It's illegal to gamble on sports. Such is fact.
That aside, allow me to encourage you to gamble on sports, with The Observer's help. After all, it is March, the month where companies across the country lose millions of dollars and teachers lose patience, as people like me elevate college basketball games between Temple and Cornell above their jobs, classes and even significant others.
This year The Observer is proud to hold a March Madness pool distinctly for you — our readers, specifically you Notre Dame students and alumni.
Just think, in a campus-wide pool, finishing in the top half will earn you bragging rights over 50 percent of the people you see on the quad. Suddenly 50 percent of those awkward encounters could be triumphant awkward encounters.
But why settle there? Win the whole thing! Finish first! I challenge you.
Yes, I hereby challenge ALL of you to do better than each and every member of The Observer Sports department. We walk around talking like we know sports better than the rest of you — I know I do — so how about you put us in our place? I'm looking at you Scholastic, and you soulless business majors, and you arrogant professors who constantly belittle sports journalism. Prove that anybody can do it!
Or, simply prove to your boyfriend that he spends too much time watching sports by showing him you know college basketball better than he does. Or prove to your friends that you really are smartest at the things that count, even if your GPA might be the lowest in your dorm.
How do you get into the pool? It's simple:
http://apps.facebook.com/bracket/group/detail/5494241.
Or go to Facebook and find the "Observer Sports" page. Or check The Casual Observer, the sports blog on the newspaper Web site, ndsmcobserver.com.
In fact, throughout the whole tournament, starting last night, there will be updates and analysis on the pool and the tournament on The Casual Observer. The best part is, you can comment on all of this and more on the blog and on Facebook. Let your voice, and your picks, be heard.
So if for no other reason than campus-wide respect, join the pool. Your bracket needs to be finished before your 11 a.m. Economics class ends Thursday. Invite your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your entire dorm, your parents, your little brother in high school. You can gain bragging rights over all of them.
And if you win, you'll also receive a gimmick Observer prize. Most likely whatever old media guides I can find in the office quickest, or, if interested, perhaps a mock Observer front page, completely about you and your victory, will show up in your mailbox.
Not many people can say the front page of a newspaper was all about them. You could say that, but first, you'll have to join The Observer March Madness pool. Then fill out your bracket before noon Thursday.
Best of luck.
