It's that time of year again when productivity slides, sleep is lost and frustration runs high. No, there's not another financial crisis - just March Madness! Join our favorite bracket watching team of Julia Pistell and Bill Curry, as they share their top-secret strategies to pick the winning NCAA bracket, the logic of which stuns even seasoned sports reporter Mike Pesca.
In past years, Julia and Bill based their bracket bets on teams whose cities have the best food and teams with the best mascots. What could go wrong? This year, Julia has spent hours poring over state documents to help her in her analysis and Bill has mostly complained that she always wins. You be the judge in this annual contest of wills.
Fun aside, we also tackle some serious business. We talk to the president of No. 12 seed Wofford College, making their 4th NCAA appearance in 6 years. We also talk to the head coach of Connecticut's Albertus Magnus Men's Basketball Team who are coming off their most successful season ever. Take that Kentucky! And, the head coach of the University of Hartford Men's Basketball Team calls from Australia at 4:30 am to share his picks.
I promise that we really do get around to talking about the games. Remember, Slate's Mike Pesca joins us for the whole hour. He talks about underdogs, wildcats, the Wildcats and a whole lot more. We never really do get to the absurdity of how much coaches make and exploit the players. That's for another day.
Leave your comments below, email us at colin@wnpr.org or tweet us @wnprcolin
Colin McEnroe is the host of the show. Chion Wolf is the technical producer.
GUESTS:
- Mike Pesca ?- host of the Slate daily podcast The Gist and a regular on Slate's sports podcast Hang Up and Listen
- Bill Curry - columnist for Salon and two-time Democratic nominee for Governor of Connecticut
- Julia Pistell- Director of Writing Programs at the Mark Twain House & Museum and one of the founding members of Sea Tea Improv
- Nayef Samhat - President of Wofford College
- Ben Ingram - Eight-time 2013 Jeopardy! champion, 2014 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner, and Wofford alumnus
- Mitch Oliver - Head Coach, Albertus Magnus College Men's Basketball Team
MUSIC:
- “March Madness” by Sadat X
- “NCAA March Madness” by Code Red
- “March Madness” by John J.R. Robinson