Merry Christmas!

I am not sure that it already feels like Christmas, but I'm glad that it is here. With exams right up until last week, I haven't had much down time to really realize how close everything is. I also got most of my shopping done relatively early, so I didn't have the last second scramble like many people do. Then, I had power soccer last week so that made the time up until then pass very quickly when combined with exams. All in all, it has been a crazy December, but it definitely has been fun. So, right now I just want to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas because I will probably write tomorrow night and so the opportunity to send that message to the greatest number of people will be passed. Thank you for reading my stuff for the past year; I hope that it hasn't been a total waste of your time that you feel obligated to give me (just kidding). Right now, I still plan on continuing to write, so that will be good. Maybe you can see that my present to those of you I haven't actually bought something for. 'Tis the night before Christmas...
Photo by  Meepness - Daniel C on Flickr

Tournament Benefit

I hope that everybody has filled out the NCAA tournament bracket. For me, I bet you that Kansas and Duke will be on top at the end with the Jayhawks reigning triumphant. However, this tournament will be about more than just one game. Think about this fact; according to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, more than $3,000,000,000 will be bet over the course of the tournament. The city of Buffalo, who incidentally happens to be hosting the first 16 seed who will upset a number one seed, is estimating to take in an extra $5,000,000 in revenue just from the first two rounds of games in the East region. Obviously, the economic impact of this is amazing. The NCAA will most likely make $750,000,000 off of its broadcasting deal with CBS during the final year of its contract which occurs in three years. It's crazy how much sports influence the economy. Studies also show that only the World Cup knocks down productivity as much as the NCAA tournament. The World Cup involves the whole world and therefore hurts other countries besides the United States whereas I would assume that March Madness mostly Americans because it involves all American teams. Again, imagine what people would do with all the extra time. Honestly, I would probably still "waste" it, but many people could be positively influencing the economic development of America. Does this sound familiar? That would be the non-sports fan attacking. The informed sports fan would reply that because the NCAA tournament brings people happiness. According to the president of the American Psychological Association, Martin Seligman, says that one of the three main components to human, and more specifically worker, happiness is "the ability to savor life's pleasures." Basketball happens to be one activity that brings pleasure to many people. Therefore, by savoring this pleasure, workers will be happier. Happier workers are more productive workers according to Gallup. Therefore, we can deduce that because the NCAA tournament raises happiness for some workers and happiness increases productivity, the NCAA tournament indeed increases worker productivity. Does it sound like a stretch? To me, no. Maybe it does to you. However, even if you hate the NCAA tournament, it is happening now, and people like me are going to enjoy it.

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