Episode 10: MERCH MADNESS - Cinderella Runs & Championship Dreams

March Madness is here, and we’re celebrating with Final Four predictions and a little MERCH Madness. We dive into iconic tournament stories—from the first championship in 1939 to legendary Cinderella runs like UMBC and Sister Jean’s Loyola squad. Link to THE DOGS merch: https://the-dogs-podcast-shop.fourthwall.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Episode, episode, episode, episode. Ten ten ten. Merch, merch, merch, merch. Madness, madness, madness, madness.

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Episode ten. Merch madness.

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What the F is up, babies? Woo! We got a major milestone today. Episode 10. Episode What a wonderful journey it's been, Matt.

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Double digits, dude.

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I do feel like we're getting we're better than we were on for the first time. Hunno P. Don't you think?

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Hunopee, right? Don't you think, listener? Don't you think? Listener, do you agree?

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And we, as you hopefully likely know, we are celebrating this milestone with an announcement.

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Hidden.

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We today we are launching the Dogs Podcast merchandise website. Woo!

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Let's go.

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We've got a quite a few, quite a few like hot ticket items.

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Oh yeah.

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We kind of did a soft launch with like friends and family and getting great feedback. Matt's got his dog's hat and shirt on.

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Yep. I'm rocking two pieces right now.

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He's got the dad hat or cap, I think it's called, and then the logo tee.

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Yep.

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I'm a big fan of the dogs after dark sweatshirt.

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That's a good one too.

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Yeah, that's a good conversation starter.

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Um we got the big dog of the week mug too.

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Big dog of the week mug. Yeah, we'll drop that today. We'll drop it. Yeah. I just haven't tested it yet, so I don't know if it's good.

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Yeah.

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Um, and there is a t-shirt on there.

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Yeah.

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The Matt Prang in the Attic tea. That I mean, hopefully that's okay.

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Is that what's the really funny one that you wrote? Is that the dog's after dark sweatshirt?

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Yeah.

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Can I read it?

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Yeah, read it.

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So here's the description. You know the feeling. It's like 3 a.m. You're with the boys, fired up. You just figured out the solution to world peace. You kissed your best friend on the mouth. Taco Bell dangling from your chin. You maybe probably just texted an ex. Where are your shoes? No idea. It got a little wild, but it was a productive wild. And somehow it's perfect. That's Dogs After Dark. Effortless, effortlessly cool, and ridiculously soft. This sweatshirt is built for late nights, questionable decisions, and the stories that make you laugh so hard you start crying about later. This one's for the boys. But it's also for the girls.

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Yeah, yeah. It's for the dogs. That's awesome. Yeah, I got I was pretty proud of that description.

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Some really good descriptions.

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So this has been a labor of love for me for the past few weeks. So I really hope you guys enjoy it. Please consider making a purchase and supporting our podcast. We are now officially in the green.

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We're in the green, baby.

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By like$4.

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And that's all that's all we want.

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Um I on my wish list, like I think we should continue investing it into the podcast.

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So yeah, for sure.

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I think we need a new microphone from me.

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Probably a whole new setup, honestly.

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Maybe. But I think on at the top of my list is like that beer fridge that I want.

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I think that's more of a nice tab. I think we should get some better software up in this-ish.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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I don't know. I feel like the sound is pretty decent.

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It sounds pretty decent.

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But definitely we deal with it.

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It's a little janky.

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Who yeah, for those of who who don't know, which is everyone, every time we are about to start, it takes us about 15 minutes to get K2.

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Yeah, because it's like buzzing. So yeah, if you uh consider like consider supporting us so you know we can just keep delivering incredible content.

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Yeah, this is the only thing getting us in the green right now, is the merch. So we got a couple big orders in.

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Couple big orders.

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You know who you are. Shout out.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

But yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it should be fun. Uh yeah, and you know what, Matt, I have some fun ideas for the future. Like, I'm thinking we can have like holiday specific items. Like so for Mother's Day, I'm thinking like a cute pink cap with like flowers on it.

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Yeah.

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Like things like that.

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Yeah. We're Katie's all over that. Katie's gonna be a little bit more than a little bit.

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I'm merch girl. I'm merch girl.

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I'm research and development technical guru. Which that's me.

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That's me. Yeah, that's you. Okay, um, yeah, so that's that's exciting. So, but we're we're in a fun time right now. Yeah, it's sports-wise, right?

SPEAKER_03 4:49

Yeah, I mean, baseball's in full swing, which is electric, basketball is getting close to the playoffs, which is fun. March madness, we got final four today. Um, so we will be making some predictions there. Um, yeah, things are rolling, dude. I I'm this is the probably the happiest that I am in sports in general until playoff baseball. It's like March madness, first, you know, first baseball games getting back into it.

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It's exciting. It's it's a it's refreshing, really.

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And spring is sprung. Uh it's not like exactly warm, but it's raining a lot, which stuff's getting green, which is nice.

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Things get green, it kind of washes away like all the gross shit.

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Winter depression.

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Yeah, so we're feeling revitalized.

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I feel better. I feel less sad.

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I feel better. Yeah, I do feel less sad.

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Less depressed. So that's good. Um, yeah. So this episode's gonna be uh March Madness. March Madness. We're calling it merch madness, obviously, because I mean, how how could we call it anything else? Kicking off the merch. Um, we're gonna tell you we got four short stories, magical moments, and in honor of the final four this weekend. These uh stories aren't gonna be about these teams that are left in particular, but just four cool stories from March Madness history, women's, men's, the whole shebang. Um, we're gonna talk about all that. Before we get to that, we're gonna do a couple live time predictions from your two college basketball gurus, um, which is me and Katie, obviously. Um, we know a lot about these teams that we do. I don't think I can name a single player on either of these teams except for LeBron James son, who redshirted, so he's not even playing. That's Bryce James on Arizona. So, Katie, we got Illinois three-seed versus UConn, the two seed. Who you got tonight?

SPEAKER_02 6:37

I gotta go UConn. I gotta go Yukon.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

Yeah, any particular reason or just vibes?

SPEAKER_02 6:42

I just it's just the vibe, you know. I'm getting that feeling in my bones.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Um, you know, I'm gonna go with uh ILL, I and I, uh the homeland, just so we're on a different page there. Apparently they got like a bunch of European Larries. I don't know anything about it, but that's what I heard.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

So that's weird.

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ILL. I and I. That's who I got there. Um, we got Michigan one seed versus Arizona one seed. Who you got there?

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A Z baby.

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Okay.

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I just don't like Michigan.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Okay, you know what? I'm gonna take Michigan. I'm gonna go with big time. I just want big time.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Wow, I just went very anti-big time.

SPEAKER_03 7:19

You did. You did.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Um, so I mean to clarify, that's the men's tournament.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Honopee, yeah.

