Today, we’re in the middle of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament nicknamed March Madness. This is my favorite time of the year. This 64-team event has teams from across the country. This year there are teams with long winning traditions like Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky. There are teams that have made runs in recent tournaments like Gonzaga, Baylor, Villanova and Creighton. Then, we have the Cinderella teams like Loyola-Chicago, Murray State and St. Peters.
Millions of fans compete with other fans to pick the winners of each game – all the way to the National Champion. Some study the records and statistics of the teams in the field. Some listen to the ‘experts’ to get their insights. Others just guess, and often their brackets end up being as accurate as those who’ve mulled over their selections for days.
Every year teams advance in the tournament and compete with other teams that, on paper, shouldn’t be in contention. These underdogs achieve standing through exceptional individual performances, big plays in key situations and tremendous team effort. While there always are surprising victories, eventually the team that prevails has the best game plan, executes its plan and performs in the key situations. They may not have the most talent, but each player effectively fulfills their role.
We’ve seen similar achievements happen with the COS. We’ve passed legislation in states like North Dakota with a very limited grassroots team. We’ve passed legislation in states like Texas with a massive well-organized team. In states like Missouri, we passed legislation with each team member working hard and executing the game plan.
Sometimes, it feels like we’re going up against a team (the legislature) that’s unbeatable. It can feel that way in deep blue states like California, Hawaii or Massachusetts. But look at what happened this year in Massachusetts. Our resolution passed unanimously in a Democrat- controlled committee. The two times we passed legislation in Missouri there were supermajority Republican legislatures. On paper, it might appear this would be an easy victory. But, it took three tries to pass our resolution the first time. Reality does not always unfold as we think.
This is why these games are played in March Madness. This is why we work hard in our districts and at the Capitol. While we are unsure if our efforts will turn into victories, we do know we will lose if we fail to play the game at all. When we have setbacks, we must assess what occurred, apply what we’ve learned and change our game plan. Act. Learn. Adjust. The COS has reached the half-way mark but the battle has only begun.
In liberty,
Brett
P.S. I hope your NCAA bracket is in better shape than mine!
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