I picked Michigan State to win it all!\u00a0 I did not pick them to lose in the FIRST ROUND, SECOND ROUND\u2026!!\u00a0 (Did I mention I am the Sports Director?).\u00a0 And then, to make matters worse, Middle Tennessee State lost in the second round to Syracuse <\/a>by 25 points!!<\/p>\n

So as I sit here at my desk ripping up my copy of the NCAA bracket, I await the wrath of my fellow workers.\u00a0 The worst response will most certainly come from Linda (I hope I never hear her real name again).\u00a0 She has North Carolina<\/a> and Kansas <\/a>in the final and both are STILL ALIVE.\u00a0 Geez!<\/p>\n

So I can assure you, as far as I am concerned, this exercise is far from \u201cfor amusement only\u201d.<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It was nice to see Villanova <\/a>get by the second round of the NCAA Tournament. And they did it with ease, beating Iowa <\/a>87-68, so that no last-second heroics were necessary.\u00a0 It is their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2009.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Temple <\/a>and St. Joseph\u2019s<\/a> were not so fortunate. Temple lost in the first round 72-70 to Iowa on a last second put-back.\u00a0 Replays showed the scorer pushed off to get the rebound and should have been whistled for a foul.\u00a0 And St. Joseph\u2019s put up a strong fight against #1 Oregon losing by five.\u00a0 That game kept me up until 12:05 on Monday morning.\u00a0 I find it hard to leave any game once I look in because almost all the games come down to the last few possessions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. The team that beat Parkland and knocked them out of the PIAA AAAA Basketball championship in the quarterfinals won the state championship on Saturday night. Roman Catholic beat Alderdice 73-62 and repeated as state champion.\u00a0 Alderdice was ranked #1 all year long and had only lost one game until Saturday.\u00a0 So, Parkland lost to the best 73-60.\u00a0 No shame there.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Private schools continue to dominate both the boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 basketball championships in Pennsylvania. They won six of the eight titles this past weekend.\u00a0 The complaints of an \u201cunlevel playing field\u201d will certainly continue.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. As I write this, the \u201876ers<\/a> and the Flyers <\/a>will not make the NBA or NHL playoffs. Do you believe that the \u201876ers have not won 10 games?\u00a0 As of this Monday, they were 9-61.\u00a0 Unbelievably bad!\u00a0 The Flyers still have a chance.\u00a0 Thank goodness for Villanova.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            \u201cAmusement\u201d is defined as, \u201cthe state or experience of finding something funny\u201d; \u201cthe provision of enjoyment of entertainment\u201d; \u201csomething that causes laughter or provides entertainment\u201d. RCN, like many companies I\u2019m sure, runs an NCAA basketball bracket pool that is strictly \u201cfor amusement only\u201d.\u00a0 There is no fee to enter; there are no financial rewards, except…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[629,326,365],"class_list":["post-78082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports","tag-bracketology","tag-march-madness","tag-ncaa-basketball"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Mic: Amusement Only? - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Mic: Amusement Only? - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAmusement\u201d is defined as, \u201cthe state or experience of finding something funny\u201d; \u201cthe provision of enjoyment of entertainment\u201d; \u201csomething that causes laughter or provides entertainment\u201d. 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