Speaker 1: This has shown me something podcast with Marriott Bonboy checking
Speaker 1: in and.
Speaker 2: We are live from the bracket.
Speaker 1: The tournament is upon us, sixty eight teams all dreaming
Speaker 1: of making it.
Speaker 3: To the final four, and we are right outside the
Speaker 3: JW Marriott here in Indianapolis, one.
Speaker 1: Of our favorite March Madness traditions, and.
Speaker 2: On this side of the hotel.
Speaker 3: This is quite literally the biggest bracket I've ever seen
Speaker 3: in my entire life.
Speaker 1: This bracket is forty seven thousand square feet and it
Speaker 1: covers eighteen floors here at the JW Marriott.
Speaker 3: It's made up of eight hundred different pieces, and by
Speaker 3: tip off of round one, it will have all sixty
Speaker 3: eight teams listed.
Speaker 1: As the results of the tournament unfold. The bracket is
Speaker 1: updated until a champion is crowned. Pictures don't do it justice.
Speaker 1: You got to come see it in person.
Speaker 3: We have an amazing show coming up and our guest
Speaker 3: is none other than Joel mcchale.
Speaker 4: Will be your guest. It's such a perfect design to tailgate.
Speaker 4: It is boats all best. Campbell's name was Mayhem. Yes,
Speaker 4: I'm in a lot of hotel duke basketball game with
Speaker 4: Ken Jeong.
Speaker 1: Let's come on our favorite game day stories. They don't
Speaker 1: always happen on the court. Sometimes they happen in the
Speaker 1: hotel lobby or over a pregame meal. And this March Madness,
Speaker 1: we have teamed up with Marriot Bomboy to share some
Speaker 1: of those memorable moments with you in a limited podcast series,
Speaker 1: Live from the Bracket. We're talking all things college hoops,
Speaker 1: travel and fandom with special guests and unforgettable experiences you
Speaker 1: can be a part of. Today, we are here at
Speaker 1: the Weston Hotel in Indianapolis. Western hotels and resorts are
Speaker 1: designed with your well being in mind. With more than
Speaker 1: two hundred destinations around the world, Weston makes it possible
Speaker 1: to keep up with your wellness routine while traveling, with
Speaker 1: signature amenities and offerings that help you move well, eat well,
Speaker 1: and sleep well. Western Hotels make travel an opportunity to
Speaker 1: enhance your well being, and with their iconic next generation
Speaker 1: Heavenly bed you can look forward to rest. Look at
Speaker 1: us prime examples how'd you sleep so good? As a
Speaker 1: good night sleep help you maintain your game day routine
Speaker 1: while on the road. Weston part of Mariatt Bonvoy were
Speaker 1: game day checks in.
Speaker 4: Yo.
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, come on now, Sophie, how are you.
Speaker 2: I'm good.
Speaker 1: We are coming to you live from the Bracket in
Speaker 1: a new little beautiful studio built in the Weston in Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis, home of me. But look how lovely is
Speaker 1: we have. We have NCAA trophies back there, the real ones.
Speaker 2: Let's not like, that's the real ones that they'll hold.
Speaker 1: So dial in.
Speaker 2: Can we also hit on that?
Speaker 3: Live from the Bracket is what we're doing with our
Speaker 3: podcast for March Madness with Mary bon Boy.
Speaker 1: Not only are we doing it with Mary bon Boy,
Speaker 1: it's a real thing that anyone can see with their
Speaker 1: own eyes from the whole state of Indiana. But the
Speaker 1: bracket looks great. It's massive.
Speaker 2: Wait can we I did not know this?
Speaker 3: So this is so cool because the bracket the eye
Speaker 3: looks tiny, but in real life it's like the size
Speaker 3: of west Like it is.
Speaker 1: It is a two six one. That being said, this
Speaker 1: is our first episode. And while we are here for
Speaker 1: our first episode in this beautiful Western our next guest
Speaker 1: will be Joel McHale and he'll be sitting right there
Speaker 1: next to Sophie. Not here yet, but we're excited.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's actually talk about this bracket.
