We Love March Madness, and Rizzed Up Cartoon Foxes | with Charlotte Wilder

Summary

Casuals with Katie Nolan: Episode Summary

Episode Title: We Love March Madness, and Rizzed Up Cartoon Foxes | with Charlotte Wilder
Release Date: March 13, 2025
Host: Katie Nolan
Guest: Charlotte Wilder
Co-hosts: Brady and Isabella
Format: Sports discussion focusing on March Madness with a lighthearted and humorous approach.

---

Introduction to March Madness Excitement (00:54 - 02:09)

Katie Nolan kicks off the episode by expressing her enthusiasm for March Madness, highlighting its cultural significance beyond just the sports competition. She introduces her guest, Charlotte Wilder, co-host of "The Sports Gossip Show," setting the stage for a lively discussion about the various elements that make March Madness appealing to both casual and avid fans.

---

Creating a March Madness Bracket: Strategies and Fun (02:09 - 08:17)

Katie Nolan (02:11):
"Every year I've filled out my bracket, the years I've known what's going on, my bracket has been the worst it could be." [02:11]

Katie emphasizes that deep sports knowledge isn't necessary for enjoying March Madness. Instead, she and Charlotte focus on the surrounding culture and fun aspects of the tournament. They decide to create a simplified bracket featuring 16 favorite things about March Madness, steering clear of traditional team seedings to keep it lighthearted.

Charlotte Wilder (03:25):
"You can go yell at us about our episodes being audio only... or harass us to put full video on YouTube." [03:25]

This segment underscores the casual and interactive nature of the podcast, encouraging listeners to engage and share their opinions.

---

Favorite Aspects of March Madness Bracket Breakdown (08:17 - 37:42)

1. Cinderella Runs vs. Funny Team Nicknames (05:05 - 25:04)

Brady (05:05):
"Who doesn't love a Cinderella run? That's kind of the whole point." [10:41]

The hosts delve into the excitement of underdog teams making unexpected deep runs in the tournament, known as Cinderella runs. They reminisce about memorable Cinderella stories from past years, such as the 2006 George Mason Patriots and the 2013 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.

Katie Nolan (12:05):
"I just realized that I forgot to put on deodorant today." [48:30]
(Humorous tangent illustrating their relaxed and humorous dynamic.)

Additionally, they discuss amusing and quirky team nicknames, showcasing how these unique monikers add to the tournament's charm. Examples include the Delaware Fighting Blue Hens and the UC Irvine Anteaters, highlighting the diversity and creativity in team names.

2. Buzzer Beaters vs. Fan Reactions (25:04 - 32:08)

Brady (25:21):
"Buzzer beaters make me feel more alive than almost anything else in this world." [25:21]

Buzzer beaters, or last-second game-winning shots, are celebrated as some of the most thrilling moments in basketball. The hosts discuss how these dramatic finishes heighten the emotional stakes of the games, making each match more exciting.

Conversely, they explore the heartfelt and sometimes hilarious reactions from fans during the games. Whether it's a child’s pure joy or a dramatic outburst, fan reactions contribute to the communal experience of March Madness.

Katie Nolan (26:23):
"1000% buzzer beater." [26:23]

Ultimately, the hosts lean towards favoring buzzer beaters over fan reactions, citing the unparalleled excitement they bring to the tournament.

3. Brackets vs. Cutting Down the Nets (32:08 - 37:42)

Brady (36:00):
"I'm literally. I feel like I'm about to play sports." [36:00]

The discussion shifts to the age-old tradition of filling out tournament brackets, a popular activity that engages fans across different knowledge levels. Katie shares her meditative approach to choosing bracket picks, while Brady humorously admits to sometimes relying on aesthetic choices like team uniforms.

They also touch on the tradition of "cutting down the nets" post-victory, symbolizing the end of the tournament for the winning team. This act serves as a tangible celebratory moment, encapsulating the culmination of the teams' hard work and the fans' investment.

Katie Nolan (37:42):
"Brackets wins the bracket. About the things we love the most about March Madness." [47:44]

In a playful twist, Katie and Brady conclude that their unique bracket, filled with elements they adore, surprisingly won their own constructed competition, underscoring the podcast's humorous take on traditional March Madness festivities.

---

Humorous Interludes and Personal Anecdotes (08:17 - 37:42)

Throughout the episode, the hosts engage in lighthearted banter, sharing personal stories and playful arguments. From discussions about quirky team mascots to nostalgic references to childhood Disney movies, Katie, Charlotte, Brady, and Isabella create an entertaining and relatable atmosphere.

Notable Quotes:

• Brady (04:35):
  "I just want to say this is how paranoid the Internet has made me." [04:35]

• Katie Nolan (08:24):
  "I love that part of it too." [08:24]

• Brady (25:55):
  "1000% buzzer beater." [26:23]

• Katie Nolan (37:42):
  "Brackets wins the bracket. About the things we love the most about March Madness." [37:42]

These moments highlight the camaraderie and spontaneous humor that make "Casuals with Katie Nolan" a delightful listen.

---

Conclusion and Closing Remarks (37:42 - End)

As the episode wraps up, Katie and Brady reflect on the elements they've championed as the best parts of March Madness: Cinderella runs, buzzer beaters, and the fun of filling out brackets. They express genuine excitement for the tournament ahead, encouraging listeners to dive into the festivities with their unique approaches.

Katie Nolan (71:32):
"We love you. Oh, and we mean it. Try angel stuff for your tushy. It's made by Angels." [71:32]

The episode concludes on a high note with affectionate sign-offs and a touch of humor, leaving listeners eagerly anticipating the next installment and the unfolding drama of March Madness.

---

Key Takeaways:

• Cinderella Runs: Underdog teams making unexpected deep runs add excitement and unpredictability to March Madness.

• Buzzer Beaters: Last-second shots provide thrilling, emotional highs that epitomize the spirit of the tournament.

• Brackets: Filling out brackets engages fans of all knowledge levels, fostering a shared experience and personal investment in the outcomes.

• Funny Team Nicknames: Quirky and unique team names contribute to the cultural charm and memorability of March Madness.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Katie Nolan (02:11):
  "Every year I've filled out my bracket, the years I've known what's going on, my bracket has been the worst it could be."

• Brady (05:21):
  "Who doesn't love a Cinderella run? That's kind of the whole point." [10:41]

• Brady (25:21):
  "Buzzer beaters make me feel more alive than almost anything else in this world." [25:21]

• Katie Nolan (37:42):
  "Brackets wins the bracket. About the things we love the most about March Madness." [47:44]

---

Join the Conversation:

Listeners are encouraged to engage with the podcast through email at [e-mail], voicemail at 646-801-0043, and on Instagram and TikTok at @CasualsThePodcast. Share your thoughts on the episode’s thematic bracket and favorite March Madness moments!

---

Note: This summary intentionally omits advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections to focus solely on the episode's substantive discussions.

Transcript

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[Katie Nolan]

For 140 years, MultiCare has been in Washington prioritizing long term solutions, partnering with local communities and expanding access to care. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn [e-mail] hey Isabella, did you see the update to the hat GPT saga?

[Isabella]

No, I did not.

[Katie Nolan]

They've gotten rid of a third hat.

[Isabella]

Can I guess which one?

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Isabella]

Is it the. The Ash. Ashos.

[Katie Nolan]

It's the Ashos. Is it?

[Isabella]

Okay, you got it. At first I was gonna guess Bobon.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Oh. Cause that I guess in Spanish means something as well.

[Isabella]

I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

Also, they're selling one of them, hit the resale market. A Tatas hat. Ooh, you wanna guess how much that's going for currently?

[Isabella]

How much do they usually go for?

[Katie Nolan]

I think they're like probably 30 bucks. How much is a hat now?

[Charlotte Wilder]

$44.99.

[Katie Nolan]

$44? This is a scam. Guess how much it's going for now, Isabella?

[Isabella]

100.

[Katie Nolan]

A little more than that.

[Isabella]

130.

[Katie Nolan]

A little more than that.

[Isabella]

200.

[Katie Nolan]

It's $999. Ow.

[Isabella]

I just cracked my jaw like g.

[Katie Nolan]

Hello and welcome to Casuals, the sports podcast that's really excited about March Madness today. So we're doing a special episode. I'm Katie Nolan. I'm your host. I'm joined today by my dear friend Charlotte Wilder. Charlotte, thanks for being here. Co host of the podcast, the sports gossip show which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

[Brady]

Thank you for having me.

[Katie Nolan]

Of course we are going to be doing not a preview of March Madness, but a almost like a preview of the excitement of March Madness. I figured we figured as a team at Casuals that the Casuals listening to this. Look, every year I've filled out my bracket, the years I've known what's going on, my bracket has been the worst it could be. So I don't think Knowing stuff really helps a casual going into March Madness. I think the best thing for a casual is like all of the surrounding culture of March Madness. So today we are going to do a bracket and we're just doing 16 teams because we look, we don't have that much.

[Brady]

We're not sickos.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. So. So, and this still, I think will take up most of the podcast, but we are going to do a bracket of our favorite things about March Madness. Before we jump into that, if you want to reach us, our email is Casuals with katie [e-mail]. our voicemail is 646-801-0043. And on IG and TikTok, you can find us at CasualsThePodcast. That's where you can go to yell at us about our episodes being audio only. That's where you can go to harass us and say that we need to put full video on YouTube. That's where you can go do that.

[Brady]

Perfect. We match.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Yeah, we should address for the audio listener. Charlotte and I are wearing basically the same jeans. She's wearing basically the same outfit, but cooler than mine, which is a nightmare scenario.

[Brady]

You have a vintage Patriot sweatshirt.

[Katie Nolan]

This is from Abercrombie and Fitch. I got it this year, so. Katie, I know you really fell for it, though. You're the one who got got me.

[Brady]

It looks real.

[Katie Nolan]

You're the one who should be embarrassed. Yep.

