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Pardon My Take 03/21/2016

Monday, March 21, 201616 takes

The guys break down a wild opening weekend to March Madness including Big Cat's instant reaction to Wisconsin's buzzer beater. Yale v Duke, Northern Iowa, Tom Crean somehow being competent, and all the commercials that have brainwashed our brains the past 4 days. Segments include "PR 101", "Sorry not Sorry", and the craziest "what's hot on the streets with Hank" of all time.

March Madness Recap: Wisconsin's Buzzer Beater and Bill Murray Haters

March Madness has officially melted our brains. Big Cat is riding high on a Wisconsin buzzer-beater adrenaline shot, while PFT Commenter is navigating a four-day hangover that has him questioning his own sanity. Between the constant barrage of Buffalo Wild Wings commercials and the sheer volume of basketball, the physical toll is starting to show.

Big Cat is fully aware that his Wisconsin joy is fleeting. He knows the cycle of being a sports fan involves a massive high followed by a crushing, public defeat that will lead to people calling him fat on Twitter. For now, though, he’s embracing the chaos of the tournament, even if the officiating is making it hard for the players to find a rhythm.

Void
Mar 21, 2016
#27469
Big CatBig Cat

The inconsistency of NCAA tournament referees makes it impossible for players to adjust

The refs not only aren't consistent game to game, they're not consistent in game. If you watch the Wisconsin Xavier game, the first 10 minutes they let them play. They let them bang down low. Then the last 30 minutes, it was ticky-tack all the way through. They were calling every little contact. I just don't know how, as a player, you can handle that.

Referee consistency is a perennial debate in college basketball.

PFT Commenter admits he hasn't even seen a first half yet this year, mostly because he's too busy refreshing Twitter and waiting for the actually important minutes of the game to start.

Void
Mar 21, 2016
#20379
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Watching the first half of any March Madness game is a waste of time

What are you even doing if you're watching the first five minutes of a March Madness game? I don't think I've ever done that.

The Bill Murray Problem

The most shocking development of the weekend wasn't a double-digit seed making a run; it was PFT Commenter officially turning on Bill Murray. After seeing a devastated Bill Murray in the stands following Xavier's loss, PFT decided he's done with the "zany" surprise appearances at weddings and sporting events.

Void
Mar 21, 2016
#20380
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

I am officially done with Bill Murray

I've reached the point where, like, I'm sick of Bill Murray just showing up to stuff. It used to be for the last five years he would just, like, show up somewhere and you'd be expected to laugh... now it's to the point where, okay, Bill, we get it. Like, you show up places where you're not invited sometimes. I don't think it's fun anymore.

Big Cat tried to defend the legend, but the conversation eventually led to the realization that a certain corner of the internet might be to blame for the Murray fatigue.

Void
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The Chive is responsible for making Bill Murray annoying

The Chive is to blame for like all the stuff that i hate about bill murray... They just wrote, they did tits and ass and then they said, Bill Murray, comma, get it. Now i'm more confident than ever in my Bill Murray take.

Meltdowns and Mouth Breathers

Northern Iowa provided the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in a 48-hour span. After hitting a half-court buzzer-beater on Friday, they suffered one of the most improbable collapses in sports history against Texas A&M. PFT thinks the coaching staff missed a golden opportunity to use their specific personnel to close out the game.

Void
Mar 21, 2016
#27468
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Northern Iowa would have won if they played their bench of 'small white guys' who know how to take charges and throw the ball off legs

If they just put their bench in for the end of that game, those guys could at least, I guarantee you, everybody on Northern Iowa's bench could throw a ball off their opponent's leg better than anyone else that was in the game. As a small white guy, that's one thing that I knew how to do really, really well... you put that bench in, you might give up like four or five, six points, but you're not losing that game.

The collapse happened; whether the bench would have saved it is a hypothetical 'what if'.

We also have to acknowledge that Tom Crean might actually be a competent basketball coach, even if he looks like a creepy mattress salesman who sweats on your legs. He outdueled John Calipari, leading Big Cat to question if the Kentucky legend is more recruiter than tactician.

Void
Mar 21, 2016
#20382
Big CatBig Cat

John Calipari is an overrated in-game coach who relies on superior athletes

I think Calipari is actually a little bit overrated as a coach... I think he's obviously the best recruiter in the country. I don't think he's the best in-game coach. He's like one of those guys. He's actually kind of like Roy Williams, who they always have really good athletes. I don't know if they always do the best job coaching those athletes because they just kind of let them go.

This is a common debate among college basketball analysts regarding Calipari's career.

PR 101 and Oreo Crimes

In a special March Madness edition of PR 101, the guys looked at Raymond Moore’s disastrous comments about women’s tennis. While the world was outraged, Big Cat’s brain—warped by years of 90s wrestling—saw something else entirely.