Speaker 1: Sophie. As someone who's school did not make the Unstably
Speaker 1: tournament this year, I have no other choice but to
Speaker 1: channel my inner childhood and we'll be a Miszoo fan.
Speaker 2: Well, we barely made it. I was nervous.
Speaker 3: I wasn't thinking we were we were gonna make it.
Speaker 3: But I'm definitely right at Miszoo. Like, yeah, I love
Speaker 3: a good Cinderella store. And I'm not saying we're totally
Speaker 3: Cinderella story, but we're definitely underdogs. Yeah, and I'm I'm
Speaker 3: for it. I think we have I think we have
Speaker 3: some potential.
Speaker 1: Miszoom not a not a tournament team in my time, huh.
Speaker 1: They just I feel like every time as Us made
Speaker 1: the tournament, they choke, except for that year, Marcus didn't remember.
Speaker 2: Why did you even put that in the atmosphere.
Speaker 1: No, I'm just I'm just saying, like, if they're going
Speaker 1: to do something different, it would be good.
Speaker 3: Well, maybe we just needed your support finally to like
Speaker 3: bring the good vibes. They said, you said you're a
Speaker 3: vibe guy. Yeah, I'm mister vibes, So bring the good vibes.
Speaker 1: That's fine. Florida's a one seed obviously, Yeah, they've been
Speaker 1: good at basketball since we were little. Yeah, and Duke Duke. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I just mean, you don't think of Florida as
Speaker 1: like a powerhouse basketball school, but they kind.
Speaker 4: Of have always been really good.
Speaker 1: I am an underdog guy for the tournament obviously, So
Speaker 1: like if a Duke or U and C play, I
Speaker 1: want I always want him out. I just we've talked
Speaker 1: about this so much, but how Inil's kind of changed
Speaker 1: what the tournament is. It's just harder to get a
Speaker 1: little school to the top when everyone's gone there after
Speaker 1: a good sophomore season.
Speaker 2: Wait, that is so true.
Speaker 3: So it's really if you win your conference is how
Speaker 3: kind of smallerish schools would get in.
Speaker 1: That is how you get in. But like I think
Speaker 1: teams used to make runs because they had seniors and
Speaker 1: juniors who were probably under recruited out of high school. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then went to these mid major schools and like
Speaker 1: developed or grew or whatever in college and then had
Speaker 1: a good two or three guys with them. And now
Speaker 1: if someone say some dude's like six foot his senior
Speaker 1: of high school grows to like six three, like he's
Speaker 1: going to get stolen if he has a good freshman
Speaker 1: or sophomore year going to get stolen. Like, it's just
Speaker 1: a very different landscape, and I think it is objectively
Speaker 1: much more challenging for small schools to like build the
Speaker 1: team and develop a team that can make a tournament.
Speaker 2: Oh no, those are great perspective.
Speaker 1: In the spirit of how things have changed with college sports.
Speaker 1: And we were talking about it earlier, but like now
Speaker 1: these teams in the Big Ten are in California and
Speaker 1: they have to fly all over the country NonStop, like
Speaker 1: even in the regular season, So like maybe teams are
Speaker 1: more prepared for the weird travel.
Speaker 3: No, I feel like they're more prepared. I mean, and
Speaker 3: a lot of these people are used to the commercial flights.
Speaker 2: Now, staying at hotels.
Speaker 3: They're a routine, so it's not like it's anything crazy.
Speaker 3: I do think time zones, if you're not used to
Speaker 3: it could hit a little different, But if you're used
Speaker 3: to it, then it's not really a thing. I think
Speaker 3: Mazoo got lucky because they are playing in Saint Louis.
Speaker 2: It was two hours away from Columbia.
Speaker 1: You should give a PSA to Miszoo fans to show.
Speaker 3: Down to Saint Louis thousand percent, And I think they
Speaker 3: naturally will. They had a heavy fan base this year,
Speaker 3: so I think they're going to be just fine.
Speaker 1: Who are they playing Miami?
Speaker 3: Oh oh, and some tea on that so see what
Speaker 3: Young was actually an assistant coach for Mazoo under gates
Speaker 3: like his whole career, and now he's he's either the
Speaker 3: head coach of Miami or an assistant. So that's gonna
Speaker 3: be there's like some family family ties up in there.