[Brady]

Well, all right.

[Katie Nolan]

Comfy though.

[Brady]

I'm wearing a shirt that's from a vintage place and it says Turtle Creek Yacht Club on it. And I just want to say this is how paranoid this is how paranoid the Internet has made me. I googled it to make sure it wasn't like a racist yacht club. Well, somewhere.

[Katie Nolan]

And it's a yacht club and it.

[Brady]

Doesn'T exist anymore, so.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, then it's good we got rid of some of the evil in the world.

[Brady]

Checking off you. I don't want to be a part of the problem.

[Katie Nolan]

You give off old money. Fashion wise, a yacht club T shirt is not something I've ever even considered owning. You came in cheap before this and it's still at her feet. And it may come back. She had a sweater dripped over draped over her shoulders.

[Brady]

It's a sweatshirt of her yacht club T shirt. Sorry. That's what Gen Z told me is cool.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, they also said center part. Are we doing that still? You kind of are. My hair part's different depending on the.

[Brady]

I think I got bullied into a center part and then realized I actually sort of liked it more.

[Katie Nolan]

So you have to live in your truth.

[Brady]

Well, truth. What. What is truth?

[Katie Nolan]

That's a good question.

[Brady]

Subjective.

[Katie Nolan]

That's a good question. By the way, that was your yap. It's not happening today. I've got. We got a lot to get to.

[Brady]

Sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

We need to talk. No, that's.

[Brady]

I'm derailing us.

[Katie Nolan]

You're not. I'm saying there is no yap. And we're going to call whatever we just did there the. Yeah, that's the beauty of the yap. It can cover any talking that nobody wants to listen to. And it was probably.

[Brady]

Oh, I think this is a good stuff. Are you kidding me? I live for this.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so what we did yesterday, the production team and I, Brady, Chris, Isabella, we came up with our favorite thing. 16 of our favorite things, technically 18 of our favorite things about March Madness. I had them seat it because if you've ever done a bracket for content, the thing people want to yell at you about the most is the seating. They'll always be like, that matchup doesn't make any sense. That's not a one seed, that's a 16. So what I did is I removed myself from that process.

[Brady]

Oh, nice.

[Katie Nolan]

So if you guys have notes on the seating, take it up with Chris or with Brady. Leave Isabella alone.

[Brady]

You could yell at me too, because I really had nothing.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I just. We. It's not my problem. But you can yell at us for our picks, which we will go through. So there are two play in games. Two.

[Brady]

Oh, fun.

[Katie Nolan]

Two matchups. No, see, they're not represented on your bracket, but they are the ones that have slashes. So it's for the 16 seed and for the 10 seed.

[Brady]

Ah, yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Now we're gonna start with the. For the 10 seed, the matchup. The play in matchup of noon beers versus evening beers. So great things about March Madness is you can have beers any time of day.

[Brady]

Right?

[Katie Nolan]

A lot of action going on throughout the day.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I feel like this is pretty clear noon. Because you can kind of have an evening beer whenever March Madness provides that extra excuse if you wanna crack open a cold one in the middle of the day.

[Katie Nolan]

Nice. If you wanna pop a nooner, does that mean. Does that mean something else? I thought it sounded cool and then I was like, or bad.

[Brady]

Look, you tried it.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know. Leave it. If it's inoffensive, take it out. If it means something that we all know I didn't mean to say. Yeah, Papa Nooner was what it was Papa Nooner. So we're all on the. Yeah.

[Charlotte Wilder]

No Google hits for Papa Nooner. You are clear.

[Katie Nolan]

Make the merch, print the shirts. I think I'm with you on Noon beers. I also think in this work from home era, you could probably sneak a noon beer. Like back in the day when we were, you know, we work in sports, so March Madness during the day, we're watching it usually at our respective jobs that I don't think we now have.

[Brady]

Don't exist anymore.

[Katie Nolan]

Frankly, before, I used to feel bad for people who had to work real jobs and who couldn't, like on a Friday or a Thursday, like hang out and watch a game. Same now. It doesn't matter. I think every. Most people. Are they making them go back to work. I don't. I'm not keeping up with the.

[Brady]

I don't have a real job and kind of technically never had. So I don't know. I'm with you. I used to feel really bad. I'd be, you know, work was just sitting around watching March Madness and I was like, what do people do?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

Who don't.

[Katie Nolan]

Unrelatable.

[Brady]

I'm like, oh, important stuff. Oh, they're doing important stuff.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, math and equations, taxes. All right, so Noon Beers is going to win that play in game pretty handily to. To fill our 10 seed in our bracket. The other play in game because these are kind of similar. Our team nicknames versus team mascots. So team mascots came up because we wanted to discuss live mascots who are present at the game. Mainly because we wanted to show you Grift two from where again? Drake. From Drake.

[Brady]

Drake.

[Katie Nolan]

Drake Having famously a tough year. I don't know, basketball wise, but not.

[Brady]

You know, Kendrick's gonna just show up to their games.

[Katie Nolan]

I should. I feel like he should.

[Brady]

It's a good bit.

[Katie Nolan]

But if he doesn't, they will have Griff ii, their live dog mascot who rules. Isn't he cute?

[Brady]

Oh, he's amazing. Look at his little tie.

[Katie Nolan]

Isn't he everything?

[Brady]

Oh, it's amazing when dogs willingly wear costumes. Sorry. Outfits. So that's.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't.

[Brady]

That's not a costume.

[Katie Nolan]

That is.

[Brady]

Drake is also one of those schools that I really only know exists because of March Madness. No offense to Drake, but those are. I love that part of it too.

[Katie Nolan]

You're like, oh, yeah, stop saying sorry. Other things we're going to obviously talk about.

[Brady]

You tell me.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, okay. I think. I think there's probably more to talk about in terms of team nicknames. Like when you you know, learn that Delaware or the Fighting Blue Hens or the famous St. Louis Billikens. So I think not to, you know, commandeer the play in games.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

But I think we should probably move the team nicknames into the bracket.

[Brady]

Wow. Over. Over. Mascots.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, just because in terms of live mascot. Because I could have sworn this is.

[Brady]

Other live mascot only.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, okay.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And because I could have sworn other schools brought cute dogs, but we had a hard time finding.

[Brady]

I think Butler Blue goes to a lot of the games, but it's much more football friendly. A lot of mascots you can bring. You know, off the top of my head, a longhorned steer.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. You shouldn't actually, if we're doing what I think.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

But if you're going with. And you know, if you're doing what we did this year, I'm pretty sure you can bring a live Tiger. Didn't lsu, didn't they bring a live. Yes. So that's. Now, again, not something I'd advise, but it is technically doable. So I. Unless you want to make the argument for mascots.

[Brady]

Nicknames is fun.

[Katie Nolan]

I just feel like the nicknames.

[Brady]

Blue Hens is we.

[Katie Nolan]

There's a lot. There's a whole list.

[Brady]

Okay, great.

[Katie Nolan]

We're just going to get there. I wanted to save some of the content.

[Brady]

Amazing.

[Katie Nolan]

Hold back a little.

[Brady]

Perfect. I love it.

[Katie Nolan]

Cool. Cool. So nicknames makes it in. That's a 16 seed. So it's going to have a tough matchup anyway. And we'll just start with that matchup. The one versus the 16 in the first round. Like the official first round of our 16 team. Things we love about March Madness. We have Cinderella runs versus funny team nicknames.

[Brady]

I mean, who doesn't love a Cinderella run? That's kind of the whole point. Right. Like, it's a one seed for a reason. I think we're going to have to go chalk here, Katie.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, it does feel that way. Can you explain to anybody who might not know what a Cinderella run is?

[Brady]

Yeah. A Cinderella run is when a team like umb, cc, University of Maryland, Baltimore, College Central, which is not what it is, but, you know, you get my drip when a team like that goes on. And I think it was 2018, they beat Virginia and then they went on to, you know, a very high. A very low numbered round rather. And you're like, I've never heard of that team. Or St. Peter's a couple years ago.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I've got a list of a couple here. We can. St. Peter's was in 2022. The St. Peter's peacocks.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Very good. Brings in the thing we're up against here. Which team? Nicknames. Yeah. It's like a double digit seed. That usually makes it for way further than you think. They're going to a big Cinderella run. 2006, we had the George Mason Patriots. They made it to the Final Four. They were in 11 seed. 2008, we had the Davidson Wildcats make it to the Elite Eight. They were a 10 seed. VCU. Remember that? In 2011, they made it to the Final Four. Florida Gulf Coast Eagles went to the Sweet 16 in 2013. I remember that one. And Loyola Chicago was an 11 seed that defeated number six Miami and number three, Tennessee. Is that the one?

[Brady]

Is that Sister Jean?

[Katie Nolan]

I think so.

[Brady]

They have. There's a.

[Katie Nolan]

Was that Sister Jean? Yes.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

There's a nun who loves that team.

[Katie Nolan]

And she shows up.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I think.

[Brady]

Can we make sure with us?

[Katie Nolan]

Because I check every year same. And I think we know every year. I think sometimes. Yep.

[Brady]

She's 105.

[Katie Nolan]

Shut up.

[Brady]

Sister Jean.

[Katie Nolan]

Sister Jean.

[Brady]

God loves her.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, in a year when we had a sister nominated for best supporting actress.

[Brady]

Oh, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

A big year for sisters.

[Brady]

Isabella Rossellini.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right.

[Brady]

She's a fake sister though.

[Katie Nolan]

No. Yeah, that's. She's an actress. Yeah, she's a sister. Right. But she's not a.

[Brady]

She might be, but.

[Katie Nolan]

Sister Jean. 105. If that ain't an advertisement for the.

[Brady]

Church, I mean, it's kind of the best one they've got going for.

[Katie Nolan]

God will keep you here.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

At least till March Madness. God, that's gonna be. We need to start emotionally preparing for that day.