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So let's think about equality next.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

Okay, well, maybe you could add some into the sheet. Maybe you could do that. We'll do women's next episode. Okay. Well, actually, it's gonna be over it. We could do a lifetime lookup.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Yeah, do a lifetime lookup with Matt.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Okay, lifetime lookup with Matt, women's final four matchups. I don't even know what's in it, to be honest. I think it's all the one seeds, though, which it kind of usually is yeah, dude. They are I think it's like much more lopsided in in women's.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Yeah.

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Okay, so we got the oh, this is just the championship. We're in the championship.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Oh.

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We got the South Carolina Game Cox against UCLA Bruins.

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Okay, I've heard that UCLA is like a a good dog story, I think.

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Yeah, okay.

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So I'm going UCLA.

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I think I'm gonna go UCLA too. I think my boss's boss, huge UCLA women's basketball fan. So shout out.

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I think they've had a fun season. I mean, from my limited, limited research that I have done.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Yeah, okay. So let's go UCLA there. Um quick pivot back to the men's. Who would you get in your championship then? Arizona versus UConn. Who you got?

SPEAKER_02 8:38

UConn.

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Okay, go UConn. I'm gonna go Michigan versus Illinois. I mean, frick. You know, I'm gonna go Illinois. Frick it.

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Wow.

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Frick it.

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The fighting alliani.

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I L L, baby. Um, I do want to just say this is the worst bracket I've ever had in March Man, in my Matt's March Man assistor. So bad, dude. So take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing. It's probably gonna be the exact opposite of what I say.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

When you are building your bracket, like what are you going off of?

SPEAKER_03 9:07

My well, I know nothing. Honestly, so like some years I'm like a little bit in step, you know, where I've watched a decent bit. This year I watched zero college basketball before. So I was like, honestly, maybe this will be a good year because I watched so little and it went the opposite way. So usually I mean, usually I'm like kind of upset heavy. And that was my problem this year is every upset I called was the opposite, and then all the other ones were the right upsets, you know. It just went horribly. I picked Duke, Duke went down. That was tough.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

I did pick Duke too.

SPEAKER_03 9:33

Yeah, so it just wasn't my year. Uh, shout out your husband. He's got like a top 1% bracket.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

Yeah, like less than 1%. Yeah, it's something gross. And he knows nothing. He knows nothing.

SPEAKER_03 9:45

I'm just kidding. Yeah, well, so um good luck to him. All right, so that's Final Four. Are we ready? Should we dive in here?

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Yeah, dude. I got the first story here, and you know, I uh I came up with this idea because I was talking to somebody at work, and this guy played football and collins.

SPEAKER_03 10:09

Your coworker did.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Yeah.

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Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Yeah, and uh he went to Northwestern.

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Very cool.

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And he told me that the first ever basketball national championship, which was in 1939, was held at the Patton Gymnasian gymnasium in Evanston. Wow. Which was the home court at the time at Northwestern University.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Very cool.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Yeah, isn't that interesting?

SPEAKER_03 10:38

I I would have never guessed that.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

I mean, it's a when you think about it, it's like, okay, it's a centrally located place, I guess, so maybe that's why they picked it. But you know, that got me thinking.

unknown 10:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Matt, when do you think the term March Madness was coined?

SPEAKER_03 10:57

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

You have no idea? You don't think it was that 1939?

SPEAKER_03 11:02

No, I don't. That had to have been it had to have been later, but I don't know how I would go to 2003.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

No. It was the 1980s. I don't know this specific year, but 1980s. Okay. Very good. So yeah, so like 40 years later.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Um in that fateful uh championship series, only eight teams competed compared to the 68 that compete today. Wow. University of Oregon won that championship. Matt, they were not the ducks. Did you know this?

SPEAKER_03 11:34

Uh I know. I would have figured they'd always been the ducks.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

No, they weren't the ducks. Matt, they were the Webfoots. Things were so weird back then. Things were so weird back then.

SPEAKER_03 11:45

What's with these dimes?

SPEAKER_02 11:46

What is with these dimes? I was looking at the names of all the guys in the on the TV. Carl. Yeah. No man. No in the fighter. Yeah. Um, in the championship, what do you call it? Round uh game.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

Yeah, you championship game.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

They beat Ohio State in that game 46 to 33.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

Oregon did? Oregon did. Okay, first of all, wait, can I just say something really quick? Yeah. What a crazy low score.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Okay, I know. They were all like that.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

I don't think they didn't know that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

I have no idea. But all the all the the games were like that kind of scoring.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Um, at the time they were nicknamed the Tall Furs. The Tall Furs because they were unusually tall for the time. Um so, Matt, this win, this Oregon win, it was particularly memorable because they had to travel across the country at that time, which what well did they have like horse and buggies at that time? I don't know. But they had to play those like multiple games. I think they like, I don't know, they probably played three games um in that unfamiliar Midwestern venue that they just were not used to. So between traveling and that unfamiliar vibe, like they were probably all turned around, Matt.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Um, so they kind of had a crazy tournament. The Oregon versus Oklahoma, that was the Western regional final. Oregon came from behind at key moments, relying on freshman talent, which was unusual at the time. But I also feel like that's unusual today, right?

SPEAKER_03 13:19

No, I think actually a lot, well, this isn't entirely true. I think it depends on the team. You know, like if you're like a Duke, they have like some really good frickin' freshmen. But if you're like a I don't know, like a Loyola, you might be riding off of your seniors.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

Can I can I say a quick lifetime look? Jump in, Matt, jump in. Quick lifetime lookup. First, uh, the NCAA formally adopted the three-point line, not until 1986.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Really?

SPEAKER_03 13:43

So, like 40 years after this, and but the first official collegiate three-pointer was made by Ronnie Carr of Western Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

Ronnie Carr.

SPEAKER_03 13:51

November 29th, 1980. So it wasn't adopted until later, but they must have been playing around with it beforehand. Interesting. Mm-hmm. Tap back in.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

So, um, so yeah, so the Oregon beat Oklahoma. That was kind of it sounds like it was a crazy game. In the final, you know, they played Ohio State. Um, people considered them being on like their home turf because they were in the Midwest. So Oregon again kind of like feeling like the underdog there.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Yeah, the web foot.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

They fell behind early, but relied on a clever fast break offense, ending up winning 46 of 33. What's fast break offense? Just they were they were ripping around.

SPEAKER_03 14:33

If someone's on a fast break, right, it's like kind of like uh the defense is probably trying to catch up to him. So it's like, get the ball, you're whipping down the court going for a layup.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Okay, okay. Well, so uh John H. Dick.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

This is the most 1930s.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

Johnny Dick featured a game high, 15 points. Wow. Uh three players from the team from the 1938-39 Oregon men's basketball team were selected as All-Americans, and Hobson, who I think was the coach, and Lauren Gale, have been honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Wow. Um, so I like this. You know, it's the first game, but it's also kind of a fun little underdog story considering that travel they were tired from the horse and buggy across the country being a new tame on the national stage.

SPEAKER_03 15:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

Kind of a wild start to the first ever national championship, wouldn't you think, Matt?