Speaker 1: That's nice. Yeah, and we're also we mentioned this before,
Speaker 1: but how the women's tournament first two rounds are home games,
Speaker 1: so you you earn to play in your own gym
Speaker 1: with your own fans, whereas men's bracket, you don't get
Speaker 1: that opportunity if you're a top what would be an
Speaker 1: eight top eight seed? Has it always been that way
Speaker 1: ever since I've watched the women's tournament, they all there
Speaker 1: have been home games because Montana se obviously we're always
Speaker 1: like a fourteen or something and we always traveled for
Speaker 1: men it always I don't think that they've ever played
Speaker 1: home games. No, because they make such a big deal
Speaker 1: out of this city, like on Selection Sunday, the cities
Speaker 1: and like the regions are such a big part of
Speaker 1: these teams get chosen. So that's definitely been a thing forever.
Speaker 1: But it's fun. I like, at someone who loves geography,
Speaker 1: I like Selection Sunday to see what cities get to
Speaker 1: host and like what teams are probably going to a
Speaker 1: city that they've never played in before, like a part
Speaker 1: of the country that they don't get to play in.
Speaker 1: And if you're a player, it's probably fun if you
Speaker 1: played in the SEC your whole life and you get
Speaker 1: to go to like Seattle. Can I say.
Speaker 3: Something though, I think from experience being I went to
Speaker 3: four and CAA tournaments all four years, which is flex No,
Speaker 3: I'm not flexing.
Speaker 1: You can flex now.
Speaker 3: I don't want to flex. I'm just saying it's experience.
Speaker 3: This is like I'm saying, this is some validation. No,
Speaker 3: I will say, you would think that it would be
Speaker 3: cool to like go to a new state, new city,
Speaker 3: kind of new region ish area, and it almost is
Speaker 3: not like you kind of want in the in the tournament.
Speaker 3: You want experience matters. Records all go out the window,
Speaker 3: doesn't matter. Rankings go out the window. And so I
Speaker 3: think the only thing that really helps is when maybe
Speaker 3: you've been there before, you've played there before, you.
Speaker 1: Have some Oh yeah, that's what you're saying.
Speaker 3: I sucked out saying this word familiar familiar familiarity.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you sophism.
Speaker 3: But I truly do think that that matters. And so
Speaker 3: my junior year we got sent out to Stanford and
Speaker 3: like that was the gym is different, the vibes are
Speaker 3: different on the West coast, like weird. We played a
Speaker 3: tournament in Phoenix one time and it's just like it's
Speaker 3: just different and weird.
Speaker 1: Yeah you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: So like if it was SEC team or in uh
Speaker 3: that kind of part of the nation, Like it was like, Okay,
Speaker 3: this is like my bread and butter, this is my
Speaker 3: home so pros and cons there well.
Speaker 1: And you're also again women's bracket. Your first two rounds,
Speaker 1: you're playing in the team you're playing's home environment, so
Speaker 1: like they're objectively more familiar and they have a home
Speaker 1: field home court advantage that teams in the first and
Speaker 1: second round in the instrument don't have.
Speaker 3: Wait, I also have another advantage. It could be an
Speaker 3: advantage or disadvantage in the tournament. SEC is known for
Speaker 3: like being the most athletic and like most physical, and
Speaker 3: so you get used to that type of.
Speaker 2: Play where you play at back in the day when
Speaker 2: I was.
Speaker 3: There a PAC twelve team and they're like super high
Speaker 3: IQ not physical, like very like and it is.
Speaker 1: It's difficult, just like different game styles totally.
Speaker 3: But it's different like can they match your physicality? Can
Speaker 3: you out q their IQ like it is?
Speaker 2: It's kind of cool.
Speaker 1: That's the beauty to me in like the tournament and
Speaker 1: just getting to play schools that you don't normally get to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And like honestly SEC even in like the men's
Speaker 3: they're big and so there's a lot of post play
Speaker 3: where other conferences it's a lot of threes and layups.
