{"id":7231,"date":"2017-03-19T00:30:44","date_gmt":"2017-03-19T04:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=7231"},"modified":"2017-03-19T00:30:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-19T04:30:44","slug":"true-bracket-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=7231","title":{"rendered":"true bracket challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m a reasonable, teachable person. I\u2019d like to think when the truth presents itself, I could immediately accept it as true. I\u2019d like to think that I never craft truth from a limited perspective, holding on so fiercely, that I fail to sift objectively through other valid perspective. Case in point \u2014 and please, please, I need great grace here, friends; it\u2019s a sticky subject this time of year…<\/p>\n

I speak, no less, about one small, public, co-ed university on the southeast side of Wilmington, North Carolina, only five miles from the Atlantic Ocean\u2026 the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNC-W)<\/em>\u2026 and\u2026 of course, this year\u2019s NCAA \u201cMarch Madness\u201d bracket.<\/p>\n

Each year millions complete an empty bracket in the days leading up to the tournament. The beauty of a clean bracket\/slate\/etc. is that it allows us to aver whatever we wish. And so all sorts of persons select all sorts of teams to win all sorts of rounds in college basketball\u2019s most popular, annual competition.<\/p>\n

This year, NBA star Steph Curry predicts Duke will win it all. Charles Barkley picks Arizona.\u00a0And both former Pres. Obama and country singer Tim McGraw think North Carolina will be victorious.<\/p>\n

Each of the above may be right. But they won\u2019t all be.<\/p>\n

Due to my noted competitive nature, I, too, completed my bracket with a great sense of not-yet-fleeting hope. I ended up choosing the Wildcats of Villanova to repeat, with the awareness that winning two years in a row is an increasingly rare occurrence. As noted by yesterday’s results, I was totally wrong. But also noted in round one, came my awareness of manipulating the truth; let\u2019s return to the UNC-W\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a knowledgeable fan\u2026 semi-humble, perhaps, but knowledgeable nonetheless. And so I read and research and do my necessary homework.<\/p>\n

In round one of the 64 seeded teams, 12th seeded UNC-W was set to face 5th seeded Virginia. Hence, simply based on the selection committee\u2019s seeding, Virginia\u2019s very capable Cavaliers\/Wahoos\/Hoos (all acceptable nicknames)<\/em> were expected to win. They were perceived as the better team.<\/p>\n

But picking upsets is part of the fun of the \u201cmadness.\u201d I read other, reputable perspectives. From The Washington Post\u2019s John Feinstein: \u201c[Virginia] Coach Tony Bennett and his players know that the [UNC-W] Seahawks, champions of the Colonial Athletic Association, are one of those double-digits seeds that people see as a potential upset pick.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

From the Sporting News\u2019 Mike DeCourcy: \u201cNo. 12 UNC Wilmington over No. 5 Virginia. In addition to the very cool nickname of \u2018Seahawks\u2019 \u2013 how many Wildcats do we need, people? \u2013 Wilmington has a terrific offense with four double-figure scorers led by guard C.J. Bryce and 3-point rifleman Denzel Ingram, who is top-20 in the nation in 3-pointers made. They\u2019ve never seen anything like the Virginia defense, but they\u2019re good enough to make this happen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So when I picked UNC-W over Virginia \u2014 even though varied opinion existed \u2014 I was not alone. I thus found comfort and confidence-building in those who shared my perspective.<\/p>\n

After tip off, as I expected (and as I predicted),<\/em> UNC-W took off, dominating the Cavaliers\/Wahoos\/Hoos. They were actually ahead by 15 points after only 12 and a half minutes of play. I was thinking pretty highly of myself. I was thinking I was right. But as the game went on, the Cavaliers\/Wahoos\/Hoos not only came back from the substantial deficit, but proceeded to lead most of the second half. It was close at some points, but Virginia was far more in command than UNC-W.<\/p>\n

In those closer moments, even though I have zero relationship with either team \u2014 no exceptional like or<\/em><\/strong> dislike \u2014 I found myself actively cheering for the Seahawks of UNC-W (\u2026 grace, please, Wahoo fans).<\/em> Yes, it\u2019s fun to root for the underdog. But the other factor very much in play here (if I\u2019m willing to admit it)<\/em> is that I wanted to be right. And if UNC-W actually upset the talented team from Virginia, then I would be right and wouldn\u2019t have to wrestle with the idea that part of my thinking was wrong. I wouldn\u2019t have to wrestle with the validity of any other perspective.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that part of our madness? Sometimes being right becomes more important than what may be true.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m a reasonable, teachable person. I\u2019d like to think when the truth presents itself, I could immediately accept it as true. I\u2019d like to think that I never craft truth from a limited perspective, holding on so fiercely, that I fail to sift objectively through other valid perspective. Case in point … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “true bracket challenge”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[619],"class_list":["post-7231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","category-daily-life","tag-2017-ncaa-tournament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7231"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7238,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7231\/revisions\/7238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}