By Willie Spears, Guest Columnist
March Madness is over. Did you fill out a bracket? Who did you pick to win the NCAA Championship?
Is your team still playing?
Let me ask you another question.
A father and his son are in a car accident. The father dies at the scene, and the son is rushed to the hospital. At the hospital, the surgeon looks at the boy and says, “I can’t operate on this boy. He is my son.” How can this be?
When I asked about basketball, did you assume I was talking about men’s basketball? For my second question, did you consider the surgeon could be the boy’s mother?
Unconscious bias is common in all of us. Are you mad?
For years, officials would not call the women’s tournament March Madness because they thought it would hurt the brand. On the men’s side, the madness can be seen in San Diego defeating Alabama or Florida Atlantic, making it to the Final Four. The madness can also be seen in Arkansas upsetting Kansas, Fairleigh Dickinson surprising Purdue or Furman beating Virginia.
UConn Huskies. Texas Longhorns. Gonzaga Bulldogs. San Diego State Aztecs. Miami Hurricanes. Creighton Bluejays. Kansas State Wildcats. Florida Atlantic Owls.
No one picked these eight teams to make it to the Elite Eight. I don’t believe anyone picked four of the eight to make the Elite Eight.
Unlike college football, college basketball is not as predictable, and more teams have a legitimate shot at winning the championship. That said, I don’t believe anyone picked Texas Christian University to be in the National Championship game this past season. Some fans don’t believe TCU should have made it to the championship game.
Madness is overlooking women’s basketball. Dawn Staley and her South Carolina Gamecocks are on fire. They are undefeated and look to repeat as National Champions. However, the storylines of the teams in the women’s Elite Eight are incredible.
South Carolina Gamecocks. Virginia Tech Hokies. Iowa Hawkeyes. Maryland Terrapins. Louisiana State University Tigers. Ohio State University Buckeyes. Louisville Cardinals. Miami Hurricanes.
What a way to describe unpredictable games. I encourage you to be unpredictable and use MAD as an acronym for Making A Difference.
Let us make a difference in someone’s life. We should all be M.A.D.: Making A Difference.
“Now Hiring” is a weekly article written by author and public speaker Willie Spears, a Northwestern alumnus. He has written 13 books and travels around the country, adding value to the lives of others through his books and dynamic presentations. Learn more at www.williespears.com.