SPEAKER_03 15:28

I would think so too. And I mean, that's just yeah, I feel like that's the beauty of March Madness. It's like expect the unexpected.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

I think yes. You know, I'm not a sports curly. Yeah. I mean, even though I'm here.

SPEAKER_03 15:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

Um, but I can get excited about some basketball and some march madness because that's where dreams come true.

SPEAKER_03 15:48

Totally where dreams come true. Uh yeah, I mean, I think that's one of my favorite things just about March Madness in general. It's just like the coolest thing is when a frickin' underdog gets a dub, you know.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Yeah, dude. And you got one of those stories.

SPEAKER_03 16:03

Oh, yeah. Yeah, are you ready for me to do that? Yeah, go, go. That was my story. No, that's a great story. First March Madness. Never thought about it. Never thought about it.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

I know, dude. 1939.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

Crazy. Northwestern. Northwestern. The Webfoots. And the Webfoots.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

What a cool and like, wouldn't it be Web Feet?

SPEAKER_03 16:20

No. We're in Oregon. John H. Dick with a 15 John. Johnny Dick. 15 point game. Um, that's electric. I had to had to pull out a I mean, every I feel like a lot of people know of this, but maybe not in the detail or you know, so this will be.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

You and I remember this.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

Do you know why I remember this so vividly? Why? This was the day that I surprised you on your birthday, driving from Penn State to Milwaukee. This was that day because were we watching the game? No. So we had visited you in Milwaukee, we're driving back to Lake Bluff. It's on the radio. And I remember I had my buddies with me, Nico Fleming, Jeremy Fertoni. Both of them were asleep because we had driven all night. You know, we had both of them are asleep. And I was like, guys, you're gonna you're gonna miss the first time a 16 seed beats a one seed, they wouldn't wake up. And so me, it was like me and dad in the car, and we were like, holy gu, you know. Wow. So if you don't know it by now, I'm talking about in 2018 the UMBC Retrievers, the 16 seed, first time ever beating a one-seed, which was University of Virginia. Um, and not only did they win, but they smoked Virginia. I had forgotten that it was it was not a close game. It was 74 to 54. So they wow pounded that. What was going on? I'm gonna tell you. Tell me. I'm gonna tell you exactly what happened, but first I'm gonna give you the setup, okay? Okay, so we got obviously the Virginia Cavaliers, the number one overall seed. They're not only the one seed, Katie, they are the number one overall, right? So they are the one of one, right? The top dog. Okay. Um, they were 31 and two. They were kind of known for this elite defense. They were only allowing 54 points per game, which is funny because that's how they scored in the game. And then we got UMBC on the other side. We got the UMBC retrievers. They were the number 16 seed, right? They were 24 and 10, right? So, I mean, obviously winning record, but they're from a smaller conference. They're from the Americ, uh, America East, I think, or American East.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Who else was in that? Not a clue.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

That might be a live time lookup. Not a clue. I don't know if I don't know if we'll even recognize any of the teams. Okay, so at the at the time, right, in this moment before then, 16 seeds were 0 and 135 all time. Not a single one had won a game. Okay, and so I'm gonna tell you exactly how this game game went. Okay, so in the first half, right, it was close, but it was it was weird, all right. Virginia led early, but UMBC was staying composed. They were they were staying in there. Um, the score at halftime was 21 to 21, right? Low scoring first half, tie ball game, but there was already a red flag. Virginia's offense looked stuck. Do you have something? I saw that.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

Oh no, so I was just uh what do you mean they look stuck?

SPEAKER_03 19:18

They just weren't scoring. They didn't look efficient. I think there was turnovers, I think they were not shooting very efficiently. So I think people at half were like, uh.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Oh, Vermont's in the America East. Oh, scored up. Nice. Anybody anybody else have known? Uh it's not showing me all of them, but well, at least we know one. Maine.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

Nice. Just just the state of Maine. Yeah, the entire state of Maine.

SPEAKER_02 19:45

Uh yeah, I don't know the other ones.

SPEAKER_03 19:47

Okay, so here's where history flipped on its frickin' head. We're in the second half, Katie. So a lot of ball game left. UMBC came out fearless and aggressive. They started hitting threes, they're pushing the pace, they're attacking the rim. University of Virginia look completely rattled, right? They're missing shots, they're having turnovers, there's no rhythm. And then it turned into a frickin' blowout. Um BC went on a huge run, never looked back. Final score, 74, or UMBC 74, Virginia, 54. And it wasn't a buzzer beater, wasn't a lucky break. They freaking dominated.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

They were just feeling it.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

They were feeling it, dude. So who are our heroes from the game? You might be wondering. Our UMBC heroes. I don't know exactly how to say this. I would say Jarrus.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:38

Jarrus Lyles. He had 28 points. He hit tough shots all night, played with total confidence, looked like the best player on the floor. Oh, yeah. We have KJ Mara. He was the emotional leader, right? He was our playmaker. He controlled the pace. He hit big shots, talked trash in a fun way, too. His famous quote at mid-game we're not scared.

SPEAKER_02 21:00

Aw, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

Let's go, KJ. Love that. We're not scared. And then, of course, Ryan Odom, the head coach, he had the perfect game plan, pushing the tempo against Virginia's slow style. He got his team to believe they could win, not just compete.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Who is Ryan Odom related to Lamar Odom?

SPEAKER_03 21:17

I don't think so. I don't know for sure. That might be a lifetime lookup with Katie, but uh I don't think so. Not that I know.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Um, so did you see there's a new documentary about Lamar Odom on Netflix?

SPEAKER_03 21:28

I did not. No, I know I remember he had kind of a crazy, crazy little situation going on. But so you might be wondering, hey, what happened to UMBC after that big uh big game there? They did end up losing to Kansas State, which I believe was the nine seed. Um, this comes back up later, so I'm not he we don't need a laptop, but they ended up losing 50 to 43, so they held in there, right? Only losing by seven. Another um, you know, low score for them.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

Yeah, that's a that's a little yeah, didn't quite replicate the

SPEAKER_03 22:00

The magic, but I mean it's gotta be one of the most famous games all time in March Madness history. And just one thing I I feel like I definitely need to mention, just for you Virginia fans out there. Um, that was their chip on their shoulder the next year, and they won the national championship. So they went from getting upset by assistance to winning it all. So what a what a cool turnaround.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Ryan Odom is definitely not related to Lamar Odom. They look very different. Okay. Mm-hmm. Why is he white?

SPEAKER_03 22:33

Yeah, that'll do it.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

That'll do it. Okay. Well, um, so that's my story about the the first time a 16 seed took down a one seed. Not the only time, um, but it's the first time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Well, Matt, I have news for you.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

You're wrong.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

What am I wrong about?

SPEAKER_02 22:53

You're wrong about them being the first March Madness being it was being the first 16 being the one seed. 1998, woman's Harvard beat number one Stanford.

SPEAKER_03 23:09

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

1998, baby.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

Tell me all about it. This is our third story.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

This is the third story.