Speaker 2: So it's like just the different style. That's kind of
Speaker 2: why I love marsh.
Speaker 3: Mannis though, just because you kind of get to see
Speaker 3: every team's bread and butter. Yeah, and if you can
Speaker 3: defend it or if you can play offense against it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Did you ever play against any like super teams?
Speaker 1: You never played Yukon probably in the tournament, but did
Speaker 1: you play I guess you played in South Carolina and
Speaker 1: College South.
Speaker 3: They won it like pretty much every year when I
Speaker 3: was in college. I think we played Texas, who was
Speaker 3: ranked three or four that was super good Stanford when
Speaker 3: we were out there, Like we played a lot of
Speaker 3: good teams.
Speaker 1: I like to say one thing I liked about and
Speaker 1: again this is like this small school part of me.
Speaker 1: But getting to see the girls who I saw in
Speaker 1: the training room every day, and like these girls are
Speaker 1: still baller obviously, Yeah, get like get to see them
Speaker 1: play a national TV and like a super big moment.
Speaker 1: Obviously we didn't like go on any runs or anything,
Speaker 1: but it's still like the girls, you know, getting to
Speaker 1: watch them play on a stage that they don't always
Speaker 1: get to and like show the world like that they
Speaker 1: can ball. It was always fun to get to see,
Speaker 1: like my friends do that whenever because our one is
Speaker 1: actually actually super good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, can we go into that real quick. This is
Speaker 2: a little sentimental.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is like.
Speaker 3: A big thank you, I would say, But we talk
Speaker 3: about the athletes always traveling across the nation to different states.
Speaker 2: Dude, yeah, thank you to the parents.
Speaker 3: Like the parents invest they travel, they work, and like
Speaker 3: their stuff hasn't paid for, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And so in like the they're going to say like
Speaker 1: training staff, coaches like TGA's.
Speaker 2: Mega fans, like that is a big deal.
Speaker 3: That I don't think they get enough credit and they
Speaker 3: don't get their flowers, but I do. When you were
Speaker 3: just talking about that, it really did like hit home.
Speaker 3: Like our parents or your guardians are people who just
Speaker 3: love you. They invest in a lot of time too.
Speaker 3: So when you make it to the Big Dance and
Speaker 3: you get to go to a new region, you get
Speaker 3: to do something different.
Speaker 1: So do they you know what I mean?
Speaker 3: And like they worked just as hard for us to
Speaker 3: get there as we did. And so I hope that
Speaker 3: parents and guardians and fans embrace this march as much
Speaker 3: as the actual athletes, because this is a big deal
Speaker 3: for everybody.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't know the next time your team will go,
Speaker 1: So go to the game.
Speaker 3: Hey yeah, some people get spoiled, some pe will get
Speaker 3: spoil get spoiled, but also some people get jaded.
Speaker 1: I'll say my mom and my brother went to I
Speaker 1: think it was like maybe Omaha when MISSOI remember when
Speaker 1: Zoo was a two seed and lost to like Baskets basketball.
Speaker 3: George Mason or I don't think it's George Mason, but
Speaker 3: was it George Mason?
Speaker 1: Can we get it? Can we get a producer? Google?
Speaker 1: They were two seed and lost in the first round,
Speaker 1: but my mom and brother went. Yes, but my mom
Speaker 1: and brother were like, why would we ever go to
Speaker 1: a March Madness game again? Because they they they tried
Speaker 1: it and got just their hearts. Yeah, which is why.
Speaker 2: But how cool that you get to experience all the emotions.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why sports are beautiful.
Speaker 2: YEP.
Speaker 1: A sneaky part with March Madness, but also any tournament
Speaker 1: is teams either playing before or after other teams and
Speaker 1: kind of like being in the same gym, and you
Speaker 1: get fans who were rooting for other fan bases because
Speaker 1: you're just in the same arena. Did you ever play
Speaker 1: before or after and have to like watch a team
Speaker 1: that you were going to play next?
Speaker 2: Yeah, all the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And I want to shout out in Mazoonation because everywhere
Speaker 3: we went everyone said that we had some of the
Speaker 3: nicest fans, Like our hospitality was amazing. And that's not
Speaker 3: just women's basketball. It was football, it was baseball, it
Speaker 3: was soccer, volleyball, Like, we just have some nice fans.