[Brady]

Yeah. I don't know if there's anything any of us can do to prepare ourselves for that moment.

[Katie Nolan]

Did you.

[Brady]

Maybe I'll start praying a couple years ago.

[Katie Nolan]

Sorry, it's a little late, but I. You can do whatever you want.

[Brady]

I'm Jewish.

[Katie Nolan]

Do you remember a couple of years ago, people started to turn on Sister Jean? That was wild.

[Brady]

Well, right. It's like if a. If a nun who roots for a basketball team isn't safe from the backlash to the backlash, then yeah, I. You know, it kind of made me feel better, to be honest.

[Katie Nolan]

Jesus saves, but not. Not from that. Not on the Internet from that. Of course. Obviously. NC State in 2024, they went to the Final Four. Oral Roberts. I just like any excuse, I have to say. Oral Ro. What an insane name for a school. I don't even need to know what your mascot is.

[Brady]

Toothpaste.

[Katie Nolan]

So we're saying. Sorry, Oral R. So we're saying Cinderella Runs. Makes it through. So sorry to nicknames, but let's. Let me read a couple. The Delaware Fighting Blue hens.

[Brady]

In.

[Katie Nolan]

The St. Louis Billikens. The Campbell Fighting Camels. The UC Irvine Anteaters. The Presbyterian Blue Hose. Now, that's H O S E. Not to be confused. I guess even.

[Brady]

Even spelled that way, I'm like a ho.

[Katie Nolan]

Either way.

[Brady]

Like, it's what, as in garden?

[Katie Nolan]

I guess.

[Brady]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Unless it means something. Could mean panty.

[Brady]

What?

[Katie Nolan]

North Texas mean Green. I love when a school just says a color is a person. Yeah, I think that's great.

[Brady]

We're mean and we're green.

[Katie Nolan]

The St. Francis red flash. That's what I call a specific week once a month. The IPFW Mastodons.

[Brady]

Okay, that sounds like an insurance company.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes, that's right.

[Brady]

IPFW Mastodon.

[Katie Nolan]

Mastodon. US.

[Brady]

What?

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know. Stony Brook Sea Wolves and the Keisha. Is that Canicious is how we say the name of that school that I've definitely heard of before. The Golden Griffins.

[Brady]

Oh, okay. Very Harry Potter of them.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. Rip to those people. Cinderella Runs, moves on.

[Brady]

And I'm supposed to fill out my little bracket.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, that's why we got you a pen, Charlotte. What do you think it was for?

[Brady]

Well, sometimes I draw pictures. Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, we're going down the left side. I don't know. This might be confusing. Maybe you all should have written your own bracket out. And if you are, here it is the eight versus the nine. We've got the monoculture of it all versus one shining moment. Our thinking with the monoculture of it all, we don't have a lot of things anymore that everybody's watching and talking about at the same time. So there's, like, a communal experience to March Madness that I find quite invigorating.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

When you're like, oh, I can sort of just send the post without having to specify too much what I'm talking about. Because everybody's watching the same thing I'm watching. I love that.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

I live for that same. That's what I used to use a website called Twitter for. It was its strength, it was its value, and now it's dead.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And so the monoculture of it all up against one shining moment, which, for those who don't know, is a song and video package, a highlight package of the entire tournament that's played at the very end after a winner has Been crowned. People take it very seriously and they love it so much.

[Brady]

Yeah, I do too.

[Katie Nolan]

You do?

[Brady]

Yeah, because it's a montage of all the things that it. And. And what I love about is that March Madness. Three weeks, approximately.

[Katie Nolan]

Sure.

[Brady]

Four weeks. You know, a short period of time. But the way they put together, Able.

[Katie Nolan]

To be fit in March, if we may. You could fit the whole thing in.

[Brady]

March into April, but you could, if.

[Katie Nolan]

You tried, move it back and fit it all. Sorry, go ahead.

[Brady]

No, no, exactly. But what I love about One Shining Moment is the production team puts together these. You know, it's like a slideshow at a graduation where, you know, you've had at least four years with everybody. If it's high school, maybe more college, you really know these people. And so it's like, oh, remember freshman year? But this is like, oh, remember 10 days ago when, like the, when that guy did the goofy dance and everyone's like, oh. And then he's like, I'll tear up. Because if you put music over any slideshow, I will tear up. And it's like such a beautiful, manufactured, emotional experience with very little weight.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And here's my. That's what I take issue with. And it's an unpopular opinion and I've been yelled at about it already. So I stand here in my truth. The song they put it to stinks.

[Brady]

Oh, One shining.

[Katie Nolan]

One shining moment stinks. Isabella has never heard the song. Correct. Still correct. Isabella. Okay, now I don't think we'll be able to put the audio itself in the podcast, but we're going to play the song for Isabella and then I want to hear what Isabella thinks.

[Brady]

Okay. So this was the part in the recording where we showed Isabella One Shining Moment. Unfortunately, we can't play that on the podcast, but let's pick it up at her reaction.

[Isabella]

It sounds like a good karaoke song.

[Katie Nolan]

It does. It. It's so One shining Moment. It's missing the thing about it's too.

[Brady]

Happy, it's too bright, the ball is tipped.

[Katie Nolan]

That's crazy. It's a crazy lyric.

[Brady]

Is.

[Katie Nolan]

This was just for March Madness.

[Brady]

Respectfully, you know, we're going to do a little good old fashioned sports style debate show here. I think it is a perfect song for this because it is corny. It is like 80s montage movie that we don't get enough of anymore.

[Katie Nolan]

And who sings it?

[Brady]

Luther Vandross.

[Katie Nolan]

No, you'd think.

[Brady]

Oh no, you'd think. Who? Who sings it?

[Katie Nolan]

Not Luther Vandross. I looked it up.

[Brady]

Doesn't everybody Think that.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes, I did till yesterday.

[Brady]

Who sings it?

[Katie Nolan]

What's his name?

[Charlotte Wilder]

David Barrett, I believe it was. They did it with Lucha Vandross at one point.

[Katie Nolan]

Is that so that version.

[Charlotte Wilder]

Do we have there is a. Yes. It was recut with Luther Vandross.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Charlotte Wilder]

To make it hipper.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I guess. Because that version that we just played did sound a little better than versions I've heard in years past. They're clearly adding some spice to the broth. I just.

[Brady]

What I love about it is I picture a man in a vest, you know, at a piano on a cruise, maybe.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. That's not basketball.

[Brady]

Well, but what if it were?

[Katie Nolan]

It's.

[Brady]

And hear me out.

[Katie Nolan]

And we counterpoint every year.

[Brady]

Counterpoint. It might be.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, fair. So you. Are you taken up for one shining moment here. You. And you don't care at all that the best thing about March Madness is that we all watch March Madness together. I don't believe you.

[Brady]

I mean, you make a compelling argument. Would you like the monoculture. Mono culture.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't want you to worry about what I want.

[Brady]

Okay, well, that's not in my nature.

[Katie Nolan]

It just feels like One shining moment is one first of all.

[Brady]

But it's. It's a ward.

[Katie Nolan]

It's what you montage of multiple moments. So it doesn't even ring true. It's a bunch of shining moments. That's the premise of a highlight package. So one shining moment is not only a lie, it's a corny lie. And I feel like there could be a much better song. It. When my brother was. Walk with me for a sec. When my brother was in Can Am tournaments as a child. A youth hockey player.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

They would do the montage to Van Halen right now. A song that gets annoying the more you listen to it. But that beginning hits.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

For an. An athletics package, like a highlight package.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

It's their suspense. There's. Oh, there's. And then there's the. Like.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Then it breaks through and is positive. Whereas one shining moment is always like. It sounds like we golf music.

[Brady]

I. Right. I see your point. However the ball is tipped, the ball is some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. That's insane. But you know what. What do we do if we don't agree?

[Katie Nolan]

That's right. We. We put it to the judges.

[Brady]

Producers.

[Charlotte Wilder]

Here's the problem is that if we. If we were to refresh One shining moment all over again to make it hipper again, you know, there's a 99 chance someone would pay Snoop Dogg to do it. So you have to pick what evil you're up against.

[Katie Nolan]

That's true. The next will be. We'll be doing one shining moment with Jelly Roll. And I don't need that.

[Brady]

He's everywhere.

[Katie Nolan]

He's everywhere. I don't need that.

[Brady]

And Teddy Swims. Who? I'm like, are you the same person?

[Katie Nolan]

Good for them. Enjoy their one shining moment. We are moving the monoculture on to the next round.

[Brady]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Sometimes you just got to make a call.

[Brady]

Yeah. Thanks.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, next we have a 4 versus 13. We have cult heroes versus Charles Barkley. Knowing as little as we do famously. Charles Barkley, a basketball player who talks about baske basketball for a living now. But when it comes to March Madness, what I appreciate about Charles is that it seems as though he knows just as little as I do. And it's. It's nice having a fan self insert on. On programming.

[Brady]

Yeah. He. We are in real time. We are watching Charles Barkley learn who plays for which team.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

And then he'll say like the wrong name. He'll be like, wow, Freddie. Freddie Tinsdale is having a. Having a great game. And they're like, well, he was on Arkansas and they're out. And he's like, you know what I'm saying? And we're like, we don't know what you're saying, Chuck, but I think it' beautiful thing.

[Katie Nolan]

We. We also have some cult heroes here.

[Brady]

Yeah. Who? Give me an example.

[Katie Nolan]

The best thing, one of the best things as you can see about March Madness is the. Is the elevation of players who we wouldn't normally know about who suddenly go off and like carry their team. So in 2024, Jack Gulke from Oakland made 16 threes in the tournament. He hit 10 to knock out number three Kentucky in the first round and then six in their second round exit to NC State. That is just. I like we cared. That's the thing. Why I have them all listed here is because we cared so much in the moment and then immediately deleted from my memory.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they are.

