Championship Game Goes into OT
It’s an omelet of mixed emotions playing in any sport when a game is not decided in regulation. Though the physical and emotional toll on players is obvious and fans’ agita levels may rise dramatically, we all – including NCAA brass – will sign up for this in a heartbeat, especially if teams you don’t have a vested interested in are not involved.
Reality check: Out of 75 championship games played since 1939, the tournament’s inaugural year, only six have required an extra stanza, so chances are you won’t need to stock up on Tums or Rolaids or alcohol. Of course we assume you might have already consumed a hefty dose of the latter pre-game.
Revenue Share With Student Athletes
With a multi-billion dollar contract between CBS and Time Warner believed to run through 2024, these 18-21 year olds – many from economically disadvantaged households – generate significant revenue for both the NCAA and the aforementioned television networks. The further their team’s advance, the more revenue each player earns. It’s estimated the NCAA receives $500 million annually via this arrangement and you can bet CBS and Time Warner are leveraging this exclusivity to profit as well. For the record, we have no clue how this would be logistically implemented but it is a wish – right?
Reality Check: Guaranteed to continue for years to come, there’s been a long-standing debate over what constitutes a student-athlete and whether a full scholarship is an adequate trade-off for the grueling athletic and academic demands they are expected to fulfill. If indeed colleges and universities could compensate them financially, many claim it would ruin the integrity of college sports in general and raise even greater issues tied to labor regulations, pay rates (by sport, skill level or revenue generated) and a host of other legal and ethical considerations.
Fill the Perfect Bracket (and make Warren Buffett $1 billion dollars poorer)
Let the fantasies begin. There’s not much to elaborate on here besides dreaming about what one would do with all that dough.
Reality check: Definitely make sure to keep your day job. Top mathematicians at renowned institutions place the odds as ranging from 1 in 128 billion to 1 in 9.2 quintillion! Yes – quintillion. With these cosmic odds, you are 500 times more likely to win the lottery and better off waging real money on Powerball or Mega Millions. Besides, Buffett’s not doing the “Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge” in 2015. Not that he needs the money, but it appears his company Berkshire Hathaway, Yahoo! and a small promotion firm called SCA Promotions are all tangled up in court over who came up with the idea last year, according to the International Business Times.