Speaker 3: You're like, you know, you go to other tailgates and whatnot,
Speaker 3: and you're trying to hang out and people like booh,
Speaker 3: but we are very welcoming and so I love that.
Speaker 3: But I will say I think especially on the women's side,
Speaker 3: we're just we just have to be like kind of
Speaker 3: a tighter knit community, you know, like.
Speaker 2: We got to help each other out a little bit.
Speaker 3: And so you would play and like even my my
Speaker 3: parents and my family, they would watch teams before us
Speaker 3: and be like, I really liked that player. I really
Speaker 3: like how that coach interacted with her players and coach
Speaker 3: the game, or you know.
Speaker 1: Just the culture of the team.
Speaker 3: And so you definitely create fans and like, especially if
Speaker 3: you lose, it's kind of hard to like.
Speaker 2: But you also, you know, give credit where it's toe.
Speaker 3: But for me as a player, I don't know if
Speaker 3: I necessarily was like, oh, that team was really nicer,
Speaker 3: I really want them.
Speaker 2: I'm like, no, screw that team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're more like the other I'm.
Speaker 3: Too competitive, yeah, you know, but not in the I'm
Speaker 3: not like I hope you guys lose all that type stuff.
Speaker 2: I just hate to lose. You know.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite tournament memories ever when I worked
Speaker 1: at Bleacher Report, h remember Saint St. Peter's. This was
Speaker 1: just a tiny, tiny, tiny school in New Jersey, and
Speaker 1: they beat Kentucky, someone else big and then they beat Purdue.
Speaker 1: They made the Elite eight. I was on the floor
Speaker 1: with like a credential for the scheme, and they probably
Speaker 1: had like one section of fans, but the whole like
Speaker 1: the other teams in that city were like UCLA, You
Speaker 1: and c and Purdue.
Speaker 3: I don't think just that arena, but I think the
Speaker 3: whole nation became a fan of that.
Speaker 1: Oh for sure, Like I love that. But yeah, part
Speaker 1: of the reason I probably all those fans are rooting
Speaker 1: for them is because they thought that it's an easier
Speaker 1: out when they got to play them. Yeah, go lost.
Speaker 1: I just remembering there. I mean, like none of these
Speaker 1: people in here are actual fans of this school, but
Speaker 1: they are so into this game and like rooting for
Speaker 1: the underdog and that that's an experience you wouldn't get
Speaker 1: on TV. No, that's like you have to be under
Speaker 1: the roof and like see it all come to life
Speaker 1: and feel that energy and that was dope. I actually
Speaker 1: can't believe it took me this long to bring that up,
Speaker 1: but that was like such a cool game to.
Speaker 2: Be at Loyola.
Speaker 3: When the nun became like totally March truly does sport
Speaker 3: in general, but I think there's just more on the
Speaker 3: line of March brings so many emotions and like you know,
Speaker 3: as the as the bracket is just starting, yeah, there's
Speaker 3: a lot of happy smiles, laughter, but also tears start happening.
Speaker 3: You just work so fricking hard every year, and like
Speaker 3: everyone's team truly has a journey in a special and
Speaker 3: has ups and downs. There's so many good things that
Speaker 3: happen in a season, regardless of the team.
Speaker 2: And so when it's over, I cried every.
Speaker 3: Single time, Yeah, because I'm just like, like you're you're
Speaker 3: just like you're exhausted, You're you're sad, You're you just
Speaker 3: want it so bad. But then I've also been on
Speaker 3: the other end on State yeah day no, no no.
Speaker 1: But it's also for Piece rock Bridgehi.
Speaker 3: But I will say, like I when we want it
Speaker 3: all to you still cry, Like that's just like emotion,
Speaker 3: just like your hard work is just huh regardless if
Speaker 3: you want are lost and it is sad.
Speaker 1: But that's why supports you are beautiful. Yeah, you can't
Speaker 1: appreciate sunshine without rain, okay.