[Katie Nolan]

These are the sacrifice made by these cult heroes is that they are. There's this. They have one shining moment. Yeah, we remember them. And then immediately forget 2024 as well. D.J. burns for NC State. You remember him from last year? Who's this we're looking at here? That's Golke. Yeah. Do you remember him? Because once I saw the picture, I realized, you don't know.

[Brady]

I super don't. I feel. I think I watched more women's March Madness last year than men's did.

[Katie Nolan]

We have a cult hero in women's last year, Charlotte as the expert.

[Brady]

Feel like. I mean, well, I would almost say, no, we didn't, because they all have played long enough in college. That's the thing that we know. Like, it can't be Kate Martin on Iowa, because everybody already knew Kate Martin. If she'd only played for a year and then gone to the wnba, maybe it would have been like, oh, Kate Martin rules.

[Katie Nolan]

But, yeah, but they're just. That's. Most things with women's leagues is. You're like, oh, they. Most of them go there for four years and. And most of them are. Are. Yeah.

[Brady]

So cult heroes. Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Kevin Pit snoggle, perhaps you remember, from 2005, played for West Virginia.

[Brady]

No. That's incredible.

[Katie Nolan]

Kevin Pittsnoggle. You just got pit snoggled.

[Brady]

Wow. So basically, we're going up against, like, great names versus Charles Barkley.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Which. Well, we have actually great names. Comes up in a little bit.

[Brady]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

These are just people who did cool things. Like, let me think. Luke Hancock in 2013, played for Louisville. He arrived in Atlanta averaging less than eight points per game. And then he departed as a national champion and the most outstanding player. In one of the more remarkable performances in Final four history. In narrow victories over Wichita State, the Shockers, and Michigan, Hancock scored 42 points on 15 shots.

[Brady]

What is that even mathematically? Well, yeah. You factor in a three. I don't know. I was an English major.

[Katie Nolan]

He had five assists and zero turnovers in 61 minutes.

[Brady]

I think we got to move cult heroes on.

[Katie Nolan]

I think so, too, but I really.

[Brady]

Love you, Chuck, but he gets. He. He's. He doesn't need the bracket.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. And also, we'd be moving on a guy who doesn't know any of these people over these people, which feels extra mean. So we'll move the cult heroes on to the next round.

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

Um. All right, now we're up 5 to 12. 5 versus 12. We have buzzer beaters up against fan reactions in the crowd.

[Brady]

Oh, this is a classic. 5:12.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

For those who don't know, 5:12 matchup is often an upset.

[Katie Nolan]

It's dicey.

[Brady]

A lot of times, the 12 can win. Here's my feeling, Katie. Buzzer beaters make me feel more alive than almost anything else in this world.

[Katie Nolan]

True.

[Brady]

And so the thought, like, fan reactions. You had piccolo girl in, like, 2016 from Northwestern. She was crying, playing the piccolo. And so I. This is almost like choosing, you know, a favorite child because Butter. Buzzer beaters and fan reactions are probably my two favorite things about March Madness.

[Katie Nolan]

I agree, it's a very tough matchup.

[Brady]

But a buzzer beater.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, I know sports. They are sports. Distilled to its purest form. A buzzer beater is like, you throw up the shot, everybody. You see, everyone's eyes follow the ball and it goes. And just the. Ironically enough, the fan reaction to a buzzer beater is invigorating. It'll put life back in your bones. It'll make you feel like everything was worth it. And for just a second, the world isn't completely falling apart.

[Brady]

1000% buzzer beater.

[Katie Nolan]

It's the end of the game. It seems like you might lose. This has to go in. And then it does.

[Brady]

And then it does. My heart rate's elevating.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. Just thinking about it.

[Brady]

Oh, yeah. So buzzer beater moves on.

[Katie Nolan]

We have to.

[Brady]

We have to. Sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

Sorry to say fan reactions. Here's what we can say, I think, to make ourselves feel better.

[Brady]

What?

[Katie Nolan]

I don't love seeing a sad fan.

[Brady]

Oh, right. Except if it. Northwestern has a lot of great fan reactions because there's a kid with braces one year who was like, why, God, that was great. So, oh, man, you're a better person than I am because I'm like, sometimes.

[Katie Nolan]

I like it depends on the fan base. I'm not going to be upset about a sad Duke fan. Right. Sometimes they'll find, like a child.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And just seeing a child experience sports loss for the documentarian purposes, I'm glad they're filming it. But I'm also like this. We don't have to zoom in on the tears, so we're going to use that as our experience excuse to move buzzer beaters on. But I'm also harboring resentment for my producers silently for making us choose between buzzer beaters and fan reactions in the first round of the tournament. Moving over.

[Charlotte Wilder]

Nobody said this was easy.

[Katie Nolan]

Nope. And nobody said it would be this hard. Shout out Coldplay. The ball is tipped. Okay. The number two seed. Sorry, I hit my microphone. The number two seed versus the number 15 seed. We have sick names versus actual basketball being played. Now, listen, I would want to pick sick names, but I feel like moving two. If I may be frank, two white women moving sick names into a bracket. I don't want us to make fun of anybody's names.

[Brady]

Well, no, it would. It would be, if anything, in appreciation. But I actually think that for me, regardless of what those names are, I think the actual. I think actual basketball up against anything in the first round would win for me because I find there's a meditative quality to just watching. I mean, you know, especially as you said, our world slash government, you know, all of it sort of falling apart. There is a meditative quality to sitting there and being like, oh, we used to watch basketball and things were normal. And you can pretend things are normal in for, you know, a game's length. So I think I would move actual basketball anyway.

[Katie Nolan]

2025. That's this year. Yeah. Dane Danger. There's a player on Memphis named Dane Danger.

[Brady]

Really good.

[Katie Nolan]

Sick.

[Brady]

Really good.

[Katie Nolan]

Also this year is that Musa Cease.

[Brady]

Musa Sise.

[Katie Nolan]

Musa Sise. How fun is that? They both play for Memphis, which all this has done for me is. I know I'm.

[Brady]

You're rooting for Memphis. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, Dane Danger and Moosa Sisse.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

That is the most fun I've ever had. 1997, famously God. Sham God played for prom.

[Charlotte Wilder]

Katie, let me take it back one. Do you know who Memphis's head coach is?

[Brady]

Penny. Sorry, no.

[Charlotte Wilder]

Yeah. Penny Hardaway.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, it is.

[Charlotte Wilder]

That is a squad to watch.

[Katie Nolan]

That's. That's probably my winning.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

It's really good.

[Katie Nolan]

Wow.

[Brady]

And God ShamGod now a coach for the Dallas Mavericks.

[Katie Nolan]

Tough time. Yeah, that's a tough time. They need as much God as they can get in that building.

[Brady]

They. They have two.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Chief kicking Stallion Sims from Alabama State. That was in 2009.

[Brady]

Really good.

[Katie Nolan]

2012. I love a name that sounds like a phrase and that's Stats battle.

[Brady]

No way.

[Katie Nolan]

Stats Battle. That's. You know, that sums up sports tv. It's just one big stats battle.

[Brady]

Yeah, tell me about it.

[Katie Nolan]

2012, Syracuse, Scoop Jardine.

[Brady]

Nice.

[Katie Nolan]

Fantastic.

[Brady]

Very good.

[Katie Nolan]

Fantastic. Also, if you ever wanted to start like a. Like a salad, make your own salad company.

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

I could eat at Scoop Jardine's Garden.

[Brady]

Kava could rebrand.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, totally. 2013, Syracuse had Rakim Christmas.

[Brady]

Also great.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm going to try this one and be corrected potentially. 2012. Also Memphis, who might be our all name team.

[Brady]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Hippolyte Sifak.

[Brady]

It's as good as I can. Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

FAC. Middle Tennessee in 2016 had giddy pots.

[Brady]

Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

And also, if we may, in memoriam of a couple names who are missing out on their chance to make this year's tournament jizzle. James from Cincinnati. No way. This Rhode island is real. No way. Rhode island has a player named Always is the first name and Wright. W R. I G H, T. Always Wright.

[Brady]

That is.

[Katie Nolan]

I didn't know legally that could be our name.

[Brady]

You know what that is?

[Katie Nolan]

What's that?

[Brady]

Great parenting.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, incredible. My parents would never name me Always Right because they insisted that I wasn't. If my name. If my parents named me Always Right, I would have never been grounded. I could go, well, you named me this.

[Brady]

Yeah. You have the ultimate.

[Katie Nolan]

I always was just getting grounded for being like, you guys are wrong here. It's me who's right. And then Utah Tech not making it into the tournament. So we will not be seeing Tennessee Rainwater.

[Brady]

Oh, beautiful.

[Katie Nolan]

Really beautiful stuff.

[Brady]

Oh, he should become a playwright.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Why? Because Tennessee Williams.

[Brady]

Tennessee Williams walked so that Tennessee Rainwater could run. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Or you could become, you know, like a basketball star or like a water. Like a person who makes sure we all drink or something. Do we still have those?

[Brady]

No, no, no. Those. Those were gone yesterday. Love the thought, though.

[Katie Nolan]

So you want to move actual basketball on? We'll do that.

[Brady]

Yeah, sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

Basketball moves on. But shout out to all those sick names. And I'm looking forward to, like, learning others that aren't that didn't, you know, necessarily make it into our bracket. Okay, we're. We're almost done with this first round. We have three more matchups. This one is the 7 seed versus the 10 seed. Remember the 10 seed, we picked Noon Beers. So we have coaching outbursts versus Noon Beers. This feels quick to me. I. I think I'm going to move Noon Beers on because while I love a college basketball coaching outburst, historically, they mostly happen leading up to the tournament.

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know that we see any of the really good ones that come to right in the tournament itself.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm trying there. Will Muscleman also talk about names? Didn't he have an upward. Or he just took his shirt off after they won.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, yeah.

[Brady]

So it. I guess celebration is different, though. So. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Outburst. Outburst does not necessarily pick an emotion. It just says that it has exploded out of you. So joy counts as an outburst. Yeah.

