By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN WEST — Many Manhattan men suddenly went missing from their Midtown workplaces on Thursday afternoon, but thankfully they turned up safe and sound at nearby bars with their hands on pint glasses and their eyes on TVs — indicating that March Madness had begun.
Bars throughout Midtown were packed from lunchtime onward with college basketball fans playing hooky from work to watch the first day of games in the NCAA men's tournament.
"I'm supposed to be at work right now," said Ken Waller, at the bar Faces & Names on West 54th Street. "I'm on calls right now if my boss is asking."
While many fans snuck out of the office, some didn't have to be so surreptitious regarding their whereabouts.
"My office knows where I am," Alex Maikowski said, with beer in hand, at Connolly's Pub on West 54th Street. "Especially when you're working with other sports fans like I am, this kind of occasion is excusable."
For those lucky enough to be the boss, like Dave McGrail, work was scheduled around the games.
McGrail, a lawyer with his own firm, declared Thursday a company-wide holiday and closed his office for the day in honor of March Madness.
Both McGrail and Waller shared the same sentiment about the importance of the first day of March Madness.
"This is my favorite day of the year," both men said.
Waller took it one step further, adding, "It's like a national holiday. It's like St. Patrick's Day, but… better."
