Sports R Dumb

What a whirlwind few days it's been! The Academy Awards, SXSW, literal massive windstorms sweeping through Texas and the Midwest...and of course, the unveiling of the NCAA Tournament Brackets. Welcome to March Madness!

We're sharing how you can fill out your brackets creatively, whether by mascot, region, or unique tourist attractions. Plus, diving into variations of Monopoly. Did you know Sean has never actually finished a game? Wild stuff.

Things we referenced in this episode:

Algebracket for filling out your bracket

Sportsmanship - Pass It On commercial

Pablo Torre Finds Out found the star from that commercial

Wacky Travel: Where in the World? to measure distances between places

We're in our first week of Daylight Savings Time here in the U.S., and that one less hour of sleep must have permeated its way through the sports world, too. We've got fans looking to throw chairs at players and/or getting escorted off in handcuffs during games for being too rambunctious.

Meanwhile, Long Island University has already won the Northeast Conference because its title game opponent is ineligible due to silly Division II and III to Division I transfer rules.

There's other silliness (and some great basketball) going on, but we're also taking a break to revisit the swath of excellent sports movies from the 90s, from Rookie of the Year to The 6th Man.

Links for your perusal:

Bracketologists

A Ranking of All Baseball Movies Based on How Well the Athletes Played Baseball

We've had quite a few dumb moments happening in college basketball, from Chad Baker-Mazara leaving his team midway through the game to Mick Cronin ejecting his own player after a flagrant foul. Meanwhile, Bruce Pearl is advocating that Miami (OH) should not make the NCAA Tournament despite a 29-0 record, while 15-14 Auburn should because they've played a harder schedule. Silly. And we've unfortunately seen several star players go out with injuries, but it isn't the death knell you'd expect for most of their teams. Plus, Joey and Sean go to an Austin Spurs game. Shenanigans predictably ensue.

Bracket Matrix: bracketmatrix.com

Podcast the Newsletter: https://podcastthenewsletter.substack.com

"It takes a long time to get the train moving." The Winter Olympics are in the books, and we're covering the highlights and lowlights. Congratulations to the U.S. women's hockey team, Mikaela Shiffrin, the domesticated wolf dog who crossed the finish line in style, and all the Olympians who won a medal. That is a super cool and impressive accomplishment.

Plus, a foray into Rollercoaster Tycoon, Mario Party, and going horseback riding as kids (and adults). Living in the past is fun, y'all.

The fun links we mention:

Colin Jost attempts to bobsled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dBqR7gxr2k

There's a horse in this cycling race: https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/1oyequr/in_1997_a_horse_spotted_a_group_of_cyclists/

Sean and Joey play the Summer Olympics '96 game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EERpgZ733pA

We've wrapped up All-Star Weekend, but NBA teams still have about two months left in the regular season. That means there's plenty of time for tanking! We're breaking everything down and perhaps pitching a fix or two.

Plus, what would you call your charity if it used wordplay based on your name?

References from the episode:

Aaron Gordon's Chair Dunk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q6n5NE6Cb4

Uh-Oh Maggette-O Kids Nonprofit: https://www.celebritytalent.net/sampletalent/7558/corey-maggette/

The Winter Olympics are underway and have been a treat. But of course, because some people are the worst, Olympians are facing harsh criticism after answering questions posed to them during these Games. You can disagree with someone without using hateful words or wishing them harm and death. In fact, that's exactly what the athletes are doing in a very graceful way while also focusing on the biggest moments of their lives.

Plus, the excellent Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show, the pedestrian Super Bowl game itself, and the dreadful, heavily AI-ruined Super Bowl commercials.

More about Elizabeth Swaney: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43123398

More than you ever knew you needed to know about confetti: apnews.com/article/super-bowl-confetti-drop-7ada39848898523ba548f440b0caa5e1

Is "loopholingly" a word? Certainly not, but it's a nice way to describe the dumbness going on at the college basketball level. Players who have been drafted or even played in G-League games are now returning to college in the middle of the season.

Plus, Joey recalls a college classmate who received a letter from the NBA after declaring for the draft years after he graduated, and Sean makes some solid predictions for the Super Bowl, including about the pre-game show with Green Day and the halftime show with Bad Bunny.

Finally, let's see how Josh Allen draws the Bills logo: https://i.redd.it/hge729nyevz01.jpg

The NFC and AFC Championships are in the books, and my oh my, what a radically different experience we got. The Broncos and Patriots had to attempt some semblance of football in a blizzard, while the Rams and Seahawks had much nicer conditions and...well, played a much nicer game because of it.

Plus, events we wish were at the Pro Bowl, forgotten plays from close losses, and we sadly recap the College Football Playoff championship game. What a year it was!

Fernando Mendoza breaking literal records on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTfrzk7wuQc

During the playoffs, we want to see the best teams performing at the highest level. That's pretty tough to do when it's so cold outside that you have to wear cayenne pepper in your socks to keep your blood circulating. Yet year after year, we see meaningful matchups having to battle cold, wind, snow, and other elements, ultimately leading to a less than stellar product on the field.

Plus, we're recapping a wild weekend of NFL moments, wondering whether it's better to take the ball first or second in overtime, and discussing some silly weather-related baseball bloopers. Here's some now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S76NbW7HFCk

And Kam Patterson did a pretty good Michael Irvin impression on SNL. Go Canes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8XWVfjagHY

You may have noticed the Chicago Bears were down by 18 points to the Green Bay Packers at halftime during their game in the NFC Wild Card round. Sports fans everywhere said the game was over. The Bears were a fluke. The Packers would win easily with Jordan Love playing the whole game. Chicago is cold.

Okay, that last part is accurate, but all too often, we see people putting down a team during a game, and then that team comes back and wins. And people far pettier than us will keep those receipts and make you look silly. Talking trash during a game is all well and good—just remember to finish it off. Which, you know, is tough for fans, because none of us are actually playing in the game.

Plus, Joey saw a very funny comedy set from Kevin Nealon, Sean is still glad he's not playing fantasy football, and this exchange between Liam Coen and maybe a reporter is incredibly heartwarming: https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1qadgk3/highlight_awesome_postgame_exchange_between_a/