I have a confession to make. In the 1990’s I struggled with addiction. My name is Gayle Brisbane and I‘m a recovering March Madness junkie. I was working as a travel coordinator with the athletic department at Pepperdine University and got caught up in one of the greatest sporting events ever created! It should come with a warning: “Caution: The NCAA Men’s BasketballTournament is highly addictive.” I spent money I shouldn’t have, took red eye flights to watch games and almost slept in my car when I couldn’t get a room reservation. I was desperate to be apart of the hoopla.
It turns out March Madness is
bad for business. A study done by
Challenger, Gray and Christmas reported an estimated $1.2 billion dollars is
lost for every unproductive hour. Over
50 million people participate in bracket office pools and more than 100 million
are distracted by the games.
My addiction started innocent
enough. It was 1990 and I was in
Colorado for a weekend ski trip with my then husband. We didn’t realize until we arrived that the
Final Four was in Denver that weekend.
Instead of skiing we wandered the streets. We spent hours in the NCAA Experience and
bumped elbows with big name basketball coaches.
The energy in the city was electric.
During the semi-final games we stood outside the arena and bought tickets
to the finals off of a losing team’s fan.
The final game between UNLV
and Duke was disappointing. The Running
Rebels beat the Blue Devils by 30 to win the National Championship. It was never even close. But that didn’t matter I was hooked on the
experience. My marriage didn’t last, but
my addiction did.
My husband and I split up
later that year. However, the next
Spring I was back at the Final Four. I
took a redeye flight Friday night from LAX to Indianapolis. All I had was a car reservation… no hotel
reservation (everything was booked) and no ticket to the games. As I stuffed a blanket and pillow from the
plane in my carry-on luggage I knew I was in deep… those things are
disgusting. But I would need them if I
had to sleep in my rental car.
I drove to a health club for
a quick workout and shower, then parked downtown and started wandering the
streets in search of the elusive affordable ticket to the games. A ticket scalper took pity on me and sold me
a single ticket for $150. The semi-final
games were thrilling. Duke got their
revenge beating UNLV and Kansas narrowly beat UNC. Thankfully I was able to get a room at a seedy airport motel due to a
last minute cancellation. I took an early Sunday morning flight home and
was back at work Monday. My 24
hours in Indy were exhilarating.
I traveled to seven Final
Fours in the 90’s. In 1992 it was
Minneapolis, 1993 was New Orleans, Seattle in 1995, San Antonio in 1998 and
Tampa in 1999. I was finally able to get
my addiction under control a few years after I became a sportscaster. I know
in order to truly kick the habit I should go cold turkey. But my job requires me to keep abreast of the
games. So I dabble and keep my madness
limited to an office bracket and watching a few games. Airline blanket and pillows are not required.
Keywords: March Madness, NCAA Tournament, hoops junkie, men's basketball, Final Four
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