The War Paint of March Madness

Before you start to think this is about March Madness, it is, but it isn’t.

Before your start to think this is about basketball, by and large, it isn’t, but it is about learning something from history and instilling that passion into life and sport.

The month of March is filled with mythology and madness, historically, and not just on the hardwood of March Madness that is thought of in the modern day.

In ancient times the ides referred to the middle, or 15th, of the month.  For Julius Caesar, the warning of the Ides of March being upon him meant death.  He was assassinated, literally and figuratively, stabbed in the back by his subordinate contingency in 44 BC.  These events were later part of William Shakespeare’s play Julius Cesar.

Recently, St. Patrick’s Day was observed globally as an annual feast that celebrates one of the Patron Saints of Ireland, St. Patrick, though his life remains a mystery.  He was born in England and was eventually taken prisoner at the age of 16 and exiled to Ireland. 

This is where he worked as a shepherd and found some comfort.  All of his time alone working led him to a greater faith in Christianity that subsequently caused him to leave and later return to Ireland as a missionary due to subsequent visions and dreams.

Patrick was known for incorporating traditions into his message of faith.  He subsequently died on Mar. 17, believed to be 460 A.D.

This is a unique holiday in that it was formerly known as a religious holiday but became a secular holiday in 1903.  This occurred much in the same way Christmas has crossed over into the mainstream.

If you’ve ever seen the movie Braveheart, you may recall William Wallace, who became known as the Guardian of Scotland for leading Scotland’s resistance to the British invasion.  Along with Andrew de Moray, Scotland launched continuing campaigns that eventually led to the first big Scottish victory, at Sterling Bridge. This was followed by Scottish raids into northern England and Wallace's eventual recognition as Guardian of Scotland in Mar. 1298.

Now that, my friends, is March Madness. 

Lessons from history on backstabbers and oppressors of the day, when it comes to understanding war paint, their ilk need not apply.

Now, check out the war paint.

In a place not far from where I live, in the south rim of what is now Denver, CO, is the location of another historical event.  Another war that drew to a sad end, but this one hits closer to home physically and on the historical timeline.  History books call it the Sand Creek massacre of 1864, where Native Americans were raped and slaughtered in the name of progress and out of fear.  This shamefully led to subsequent futile retaliation from the native tribes and the near extinction of a people and a culture.

Prior to these last events the native warriors would adorn war paint as a symbol of strength, honor, and eventuality.  It was not about hostility.  It was about being a warrior.

It was rooted in the spiritual thoughts of passing from this life into the next, a manifest destiny.

It was about presenting your best to the maker they were about to meet, full well knowing the likelihood of dying for their cause.  It solidified a need to hold true to a spirit, a maker, a land, and the people.

Now, fast forward to the modern day, and the sports world.

We have the Super Bowl, the World Series, NBA Finals, NHL Finals, the BCS National Championship Game, the College World Series, the World Cup, the Olympics, the Winter Olympics, the World Baseball Classic, the list goes on.

And then we have March Madness.

It should go without saying that we have enormous player compensation, agents, and athletes who change teams on a whim and a prayer all for a new paycheck.  With some disregard the gauntlet of the Ides of March are constantly cast upon the sports world.

Do they not know, or have they not heard, or have they just forgotten?

March Madness is upon us all, and it’s a joyful reflection on who we are, who we were, and who we can still be.

March Madness is a time of year when kids play from the heart for a school and a mascot, wearing their hearts upon their sleeves, (or jerseys without sleeves).  They play for the right to be crowned as champions for only a brief moment in time. 

It’s an effort that takes everything a person has to offer. To be their best, it takes war paint; to be the best, it takes something very special.

They are wearing war paint when they play from the heart as if it’s the last chance they will ever get to play the game they love.  Playing with passion like warrior spirits.

War paint is the reflection of the soul.

We live in troubled economical and political times. People can’t find work, business loans, and they need a thread of strength to carry on and keep some dreams alive.

When others cheat, lie, and steal, they are deceived in thinking that they are wearing war paint; they’re not.  It’s a simple facade to trick the mind into placing too much emphasis where it shouldn’t be. 

It takes war paint to find the braver truth and the better you.  It takes war paint to persevere through the day-to-day.  It takes war paint to get the job done, and get it done right.

War paint is different in the modern day, but it requires the same passion.

Today it’s about keeping your best foot forward even though that employer may not be real, or may not be hiring, or may not be hiring you.  It’s the courage of the person behind that paint that matters literally more than the actual deed of seeking out their destiny.

It takes courage to do the right thing; it takes courage to take a chance in a small business, to invest in a small business, on a career ambition, on a dream, to have faith in something greater than you, even if it’s just a whim.

So, throughout March Madness, when we see youthful ambition carried out on the hardwood courts during the first days of spring, it’s an amazing sight when the kids bring their war paint and do it up right.  The games get crazy, but they are hardly ever out of hand.  They have traditional powers bringing their best against the smaller unknown schools in a battle of David versus Goliath.  For the smaller schools to win, it takes war paint, and people rejoice and go into shock when they do.

If they have a wing and a prayer, so do you.

In the job market, there are bogus human resource reports and databases on workers, unemployment benefits that get denied for the sake of endorsing bogus laws instilled to protect the wealthy institutions, employers and employees who miss the point of making an honest living and in having a career.

In order to survive it all through the downturns, and to learn how to thrive through the madness of March, you need war paint.

War Paint!

Try it out, put some on and be a little more confident in who you are and what you can be.

Be a warrior.

War Paint!