Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Do not boast about tomorrow,
    for you do not know what a day may bring.

• Proverbs 27:1

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

• 1 Timothy 6:10

Referencing the title, is your bracket busted?

I tried something new this year.  I did not wish to root for teams that I do not know, just because I put their name down in my bracket.  I did not wish to have my bracket busted in the first two days.

So, I went a totally different route.

I printed an empty bracket.  As the games are completed, I write down the winner.  To date, I have not had a single team on my bracket lose a game.

Would this fly in the office pool?  Obviously not, but most companies that have an office pool also have rules against gambling.  I have never figured out how that works.  But I have filled out brackets in the past and put in my dollar.  When they went up to five dollars, I quit playing.

My Dad taught me that I should never gamble what I cannot afford to lose.

And that brings me to March Madness.  Why is it “mad”?  Most people gamble money that they cannot lose.

Maybe your company or family or other group has a bragging rights bracket.

No money exchanges hands.  The winner gets to puff out his chest in pride, while the losers get to say, “Wait until next year.”

I have been in those kinds of office pools, and the superintendent still refuses to believe that money has not changed hands.  And he is itching to fire someone for gambling.  He cannot, so he gets angry at everyone.  He needs evidence.  There is no evidence, so the one who gets “mad” is the big boss who cannot fire someone.

God does not like greedy people or arrogant people.  And the proverb above speaks of March Madness Brackets, to a degree.  We have no idea who is going to win.  Some team with one fantastic player might attract your attention, but then he fouls out…  Sorry, I did not print an empty women’s bracket.  I cannot get many of those games, so I omitted that bracket this year.

My bracket is stress free.  I can watch a game with no real interest in who wins.  I can root for upsets.  I can groan when the winner is a school that “irritates” me in one way or another (arrogance being near the top).

And I can walk away and get some quality time reading the Bible or writing something or praying.  With money on the line, I might be glued to the television screen.

If it really matters whether your bracket is busted or not, why did you fill it out in the first place?

God loves winners and losers.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory