The Final Four is set:
Kentucky vs. Wisconsin
Michigan State vs. Duke
Mike and Tim both finished with 2 of their 4 - both have Kentucky and Duke playing in the championship game.
Tim has 40 correct picks for 96 points; Mike has 35 correct for 89 points.
Remember: Tim picked the Wildcats to win it all, while Mike picked the Blue Devils.
Mike can only win (and avoid a batsu game) if Duke wins it all. If any of the other three teams win, Tim wins.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
Episode 149 - 2015 MLB Preview
It's time for baseball season!
Mike and Tim break down the 2015 Major League Baseball season and make their picks:
As always, picks are subject to batsu game. Since both Mike and Tim are picking the Washington Nationals, this could potentially be a team batsu (which, despite Chelski's best effort, has still not happened on the podcast).
Fair use: We end with Don Henley's classic "The Boys of Summer."
Click here to download.
Mike and Tim break down the 2015 Major League Baseball season and make their picks:
| Division/League | Mike's Picks | Tim's Picks |
| AL East | Baltimore | Boston |
| AL Central | Detroit | Kansas City |
| AL West | LA Angels | LA Angels |
| AL Wild Cards | Kansas City Toronto |
Seattle Toronto |
| NL East | Washington | Washington |
| NL Central | St. Louis | St. Louis |
| NL West | San Francisco | LA Dodgers |
| NL Wild Cards | Pittsburgh San Diego |
Miami Pittsburgh |
| AL Champs | LA Angels | LA Angels |
| NL Champs | Washington | Washington |
| World Series | Washington | Washington |
As always, picks are subject to batsu game. Since both Mike and Tim are picking the Washington Nationals, this could potentially be a team batsu (which, despite Chelski's best effort, has still not happened on the podcast).
Fair use: We end with Don Henley's classic "The Boys of Summer."
Click here to download.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
After 2 rounds...
The first weekend of the NCAA men's basketball tournament is over. How are the guys doing?
Mike: 28 total picks correct, 8 of the Sweet 16 correct, 5 of his Elite 8 still alive, 3 of his Final Four still alive, and championship game still intact. Further, Mike's entire West bracket (which he had Oregon winning) is dead.
Tim: 31 total picks correct, 10 of the Sweet 16 correct, 7 of his Elite 8 still alive, all four of his Final Four still alive, and championship game still intact.
At first glance, Tim has the better bracket, yet in our Yahoo tournament pool Mike leads by one point. How? In addition to the base 1-2-4-8-16-32 default scoring for Yahoo pools, our pool also gives bonus points based on seed difference:
"For any correct picks where the underdog wins, you will receive bonus points equal to the winning team's seed minus the losing team's seed, multiplied by the seed bonus values above."
Tim has 11 bonus points on the strength of:
Mike: 28 total picks correct, 8 of the Sweet 16 correct, 5 of his Elite 8 still alive, 3 of his Final Four still alive, and championship game still intact. Further, Mike's entire West bracket (which he had Oregon winning) is dead.
Tim: 31 total picks correct, 10 of the Sweet 16 correct, 7 of his Elite 8 still alive, all four of his Final Four still alive, and championship game still intact.
At first glance, Tim has the better bracket, yet in our Yahoo tournament pool Mike leads by one point. How? In addition to the base 1-2-4-8-16-32 default scoring for Yahoo pools, our pool also gives bonus points based on seed difference:
"For any correct picks where the underdog wins, you will receive bonus points equal to the winning team's seed minus the losing team's seed, multiplied by the seed bonus values above."
Tim has 11 bonus points on the strength of:
- Midwest: 7 Wichita State over 2 Kansas (5 points)
- East: 11 Dayton over 6 Providence (5 points)
- South: 5 Utah over 4 Georgetown (1 point)
- Midwest: 7 Wichita State over 2 Kansas (5 points)
- East: 11 Dayton over 6 Providence (5 points)
- East: 8 NC State over 1 Villanova (7 points)
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Episode 148 - Where Are They Now? 10
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Today's "Where Are They Now?" features four athletes who are of Irish descent.
Fair use: Today's episode ends with "Finnegan's Wake" by The Dubliners.
Click here to download.
Today's "Where Are They Now?" features four athletes who are of Irish descent.
Fair use: Today's episode ends with "Finnegan's Wake" by The Dubliners.
Click here to download.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Episode 147 - 2015 NCAA Tourney Picks
Mike and Tim make their NCAA men's basketball tournament picks on today's episode.
You can pick games with Mike and Tim. Click this link to sign up. You must sign up by the start of play on Thursday, March 19.
Here are some basics:
Mike's Final Four: Kentucky, Oregon, Louisville, Duke
Tim's Final Four: Kentucky, Arizona, Louisville, Duke
Mike's champions: Duke
Tim's champions: Kentucky (40-0)
Of course, brackets are subject to batsu game.
Mike's most difficult pick: the first round 2-15 matchup between Kansas (which he famously hates) and New Mexico State (which plays in the WAC with Mike's beloved UMKC Kangaroos). How to decide? Coin flip.
Click here to download.
You can pick games with Mike and Tim. Click this link to sign up. You must sign up by the start of play on Thursday, March 19.
Here are some basics:
Mike's Final Four: Kentucky, Oregon, Louisville, Duke
Tim's Final Four: Kentucky, Arizona, Louisville, Duke
Mike's champions: Duke
Tim's champions: Kentucky (40-0)
Of course, brackets are subject to batsu game.
Mike's most difficult pick: the first round 2-15 matchup between Kansas (which he famously hates) and New Mexico State (which plays in the WAC with Mike's beloved UMKC Kangaroos). How to decide? Coin flip.
Click here to download.
Episode 146 - March Potpourri
We start today's episode with talking about... Planet Comicon.
What does a sci-fi convention have to do with sports?
Simple. Tim had a batsu game: to go to Planet Comicon and collect a signature of his choice.
He collected two, as pictured below:
The first autograph was from Cary Elwes, best known his role as Westley in the film "The Princess Bride."
The second autograph was from Erin Gray, best known for her roles in Silver Spoons and Buck Rogers.
Mike was at Planet Comicon as well. In his case, he met up with some old friends who were there promoting their endeavors, which include the following:
Mike also got in a game of a D&D-themed Euro-style board game called Lords of Waterdeep. Below is said game during set up:
As expected, Mike used his free pass for the Chelsea-Tottenham League Cup Final. Tim, who also picked Tottenham in that game, was expected to receive punishment. However, going the extra mile and getting a second autograph paid off the batsu game. Therefore, Planet Comicon autographs now join the Kansas City Royals as banned themes for batsu games.
They continue with sports discussion covering a lot of different topics since the last time the guys recorded, including:
("You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.")
Click here to download.
What does a sci-fi convention have to do with sports?
Simple. Tim had a batsu game: to go to Planet Comicon and collect a signature of his choice.
He collected two, as pictured below:
The first autograph was from Cary Elwes, best known his role as Westley in the film "The Princess Bride."
The second autograph was from Erin Gray, best known for her roles in Silver Spoons and Buck Rogers.
Mike was at Planet Comicon as well. In his case, he met up with some old friends who were there promoting their endeavors, which include the following:
- Lucas Stoneking - http://instagram.com/stone_k1ng
- Levi Hoffmeier's "Mayflower" comic book series - MayflowerComic.com
- undeaddrivein.com
- SciFi4Me.com
Mike also got in a game of a D&D-themed Euro-style board game called Lords of Waterdeep. Below is said game during set up:
As expected, Mike used his free pass for the Chelsea-Tottenham League Cup Final. Tim, who also picked Tottenham in that game, was expected to receive punishment. However, going the extra mile and getting a second autograph paid off the batsu game. Therefore, Planet Comicon autographs now join the Kansas City Royals as banned themes for batsu games.
They continue with sports discussion covering a lot of different topics since the last time the guys recorded, including:
- FA Cup updates
- NFL trades and free agency
("You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.")
Click here to download.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Tourney Bound Schools So Far...
We will be doing a tourney show this Sunday during our next recording session.
As a quick preview, here are the 12 teams that have clinched 12 of the 32 automatic bids so far. All are from conferences talked about in our Know Your Mid-Majors subseries:
Atlantic Sun: North Florida
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Colonial: Northeastern
Horizon: Valparaiso
MAAC: Manhattan
Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa
NEC: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Belmont
Patriot: Lafayette
Southern: Wofford
Summit: North Dakota State
West Coast: Gonzaga
Normally, the Ivy League would send its regular season champions to the tourney, but this year Harvard and Yale tied with identical 11-3 conference records. Because of this, there will be a one-game playoff between the Crimson and the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 14.