SPEAKER_03 23:15

So what was this?

SPEAKER_02 23:16

1998 before. So those this is 20 years prior, Matt. Yeah, 20 years. 20 freaking years prior. Yeah. In the 1998 March Madness, the Harvard woman flew 3,000 miles to pull off arguably the greatest upset in the history of college basketball, Matt. That is when the Harvard Crimson defeated top seeded Stanford on the Cardinals home court. Can you imagine? It was a 71 to 67 victory. So tight, tight, tight teats. It was the first time a number 16 ousted the one seed in either the women's or the men's tournament. It remains the only 16-1 upset in the women's tournament history. Oh, interesting. So, fun fact about this this game, this team, it was led by Alison Feaster. Feaster on Easter.

SPEAKER_03 24:11

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

Yeah. Yep. Um, she is now the mom of a Yukon Huskies player, Sarah Strong. I guess she's uh on the Huskies right now. Okay. Plan very good plan right now. So kind of crazy. Yeah. At the time, nobody saw this Harvard team coming. Uh they were 22 and 4. Um, they had Alison Feaster 28 and a half points per game. We could that's pretty pretty good, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 24:37

Wait, wait, wait. Sorry, I just want to clarify. Allison Feaster's on Harvard.

SPEAKER_02 24:40

Yes. Okay. Yeah, she's on Harvard.

SPEAKER_03 24:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:43

Um so okay, so they were 22 and 4. I didn't I don't know how this works, so maybe you can clarify this. But so they released the brackets, and they, you know, they had that great season, but they were ranked at number 16 as a number 16 seed. And they at the time they were felt like, what the F, like we've had a great season.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

Like, why aren't you considering Well, I don't know this for sure, but I mean, uh like I know that the I don't want to say this for sure. But like the Ivy League, you know, I don't think is the most competitive versus like you know, some of the other divisions. So that's probably why like you can have a dope. I know that this happens in you know the men's division too, where like you can have a dope record, but if you're Vermont, you're 31 and 2 and you've only played, you know, American East teams all year. Like you're definitely not gonna be ranked.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Okay, yeah, I get that. I get that.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

They definitely definitely factor.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

Yeah. So um their coach, I guess her name was Kathy Delaney Smith. She said, I felt, we felt, and maybe this was part of the fuel as we had been feeling all along, we felt disrespected by that number 16 ranking.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:59

Um, and later, you know, I guess when they're like getting ready for March Madness, um, she heard from somebody with ESPN about this conference call where all the production team was talking. They were talking about plans. Plans were being made for the coverage of the tournament. At one point um on the call, they brought up how to handle the Stanford, Arkansas game in the neck in the second round. So just assuming Harvard was out of it. Um, one person on the 20-person conference call asked, What if Harvard wins? And everybody on the phone just laughed, Matt. You know what that reminds me of? What?

SPEAKER_03 26:36

No, I'm not gonna say it.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Tell me. Oh. Oh. Does it not? The men's hockey team? Yeah. Oh, oh, yeah. Is that all said? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll leave it at that. Okay. Um, so at the game, so we're at the game now. For the game, the um they came running out of the locker room to warm up. There was this very like avid Stanford fam that said, Welcome to real basketball, um, to the end of the line of players. And a couple of coaches uh heard that, and that comment the coaches, of course, shared with the team before Teb up to like really get them wild at.

SPEAKER_03 27:19

Yeah. Love that.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Um, so at halftime, Harvard led by nine points, and that's when people were like, oh shit, like this is like kind of close, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

You literally wrote on the dock. That's when people were like, oh shit. I did write that.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

Yeah. Um, and everybody was like, Harvard has played so well, but you know, when are when are they when are they gonna like when Stanford gonna come? Yeah, yeah. Um, and then uh they ran into the locker room and oh oh wait, okay, sorry, sorry. I'm doing a terrible job at telling the story. So that guy had said, Welcome to real basketball. And then on the way back into the locker room at halftime, the assistant coach like found that guy and was like, We love real basketball. Love that. Um so Allison Feaster, you know, talking about the game. She's that you know, that kind of head player. Yeah, we all embodied this mantra. Act as if your role is the most important role on the team. Right. And she herself scored 35 points to go with 13 rebounds that game. Yeah. Um, the Harvard Crimson stood. Oh, okay. So, so sorry, sorry. Um, so yeah, great game. One, it was wild. I was watching some videos of you know the celebrations after, and like people were just going crazy. It's like the most nine everybody's in their like little 90s jackets and like yeah, their little hair.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:47

Um and so what all for 20 years they were the only team to beat the sixteen, only 16 team to beat the one seed.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

And then that UMBC to team uh beat the one seed that you were just talking about.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

And so somebody asked that coach, like, were you sad to like kind of lose that?

SPEAKER_03 29:10

Yeah, to be the only one.

SPEAKER_02 29:11

Yeah, right. Um, and she said, the coach said, There are two answers to that. Really, no, because it's so thrilling and exciting. But I was so happy for them because I know the feeling. But yes, because the trivia question that gets reported year in and year out. When the Virginia men lost, there were like 15 corrections in the media, and no one's ever done it before. Well, you're wrong, just like you were wrong, Matt. Somebody had done it before in that regard. I'm sorry, we were still not the only one who did it.

SPEAKER_03 29:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

Um, and Feaster also said she was happy to watch that UMBC team win, happy to see their joy. Another example of inexplicable basketball magic.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

She said that's the beauty of sports.

SPEAKER_03 29:58

That is the beauty of sports.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 30:00

Yeah. What are you doing over there?

SPEAKER_02 30:02

I'm doing a lifetime looking. Okay. I'm curious what what you're looking at. So yeah, I love I uh go ladies, go Harvard.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

What do you what it's loving? Okay, nothing. No, I mean that, yeah. First of all, that's super cool. And I deserve to be put in my place there.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

Yeah, you do.

SPEAKER_03 30:21

I do. Well, okay. So honestly, I didn't even know that story. And I'm sure there's a lot of stupid men like me that are like UMBC's the only one to be here. Nope. Nope, because Harvard freaking did it. The Harvard ladies, um, Allison Feaster.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Allison Feastering after it.

SPEAKER_03 30:38

I wanted to remember who Purdue lost to, and it was Fairley Dickinson Universe.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

Oh, that's right. I do. Yes, I remember that.

SPEAKER_03 30:47

That was in 2023. That was that was awesome, man. That was really cool.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

Yeah, everybody was like, I'm kind of like everybody was like Farley Dickinson.