Loss
Mar 21, 2016·PR 101
#20384
Big CatBig Cat

The controversy between Raymond Moore and Serena Williams was a staged 'work'

I'm thinking that this guy [Raymond Moore] and Serena were in cahoots. And this was like, let's just get a little buzz going... I think this is all – I think it's a work.

There is no evidence the comments were staged; Moore resigned shortly after due to the backlash.

PFT countered with a foolproof plan that has worked for everyone from Riley Cooper to Steve Sarkisian: the mysterious "treatment" card. It’s the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card because it makes you uncriticizable.

Void
Mar 21, 2016·PR 101
#20385
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The best PR move for any scandal is to check into 'treatment' without explanation

Check into treatment... Don't give us an explanation. Just like disappear for 20 days and then you come back and you're like, I'm healed... When you just say it's a real problem that needs treatment, people now all of a sudden can't make jokes about it.

Finally, the show took a dark turn when Hank revealed a new "habit" he picked up from a friend. This might be the most disturbing thing ever discussed on the program, and that includes any talk of the Barstool app’s stability.

Void
HankHank

Washing an Oreo under tap water before eating it is 'not that bad'

My buddy was like, oh, have you ever run an Oreo underneath water before you ate it?... He went and got an Oreo and put it underwater and gave it to me. It wasn't that bad.

Big Cat and PFT are convinced this is gateway behavior for a serial killer, but in the spirit of the show, they'll probably end up trying it anyway just to see how soggy it gets.

If you see a guy at a bar on Monday morning crying into a plate of wings, just remember it's probably just the March Madness comedown.

march-madnesswisconsin-badgersbill-murraytom-creanoreo

More Takes

Push
Mar 21, 2016
#20378
Big CatBig Cat

Wisconsin will probably beat Notre Dame and then lose in a tragic, heartbreaking fashion

They'll probably beat Notre Dame and then maybe... be up by 10 against UNC. And I'm like, oh, man, I cannot believe the Badgers are going back to the Final Four. And then there'll be tragedy and heartbreak. And people will be sending me mean tweets.

Wisconsin lost to Notre Dame 61-56 in the Sweet 16 on March 25, 2016. While they didn't beat ND as he thought 'probably' would happen, his prediction of 'tragedy and heartbreak' was accurate as they lost a close game late.
Void
Mar 21, 2016
#27470
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Psychiatrists should give out Adderall prescriptions specifically for the first two weekends of the NCAA tournament

I feel like there needs to be a psychiatrist that gives out prescriptions for Adderall specifically for these first two weekends of the NCAA tournament just to get us through Sunday. That's a genuine medical issue that I'm dealing with right now coming down from like a four-day hangover.

It's a comedic proposal for a lifestyle problem.
Win
Mar 21, 2016
#20381
Big CatBig Cat

Thomas Walkup will never play in the NBA

He's a 6'4 white dude who when he goes to the NBA, he'll get like his ankles broken in two seconds and dunked on. So he won't even get to go to the NBA.

Thomas Walkup went undrafted in 2016 and has never played in an NBA regular season game, though he has had a very successful career in Europe.
Void
Mar 21, 2016
#20383
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The US government should use March Madness commercials for subliminal brainwashing

If the U.S. government ever wants to do like a Big Brother plot, they should just put subliminal messages in all the commercials in March Madness. They could brainwash all of America in like one full weekend.

Void
Mar 21, 2016
#27467
Big CatBig Cat

The NCAA tournament needs to provide fans with a 'come down drug' to help transition back to reality on Monday

They need to give you a come down drug tomorrow. Like the fact that we don't get anything [on Monday] is bullshit. You expect everyone to go from this great event that lasted a full entire long weekend to reality on Monday. You can't do that.

This is a subjective lifestyle opinion about the structure of the tournament and fan experience.
Void
Mar 21, 2016·Picks
#20386
Big CatBig Cat

The Barstool Sports app is the worst app ever created

Barstool's app truly is the worst app that's ever been created... I think they made the Barstool app just to crash. Can we just make an app that just crashes all the time? And if you're looking at it from that perspective, it's the greatest app that's ever been created.

Win
Mar 21, 2016
#20389
Big CatBig Cat

Magic Johnson's tweets are 'electric' because he only states the blindingly obvious

I love Magic Johnson... He is Siri in Twitter form. He states the obvious over and over, and it's electric every time. Today he tweeted, the San Antonio Spurs proved to the NBA and themselves that they can beat the Golden State Warriors with their 87-79 win last night. I mean, the [Spurs] proved that they could beat the Golden State Warriors by beating the Golden State Warriors. That's pretty deep.

Magic Johnson is indeed famous for this style of tweeting.

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