Conferences with tournaments ending on Saturday (14):
ACC
America East
Big East
Big Sky
Big 12
Big West
Conference USA
MAC
MEAC
Mountain West
Pac-12
Southland
SWAC
WAC
Conferences with tournaments ending on Sunday (just before Selection Sunday) (5):
American Athletic
Atlantic 10
Big Ten
SEC
Sun Belt
As a quick preview, here are the 12 teams that have clinched 12 of the 32 automatic bids so far. All are from conferences talked about in our Know Your Mid-Majors subseries:
Atlantic Sun: North Florida
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Colonial: Northeastern
Horizon: Valparaiso
MAAC: Manhattan
Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa
NEC: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Belmont
Patriot: Lafayette
Southern: Wofford
Summit: North Dakota State
West Coast: Gonzaga
Normally, the Ivy League would send its regular season champions to the tourney, but this year Harvard and Yale tied with identical 11-3 conference records. Because of this, there will be a one-game playoff between the Crimson and the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 14.
Conferences with tournaments ending on Saturday (14):
ACC
America East
Big East
Big Sky
Big 12
Big West
Conference USA
MAC
MEAC
Mountain West
Pac-12
Southland
SWAC
WAC
Conferences with tournaments ending on Sunday (just before Selection Sunday) (5):
American Athletic
Atlantic 10
Big Ten
SEC
Sun Belt
Monday, March 2, 2015
Episode 145 - Know Your Football Clubs: Italy
Today is Know Your Football Clubs, Italian edition.
One thing Mike found interesting with Italy: groundsharing (two teams sharing a stadium - think New York Giants-New York Jets) is very prevalent here, as opposed to the other countries we've discussed so far, where most clubs have their own stadiums.
Note: neither Mike nor Tim speak Italian, so please do not crucify us if we get the club names' pronounciation wrong.
Clubs we focused on in today's discussion:
Clubs we mentioned in passing:
Fair use: We end today's episode with "Juve Storia di un Grande Amore," the official anthem of Juventus FC. Even if you don't speak Italian, it's a beautiful song about love for the club.
Click here to download.
One thing Mike found interesting with Italy: groundsharing (two teams sharing a stadium - think New York Giants-New York Jets) is very prevalent here, as opposed to the other countries we've discussed so far, where most clubs have their own stadiums.
Note: neither Mike nor Tim speak Italian, so please do not crucify us if we get the club names' pronounciation wrong.
Clubs we focused on in today's discussion:
| Bologna | Fiorentina | Genoa | Internazionale (Inter Milan) |
| Juventus | Lazio | AC Milan | Napoli |
| Parma | Pro Vercelli | Roma | Sampdoria |
| Torino |
Clubs we mentioned in passing:
| Reggiana |
Fair use: We end today's episode with "Juve Storia di un Grande Amore," the official anthem of Juventus FC. Even if you don't speak Italian, it's a beautiful song about love for the club.
Click here to download.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
2014-15 League Cup Final Result
The 2014-15 Football League Cup Final was played today at Wembley Stadium in London.
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Both Mike and Tim picked Tottenham. Both get a batsu game.
Mike has already stated he will use his free pass on this result.
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Both Mike and Tim picked Tottenham. Both get a batsu game.
Mike has already stated he will use his free pass on this result.
2015 Conference Tournaments
Welcome to March. Before we get to the Big Dance, we have the many conference tournaments which will determine 31 of the 32 automatic tournament bids.
The following dates are the conference tournament finals (major conferences in italics):
March 7 - Ohio Valley
March 8 - Atlantic Sun, Big South, Missouri Valley
March 9 - Colonial, MAAC, Southern
March 10 - Horizon, Summit, West Coast
March 11 - Northeast, Patriot
March 14 - ACC, America East, Big East, Big Sky, Big 12, Big West, Conference USA, MAC, MEAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, Southland, SWAC, WAC
March 15 - American Athletic, A-10, Big Ten, SEC, Sun Belt
The Ivy League does not host a tournament. That conference's automatic bid goes to the regular season champion.
The following dates are the conference tournament finals (major conferences in italics):
March 7 - Ohio Valley
March 8 - Atlantic Sun, Big South, Missouri Valley
March 9 - Colonial, MAAC, Southern
March 10 - Horizon, Summit, West Coast
March 11 - Northeast, Patriot
March 14 - ACC, America East, Big East, Big Sky, Big 12, Big West, Conference USA, MAC, MEAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, Southland, SWAC, WAC
March 15 - American Athletic, A-10, Big Ten, SEC, Sun Belt
The Ivy League does not host a tournament. That conference's automatic bid goes to the regular season champion.
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