[Brady]

I mean, and then you've got Gino, who's just, like, constantly falling apart on the sidelines. Let's do. Let's do Noon Beers. It's much more interesting.

[Katie Nolan]

I think you're right.

[Brady]

Great.

[Katie Nolan]

Noon Beers. Who doesn't love a Noon beer? Or a noon, you know, little.

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

Toot Toot. You know, a Noon Little. Just a little.

[Brady]

Or a Noon extra, you know, little Half an anxiety.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Brady]

You know, whatever you're into.

[Katie Nolan]

Or a Noon pharmaceutical.

[Brady]

Yeah, you know, live your life. It's 2025 folks.

[Katie Nolan]

Go on your own ride.

[Brady]

Just doing my best.

[Katie Nolan]

It's the important part is yeah, and then the, the intoxication and the help. However it is, you do it. But don't do any of the crazy ones. Let's not do noon crack, okay? Yeah, just not gonna endorse noon crack.

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[Katie Nolan]

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[Katie Nolan]

Versus the 14 we have brackets and all that that entails making your bracket, trying to keep your first round completely clean versus cutting the nets. The act of when the players take down the physical net at the end, I believe it only is happening at the very last. Whoever wins cuts down the net at the. At the end of the whole thing. It's like a. Does that happen right before one shining moment? I believe potentially right after. But it's a. It's a, you know, a moment. Yeah, it shines, it's.

[Brady]

It's bright.

[Katie Nolan]

Right.

[Brady]

Gosh, you know, brackets are. I have a love Hate relationship with brackets. Because every year I fill one out, and I. I have. Speaking of coaching outbursts, I have an outsized reaction. If my bracket is busted immediately.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Brady]

Like, if the team that I choose going to the final four or winning is out in the first or second round, I'm, like, legitimately angry.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Brady]

For the rest of March Madness.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Brady]

And I try to let it go, but then I look at other people's brackets, and I'm like, oh, I thought about moving that, but I didn't. But also not filling out a bracket. I feel this sense of freedom, and then I'm like, well, I definitely would have won if I'd feel. So it's a tortured experience for me, but it's also integral to March Madness.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Brady]

Cutting down the nets.

[Katie Nolan]

I love it. I think if it happened more, I'd feel better picking it here. But the thing that fuels the fun of March Madness is, like, no matter how little or how much you know, you are given a list of all the people, and you got to just pick.

[Brady]

Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

And there's so much to the making of a bracket. The, like, Sunday night of selection Sunday, filling it out, or if you're me getting the text that's like, you have 10 minutes to submit this. Where's your bracket? You know, the following along it. The making you invested in a thing you wouldn't have cared about otherwise.

[Brady]

Exactly. And so I think the method you use, like, the best bracket I ever made was in college when I just picked off of the uniforms that I like. Smart Tennessee.

[Katie Nolan]

There's a million methods, and since we're gonna move it on to the next round, we'll have plenty of time to discuss those methods. I think Brackets moves on. Sorry. To cutting the nets. It's very cool. I love it.

[Brady]

And then they put the little piece of the net in their hat.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Sweet. You know, it's not cost effective. Somebody's got to replace that net.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

We're not gonna be able to play any more ba. Skit ball. Okay.

[Isabella]

And then we got that back skit.

[Katie Nolan]

I love that.

[Brady]

Really good.

[Katie Nolan]

That made my whole day.

[Brady]

Same.

[Katie Nolan]

So excited.

[Brady]

Oh, that was out of nowhere.

[Katie Nolan]

Isabella's. I know her. Oh, my God. I know her. Isabella, who wore a basketball shirt today?

[Brady]

No way. I didn't notice.

[Isabella]

It says I heart New York, but.

[Katie Nolan]

It'S with Josh Hart instead of a heart. I love that. Who's more. Who's more basketball? Josh Hart or Josh Hartnett? Who is Josh Hart plus a net, which is where you put a basketball and you Cut down. Let's move on. Okay. 6 versus 11. This is our last matchup of the first round. We have learning American geography versus commercials for schools.

[Brady]

Oh.

[Katie Nolan]

Now, I don't watch a lot of college sports. It's just not my bag. But obviously I love March Madness. So this is one of the only times of year I get to see the commercials for schools. You're not usually seeing television commercials for. Because if you think about it, regular daytime tv, if you're watching and you're seeing a commercial for a school, it's usually like, DeVry or, like, education Connection. It's always for, like, a school that you're like, well, that's not really a school. It's a school. But it's like, not. It's not. It doesn't have a campus that we all go and we visit and we. It's like a school. Light these. I guess part of the agreement of when you air a college basketball game, you've got to air an advertisement for the schools that are playing.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Which I would say the basketball game is the best advertisement for the school. That. But. But that's fine. I love seeing, like, Alabama. Have to tell me what's great about being in Alabama. That's funny.

[Brady]

I love a school commercial when. When they're trying to convince you that actual school happens there and not just. Not just basketball, not just football, while.

[Katie Nolan]

You'Re watching a Thursday game played by students and you're like, yeah, school happens.

[Brady]

1Pm When's the school for them? And then they switch to, you know, like, students in a lab with beakers. And you're like, well, is that even real? Do they even use beakers anymore? Like, ostensibly. Anyway, I love those. I also love when there's, like, a general conference.

[Katie Nolan]

An SEC commercial.

[Brady]

It just means I'll get out of.

[Katie Nolan]

My seat for an SEC commercial. Because it does mean more. It just does.

[Brady]

It does. So those. Move on. Sorry. To learning geography.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, and so we should say, I only recently learned, and I think every year relearn, like, where Gonzaga is. That's in Washington State.

[Brady]

Yes. Blows my mind every time. Also, there are always, like, five schools in Nashville you've never heard of.

[Katie Nolan]

Right.

[Brady]

But we know where Nashville is. We know where Washington is. We just don't know where the schools are.

[Katie Nolan]

Where's Purdue? Is that in Indiana?

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Thumbs up. I'm getting.

[Isabella]

Doesn't matter either way.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm just kidding.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

No, she's kind of right.

[Brady]

It's an I State, for sure.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I think we eliminate learning geography because as you can see, it doesn't stick.

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

We just learn it so that somebody as women in sports.

[Brady]

Where's Creighton?

[Katie Nolan]

Creighton is in South Carolina.

[Brady]

No, it's not.

[Katie Nolan]

Creighton is in Virginia.

[Brady]

Creighton's Rhode Island.

[Katie Nolan]

Creighton's in Rhode island and everybody knows it.

[Brady]

Where is it?

[Katie Nolan]

Look at how. Just leave the silence in when you edit this, Chris, because nobody knew.

[Brady]

Nobody knew. Nebraska.

[Katie Nolan]

Couldn't be Nebraska.

[Brady]

No way.

[Katie Nolan]

Wait. Oh, God, I love it.

[Brady]

Did Creighton move recently?

[Katie Nolan]

Yes, Yes.

[Brady]

I swear to God. Creighton was in Rhode island last year.

[Katie Nolan]

Miami of Ohio. It's all very confusing.

[Brady]

And I. Miami of Ohio, Definitely Oklahoma.

[Katie Nolan]

I've only learned the geography so that when somebody quizzed me as a woman to prove I knew enough to be here, question mark it. I. That's why I knew, and I immediately forgot it. So school commercials move on.

[Brady]

Great.

[Katie Nolan]

To the next round. Okay, we have now brought it down to what? Eight. We're at the elite eight. Let's start with our first match up here. Cinderella runs versus the monoculture.

[Brady]

Oh, Cinderella runs.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, wow. That was. She just did that.

[Brady]

I'm sorry. Because I was against monoculture.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right.

[Brady]

I had one shiny moment. Anyway, so that was, you know, I did a Cinderella run. Really makes you feel alive.

[Katie Nolan]

It does.

[Brady]

But a monoculture, watching something with other people also makes you feel.

[Katie Nolan]

But you're right. The way that we used to do that has died now.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

So the. The thing about the monoculture, that was one of my favorite parts is kind of gone. So I'd be doing this. I'd be choosing this with a memory of something that doesn't exist anymore. Of like logging on and hanging out with your friends. And you're talking about the sports.

[Brady]

Right. Your one shining moment is the monoculture.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I could just do a highlight reel of times that Facebook that your tweets went viral. Yeah, I don't know that they ever did.

[Brady]

Oh, come on.

[Katie Nolan]

I tweet for a small.

[Brady]

You had bangers.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know.

[Brady]

Oh, come on. She's lying, everybody.

[Katie Nolan]

She's not.

[Brady]

Katie's lying.

[Katie Nolan]

I just tweet for the. I tweet. I tweeted for the thought to exist in the world so that someone could go, hey, I had that thought. That's what I did it for. Love of the game.

[Brady]

Wow.

[Katie Nolan]

Mostly love of the game.

[Brady]

I did it for the retweets.

[Katie Nolan]

The ball is. The tweet is sent.

[Brady]

All right.

[Katie Nolan]

Cinderella runs, moves on. That's the corre. Okay, that's the right thing. Cinderelli. Cinderelli. Gus. Gus. Okay, the next matchup. Cult Heroes versus Buzzer Beaters. Wow, this is difficult. This is a tough one because a cult hero, really what it is, is a kid that you're like, you know, you looked at them when they were on the floor and you were like, what's this kid going to do? And then little did you know, that kid's going to do a lot.

[Brady]

Everything.

[Katie Nolan]

That kid's here to make a splash.

[Brady]

That kid is the one shining.

[Katie Nolan]

And then for those two, three, four weeks that we're looking at that kid, you're just like, this my guy, right?

[Brady]

You feel very, very connected.

[Katie Nolan]

Very connected.

[Brady]

So here's the thing. Buzzer beaters and Cinderella runs. You just smack yourself out of the mic.

[Katie Nolan]

It doesn't matter.

