Enjoy the Madness

  • Published
  • By Col. Christopher T. Emmert
  • 436th Mission Support Group Commander
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  It's that time of the year again, one of my favorite months for sports, March Madness! Fact is, I love all sports, college sports mostly, and college basketball the most of all. Why? It adds balance to my life. Have you ever heard the old saying, "All work and no play makes Joe a dull boy?" Well, there's a lot of truth to this saying and it applies to Airmen as well.

No doubt, watching college hoops is not everyone's preferred method of rest and relaxation, but it works for me. First, nearly everyone you know has an affiliation with a college or university. Many have attended or graduated from at least one school or another. Those who have not attended college generally root for a school near where they grew up. So, with college hoops you have an excellent vehicle to converse with those you work with. I've seen several times where shared interest in sports repaired damaged relationships at work. It's an excellent vehicle to find common ground.

Bracketology, (it's a real word, look it up) means the study of brackets, as in the field of 64 teams in the NCAA Basketball tournament. Once the field of 64 teams is revealed, on March 14 at 6 p.m., bracketology begins. This is another opportunity to interact with co-workers and friends. Who got in the tournament, who was left out of the tournament and why; questions that need to be fully explored and argued by even the most novice March Madness fan.

Once the grumbling over who's in and who's out is complete, it's time to accept the brackets for what they are and predict your winners. This is a torturous process of selecting who you think will win versus who you want to win. Realizing this is a one and done tournament, Cinderella always shows up for the big dance! The most satisfying part of bracketology is picking the tournament upsets and ultimately the Cinderella.

Team Dover, you've just enjoyed your version of the Big Dance, the Commander in Chief's Installation Excellence Award. We started the competition against a field of 116 other teams; we won the MAJCOM finals, competed against, and beat out the other MAJCOM winners, and performed extraordinary in the final game.

We are just a few weeks away from being announced as repeat winners (I always think positively). But, the break you were expecting after the big game was delayed by a series of snow storms. Our version of a double overtime game and you won again. Now it's time for a timeout, and the NCAA tournament could be the mental timeout you need to refresh your soul.

There is a lot more to March Madness than watching a few basketball games. It's a time to emerge yourself into something other than work, something for me that refreshes my soul, gives balance to my live, and leaves me ready to give my best everyday I'm on duty.

So study the brackets, pick your upsets and root-on Cinderella. Enjoy the Madness with your friends and co-workers, and you might just find yourself refreshed and ready to give your best when your back on duty.