SPEAKER_03 30:55

Yeah, and Purdue had Zach Edu's like 7'4, and they freaking won. Yeah. So that's just a little shout out there. Um, that's the super cool story. 1998. That's the that's the first true 16 to take down a one seed. So immediate lifetime correction for me.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Shut down.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

Shut down. First men's team, I will clarify for mine. Yeah. Yeah. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 31:22

Matt, what's your final, what's your final fourth story.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

Final fourth story that we have teed up today. Um, and I brought in a little um memento for it, as I do sometimes. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:40

We are going to be talking about, and this is 2018 as well, which is kind of crazy. This was the remember the UMBC year was also 2018. Um, Sister Jean and the Chicago Loyal Loyola Ramblers make a remarkable and charming final forerun as the 11 seed. And know what's kind of crazy. So when you fill out your little brackets, right, you know, it's like it's the four quadrants, right? This 11 scene, right? Loyola, that ended up going on a turret, was in the same bracket corner as UNBC. So imagine trying to figure out your bracket that year and having 16 and then 11 and right. What a crazy little bit.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

So you know Sister Jean passed away recently.

SPEAKER_03 32:19

Oh, sorry. Katie, I'm getting there. Sorry. Literally, I write before you ask. Two lines down, which is hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

That's okay. No, that's okay.

SPEAKER_03 32:33

That's okay. So no, that's okay. But uh spoil it. Uh so the memento that we have in here, Uncle Mitch um found a Loyola bobblehead uh from their foyer final forerun. What's the wolf's name? Is it Lou? Lou Wolf? It's on the back. It's on the back. It says on the back.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

Lou Wolf, but it's Lou is spelled L-U.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

L-U, huh? Loyola University.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 32:57

Oh. Right? Yeah, I guess. I guess. So, anyways, let's dive into this um magical final four run that the 11th seed, uh, the Loyola Ramblers had that year, and let's talk about Sister Jean. I'm sure some people remember this for sure, because Sister G Sister Jean took like front center stage. So at the time, she was 98 years old, right? Um, she was the team Holy Lord. Team Chaplain? Is that how you say it? Chaplain. Chaplain, thank you, uh, for Loyal of Chicago. She gave pregame prayers. Um, she gave scouting insights and obviously moral support. And before you ask, she passed away in 2025. Uh Jean Delores Schmidt, BMV, August uh 21, 1919, to October 9th, uh 2025, better known as Sister Jean, was an American religious sister of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Chaplain.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

Chaplain.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Chaplain.

SPEAKER_03 33:58

Why do I have a hard time with that? I want to say Chaplain.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

Chaplain would be the frontroy.

SPEAKER_03 34:05

Chaplain. Uh for the Loyola Ramblers, men's basketball team at Loyola University of Chicago. So um rest in peace. Uh Sister. But we're gonna give you a magical moment here from 2018. So let's set the scene again.

unknown 34:19

Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_03 34:21

Loyola is the 11th scene. They are not expected to go far at all, right? Um, we got our bobblehead next to Katie. So we're gonna, I'm gonna take it game by game, give you some of the highlights, right? Because I mean, they won several games here, made it all the way to the final four, right? So round of 64, we got the 11th seed playing the 16. They're playing Miami Hurricanes. Loyola wins 64 to 62, so nail biter, game-winning buzzer beater by Dante Ingram, and Sister Jean had predicted a win before the game, and it freaking happened. So, game one in the books, we're headed to round of 32, where they're facing off against the um would you call it the lowest seed or highest seed? If they're a three-seed? Lowest seed? Right? What? You know what I mean? Like if you're playing a three-seed versus 16 seed.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

Oh, yeah, I guess three would be the highest seed.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

Three is the highest seed. Okay, so the highest seed that they end up playing, the Tennessee Volunteers. Loyola wins 63 to 62.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

Wow, another tight tease.

SPEAKER_03 35:21

And almost like an identical score as the previous game. Another last second shot, this time by Clayton Custer. Clayton Custer. Sick name, by the way. So um now we're into the sweet 16 where we're playing the Nevada Wolf pack, the seven seed. Loyola wins 69 to 68.

SPEAKER_02 35:39

Yikes!

SPEAKER_03 35:40

Yet another close finish. By now, they were known for clutch plays. Like, I mean, the magic is happening, right? This is the magic march madness. Close games, buzzer beaters, close wins, um, Cinderella story. We're on to the Elite A.

SPEAKER_02 35:54

What's Sister Jean doing?

SPEAKER_03 35:55

Sister Jean is just vibing. Vibin. I mean, cameras are on her. She's given pregame prayers, right? Is she in like a little like cloak? Uh, I yeah, I think so. I think she's in her little sister outfit for shirt. Don't know what that's called.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Uh it's not a cloak.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

Uh, I don't know. You called it a cloak.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

I know.

unknown 36:18

I know.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

I can't link it up because I don't have internet.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

Yeah, okay. Well, let's just I'm just gonna apologize to our listeners. It's not a little sister outfit. It's not a cloak.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

We're already issuing a redaction.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

You can you can tell that we blame us that we aren't super religious.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

It's not that much.

SPEAKER_03 36:40

We can't blame us. We won't face that way. All right, anyway, so they're known for clutch play, sister gene front, center stage. We're we're into the elite eight. Now we're facing off against who, Katie, but the Kansas State Wildcats. Little um revert back to earlier in the episode. Kansas State took down UMBC after that game. So Kansas State's it's a nine versus eleven in the Elite Eight. Jesus! Right? And in this game, it's not a close one. Loyola dominates and wins 78 to 62, their most dominant game of their magical Final Four run, and they clinched a final four spot. I don't know. Every time that I'm picturing, right, me doing a bracket, right? It's like have a couple ones in there, maybe throw a two in, maybe a three. Maybe if you're really feeling good about your own, you know, team, maybe it's a six seed, whatever. I can't imagine how many people had an 11 seed in their final four, right? And this is where this is where their run stops, but the story does not, okay? So they ended up losing to the Michigan Wolverines. That's why we hate them. They were a three seed. That's why Katie hates them. And the final four, they lost 69 to 57, so still hung in there. So for this magical run that uh our Loyola Ramblers had, um, our key players, right? Clayton Custer, we mentioned him earlier. Um, he's their team leader, he's their clutch scorer. He hit multiple game winners, right? We also have Dante Ingram, big shots, leadership, hit that buzzer beater in the first round. And then we have Cameron Kretwig, um, who was uh just a dominant big man, right?

SPEAKER_02 38:22

Did do one of these guys play in the NBA now?

SPEAKER_03 38:24

Not that I'm aware of, but don't quote me on that. Um yeah, Cameron controlled the paint. So why is this run so special, right? Constant drama, three of the games decide in the final second. Sister Jean's obvious presence, right? Began, or she really just became a national icon overnight. She did interviews, appeared on TV, she even got her own bobblehead. I wish that's the bobblehead we had. Yeah, I wasn't gonna look at the wheel. We got Lou Wolf. That's not well. Maybe she's wearing the outfit. I don't know. Um, in the aftermath, right, Loyola became one of the most beloved teams in tournament history. Sister Jean ended up throwing out the first pitch at a Cubs game. Oh she gained national fame. Uh the Ramblers.

SPEAKER_02 39:04

And wait, how old was she? 98.

