It has become an annual spring epidemic. Every March, sports fans (and even some non-sports fans) come down with a condition known as March Madness.
The symptoms are recognizable. Victims of March Madness spout phrases like “Cinderella team,” “upset special,” “Sweet 16” and “there’s no way a 16 seed can beat a top seed.”
They also carry around things known as “brackets,” highly elaborate sheets where they attempt to predict the future (for entertainment purposes only – wink, wink).
In addition, people with March Madness show a marked tendency to skip out on work with the sole purpose of viewing college basketball, specifically the NCAA tournament.
Fortunately, the condition is a temporary one, and it generally subsides by the first week in April.
March Madness is widespread, and in several local establishments last week, it was very easy to find people who had become infected, even though some of them declined to give their names, for fear others may learn of their condition.
For example, of the five lawyers sitting at a table watching the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Thursday afternoon at Thatcher’s Restaurant in South Portland, only John Webb was willing to identify himself.
Webb, a Saco-based attorney who grew up in Sanford and lives in Arundel, said it has become an annual tradition, leaving work early to hunker down at a sports bar and watch college basketball.
“We do it every year without fail,” Webb said at 3:30 p.m. as the waitress refilled his Diet Pepsi. “We go for the first two days, then you kind of have to scratch out the weekend, too.”
Webb said he’d been at Thatcher’s since about 1:30 p.m. He and his fellow attorneys weren’t alone, as the large bar was more than half full and others sat at tables with brackets in hand. But most were uncomfortable speaking with a reporter, worried that bosses, co-workers or spouses would discover that they had played hooky.
“We don’t want to get divorced,” said one man who wished to remain anonymous as he and a friend worked on an appetizer and a couple drinks at the bar.
Dave Moran, the general manager at Thatcher’s, said sales were up in the kitchen and at the bar during the first afternoon of the tournament. Everyone wanted a seat by a TV, he said, and many had laptops in hand to check scores and online bracket contests.
“Most of the people you see snuck out of work early,” Moran said. “They say the first week of the tournament is the most unproductive work week of the year.”
And while there isn’t a local team to root for, most everybody had a favorite, or at least a sleeper team to pull for. For Webb, that team was UConn – not because it was New England’s only representative in the tournament (“I think Connecticut is not part of New England,” Webb said. “It’s part of New York City and it’s full of Yankees fans.”), but because coaching legend turned ESPN analyst Bob Knight picked the Huskies to go far and Webb figured he’d count on Knight’s expertise.
Knight and Webb proved off the mark, as UConn, a No. 4 seed, was stunned in overtime in the first round, falling to No. 13 San Diego 70-69.
“It’s tough to pick this year,” said Dan Drouin, owner of the Stockhouse Restaurant and Sports Pub in Westbrook. “I have (the University of North Carolina) in one bracket and Memphis in the other. The only reason I’m not sold on Memphis is they can’t shoot foul shots. I didn’t foresee a Cinderella team this year because the one and two seeds are so tough.”
Drouin said a table of 20 was in for lunch at his establishment specifically to watch the start of the first game on Thursday, though they had to head back to work. Just after 1:30 p.m., a couple men dressed in business attire bellied up to the bar for some lunch and beers. They said they worked locally in sales, but didn’t want to identify themselves further. One man pulled out a folder with several brackets inside as he looked to the TV for scores.
“I always feel confident on the first day – in all four of my brackets,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, the next four days are the best four days in sports.”
“If we didn’t have two meetings this afternoon, we’d be here for the duration,” the second man said.
“Tomorrow might be a different story,” his companion added.
March Madness got off to a slow start at Sebago Brewing Company in Gorham. While the restaurant had a good-sized lunch crowd, no one was there with the intent of watching basketball.
“We don’t really get big crowds for basketball games,” said bartender Sarah Fahey just before the first game tipped off at 12:20 p.m. “For the Final Four and for Celtics games, we’ll get a good crowd, but the Red Sox and football games draw better.”
A man sat down at the bar right after the game started and Fahey asked him if he was there to watch the tournament.
“What tournament?” the man replied.
A couple minutes later, local carpenters Shawn St. Peter and Ben Marshall sat down for lunch. They just wanted to grab a bite to eat before returning to work. They weren’t too concerned about catching the games.
“It’s funny too because we used to be big jocks back in the day,” Marshall said. “We don’t watch much now.”
“I played basketball until I got to college,” said St. Peter. “Then I realized 5-10 was way too short to be a power forward.”
Even though neither man filled out a bracket, they weren’t completely disinterested.
“As long as Duke doesn’t win, we’ll be happy,” St. Peter said.
The Mountaineers of West Virginia made sure of that on Saturday, beating Duke 73-67, knocking the Blue Devils out of the tournament.
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