[Brady]

Buzzer beater and Cinderella runs. Feel similar to me.

[Katie Nolan]

You're looking ahead. Yeah. Okay.

[Brady]

Well, just. Just in a way that, like, it elicits the same emotion where you're like, holy shit. So I don't know if that matters at all. When we're called.

[Katie Nolan]

Heroes are usually on Cinderella teams. Like, it's usually like a team. I'm looking at the list that we have. NC State, Oakland, Northern Iowa, St. Mary's West Virginia, Louisville, Michigan. Weber. Isn't it Weber State, too? No, it's Weber. It's Weber.

[Brady]

I thought it was Weber.

[Katie Nolan]

It is Weber, right?

[Brady]

Really? I've always said Weber.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Then that's it. Then confidently say. And that's where Harold. Harold Arseno went.

[Brady]

Wow.

[Katie Nolan]

Arseno Hall. I called him, beat me to it in 1999.

[Brady]

So I feel like maybe Cult Heroes needs to move on against Cinderella runs because it can encompass buzzer beaters and you really get invested. A buzzer beater is ephemeral. It happens and it's over.

[Katie Nolan]

Right, But I. But it. But it's same with. I mean, Cult Heroes happen and they're over just a little bit of a long time.

[Brady]

I mean, personally, I think Buzzer beater I care more about.

[Katie Nolan]

I think so too. And I think we have to go with our. We move Buzzer Beaters on. Beautiful shout out to the cult heroes.

[Brady]

We hardly knew you truly.

[Katie Nolan]

A. A more expert sports podcast would be listing you and talking about all of the. But we recognize you. We love you.

[Brady]

I would also argue we have more interesting things going on in our heads.

[Katie Nolan]

Than the list of those names sometimes. Thank you for arguing it. Okay, now we have basketball. The actual basketball versus noon beers. Oh, my God. Now I'm Gonna tell on myself here. It's. I don't really care too much about the actual basketball.

[Brady]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

I care a little bit about the actual basketball.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I care enough to. To, like, half watch it. But if I were to be asked, which I am, for the record right now, being asked as we speak, if I'm here for the beers or if I'm here for the basketball. Gun to my head, and I don't know why, I don't know what situation this is where there's a gun to my head and I got to pick, but I'm picking beers. I think.

[Brady]

Well, in this strange hostage situation.

[Katie Nolan]

What's going on?

[Brady]

I think we should move noon beers on.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I think.

[Brady]

I think so. Because actual basketball. That's a very boring answer. And noon beers will be way more fun to watch in a matchup. She's just producing a second.

[Katie Nolan]

Just straight up producing.

[Brady]

Sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

Please don't apologize. Someone's got to do it.

[Brady]

Nooners.

[Katie Nolan]

Nooners are moving on. What did I call?

[Brady]

Papa Nooner.

[Katie Nolan]

You know? And then our last of the elite eight brackets up against school commercials.

[Brady]

Oh, this is tough.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. It's less tough for me. I'm sad to say goodbye to school commercials, but I think, in general, you can watch those other places. They aren't really a March Madness thing.

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

So much as they are just for me, my experience of March Madness. And for a casual fan who maybe doesn't watch a lot of college sports, I think they're gonna find them really interesting. I'm glad we brought them up and that we highlighted them.

[Brady]

Same.

[Katie Nolan]

But I think that the brackets are a lot better in terms of, like, if we're trying to make a list of reasons people should tune in.

[Brady]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And let's. This is a good time for us. It with the final four here to stop and take a look at what we are saying. Ostensibly to use Charlotte's.

[Brady]

It's a good word.

[Katie Nolan]

Really big vocabulary.

[Brady]

It's a good word.

[Katie Nolan]

The four things we're saying are the best things about March Madness.

[Brady]

Wow. Oh, this just carried a lot of weight.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. Cinderella runs nooners.

[Brady]

Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

Buzzer beaters and brackets.

[Brady]

I stand by that. I said we did a good job. I stand by that 1000%.

[Katie Nolan]

As do I. Now, brackets was a three seed. Noon beers was a play in.

[Brady]

Wow.

[Katie Nolan]

We got our Cinderella right in 10 seed. Ironic. Unfortunately, not going to face Cinderella unless it's in the final. I don't want to look ahead too far. Cinderella was the 1 seed. Buzzer beaters was the 5 seed. I mean, we. This is quite a bracket.

[Brady]

Can I tell you something?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

I am so jazzed for March Madness right now. This is making me so excited. I love March Madness so much. This is. Oh, my God, I can't wait for all of these things.

[Katie Nolan]

I feel ready. Scared, but ready. Same to head into our final.

[Brady]

I'm literally. I feel like I'm about to play sports.

[Katie Nolan]

I just realized that I forgot to put on deodorant today. That's where I'm.

[Brady]

Oh, that.

[Katie Nolan]

I was just.

[Brady]

You had that moment. Can I just say something that anyone who's ever hosted or been on a podcast before knows that feeling. And if you haven't, there is this very real moment where something happens and you get like. Like either excited or nervous, or you're like, oh, what did I just say? And you can tell immediately whether you put on deodorant or not.

[Katie Nolan]

A subtle change in body chemistry. And I'm like, oh, well, you're hot. It's a small room with the doors closed, lot of lights. We gotta wrap this up soon or Charlotte's gonna pass out. All right, here we go. We have Cinderella runs versus buzzer beaters.

[Brady]

Oh, dear Lord.

[Katie Nolan]

Who could possibly choose?

[Brady]

Did we do this to ourselves?

[Katie Nolan]

What? A Sophie's Choice.

[Brady]

Well.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, didn't Sophie technically have both the kids, so she did it to herself as well?

[Brady]

You know, I couldn't tell you.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't even really know what it's a reference to. So I apologize if this is.

[Isabella]

I was gonna say it's a. It's a Holocaust movie.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

God, but I'm.

[Katie Nolan]

But I thought it was like mash. I thought it gave her.

[Isabella]

It is right, isn't it? Like, don't they make her choose?

[Katie Nolan]

I thought it was a chance to choose between her kids. I don't remember she did, but I think saying Sophie's Choice is okay. I think maybe going into too deep of details is wrong.

[Brady]

I am Jewish.

[Katie Nolan]

That's where I will back up.

[Brady]

I am Jewish.

[Katie Nolan]

Covered thought.

[Brady]

I'm not even going to say the next thing that I thought it was about. We can, you know, leave all of this in.

[Katie Nolan]

Leave all of this.

[Brady]

I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

Cinderella versus buzzer beaters, huh? Okay, so let's talk about it. Let's. We are logical people. We can figure this out. A Cinderella run is a team. You don't expect to be there. And they make a run. The negative of it is they're not usually winning. They usually. The winner.

[Brady]

Yeah, they'll get to they'll get far.

[Katie Nolan]

And they did. This is the four. This is the final. Usually where a Cinderella run. Peter's out, its best will end.

[Brady]

St. Peter's out.

[Katie Nolan]

Has a Cinderella ever won? That was good.

[Brady]

No, no.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. So, I mean, we also could make history here. We could have Cinderella runs win and then we're the first.

[Brady]

So here's the thing. I get. I get very, very invested. Like, I got so invested in the Cinderella run of St. Peter's that I went to the campus before they left for one of the game. I mean, it was for work. I was like wrote about it or whatever, but couldn't tell you. But it. There is this feeling of like, this is now. Like, I've never rooted for a team harder than I've rooted for Cinderella run. However, a buzzer beater is pure emotion. And. And the one downside, as you were saying, of the Cinderella run is that like, if they knock out one seeds or two seeds along the way and then they get to the final four and it's a complete blowout, you're like, ah, yeah. Sort of wish that we could do it in there. Which is not something you ever think you're gonna say. And then you hear yourself say it and you hate it.

[Katie Nolan]

And then that's a moment for sports fans where you just look at yourself in the mirror and you go, this is what I've become. Yes. But interesting is that Cinderella runs in our bracket was a number one seed. So it's a little. It feels a little crazy for it to go a lot further. It's. I'm. I'm feeling conflicted in that way. I think if I had to make an argument against buzzer beaters moving on, I would say they are not to March Madness. Oh, they are. They are a big part of March Madness, but they aren't something that you only get during March Madness. So that's the. If I were forced to make an argument against, I would say it's not the pure best thing about March Madness. But even as I'm saying that.

[Brady]

No, you just convinced me.

[Katie Nolan]

I did. Yeah. You don't even think I was trying.

[Brady]

No, no, no, I know you weren't. But I think that that is. Cinderella runs are. You really don't get like, you don't get a Cinderella run in the NFL playoffs.

[Katie Nolan]

And if you picked the Cinderella by whatever, like, mistake you made.

[Brady]

Exactly.

[Katie Nolan]

Is the best feeling when you see that, like the league you're in, that's your mom and your dad and your brother and your brother's friend from high school. And you see that. Like, nobody did, but you did. And you know in your heart of hearts that you only picked it because you were. You like the colors, right? But they don't know that. And so you're just like, yeah, that's right. I saw that happening.

[Brady]

I also.

[Katie Nolan]

Nostradamus.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Katie was a guy.

[Brady]

Nolan Damas.

[Katie Nolan]

I. I think you even tried that hard to make that work.

[Brady]

I didn't. Because I said it.

[Katie Nolan]

Nostradamus. I feel like would have been. Oh, but I don't. It's.

[Brady]

No, you're. Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

It's my podcast, so I guess I can.

[Brady]

Yeah, no, that's. That's correct. So I hunt for Cinderella.

[Katie Nolan]

At first I was like, you do yacht club T shirt goes hunting.

[Brady]

Come on.

[Katie Nolan]

I barely.

[Brady]

This is like a joke yacht club shirt.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. You hunt for Cinderellas, and I love that.

[Brady]

So let's move that on.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Brady]

All right.

[Katie Nolan]

Not my favorite Disney movie, but one of my favorite things about March Madness, Cinderella is in the final.

