The Student News Site of Weber State University

The Signpost

The Signpost

The Signpost

The Signpost

Latest YouTube Video

Nick Dynasty: Tourney time — let's get creative

In something of a follow-up to my column last week, I wanted to take a closer look at how exactly the NCAA Tournament affects us and how the Big Dance is disrupting people everywhere.

It doesn’t take long for you to hop online and find clever ways of catching the games. You can choose the old-fashioned route of channel surfing from game to game, stopping on a game long enough to gather the score and maybe gauge the intensity of the action. You may go to a local sports-themed eatery and have access to many different games all at once.

These endeavors are tried and true. When it comes to watching the games, they work.

Although both methods are very effective, they have the potential to hinder our everyday life and things we may need to accomplish or responsibilities we may have.

I know, I know, I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “What kind of other responsibilities are there come tournament time?” If it were up to me, the NCAA Tournament would render supreme priority, and everything would shut down during game times.

Unfortunately, the nation and, more importantly, my family do not see it this way. I am garnered a little bit of leeway in taking times to watch the games, but find myself having to be clever in the excuses I come up with in order to satisfy my college basketball appetite.

I have to plan ahead and request days off of work weeks in advance. I have to run my little girls ragged so they can be tired enough to take a good long nap, and I have to sheepishly tell my wife that I HAVE to watch because I have a column (this column) to write.

My tricks are overdone, and in no way does she believe me, but she will shake her head and at the same time change the channel to the games and sit and watch them with me. (Lucky, I know.)

I also had a history teacher in high school who no one really liked, but he was a basketball fan, and come tourney time, you could catch the game in his room. Never before did I want to go to a history class like I did in March.

Seems like a lot of work just to watch a sport, right? Wrong. No amount of work is too much when tournament time comes around. You do what it takes to get the job done. Now, these are a handful of scenarios under which I have watched the NCAA Tournament, but it’s not enough. I need more options. We all do.

I have some pretty good ideas, like setting your phone up in the window of your classroom so it looks like you’re gazing out into the beautiful landscapes on campus when really you are watching Duke get beat by Mercer. You could also use your phone, your wife’s phone, your tablet and your two big screens all at once and create your own sports bar-like experience with multiple screens. Just a few ideas to enhance experience.

In my eyes, the tournament provides the ultimate excuse to become unproductive. Unfortunately, not all see it the same way, so it becomes quite important to come up with clever ideas to watch that will let us at least be slightly more productive. It also makes things a little more fun.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

Comments written below are solely the opinions of the author and does not reflect The Signpost staff or its affiliates.
All The Signpost Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *