Earlier this week, I questioned the commonly held notion that there is a huge loss of business productivity at this time of year due to the focus on March Madness—the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament. As I wrote then, I think such talk is nonsense and that there are no reliable metrics to back it up. In other words, it’s an urban legend.

I also asked readers to share their opinions on this issue, and as I thought, they jumped to a different conclusion: March Madness actually offers a little relief from the day-to-day business grind and can be both good for morale and boost productivity, too. Here are some of the comments:

From a senior loan officer in Dallas: “The only thing that will affect our day Thursday is what restaurant we will order lunch from to be delivered for the opening TIP OFF. Seriously, March Madness does bring our office closer together with the constant jabbing, competitiveness and just plain camaraderie with your fellow workers. It gives you an opportunity to interact with employees who during the year you might not chat with, unless it is in a stressful situation. I believe it cuts some of the tension and gives everybody a breather.”

From a director of finance and administration in Austin, Texas: “Although we don’t have a pool in our office (too small and disinterested), a once-a-year event such as this would be a wonderful way for staff from different work areas to interact and have a little fun with an activity—a teambuilding, if you will. The positives far outweigh the negatives. Gambling—shmambling!”

From a benefits analyst at a university in Kentucky: “Those party poopers should loosen up. Think of March Madness and the resulting discussions and bracket completions as a ‘team building’ exercise. Our department as a whole rarely (if ever) interacts on a personal or social level, so our friendly competition ($1.00 entry fee) has been a way for all of us to interact, laugh and compare notes. We work very hard every day and will continue to do so. However, for a few weeks we will have a friendly competition and a source of commonality outside our professional responsibilities. From the college basketball fan to the clueless, it has given us something to have fun with and share.  It has strengthened our team and productivity and at no out of pocket cost to the organization. A great ROI if you ask me!”