Bracket Busters and a Basketball Boost from Barack?

Some upheaval in the NCAA tournament yesterday. Kansas is out of the picture, losing to Northern Iowa in a huge bracket busting shocker, and personally I took some pleasure in seeing 10th seeded Saint Mary’s knocking the holy hell out of Villanova, having lived on the wrong end of Philadelphia’s Main Line for too many years than I care to acknowledge. Another big upset, and a bit of a yawner, was 11th seeded Washington beating 3rd seeded New Mexico; 82-64.

The corporate compliance Nazis took all forms of gambling away from me at work a couple of years ago. Football pools, even for the Super Bowl, are gone as un-American as that may seem.  Gone too are the NCAA brackets which once were prominently displayed in everyone’s cubicle and office. The normal banter that used to fill the office this time of year has faded away, at least in my world.  Damn, what’s happened to the workplace over the last few years? Maybe with Obama’s bracket being so large and so public, things will start to loosen up. Screw healthcare, this is a CHANGE we would all welcome.  Could the president’s enthusiasm for the tournament clear the way for some policy changes in corporate America? I won’t bet on it.