Watercooler

The 7 Stages of Your Office March Madness Pool

march-madness
Written by Kate Lopaze

If your office is like many others around the country, this March will include hours of lost productivity and surreptitious score-checking, as everyone anxiously awaits the fate of their NCAA basketball tournament brackets. And if you’ve joined an office bracket pool, you might go through these seven distinct stages this month.

1. Anticipation

Everyone’s excited about the shared fun that lies ahead. Sports! Camaraderie! Prizes!

2. Annoyance at the guy who takes it waaaaaay too seriously

3. Self-doubt

Why did you pick Podunk State to win it all?!

4. Smugness when the upsets start breaking your way

5. Despair when your bracket busts like a piñata.

6. Rage that the one who DID win it all made her picks based on uniform colors.

7. Ready to do the whole thing again next year.

About the author

Kate Lopaze

Kate Lopaze is a writer, editor, and digital publishing professional based in New York City. A graduate of the University of Connecticut and Emerson College with degrees in English and publishing, she is passionate about books, baseball, and pop culture (though not necessarily in that order), and lives in Brooklyn with her dog.