March Madness 'a good distraction' in some offices

At Scott Packman's law offices, March Madness is embraced.

Many of the lawyers avoid scheduling meetings, closings and court appearances Thursday and Friday because they will no doubt be "somewhat distracted" by the action during the frenzied first two days of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, says Packman, partner at Mavrides, Moyal & Associates Llp, with offices in Great Neck, Holbrook and Manhattan.

In a nod to co-workers' allegiances to their teams -- and the ubiquitous brackets -- the television screens in common spaces and in lawyers' offices can, and many will be, tuned into the games, he said.

The tournament makes for "good water cooler talk," and colleagues will no doubt make up work later at home or over the weekend, says Packman, a University of Florida alum whose team plays Friday afternoon.

March Madness promotes "friendly banter . . . It's reality television at its finest, live and happening right here," Packman says.

An MSN survey conducted in February found 57 percent of 1,003 respondents saying they take some time during work hours to monitor March Madness stats online -- 52 percent banter with co-workers about their brackets, and 43 percent check scores on mobile devices. Thirty-five percent said they are in the "I eat, breathe and sleep March Madness" category.

Still, what with the hours employees put in this time of year at Holtz Rubenstein Reminick Llp, a Melville-based accounting firm, the diversion shouldn't present any problem, says audit partner Andy Vuono, who'll be following the games on his office radio.

"It's a good distraction," says Vuono, for employees already working long hours during tax season. "It's something to talk about besides clients, taxes and audits," he says, and encourages camaraderie.

Office manager Clare Burns organizes the pool, and after each round posts names of employees and their standings on her office window.

"It's a morale boost," Burns said.

Michael Privitera, a support engineer at iNetworks Inc., a computer services firm in Holbrook, says he keeps a web browser tab open to a sports site, so he can "peek over and peek back" tracking scores as he attends to the real work at hand.

Indeed, he works for a company that's in the business of stymieing employees' ability to view any sites considered unproductive and potential bandwidth drains, including those with March Madness streaming video, says James Rocker, president and chief executive.

Still, Rocker says he's gotten calls at this time of year from company owners, asking if he can unblock certain sports sites just for them. Seeing himself as the protector of their networks, he says he explains the bandwidth repercussions, but has been met with responses such as, "Want to be in my pool?"