SPEAKER_03 39:05

98 at the time.

unknown 39:06

Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 39:07

So seven years later, she ended up dying at 105, 105 must must be. 104. Um, the Ramblers returned to relevance as a program, too. I think they had a long time there where um either they wouldn't make the tournament or they'd lose. Um, and their story is still referenced anytime uh as a mid-made or any their story is mentioned anytime a mid-major team, right? So mid-major, one of those like not major conferences, right, makes a run, right?

SPEAKER_02 39:33

Oh, okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

Yeah. Um, so some fun details that I want to add in there too. Sister Jean would sometimes include specific basketball strategy in her prayers, apparently. Like asking for good shooting percentages or defensive focus, um, which players said actually helped them stay locked in, which I think is beautiful. Like her doing the like her prayers or for pregame prayers. I'm paraphrasing here, but maybe like may the Lord bless us with good shooting percentages. Yeah, and a high defensive focus.

SPEAKER_02 40:05

So that's cute.

SPEAKER_03 40:06

Yeah. Um, Loyola became just the fourth 11 seed ever to reach the final four at the time. Maybe that's just men's. Um, so don't fully quote me on that now that I've been pwned. Um they were the lowest seed left in the tournament that year, making them the ultimate Cinderella story of 2018, alongside our UMBC retriever.

SPEAKER_02 40:32

I've so in my in my research about Mar March Madness, people love to use that Cinderella story reference.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

For sure. And you know, actually, I was looking into it a little bit, and I was gonna maybe talk about like where that term came from, and it ended up being like not as interesting as I thought. It's kind of just like, you know, I mean, everyone knows Cinderella, right? We all know our princess.

SPEAKER_02 40:52

She's got the slipper.

SPEAKER_03 40:52

She's got the slipper, but she's like kind of just like she's she's a dog. Cinderella's a dog, and she's hot. Well, she like people thought she was like not that hot though.

SPEAKER_02 41:02

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:02

But and then she's wore the fucking slipper, and that's like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 41:06

Yeah. Cinderella. Yeah, love her, love that lady.

SPEAKER_03 41:09

Yeah. So um, that's our Loyola Ramblers. I did want to shout out a couple other Cinderella stories. Do we want to bounce back and forth on these? Sure, sure. Kick us off.

SPEAKER_02 41:19

The George Mason Patriots in 2006, they were the 11th seed and they went to the Final Four. They beat powerhouses like the Michigan State Spartans, the North Carolina Tar Heels.

SPEAKER_03 41:31

They were the defending champs. Oh, okay. So they took down the defending champs.

SPEAKER_02 41:35

And they beat the Yukon Huskies. Yukon Huskies. So George Mason, Mason Patriots. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

Yeah. Uh yeah, and their Elite Eight over Yukon went to overtime. Still one of the biggest upsets ever. Put mid-made programs on the map in a big way. Woo! So we also have the VC Rams in 2011, the 11th seed making it to the Final Four. So it does kind of seem like there's a couple 11 seeds making the Final Four, which is kind of cool. Yeah, that's neat. Um, so they had to play in the first four to get into the tournament, too. I don't know if you're kind of aware of that situation, but there's you there's like uh four teams that play before the tournament.

SPEAKER_02 42:15

So it's like Is it kind of like a wild card?

SPEAKER_03 42:17

That's why there's 68 teams, right, instead of 64, right? It's 64 teams that end up playing on like the big bracket that you see, but there's the first four game beforehand. Don't know exactly why that's the case, but um, that does happen. So they ended up winning that game and then making it to the final four, right? So they had an extra game. Uh they made a crazy run, blown out teams like the Kansas Jayhawks, who were a one seed. They were known for their havoc full court pressing defense. So that kind of means that the defense is up and ready from the moment the ball is thrown in, right? Instead of like getting back on defense. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 42:51

They're just like ready to rage.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

They're ready to rage like right when the balls pass in.

SPEAKER_02 42:55

Cool. Okay. Oh, sorry. The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in 2013, they were the 15th seed and they ended up making it to the Sweet 16. They were the first ever 15th seed to reach the Sweet 16, nicknamed Dunk City, for their insane alley hoops and fast breaks. They beat the Georgetown Hoyas and the San Diego State Aztecs in style. Baby.

SPEAKER_03 43:22

Yeah. I should clarify too, these are all the men's teams.

SPEAKER_02 43:28

Sorry.

SPEAKER_03 43:29

You could have added the women's. Okay, what's the next one? St. Peter's Peacocks.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

What are these sound like made-up teams? Is this April Fool's joke?

SPEAKER_03 43:39

No, this is not April Fool's job. This is real. This do you not remember? This was awesome. I mean, St.

SPEAKER_02 43:44

Peter's Peacocks? I don't remember.

SPEAKER_03 43:46

This, if I were to do a fifth story, it would have been this. Because this was it was so beautiful. Everyone fell in love with this team because they fucking named the Peacocks. First of all, and just unexpected. The 15 seed made the Elite Eight, first ever 15 seed to make an Elite Eight run, beat the Blue Blue. Kentucky Wildcats in the first round, then kept it going with wins over Murray State Racers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue Boilermakers get upset all the time. That's all I'm saying. They are just always taken down by a good yeah, good. Keep it that way.

SPEAKER_02 44:13

Okay, ready? Yeah, not least. The North Carolina State Wolf Pack. 1983, Matt. 1983. Uh they were a sixth seed and they went to the national oh, they became the national champions. Yeah. The North Carolina State Wolf Pack did. Huh. They so they weren't a super low seed at the time, but it was one of the most magical runs ever. They won the title on a last second last second dunk.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:40

By Lorenzo Charles off a missed shot. They were coached by the legendary Jim Valvano. And his celebration is iconic.

SPEAKER_03 44:50

I have not seen the video, so maybe that's something we watch after this.

SPEAKER_02 44:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 44:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:54

Cool.

SPEAKER_03 44:55

So those are some uh some ones that I just felt like we should shout out, right? Those are some cool Cinderella stories. And who knows, maybe next year, March Mannis this time, we'll do a deep dive into one of those.

SPEAKER_02 45:05

Yeah, maybe. Who's to say?

SPEAKER_03 45:06

Who's to say? Not not I.

SPEAKER_02 45:08

Who can tell the future? Not I.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

Not I. So let's do our Katie call to the pen.

SPEAKER_02 45:12

Call to the pen.

SPEAKER_03 45:13

Call to the pen.

SPEAKER_02 45:14

What'd you learn? I you know, I really liked the the history behind the high behind this one.

SPEAKER_03 45:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:22

Like, you know, starts 1939, people are traveling, and I didn't know that it became March Mannis until the 80s.

SPEAKER_03 45:31

Right.

SPEAKER_02 45:32

Um Yeah, it was neat.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

Yeah, I think um I uh deserved to get schooled and I and I learned and and needed to learn. Yeah, Harvard. I'll never forget that the first 16 seed to truly win was the Harvard um Crimson taken down Stanford. 7167. 7167, yeah. Never forget that. So now it's time for everybody's favorite segment. Whoa wah! Big dogs of the weed.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

So we wanted to like provide it, we wanted to provide an update on the segment, didn't we?