Speaker 2: Or a blizzard outside in Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: Okay, Sophie, we are going to play hotel power rankings
Speaker 1: like this. Here's how it works. We're looking at a
Speaker 1: list of fifty travel related experiences in ranking our top
Speaker 1: five in order. You and I know each other well
Speaker 1: enough now that we know we like different things facts.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean. It's just some people something's
Speaker 1: hit harder than others. Like a hotel wall that hits
Speaker 1: so hard for my day.
Speaker 2: I have never heard of that.
Speaker 1: It's so hard for my day.
Speaker 2: I never heard of that.
Speaker 1: And like I know a pool with no one else
Speaker 1: in it that's going to be in your top five thousand,
Speaker 1: you know. Okay, so my top five. Here we go,
Speaker 1: coming in at number five, opening the blackout curtains to
Speaker 1: a great view. I think it's so it really brings
Speaker 1: your spirits up. It could be could it be a
Speaker 1: mountain side? Could it be the Las Vegas Strip? It
Speaker 1: just sets the tone.
Speaker 3: Think about it, like when you have a good view,
Speaker 3: you appreciate it and it makes you feel like you're
Speaker 3: a part of that city.
Speaker 2: Thousand percent.
Speaker 1: You know, number four O West in Heavenly Bed. The
Speaker 1: reason I don't have eyebags today is because they just
Speaker 1: slept on one three hotel Jim. I think when you're
Speaker 1: on the road a lot. Sometimes the only thing you
Speaker 1: can do to feel better is move around, move your
Speaker 1: bod inclined walker, pump some iron and renovated. Yeah, matters
Speaker 1: love powerful hotel shower. I don't think it's my number two.
Speaker 1: I don't know. We talk about it enough as a society,
Speaker 1: how important water pressure is to having a good day.
Speaker 1: And that can be a good overhead. It really sets
Speaker 1: the tone. Get clean and you feel fresh.
Speaker 2: I like that.
Speaker 1: And my number one, as you would expect, AC a
Speaker 1: perfectly cold ac after a hot day. I need it,
Speaker 1: I need it, I need it. So that's mine.
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm going to start with number five, and it
Speaker 3: was pool with nobody else in it, of course.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And I would like to say when you're out there
Speaker 3: by yourself and you can just like be in your thoughts,
Speaker 3: sun is beaming on you, the water temperature probably feels
Speaker 3: so nice e specs on a hot day. But I
Speaker 3: do appreciate when other people are at the pool too.
Speaker 3: I do like to people watch, I do like to talk,
Speaker 3: but you know, after a busy day, sometimes you just
Speaker 3: want to be alone in your thoughts. Getting a tan
Speaker 3: number four, perfectly cold AC after hot day love really?
Speaker 1: Okay, God, I can't.
Speaker 3: I can't sleep when it's hot in my room. Oh,
Speaker 3: I definitely cannot do that.
Speaker 1: Wait, I'm glad to know that about you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I always saw you liked being hot at all times,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was kind of weird. You know
Speaker 1: that'd be horrible, Okay, I appreciate that. Horrible.
Speaker 2: No, okay. Number three charging ports everywhere.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 3: Come on, think about this if you if you do
Speaker 3: not have one next to your bed or in the
Speaker 3: bathroom that's convenient at the desktop, like, not having a
Speaker 3: charging port where you need it is frustrating because then
Speaker 3: you're like sitting in a weird spot you want to
Speaker 3: be laying in bed Like that's I think that's a lost.
Speaker 1: I was going to push back on you, but I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna.
Speaker 2: I like that.
Speaker 1: No, I don't want I don't. I agree you explained
Speaker 1: it in a way that kind of flipped me in
Speaker 1: real time.
Speaker 3: Number two powerful hotel shower. I absolutely love that, but
Speaker 3: I'm going to add on to it. I prefer when
Speaker 3: there's a door on the shower because I like my
Speaker 3: showers like steamy hot.
Speaker 2: I don't want to be cold, and like having to
Speaker 2: be under the hot water because it's cold. So that's
Speaker 2: that's kind of a must on mine.
Speaker 1: Are you going to sneak in good products help love
Speaker 1: a good champoo Kendash body wash, Yes, so you don't have.
