The traditional Face Off invites two members of the newspaper staff each to write an opposing viewpoint about an issue that affects students. The topic of blocking access to viewing March Madness games was assigned, but – no surprise here – nobody wanted to take on the view that this was a good idea.

So we present our ideas for why March Madness should not be blocked (knowing full well that our technology staff has good reasons for doing so). 

And one more thing: Boiler Up!

March Madness shouldn’t be blocked from the WiFi are because classes are way more fun during the tournaments. Most teachers will airplay the games on the TVs in the classrooms so everyone can watch and enjoy. 

There’s friendly competition throughout the whole school because everyone is doing it, and some teachers are holding their own competitions within each of their classes. 

They have parties at the end of the tournament and the students in the class how have completed the most accurate brackets don’t have to bring any food in. It’s a good way to bring both students and staff together; all the more reason not to block it.

Everyone (except IU fans) is interested

Everyone can still be up to date on the games and still learn at the same time, it’s a win-win (unless you’re an IU fan, and your loser team didn’t even make the tournament this year – again). 

March Madness truly has the ability to bring an entire school together, but also humorously divide each other as well. 

In terms of bringing everybody together, the NCAA tournament is something that everybody in the school can benefit from. For those who enjoy the tournament, being able to watch the games on their iPads during free time would allow friends to view the games together and enjoy the intense drama that the tournament brings. 

And even for those who do not like or even care about March Madness, this event makes classes and the school atmosphere much more chill. Teachers will often play games on their projectors to lighten the mood and allow all students to have a little bit of fun.

Hoosiers in the NIT, and nobody cares

Another added benefit of being able to keep up with March Madness is the fact that it allows more intense fans to keep up with their favorite teams. Even though the Indiana Hoosiers will not be playing (have we already mentioned that?) in the NCAA tournament (and who cares about the NIT?) this year, many students still have a favorite team may play during the school day. 

By not having March Madness blocked, light-hearted rivalries often develop among friends and makes the tournament a fun little competition for everybody involved.

Additionally, allowing March Madness to be accessible over school WiFi would let students and faculty to keep up with their tournament brackets. There isn’t a better way of checking if you chose a matchup correctly than by watching that game live. 

It’s likely that a majority of the students and faculty have created at least some kind of bracket, so allowing these brackets and games to be accessible over school WiFi would benefit many.

And we note that every student in the school received an email from our beloved Mr. Ernst inviting us to participate in filling out a bracket. If you let us fill out an official Cathedral bracket, why not let us watch the games in real time? 

While there may be concern that March Madness could be a distraction for students, completely limiting the use of March Madness on school WiFi would not be fair to those using the app in their free time. 

Additionally, it prevents teachers who attempt to let their students watch the games over the projector during class from doing so. 

Some students may be so fired up about the tournament that they may even get their parents to call them in to stay home today. We would truly, truly hate to have one of our friends have to report to an administrator for excessive absences due to their desire to see their favorite team (but not the Hoosiers) play live and on the big screen in their den at home. 

We’re deadly serious (not really)

(OK, that last paragraph definitely is not to be taken seriously.)

We believe that our students are motivated enough in school to say that March Madness would not be a distraction, but merely an extra pastime and privilege that they should have the right to enjoy.