As this college basketball season comes to a close tonight, I can't help but notice that The Boys are getting their butts kicked. By "the boys" I actually don't mean Michigan State, but all the guys who spent hours meticulously contemplating their bracket picks after Selection Sunday, only to get beaten by girls whose knowledge and interest in college basketball consists wholly of noting how tall/good looking certain players are. I speak not only from anecdotal (but completely scientific) observation, but also from firsthand experience, as for the last two years, I have made my picks quickly and arbitrarily, with only the seed numbers to guide me. My ignorant picks have afforded me a respectable second place both times in decently sized, mostly male bracket pools. First place usually seems to go to a lucky girl with a similar level of athletic acumen and agnosticism.
So I can't help but wonder, is it really luck, or is it the absence of overthinking stemming from a healthy degree of ignorance? People often weigh the merits of going with your heart/gut vs listening to your head when making decisions, but is one really better or wiser than the other, when you don't have all the information anyway nor a magic crystal ball? Choosing a crappy team to go to the final four because it's your alma mater--that's heart. Choosing a team after studying the season's stats and determining who has a higher probability of making all their free throws--that's head. But both body parts have potential to cloud your judgment and leave you inevitably blind to lots of uncontrollable forces. And both leave you with a similar level of regret if you're wrong, albeit for different reasons.
So I guess the moral of the story is, when faced with decisions big or small, save yourself hours of unnecessary stress/deliberation and make the decision based on something arbitrary (e.g. team with brightest uniforms, job that would give you the shortest email address, etc). That way, if you're wrong, at least you can blame it on me rather than beating yourself up over it.
Over and out,
Alla
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It takes me less than 2 minutes to get dressed in the morning compared to your 20-30 minute routine sometimes consisting of 3 wardrobe changes. We both end up clothed in the end, and looking damn good. So my point is that it's about the journey more than the end result.
ReplyDeleteHm. Both of us looking damn good in the end is debatable :) And if it's more about the journey, why aren't you spending more time on hair and makeup? My point is the journey impacts the end result. Btw, I don't know who you are or how you know about my wardrobe changes, but thank you for your readership.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to picking teams there are two factors that have always guaranteed me a bracket victory. 1. Seed Number 2. Picking the team I think has more black people on it.
ReplyDeletewhere was this brilliant advice when I was picking my bracket? If I had followed rule #2, I would never have picked White Boy City; Population: Duke to make the final four, and would thus have won my bracket pool by a landslide.
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