Chicago-area college basketball fans celebrate first day of March Madness
The first day of the NCAA men's basketball tournament is not a holiday, but many believe it should be. College basketball fan Tim Coffey is making sure it is for his employees. He gave them the day off Thursday.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch Coffey and his friends made sure to get a table early for a long day of watching basketball. The Franklin Tap in the Loop was doing brisk business Thursday even before the traditional lunch time.
That's because the first men's college basketball games of the tournament started at 11 a. m. March Madness is a tradition for Coffey and his dad going back a quarter of a century.
They often travelled to tournament games to watch in person. "Since I was a kid he just never made us go to school," Coffey said. "He always called it Christmas morning for me and my brother and sister.
" Coffey's father Phil died in August, and he says memories of watching the games with his dad prompted him to make sure his employees have the same opportunity whether it's basketball or something else they enjoy. "No one is getting any work done on these days anyway," Coffey said. "So let's just give the whole company, all 100 workers the day off.