March is here, and it is time for the annual college basketball tournament known by most as March Madness.

Employers all over the country recognize it as one of the most inefficient times of the year because of time spent completing brackets.

The most amazing part of it is that people with almost no interest the rest of the season suddenly can’t get enough coverage.

The Eagle’s local in-paper contest gets between 1200 and 1400 entries every year. It is fun to look through all the names and see which of your friends did well and even more fun to see whom embarrassed themselves.

This year we have an interesting twist because former Butler High School star and current Purdue Boilermaker Ethan Morton is playing in the tournament, and his team is one of the top seeds.

Do you suppose there will be many locals lean to the Big Ten champions because of our celebrity?

It wouldn’t be surprising if most of the ballots select Purdue, even though they don’t know what state Purdue is in, what position Morton plays, what his jersey number is, or if he prefers gravy or chili on his hot dogs or pickle only.

We will have our sports guru, John Enrietto, try to get answers to those questions this week.

Regardless of how you select your winners, we hope you have fun and maybe even watch a game.

Want some advice for completing your brackets?

It is true that those Boilermakers wield a heavy steel hammer capable of knocking out most foes.

It would also seem that teams wearing red or green are often successful.

Ivy league schools can sometimes outsmart opponents, and teams that can boast of 7-foot players are a tall stretch to beat.

Don’t forget vicious cats often have less aggressive animals for dinner, but an elephant is often too much for any predator to handle.

There you go, that should help you — but don’t forget some teams have spiritual influences helping them, so factor five points for any with a “Saint” in front of their name.

Good luck, but don’t bet the grocery money.

— RV