[Brady]

What is your favorite Disney movie?

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, tough to say as a child. It was Little Mermaid. I love Little Mermaid. I watched it non stop.

[Brady]

Yeah, very good.

[Katie Nolan]

I also like Beauty and the Beast. Those are. Those are up there for me.

[Brady]

I'm a Robin Hood, dizzy Robin Hood girl.

[Katie Nolan]

Because the hot. The hot fox.

[Brady]

You said it.

[Katie Nolan]

Hear me out. Hear me out on that.

[Brady]

It's so hot. That hot fox is. Fuck.

[Katie Nolan]

Can you pull up the fox so we can take a look?

[Brady]

The riz on the fox from Disney. Robin Hood.

[Katie Nolan]

Crazy, unmatched, unmatched. Just swag on swag.

[Brady]

The song.

[Katie Nolan]

I vaguely remember. But I'm more about this guy. Show me my boyfriend. Show me my animated boyfriend.

[Brady]

Oh, Robin Hood.

[Katie Nolan]

The way he leans on that tree.

[Brady]

Okay, here's a fun fact. You want to know fun fact? The fox from Robin Hood and the cat O'Malley in the Aristocats.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, police pole.

[Brady]

I got over excited and choked on my own spit. Voiced by the same man.

[Katie Nolan]

No way. And which one is O'Malley?

[Brady]

He's the Rizzy cat.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, my God.

[Brady]

He's one who's like, hey, little lady, how can I help you?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I don't think I wanted to sleep with this cat as badly as I. And look at the age that I was perceiving these things. I don't think I knew what sleep didn't. What about.

[Isabella]

I just scar from Lion King?

[Brady]

What?

[Katie Nolan]

Bad boy? You're. You got a bad boy streaking?

[Brady]

Isabella. Get out of here.

[Katie Nolan]

Isabella. What? You can't like Scar, get out of here.

[Isabella]

I didn't say I was. I was asking your opinion.

[Brady]

I mean, I see it.

[Katie Nolan]

A lot of people like Scar see it. But I also can't condone it.

[Brady]

But the point is that O'Malley and the. O'Malley and Robin had the same voice.

[Katie Nolan]

No, the point is Isabella wants to have sex with Scar.

[Isabella]

I did not say that.

[Brady]

Isabella, let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. How do you feel about Jafar in Aladdin?

[Isabella]

Listen.

[Brady]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Geez. Walk with me. I. I was Casper the Friendly Ghost before he was revealed to be Devon Sawa. Once it was. Once it was a person, I was like. But when he was a cute little ghost, I had such a crush on Casper. Guys, it's normal. These are normal things. Normal stages in young female human development. I can say totally fine and allowed.

[Brady]

Exactly. I can say a weirder one if you want.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

The boy from Wishbone, the owner of.

[Katie Nolan]

The dog, that's a human person. So I don't know that I feel as safe here. All right, this feels. We're too old to have this discussion.

[Brady]

Should we continue? He's not a boy. He was played by a 20 something year old. Oh, I was a child.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, fine. Oh, fine. That's fine then.

[Brady]

I looked him up recently and.

[Katie Nolan]

How's he doing?

[Brady]

Time.

[Katie Nolan]

Let's take a look.

[Brady]

I don't want to say.

[Katie Nolan]

I think we have a clip.

[Brady]

Well. Oh, yeah. Look.

[Katie Nolan]

Zoom in for me. Make a picture big. This is. I'm blind.

[Brady]

What was his name? Joe Talbot. Look, if you're 10.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

And it's. And it's 1999.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

You see it?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brady]

You see it?

[Katie Nolan]

I was like Andrew Keegan. Remember? Andrew Keegan?

[Brady]

No.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. That was his name. He was a hottie. Hottie. Little actor. On.

[Brady]

What?

[Katie Nolan]

What on? He was in a bunch of stuff. I think he was in Camp Nowhere. I think he was in the House Arrest. The one where they locked their parents in the basement. What's that? House Arrest, I think.

[Brady]

Man. Man of the house.

[Katie Nolan]

Parents.

[Brady]

That was Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

[Katie Nolan]

He was all he was. Yeah, he was in man of the.

[Brady]

I started a rumor senior year of high school that Jonathan Taylor Thomas died because I thought it was true.

[Katie Nolan]

Wow.

[Brady]

My whole senior class just.

[Isabella]

Oh, 10 things I hate about you.

[Brady]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

But I'm talking when he was like when I was younger and he was younger. Younger. Any movie. Don't look at him now. Don't click on him now. That's not rude. Talking about like younger. Yeah, whatever. These are Wrong. I actually don't like looking at his face now as much. I don't think. You didn't think he was a.

[Brady]

No, I. I ought to be. Okay. The truth is, I don't have my glasses on.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Fair.

[Brady]

So I can't really see.

[Katie Nolan]

That's fine. That's okay. Formative for me. Didn't have to be for you.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Noon beers versus brackets. I hate to choose homework here, but I feel like I'm. I'm choosing homework I gotta move brackets on. I can have a new year whenever I want to. Technically, I'm an adult woman.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

With no job, so I can really.

[Brady]

Well, what is this?

[Katie Nolan]

Have a new. Well, this is. This is where I hang out with my friends.

[Brady]

Project.

[Katie Nolan]

This is where I force my friends to come hang out with me.

[Brady]

I love it.

[Katie Nolan]

Thank you. Me too. I'm obsessed with it.

[Brady]

It's really fun.

[Katie Nolan]

Thank you. I agree. But I can't call it work. Not in a time like this when there are people working three jobs just to get by. This is crazy to call this.

[Brady]

This is. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

So I can have a noon beer whenever I want.

[Brady]

So let's do Cinderella. I mean, brackets.

[Katie Nolan]

I think brackets. Move on. I truly. Let's discuss our. Our bracket strategies, because I think if this is your first year filling out a bracket, and even if it's not, the strategy I've come down to is that I enter a. Before I sit down. I enter, like, a meditative state where I just say, hello, heart.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

I need you to do the talking. Jesus, Take the wheel here. I'm gonna go through, and I'm gonna just. I'm gonna say the two teams. I'm. I'm. Of the matchup I'm doing. And then I'm gonna be silent, and I'm gonna let the answer come to me. Yes. I'm not gonna question. I'm not gonna push back. Sometimes I'll be down on, like, a matchup further down the bracket, and something in me will go like. I'm still thinking about St. John's why don't we go back and make it St. John's and I listen to that. If something is really, you know, bugging me, I go back. But mostly in the moment, I just say the two teams. I sit there, and then I decisively choose the decisiveness.

[Brady]

Gosh, that's such an evolved way of doing it.

[Katie Nolan]

It doesn't always work. Work.

[Brady]

No, of course not. It's a bracket. Come on. I have two strategies, okay. And they differ for the women's and the men's.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Brady]

And they do not have the. Their. Their success rate is the same.

[Katie Nolan]

Separate but equal.

[Brady]

Well, yeah. Yikes. So for the women's. Because I watch more women's basketball during the regular season.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

I actually try to do it based off of basketball knowledge.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes, of course. Right.

[Brady]

For the men. Because I just simply don't. I do exactly what you do. And it's always so depressing when, like, the uninformed version does better. And it usually does. Except I think women's going to be pretty chalky this year.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I mean, it's.

[Brady]

But so I just. I. I don't think there is a wrong way to fill out a bracket, is what I'm saying.

[Katie Nolan]

There absolutely is not. You can roll a dice. You can flip a coin. You can. I mean, technically, we know. Because of the women's tournament. Because of the. What. What was that? S. Big 12, Big 10 sec. Who was it that they had to flip a coin to decide who was going to be the one? So the sec, they had to flip that coin. And the coin had on either side of it, the two teams that it was between. And I was like, where'd you mint that? Like, where did that come from?

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

You just have that ready team ready to go. So if those exist. In a world where those exist, you could. I hope. Greg Sankey, top of my head.

[Brady]

Wow. Yes. Ncaa.

[Katie Nolan]

I think it's the SEC commissioner, Greg Sankey. You've got access to all these coins. I hope that's how you fill out your bracket. I hope you're flipping the coin and picking for your. As the man who's got.

[Brady]

Maybe that's how I'll do the men's bracket this year, Katie. Yeah, I think I might. Well, but then I'll be like, I don't feel good about that.

[Katie Nolan]

And here's another thing I'm gonna say about Brad. Brackets. And if you find this to be blasphemous, just skip ahead 45 seconds three times on that button. You can fill out two brackets. You can fill out two brackets. If you worry that your bracket being busted will not keep. Ruin your state. No, if you're worried that it's going to keep you uninvested in the rest of March Madness, I don't think you can submit to. I think that would be shady. I think you got to pick which one's going into your, like, league. But for yourself, you can just have, like, a. Well, at least my backup bracket's still alive. But if you're going to make two Brackets. You're not allowed to compare. You're not allowed to, like, look at what you did on one and change it on the other. You just have to fill out a second bracket from memory. Those are my rules.

[Brady]

I'm going to be honest. When you started, I was like, that is blasphemy. And then I realized that a. It's actually a great idea and it keeps you sane, and I've done it.

[Katie Nolan]

It's just like a backup that no one has to know about.

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

You're not allowed to go like, well, my second bracket was perfect. If your second bracket was perfect, that's almost more torturous because you're like, well, that's your private bracket. So now only you will ever know that you nailed it on your second try. But it's for you, it's so that you're like, oh, at least I got it right over. At least I'm not a total idiot.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Because my God, when your bracket goes red in that first round and you're like, oh, my God, all of it.

[Brady]

Speaking of Cinderella runs real quick when UMB cc, which I still am not entirely sure what it stands for, is that umbc?

[Katie Nolan]

Because CECE sounds like community college. College. And I don't think a community college has ever made a run.

[Brady]

No. But there were so many letters that I felt there had to be one more.

[Katie Nolan]

You're so right.