SPEAKER_03 46:11

Uh yeah, we did. I think a good clarification and just hence hither two. What are we doing here? Yeah, because I think in previous episodes, right, sometimes we would do moments from the past, right?

SPEAKER_01 46:22

I remember doing all over the place.

SPEAKER_03 46:23

Remember doing like a shout-out to Peanut Tillman, right? Who doesn't play anymore, right? Um The Big Dog the Big Dog's the week.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

We're gonna make this more of like a current event.

SPEAKER_03 46:33

Like, hey, last couple weeks, what's kind of gone down? What are we doing?

SPEAKER_02 46:35

Yeah, what are like the fun, nice little stories?

SPEAKER_03 46:38

Cool stories from recent because I feel like a lot of times we go into history with our with our main portion. So with our dessert here, we're going with um with current current events. Yeah. Kind of. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

Wait, how what how what what what's the time that we're at right now? How long have we been recording? I feel like we've been talking really fast. Just like a basketball game.

SPEAKER_03 46:59

Like a basketball game. It's Mod Madness. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 47:02

Uh I think like an hour-ish.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Yeah, I don't know. It because it uh the thing I'm always really wrong about. The thing that I have, it goes by beats like rather than minutes. So I don't know. We've gone uh 1418.

SPEAKER_02 47:16

Please buy some merch so we can get a new like a timer.

SPEAKER_03 47:20

I think we're close to an hour, I'd say. Okay, that's good. So we're good.

SPEAKER_02 47:23

We're on track.

SPEAKER_03 47:24

Big dogs of the week here. Well I do you want to are you cool if I go first?

SPEAKER_02 47:28

Yeah, go first.

SPEAKER_03 47:29

Okay. Um, so I want to talk about Dominic Smith. Okay, you might not know Dominic Smith. He's kind of um, I don't know how to put this exactly. Like he was kind of like a big name coming up in the MLB.

SPEAKER_02 47:42

Um baseball, we're in the baseball. We're talking baseball.

SPEAKER_03 47:45

We're talking Dominic Smith. He's on the Atlanta Braves. So kind of a big name. And then he just never found his groove. Uh, he's on the Mets, he was on the Giants, never found his footing, right? Couple injuries, just not a lot of success, but a beautiful thing happened here recently. Um, the not as beautiful thing uh was his mom passed away a couple weeks ago. And he's she was super important in his life. Um and the Braves actually gave him some time away, even though you know it's like when you're I feel like especially in baseball, right? It's like especially maybe if you're not performing to the level that you want to, it's like, oh, should I take some time away, right? Because you might lose your spot, right? So they gave him some some time away. Grieve and and all that um good stuff. And he ended up hitting a walk-off grand slam. Oh my little and he said, so Dominic Smith felt his mother's presence. Shout out MLB.com for this article, um, as his walk-off grand slam sailed into the right field seats to give the Braves a thrilling 6'2 win over the Royals on Saturday night. This was last Saturday, at uh Truist Park. And he said he definitely, definitely felt his mom's presence, got choked up a bunch of times.

SPEAKER_02 49:01

I was gonna say, was he crying? Was everybody in the frickin' stands crying?

SPEAKER_03 49:04

He said I would be. He said, I'm trying to hold back tears right now. It just felt so special. I feel her every day, I miss her dearly. That's not a moment where I don't think about her. So um yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:15

Ugh.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

He said, too, I want to say this about you know the Braves at the space of the game. I left camp for like a week and a half because she had a scare. So this is when she had a scare this when she passed. That this team is just so awesome. I'm so blessed because of the love they showed me. Um, so yeah, I mean, he led them to uh a ninth inning rally there that got them the dub. A lot of emotion. Um, you know, uh I the the boys watch the video. The boys go crazy. The Braves go, the Braves players go nuts. Um, and I think he he's kind of fine. He's footing. I've been now I didn't know who Dominic Smith was, and now I've kind of been keeping track of him a little bit. I think he hit another ding dong. Um yeah, the other day. Um, and one other quote about him and his mom. He said, I'm her son. I know she's a fighter. She fought it as long as she could, and for as long. Um oh, that's confusing. She fought it as long as she could and for as long as she could.

SPEAKER_02 50:08

So that's the typo.

SPEAKER_03 50:09

That's the typo, but that's in the actual article. So don't blame me. Anyways, beautiful story. Um, last quote: they preach a family environment here. Smith said, This is about the Braves. That's what I feel from the group and the coaching staff. I'm just so thankful for the opportunity to suit up for the Braves. So shout out Dominic Smith. Shout out uh his mom. R. P. mom. Um, I think it's Yvette.

SPEAKER_01 50:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 50:33

Um, and uh she passed away on March 15th after a heroic battle against cancer. And Dominic Smith honored her with a big old walk-off grand slam for the Braves.

SPEAKER_02 50:44

Good job, Dom.

SPEAKER_03 50:45

Yeah, so I'm gonna give some snaps.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

Okay, well, BRB crying.

SPEAKER_03 50:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 50:49

I can't do mine. Okay. Kitty, what you got? I'm heading over to the world of of golf. You know, this is I mean, I wouldn't I don't know. Yeah, this is another emotional, emotional roller coaster. Gary Woodland. Gary Woodland. He's a golfer. I think he's like pretty good. Okay. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know, Gary. Um, so he won the Texas Children's Houston Open recently. Um, it was an emotional moment that seemed so improbable 30 months ago. That's when he had brain surgery.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

Holy cow.

SPEAKER_02 51:27

Brain surgery. And two weeks ago, he opened up in an interview about uh his struggles with PTSD. Wow. Um, that kind of like sprouted from after the surgery. Um, so he beat another golfer by five. Do you think that's five strokes? Five hits?

SPEAKER_03 51:49

Yeah, I I would assume five strokes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:52

What isn't that a thing?

SPEAKER_03 51:53

I don't think they call it five hits, but yeah, five strokes.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

Okay, yeah. He beat a guy named Nikolai Ha Sha. Um, and it was his first win since the 2019 US Open. Um, so mentally, Woodland's first win in nearly seven years was most remarkable as it came just weeks before. He talked about his struggles with PTSD, which he'd been diagnosed with in early 2025, about a year and a half after that surgery to remove a lesion from his brain. Um, when he was talking about his PTSD struggles, he said, Inside I feel like I'm dying and I feel like I'm living a lie. Um, and he had hoped that by talking about this and getting it out in the open, that it would kind of uh he could focus that energy that he spent like trying to hide this part of him, um, focus that energy on more important things in his recovery and focus on golf and things that he liked to do. Um, and he said this week that going public with that information made him feel a thousand pounds lighter. He still has moments, um, I guess over in the what is it, competition in the thing. He said that like, you know, when fans get too close to him, he he doesn't like that and it kind of, you know, freaks him out. Instigates that PTSD.

