Representing the agency side in the Final Four is the Department of Veterans Affairs and NASA. Let’s recap how they got here.
VA: The VA has always been a dominate agency with tons of employees and quite frankly a great cause… our vets. If anyone thinks we would enjoy the same lifestyles we do in this country with out our vets you’re absolutely crazy. They are totally the backbone to our freedom and should be celebrated and taken care of. The VA pretty much cruised through the first three rounds of GovMadness taking down little and big agencies alike including the NLRB, DOE and HHS. Last round the VA knocked off 11 seeded Cinderella the Dept. of Education to make the inaugural GovMadness Final Four.
NASA: Could anyone really doubt NASA’s awesomeness? I mean kids dream of being astronauts growing up and no offense other govies but they don’t dream of being program analyst (even though those are important too). NASA was a 7 seed because of the agency size but most of us would be lying to say we didn’t expect them to go far in GovMadness. NASA’s appearance in the Final Four comes by way of victories over OPM, DOJ, Smithsonian Institute and an elite eight victory over number one over all seed DoD.
Repping the local/city side of the bracket in the Final Four is Washington DC and Austin, Texas.
Washington DC: Based on the amount of GovLoopers that call the capital home they had to have been an early favorite. A lot of times DC local gov gets over looked because it stands in the shadow of the US gov but the local govies in DC actually do a lot with less. Because of the way the district laws are set up running DC isn’t the easiest thing to do but they keep it rocking and rolling. DC claimed it’s spot in the Final Four with wins over Nashville, New Orleans and Boston. DC’s biggest test came in round 3 when they had to face fellow juggernaut San Francisco.
Austin: Those of you who have never been to Austin might be surprised to see them in the Final Four but plain and simple Austin rocks. One of the largest state capitals Austin gets the best of both worlds with local and state government. Austin also has a booming tech industry… can anyone say Gov2.0 hotbed? Austin no doubt had probably the easiest way to the Final Four but they also had some of the most exciting matchups barely squeaking out wins against Chicago and Seattle.
That’s our Final Four so get out and vote for your winner and remember to take a look at our standings leaderboard for personal results on your bracket.