Manhattan — One shot down the windpipe. One shot to win the Big 12 tournament.
K-State basketball fan Pat Atchity is celebrating his favorite season: March Madness.
“It’s like Frank Martin said, ‘The grind’s over, the fun begins,'” says Pat Atchity, K-State fan and manager of Tubby’s Sports Bar in Aggieville. “This is new for K-State, being in the tournament and stuff like that. It’s kind of new for us, so it’s kind of new for us but everyone’s excited about that. And, we’re not used to it, but at the same time we’re really enjoying it.”
As manager of Tubby’s, Atchity says during tournament time, business skyrockets.
“Business has just shot up, and it’s almost like a game day football day here,” he says. “The KU-K-State game last week or so was huge.”
Though many college basketball fans anticipate an exciting season during March Madness, employers are the ones who pay the price, as many of their employees come down to sport venues right here in Aggieville.
If fact, 22.9 million Americans follow games at work, and 57 percent of workers participate in office betting pools.
These workers spend an average of 13.5 minutes watching these games at work, costing businesses up to $3.8 billion in lost productivity.
But K-State business and ethics professor Diane Swanson says while the madness can be costly, there are potential benefits.
“The things on the job that bind them together, that increases solidarity, that improves, possibly, employee satisfaction,” Swanson said. “So while employee loss of productivity is a serious matter, some studies suggest that can be offset by gains in morale.”
While Swanson is not an advocate of participating in gambling pools, she says it can be a boost with an unsteady job market and down-spiraling economy.
Fans don’t seem to mind, though. 49 News even caught up with a few K-State fans playing hooky in the ‘Ville.
“If we just play our game, continue to get good efforts from both Beasley and Walker, I don’t think there’s a lot of teams in the country who could play with us,” said Sam Taylor, a K-State student who was skipping class.
As these fans guzzle their drinks and take their shots, they hope their favorite team has a shot at winning the tournament.