SPEAKER_01 53:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:14

Um, and that kind of makes him hyper-vigilant. He said he was in tears scoring after the second round before he kind of reset and got on with his routine. So it's really impacting him. But he's gotten this out in the open and everybody's like, dude, we got you. Um at the end, when he like hit that last little ball, he stretched out both his arms, exhaled, and looked to the blue sky, and his tears were pouring down his face. Um, he said after that wonderful little tournament, we play an individual sport out here, but I wasn't alone today. Anyone struggling with something, I hope they see me and don't give up. Just keep fighting.

SPEAKER_03 53:59

Wow, that's beautiful. That is what's going on in their brains.

SPEAKER_02 54:05

No, you don't.

SPEAKER_03 54:05

You're just thinking about how they're playing.

SPEAKER_02 54:07

Yeah, totally. Like you just think that they're like in the zone.

SPEAKER_03 54:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:13

But, you know, they gotta they gotta work for that.

SPEAKER_03 54:15

I feel like both these stories, good reminders that these guys are human.

SPEAKER_02 54:18

These guys are human, they're dealing with their own stuff.

SPEAKER_03 54:21

We got, you know, if you're having a bad day, think about Gary, think about Dominic.

SPEAKER_02 54:25

Yeah, think about Gary and Dom.

SPEAKER_03 54:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 54:28

Wow, shout out to the boys. The boys, the dogs of the week. The dogs of the week. That was a good dogs of the week.

SPEAKER_02 54:33

Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 54:34

Yeah. Love it. Uh, one thing I want to do before we get going here. We forgot to do this at the beginning. Oh, it's it's it's a milestone. It's our tenth episode.

SPEAKER_02 54:44

It is, it is.

SPEAKER_03 54:44

I wanted to maybe just shout out a couple previous episodes, a couple of our favorites.

SPEAKER_02 54:48

What of your what have been your favorite?

SPEAKER_03 54:50

I was looking at the list. It's so hard. It's so hard to just pick a couple. I honestly like each one in its own way, you know.

SPEAKER_02 54:58

Yeah, they've all been unique. They all have like their little personality.

SPEAKER_03 55:02

Yeah, and I think we've gotten a little bit better each episode, right? Um so I'll give you two. I'm gonna go with I'm gonna go with the Mark Weber episode. I just think that was yeah. I just think it was like the furthest out of our realm.

SPEAKER_02 55:15

Yeah, and so we were like, you know, I thought we did a pretty good job.

SPEAKER_03 55:17

I know people were like, you were clearly not knowing what you're talking about, which is fair, but and that was the most global audience. Yes, we had a lot of Australian listeners that episode, which is fun. So we're shocking.

SPEAKER_02 55:28

By a lot, we mean like two. No, it's like three.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

And then it's so tough. It's so tough. I I really liked the last episode, but I think that was like it was like my little like brain child, you know, it's the first one I wrote.

SPEAKER_02 55:43

That was a good one though. That was like well executed because like you had it down, right?

SPEAKER_03 55:47

Yeah, and obviously very biased, love love D Lee. So that one, yeah. I'm gonna leave it at that. What you got?

SPEAKER_02 55:54

My favorite one was um the Drew Brees and Tom Grace one. Yeah, like I because in that one, that was one, it was the first dogs after dark, I think. And so we were like kind of lit. Yeah, I look crazy. I started laughing so hard, I was crying about something super dumb. That was also the one where uh uh what was the word? It wasn't like tabernacle, but it was like it was another like religious thing.

SPEAKER_03 56:23

Yeah, what was that word? We said it horribly wrong. Yeah, I don't remember.

SPEAKER_02 56:27

Yeah, but everybody thought that was hilarious because we were so dumb.

SPEAKER_03 56:30

Yeah, which we are.

SPEAKER_02 56:31

That was yeah, that was probably that was my favorite one. But yeah, when people are when people ask like, which one should I listen to first? I do say that that one we just did because it was like Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:43

I think it's good representation of our sports levels, sports knowledge levels. Yeah, it's just fun. It's yeah, it's a fun, I think it's a fun series that we'll continue to do. We did it again with uh Johnny Menzel and Tim Thibault.

SPEAKER_02 56:59

That we did. Yeah, that was a good one.

SPEAKER_03 57:02

Yeah, a lot of good episodes though. Um let us know what some of your favorites are. Leave it in the comments.

SPEAKER_02 57:07

Leave it in the comments, leave it in the insta comments. What was your least favorite?

SPEAKER_03 57:11

Um, I don't think I have a least favorite, but I feel like our Mac McClung episode maybe was Oh yeah, that one doesn't have a lot of listens. It doesn't, and maybe that's why I I don't feel great about it. I think it's a cool story.

SPEAKER_02 57:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:24

Yeah. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 57:25

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 57:26

What about you? Do you have a least favorite?

SPEAKER_02 57:29

I hate listening to the first one. Because I just like had I was so nervous.

SPEAKER_03 57:34

We were getting in the groove. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:35

Yeah. I know we were shaking off the biggest.

SPEAKER_03 57:37

That's the one I actually can't really listen to. I can't listen to it.

SPEAKER_02 57:39

I think I've listened to each one yeah, like several times.

SPEAKER_03 57:43

A couple times, but I haven't listened to that one, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:44

The even the second one was that Bartolo Cologne.

SPEAKER_03 57:47

I like that one.

SPEAKER_02 57:48

Yeah, I guess that that one was definitely better.

SPEAKER_03 57:50

Big sexy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:54

So we've we've made a long journey to get here. We made our first four dollars.

SPEAKER_03 57:59

Yeah, we did. We're in the green, baby.

SPEAKER_02 58:02

Woo!

SPEAKER_03 58:03

Yeah. Mini fridge, here we come. Mini fridge. We're four dollars in the mini fridge. Maybe a microphone first, but yeah. Okay. So Katie's gonna um put some info out on our merch.

SPEAKER_02 58:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:17

On Insta.

SPEAKER_02 58:18

Yeah, go to the Insta.

SPEAKER_03 58:20

Go to our Insta. Um, go to our website. Maybe we could put it there too.

SPEAKER_02 58:24

Yeah, I don't know. I don't know how, but yeah, we'll figure it out.

SPEAKER_03 58:26

It's gonna be out there, but if you can't find it and you want to find it, reach out. Comment. We'll find a way. We'll find a way to recheck. I haven't really checked our YouTube actually in a minute.

SPEAKER_02 58:39

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 58:40

So people are commenting there. I'm just missing it.

SPEAKER_02 58:42

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 58:43

So I'll take a look then.

SPEAKER_02 58:44

Yeah, take a look. Cool. Well, thanks for listening. Thanks for being here. We value you and your thoughts and your heart.

SPEAKER_03 58:51

And your ears. Yeah, thanks for listening. We love your little ears.

SPEAKER_02 58:54

Mm-hmm. So take your little ears and have a great rest of your day, your week, your life.

SPEAKER_00 59:02

Cheers.

SPEAKER_02 59:03

Over and out.