I love March Madness, basketball-y speaking. (I also love making up words.)

It’s invigorating to watch a 15-seed knock out a 2-seed in the first round, witnessing a team with nothing to lose upset a team with tall expectations...

…except for when your team is the team with tall expectations.

My family and I are avid fans of the Illinois Fighting Illini, who, in case you don’t follow college basketball, earned one of the four coveted “1 seeds” in this year’s NCAA tournament.

This was a big deal for our squad. The last time the University earned this seeding was in 2005, when 10-year-old me spent the entire season in an emotional flux of tears of joy and sorrow. The team made it all the way to the championship game only to lose to North Carolina in the final minutes.

(Oh, but little Matthew didn’t get to see the end, no. Rather, he had cried himself to sleep after the Illini found themselves down 8 points in the first five minutes of the game. I was a highly emotional kid.)

So, this year, we anticipated a memorable run to the Final Four, stacked with two All-Americans and some strong role players.

And then, Loyola Chicago, led by the prayers of 101-year-old Sister Jean and mustache-bearing Cameron Krutwig, upset us in only the second round. Ouch.

“Everybody loves March Madness because of its madness, but nobody wants the madness to happen to them.”

Everybody loves March Madness because of its madness, but nobody wants the madness to happen to them.

We desire calm waters, easy trails, freshly-paved roads. Any “madness” is something to be avoided in our eyes, since madness brings us out of balance.

“But madness is a prerequisite for stretching our abilities, which is a prerequisite for growth.”

But madness is a prerequisite for stretching our abilities, which is a prerequisite for growth. Winning tastes a lot sweeter for those who know defeat.

Life and business are full of defeat, from which no one can escape. The important matter is not to avoid defeat, but to handle it properly with grace and a desire to improve. 

It’s a bummer that things didn’t work out this year for the Illini coaches, players, and fans. But there will be another season. All the team can do today is learn from their experience and carry on in their effort to contend for a championship.

No plans will ever work out exactly how we want, so we must learn to roll with any outcome.

Embrace the madness.