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 Obama, appearing on the ESPN cable network to pick winners round by
round, selected undefeated Kentucky to beat Villanova in the April 6
finals of the NCAA Tournament that begins in earnest on Thursday.
Despite being a self-proclaimed basketball junkie, history is not on
Obama's side. He has correctly picked only one champion since he
began making his tournament selections public in 2009.
"I think Kentucky is going to take it," Obama told a Cleveland
audience later in the day. "But, you know, I haven’t won since my
first year in office. ... So I wouldn’t necessarily take my bracket
and copy it, although I suspect I’m not the only person picking
Kentucky."
The commander-in-chief leads legions in slacking off for "March
Madness."
"We live in an age of distractions. There are many things that our
employers have to fight in the workplace today but there's nothing
that compares to the unique event that is March Madness," said Andy
Challenger, vice president of business development at global
outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
U.S. companies will lose an estimated $1.9 billion in wages to
employees being unproductive during work hours, he said, between
researching, filling out brackets, organizing pools and watching
games.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week showed 23 percent of Americans will
fill out at least one bracket and of those, nearly 40 percent will
bet more than $10.
In terms of Las Vegas betting, the NCAA tournament rivals the NFL's
Super Bowl, which attracted $116 million in wagers for the New
England Patriots' victory over the Seattle Seahawks in February.
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"Whoever coined the phrase 'March Madness' got it correct," said Jay
Kornegay, vice president of race and sports operations at the
Westgate Las Vegas (Nevada) SuperBook.
Kornegay said unlike the Super Bowl, which attracts men and women
equally in Las Vegas, NCAA Tournament bettors are "99 percent guys,
period."
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, a potential 2016 Republican
presidential candidate, selected the University of Virginia to win.
He drew some criticism on social media, with skeptics noting that
Virginia is a darkhorse but the school is located in a state Bush
likely needs to reach the Oval Office like his brother and father.
(Editing by Mary Milliken and Will Dunham)
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