[Brady]

But I think you're right. It was UMDC when they upset Virginia in that first round in that. That year where Virginia was winning. I believe so did I. And it screwed it all up. And everyone was so excited for the Cinderella run for umbc. And I was pissed.

[Katie Nolan]

Right.

[Brady]

Because I couldn't enjoy the Cinderella run. And my bracket was.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And I was like, oh, cool. The thing you all love is the. Is my grave you're dancing on.

[Brady]

Yes, exactly.

[Katie Nolan]

Everyone is dancing.

[Brady]

I woke up up pissed.

[Katie Nolan]

That's not University of Maryland, Baltimore county, is it? No. What is it? It is.

[Brady]

Oh, wow.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Charlotte Wilder]

The retrievers.

[Katie Nolan]

The Golden Retriever. Just regular retrievers.

[Brady]

Amazing social media.

[Charlotte Wilder]

They're Bay Retrievers.

[Katie Nolan]

That's wild. You should be like Chesapeake Golden Retrievers. Especially when you've got gold in the name. That's like a common. The Golden Knights. You add gold to a sports team to make it feel.

[Brady]

Hear me out. More specific. Pacific. The Chesapeake Bay.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

Retrievers.

[Katie Nolan]

Sure.

[Brady]

Duck tolling retrievers.

[Katie Nolan]

You are familiar with all the things I would expect you to be familiar with.

[Brady]

Thank you.

[Katie Nolan]

Types, dog breeds, yacht clubs, hunting.

[Brady]

You want to hear about the time I played. Yeah. Never mind.

[Katie Nolan]

What?

[Brady]

No. What? Squash.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so we're at the final.

[Brady]

Wow. Oh, my God. Cinderella run against brackets.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Katie, I know this is harder than filling out a real bracket, and truly, because it's their. They're so related. They're so intertwined. Where does a Cinderella make their run?

[Brady]

Oh, my God.

[Katie Nolan]

The bracket. They run through a bracket. So it's like, these are so closely related.

[Brady]

Yes. Here's the thing, though. I don't know that I can choose brackets because they also cause me such pain.

[Katie Nolan]

Right.

[Brady]

So if this is, like, the thing we're most excited about. About for March Madness, I am also dreading my bracket. But I am purely excited for Cinderella runs.

[Katie Nolan]

But what if we don't get one? How often do we not get one? Pretty rare, right? I know the numbers in front of us. I feel like we almost always get one. Does it count as a run if they go one round deeper than you think? I don't think it does.

[Brady]

An upset is one, though.

[Katie Nolan]

But I think you have to win the next. You got to. I think this is just me coming up with it from air. Not based on anything I would say. In order for it to be a Cinderella run, not a walk or just an upset, you'd have to go two. Two rounds.

[Brady]

Cinderella walk. Let's normalize that.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Cinderella walk. It's. You take off one shoe and you.

[Brady]

And you hobble down.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right.

[Brady]

Yeah. I don't know. What is your heart telling you?

[Katie Nolan]

My heart is telling me brackets, but that's only because I think what I love about it, and this kind of goes back to the monoculture, which was eliminated so long ago, ironically, against Cinderella runs, is that, like, brackets make it about me. Brackets are me. I'm playing, and I'm not playing, but I'm playing along. Like, a bracket is like, if you had. God forbid, you had something you had to do the day one of the earlier rounds of March Mad, and you check back in and you're like, oh, let's see. Oh, I'm winning. Like, I'm. Oh. Some people have, like, highlighters that they use, like, different colors to highlight the winners. Sometimes you can do it in an app, and they'll give you a cool thing. I love the. I mean, I'm a lady that writes notes. I'm a lady that loves to have something to follow along with at home.

[Brady]

Never met someone who loves a highlighter more than Katie.

[Katie Nolan]

I do. I really love. Has this come up before. I'm mortified at that. Years go Yeah, I like. I like.

[Brady]

No, don't be mortified. That's amazing.

[Katie Nolan]

I like organized data. I like keeping track. I like a system. I like looking at a piece of paper and being like, look at how good by the color, how good I'm doing. You know what?

[Brady]

Bracket.

[Katie Nolan]

Stop letting me convince you. It's working too easily. It's making me think I could go on first take and just win every argument.

[Brady]

Who says you have folded every time.

[Katie Nolan]

And I want you to know you don't have to do that just because it's more fun to agree with people.

[Brady]

I'm, like, casual. I have to be cool about this.

[Katie Nolan]

You don't.

[Brady]

So the reason that I'm thinking brackets is because it's very meta to have brackets. Win a bracket.

[Katie Nolan]

Win the bracket. Is that bad?

[Brady]

I love. I. I personally love Cinderella runs more than brackets. Here's a question. Should we. You know how. If it's a. If it's a tie and someone's bracket, you have to guess the score.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

Should one of the producers think of a number, and you and I have to guess. Guess a number, and whoever's closer, it's Cinderella.

[Katie Nolan]

This feels like just the amount of chaos this podcast needs. You have to pick a producer.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

So it's either Brady, Chris, or Isabella. Who do you choose?

[Brady]

Isabella.

[Katie Nolan]

And Isabella, who, no offense, certainly, of the three options, could not guess what a typical college basketball final score would be.

[Isabella]

Oh, I'm picking a score. I thought I was picking, like, 1 through 10.

[Katie Nolan]

It's gonna be. It's gonna. You're gonna want to pick a number between 1 and 150. Great.

[Isabella]

Which is 50. I thought it'd be, like, maybe 110.

[Brady]

Sure.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, fine. But you're picking a number.

[Isabella]

Wait, But I.

[Katie Nolan]

Don't say it yet.

[Isabella]

Wait, wait, but am I picking, like, you know, like 50 to 27, or am I picking the winning number of the.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, I thought we were picking. When you add. I thought it was that you add them together. Get. I'm making that up completely.

[Brady]

I like that.

[Katie Nolan]

Because that way we only have to get one number, you know, so it's like a. What's the final, like, point total?

[Brady]

So between one and two doesn't make any sense.

[Katie Nolan]

So stop trying to make sense of it. Just pick a number between 1 and 200. Yeah, sure.

[Isabella]

Okay.

[Brady]

And it doesn't have to be a basketball score added up.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, no, we're just any number now. The rules are broken, and it's just any number between 1 and 200. I'm I have to pick one. You have to pick one. Mine represents brackets and yours represents Cinderella.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Is it Price is Right rules?

[Brady]

No.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so if you go over. But you're closer. You're closer.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Isabella, you have your number written down.

[Brady]

I'm so nervous.

[Katie Nolan]

You write it down.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Isabella, what's your number?

[Isabella]

Don't. You have to tell me your number and then I tell you who's closer?

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, probably.

[Brady]

That's a good point. What's your number?

[Katie Nolan]

Good producer. Yeah, my number is 90.

[Isabella]

I was like, don't. Don't make it seem like I know nothing about scoring.

[Katie Nolan]

Actually about scoring anymore. My number's weird.

[Brady]

Guessing game. 90. Okay, great. Cause mine's 21.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Brady]

I'm so nervous.

[Katie Nolan]

Wait, Katie, yours was what, 90?

[Isabella]

You're closer. You won. Mine was. It was 108.

[Brady]

Wow.

[Katie Nolan]

Wow.

[Brady]

Oh, I forgot that it was between 1 and 200.

[Katie Nolan]

I know.

[Isabella]

I'm surprised. It shows, like, 20.

[Katie Nolan]

You're the one who said it. I thought it was between 1 and 100.

[Isabella]

I chose, like, right in the middle.

[Katie Nolan]

Plus the shining Nolan.

[Charlotte Wilder]

Your dreams can come true.

[Brady]

The ball is tipped. Okay. Wow.

[Katie Nolan]

Brackets wins the bracket. About the things we love the most about March Madness. A three seed. Who had to beat Cutting down the Nets? Who had to beat School Commercials? Who had to beat Noon Beers?

[Brady]

Wow.

[Katie Nolan]

Brackets wins the bracket. Is that the dumbest waste of an hour that anyone's ever had?

[Brady]

I loved it.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, Charlotte, thank you so much for being here. This was the best. Tell the people where they can find you.

[Brady]

You can find me as the co host of the sports gossip show show. YouTube, Apple podcast, Spotify.

[Katie Nolan]

They put their podcast on YouTube.

[Brady]

Yeah. You know, you run a camera and. Sorry, sports gossip show. I write the substack. The Wilder Things.

[Katie Nolan]

Great. Fantastic.

[Brady]

And you can find me on Instagram and Blue sky. And I'm on Twitter, but I'm not tweeting, so.

[Katie Nolan]

And where. What is just harlottewilder.

[Brady]

Hewilder things.

[Katie Nolan]

Hewilder Things on Instagram.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And Twitter.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And, I mean, I follow you. I just don't ever look at your name. I just.

[Brady]

Yeah, because why would you. Yeah, right. The Wilder Things. And it's my substack, so it's a good brand. And the sports.

[Katie Nolan]

Good brand.

[Brady]

Thank you so much. Little weird. Thank you. This was such a delight.

[Katie Nolan]

Wasn't this fun?

[Brady]

Oh, my God.

[Katie Nolan]

You should come wear the same pants as me more often. Please hang out.

[Brady]

Please.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, cool. Okay. Thank you guys for listening. Email again. Casuals at Kate [e-mail] voicemail 646-801-0043 on IG and tick tock, we are at Casuals, the Podcast Podcast. This has been fun. Good luck with your brackets. The next time you hear from us, your bracket should be already filled out. We will be deep in. Well, we won't be deep in, but we'll be. It's March Madness, so get excited. We're excited. We love you. Oh, and we mean it. Try angel stuff for your tushy. It's made by Angels.

[Brady]

Soft and strong.

[Katie Nolan]

Budget friendly. The choice is simple. Pick up a pack today. Angel Soft. Soft and strong. Simple.