Mark Titus on Brackets, Aaron Donald Retires, and The Patriots Documentary
We are officially 24 hours away from the greatest stretch of the calendar. Big Cat and PFT are locked in for the beautiful chaos of the opening rounds, even if it means 48 hours of sitting on a couch and slowly losing their minds.
Thursday and Friday of the NCAA Tournament are the best two sports days of the year
Tuesday, March 20th, and we are just 24 hours away from the best two days of the year... Thursday, Friday of, of the NCAA Tournament, because it's just all you think about the entire time.
Before the games tipped, the NFL saw a legend walk away. Aaron Donald retired after a decade of absolute dominance, and while the Rams defense showed up in his lone Super Bowl loss, the resume speaks for itself.
Aaron Donald had as close to a perfect career as you could possibly have
Aaron Donald played 10 years in the NFL. He was a pro bowler all 10 years. He won Rookie of the Year. He won three time defensive player of the year and he was an eight time first team all pro selection... Aaron Donalds as close to a perfect career as you could possibly have minus the Super Bowl loss.
The Dynasty or a Hit Piece?
Big Cat and Hank finally finished the Patriots documentary, and the consensus is that Robert Kraft might have been the lead editor. The final episodes felt less like a celebration of six rings and more like a coordinated effort to bury Bill Belichick. PFT pointed out that while Bill didn't help himself with his classic stonewalling in interviews, the framing was impossible to ignore.
The Patriots Dynasty documentary was a hit piece intended to bury Bill Belichick
It was very clearly pointed and it was meant to make Robert Kraft look like the, the benevolent father who kept it all together... and it made Belichick look like he was like abusive. They, they made him look like he was abusive and negligent.
The Patriots documentary tried to make it look like Bill Belichick would have been fired if he lost the Super Bowl to the Rams, which is false
They also made it seem like, well, because, you know, bill did good. I had to, I told Tommy, Tommy knew like I had to sign Belichick... It made it seem like they were gonna fire Belichick if he lost that Super Bowl [to the Rams], which I don't think was ever gonna happen.
Beyond the Belichick slander, the most incredible discovery was the level of pettiness Tom Brady reached regarding the Philly Special. Eagle-eyed fans noticed a very specific edit in the game audio during the documentary that scrubbed a certain backup quarterback's name from history.
Tom Brady had Nick Foles' name edited out of the Patriots documentary out of pettiness
They showed the highlights of the Super Bowl with the Eagles won and on the Philly special, they played an edited version of Al Michael's play call... They edited out the word Foles. What? ... He fucking hates Nick Foles. And he had his name edited out of this Documentary.
Speaking of the Patriots' internal drama, Big Cat is convinced that the mystery surrounding Malcolm Butler’s benching remains the biggest question mark of the era. If it were a minor infraction, someone would have leaked it by now. The silence from both sides is deafening.
Malcolm Butler's silence on his benching suggests that he did something truly scandalous
The weird part to me is like the Malcolm Butler thing. Malcolm Butler has never said what he did. Right? So it has to be something that people would be like, 'whoa.' You know what I mean? Belichick will never say it. Malcolm Butler will never say it... doesn't it feel like if you got benched in that position and you literally did nothing, wouldn't you just be like, 'here's everything I did'?
Mark Titus Brackets the Madness
Our good friend Mark Titus joined the show to navigate the minefield that is the 2024 bracket. The guys started in the West, a region Titus labeled the "Region of Drama" because of how little he trusts the top seeds. While everyone expects Tom Izzo to work his typical magic, Titus isn't seeing it with this specific roster.
This Michigan State team doesn't have the best version of itself needed to go on a typical Tom Izzo run
Every other team, I felt like there have been stretches through the season where Michigan State has shown the promise and then they just put it together in March. I don't feel like this year's team has really ever shown that... It's not that Izzo goes to the final four every year. It's that you have situations like last year they had no business beating Marquette. I just think that this year's team, their best version isn't really that good.
Arizona fans are already sweating their draw, and rightfully so. Despite being a heavy hitter all year, the Wildcats have a nasty habit of tripping over their own shoelaces when the lights get bright.
Arizona is the king of beating themselves in the tournament
Arizona, it is interesting because they feel like a program under Tommy Lloyd that has racked up a ton of wins... but they have underperformed in the NCAA Tournament the last few years. It does feel like a great draw for Arizona. But they can't get out of their own way. Both this particular team and them under Tommy Lloyd... they are the kings of beating themselves.
Moving to the East, Titus took aim at Illinois. Despite their Big 10 Tournament title, he isn't buying the hype, pointing toward a lack of signature wins against the current top-tier teams.
Illinois are frauds because they haven't beaten a currently ranked team all season
I didn't realize that Illinois has not beaten a currently ranked team all season. Like Illinois? Are they frauds? Yeah, why not? Frauds. I would feel a lot more comfortable about Illinois if, if part of their path to the Big 10 title was they beat Purdue by like 10, you know? And yeah, that context you need though.
For the actual picks, Titus is leaning into the "Year of the Cold Ass White Boy" and finding value in the underdogs. He's got a specific mid-major making a massive run into the second weekend.
Drake is my tournament Cinderella and I have them in the Elite Eight
I took a shot at, I like the Drake. I like the idea of Drake going on a run too. Yeah. So I put Drake's my, Drake's my Cinderella of this Tournament. I have Drake in my Elite Eight just 'cause I felt like I should pick one crazy team in the elite eight and Drake was my pick.
This is the year of the 'cold ass white boy' in college basketball
I've been saying it all year about this season of college basketball. It is the year of the cold ass white boy. And if all over college basketball, there are just white dudes that can light it up. And it's not just that they score a lot... they just got a little sauce to their game.
When it comes to the heavy hitters, Titus is sticking with the Big 12's best to take home the hardware, even if he has to survive a potential scrap against a live underdog in the second round.
Houston will win the 2024 National Championship
I have Houston win at all in my bracket. Houston is my national champion... I think they can score and I just don't, I don't think they're gonna lose to inferior teams. And I don't think there are a lot of teams that are, that are better than Houston.
Hot Seat/Cool Throne
Hank put Boeing on the Hot Seat for some incredibly suspicious activity involving whistleblowers, while PFT placed the entire Royal Family on his Cool Throne as the world's premier group of people to mock.
Boeing whistleblower John Barnett did not commit suicide
There was a whistleblower... John Barnett... His body was found the morning of three nine dead. He was allegedly from suicide even though he told his family, if I die, it's not suicide. He was suicided.
The Royal Family exists solely as a group of people for everyone else to make fun of
The British people are fucking weirdos... I I kind of love the royal family because they're, they're the quintessential, like you can just make fun of 'em. Maybe that's what they're there for. They're not really there to give hope and meaning and optimism to the British people. Maybe they're just there to have like a group of people that you can just make fun of all the time.
Big Cat has Houston on the Hot Seat for a very specific, anatomical reason. If you’re a top seed playing a team with a phallic name, the history books say you’re in trouble.
Houston is on the Hot Seat because top seeds keep losing to teams with phallic names
The Hot Seat is Houston... In every Tournament since 2021, the top two seat has lost in the first round to a team with a phallic euphemistic name. 2021 Oral Roberts, 2022 St. Peters, 2023 Fairly Dickinson. Three times as a pattern. In 2024, Houston will face Longwood in the first round. I see two right next to each other. What about Moorhead? Yeah. Moorhead. And then Drake. Drake's very phallic.
Good luck to everyone's brackets, except for whoever is playing Wisconsin.

