March Madness!

You are damn right I am mad!

I am not quite to the Howard Beale “I’m mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore!” level; I am not going to shout that out our bedroom windows.

I can still take “it,” “it,” being the madness in the world today.

But then again, perhaps it is healthy to vent about things every once in a while, instead of keeping everything pent up inside. Maybe, just maybe, Frank Costanza is correct, that the annual “Airing of the Grievances” that is of Frank’s favorite holiday, Festivus, a good thing!

LET THE GRIPING BEGIN!

1. I am mad that my 2024 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket is dead last among all participants within Caldwell Partners! I mean, I spent thousands of hours shooting basketballs, dribbling basketballs, playing basketball… I have run around in short shorts and a tank top in front of 15,000 screaming humans, all in the pursuit of basketball nirvana and wisdom.

   
   

   And what has it gotten me?

   
   

   Embarrassment and derision.

   
   

   I am the laughingstock of the entire firm; I have dishonored my parents, my family, and my teammates and proven to be a fraud...

   
   

   All because I picked teams to win based on the color of their jerseys!

   
   

2. It is maddening that television pundits and TV commentators say that the presumptive nominees for the job of United States President are “'running’ for office!"

   
   

   Are you kidding me?

   
   

   One of those geezers walks with a three-inch stride, and the other lumbers like an elephant heading for its favorite watering hole!

   
   

   It would be more accurate to say they are ”trudging for president”!

   
   

3. “March Madness” has come to mean something entirely new, especially in college basketball.

   
   

   Two factors have changed the dynamics of college basketball forever. The economics of college athletics have been altered because college athletes are able to be paid for the utilization of their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Secondly, there is now a digital mechanism known as the “transfer portal” for college athletes to “test the waters” with regard to the potential interest other programs have in procuring their future services.

   
   

   The end result is that there is now a marketplace of buyers of college basketball talent and sellers for college basketball talent (i.e., the athletes themselves).

   
   

   The problem is that your favorite college or university is not the actual buyer of the talent. Athletes are paid NIL money by entities known as “NIL collectives” – groups of boosters and or alumni who raise money that can go directly to the college athletes.

   
   

   The result is that a college athlete can instantly learn the price their services will command in the market for college basketball talent. So, if your alma mater wants to keep that player, they will need to pony up the money – or else your favorite player will be wearing a different jersey next year.

   
   

   Ultimately, this is not “madness” but the classic definition of economics – i.e., the “allocation of scarce resources across alternative uses.”

   
   

   I can get bitch about NIL, but that is being selfish. At the end of the day, the services of college athletes have been utilized to fill universities' coffers for “revenue” sports. That athletes are receiving money that is more directly correlated to benefit the college (in the form of attention, alumni engagement, ticket sales, and television revenues) is not madness – it is economics.

   
   

   So – I can’t get mad about this, and neither should my university and its representatives. We just have to do what any business that is well led does – it adjusts to the changing marketplace in a way that leverages its strength and stays true to its mission.

   
   

   Getting mad isn’t going to help – getting creative and resourceful is the answer to a changing marketplace.