Speaker 3: To use that, and like take up space when you
Speaker 3: are traveling, so that is a must. And then my
Speaker 3: number one a massive king bed. Oh all by yourself.
Speaker 1: So if you walk into a room and there's two queens.
Speaker 2: I can do it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And honestly, if I have two queen beds, then I'm
Speaker 3: going to put my luggage on one of them, sleep
Speaker 3: on the other.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And like if I'm traveling with like Lindsay, my sister
Speaker 3: or someone, we actually sleep in the same queen bed,
Speaker 3: we do a luggage bed and like we sleep in
Speaker 3: the other one.
Speaker 2: But you know, nothing's like a.
Speaker 3: Good cozy king bed with good pillows, a good like
Speaker 3: sheet cover.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's a must.
Speaker 1: More aligned you and I than I thought we'd be. Actually,
Speaker 1: that's fine.
Speaker 3: A good bathroobe that's on there. I almost put that
Speaker 3: in my top five.
Speaker 1: Okay, guys, we are so excited to have Joel McHale
Speaker 1: on the podcast. We're gonna talk to him about his
Speaker 1: love for Washington, sports, love traveling with family, places he's
Speaker 1: always wanted to go that he's never been to. And
Speaker 1: this is timed up perfectly with the March madness excitement.
Speaker 1: People are chriss crossing all over the country to go
Speaker 1: watch their favorite team. So let's talk to Joel about it.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, welcome to the Bond the Marriotte Bunvoy
Speaker 4: Show Me Something podcast. I will be your guest.
Speaker 1: Well, oh, then she just did it for us the NCAA.
Speaker 4: Yeah, are for some reason way back here.
Speaker 2: I'll kiss this one.
Speaker 1: I did it all right. Well no, it's just a
Speaker 1: beautiful set. Now it's even more pretty. But do you
Speaker 1: prefer to go by actor, comedian, host, former U dub
Speaker 1: football player.
Speaker 4: If you could include that every time you introduce me,
Speaker 4: I will, that would be great, all of them.
Speaker 1: But in all seriousness, thank you for coming.
Speaker 4: It was great to run across the frozen tundrum that
Speaker 4: became Indianapolis in the last two days.
Speaker 1: In honor of our two extra guests. These trophies real quick.
Speaker 1: It is one of the most anticipated events of the year.
Speaker 4: As we all know, it's so many teams to keep
Speaker 4: tract of. Yeah, so I love that first moment. Like
Speaker 4: this weekend, it's one of my favorite weekends because it's
Speaker 4: just happening all the time everywhere. You can't walk outside
Speaker 4: your house, but they're like, what's happening over there, Oh,
Speaker 4: there's a NCAA Tournament's happening in your neighbor's house right now.
Speaker 4: It's great because it's just it's such a perfect design
Speaker 4: to get it all making sure there's all sorts of
Speaker 4: teams that are screwed out of yeah being there and
Speaker 4: some shouldn't be there all that round.
Speaker 1: No, I think the perfect design comment actually is a
Speaker 1: beautiful way to put it, because it is like the original, pure,
Speaker 1: single elimination big tournament in all of sports that now
Speaker 1: college football is kind of trying to like work their
Speaker 1: way into it, but like everything is always changed, March
Speaker 1: madness pure.
Speaker 3: But I think that's why people look forward to it
Speaker 3: because they know exactly what they're going to get.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but like also it's a disaster at the same time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that. What's got your attention coming out
Speaker 1: of selection Sunday Men's or women's vibes Cities.
Speaker 3: I think I'm clearly a big SEC fan, and I
Speaker 3: feel like we on the men's side have a ton
Speaker 3: of teams that are going to be in it.
Speaker 2: Shout out to Zoo, I'm surprised we got in, but
Speaker 2: we got in. Come on, maybe cinerlar story a little bit.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Women's side, I feel like it's a little different because
Speaker 3: if your sixteen seed is barely ever going to be
Speaker 3: anything higher than like an eight, I don't know, And.
Speaker 2: So I don't know about the women. I don't know
Speaker 2: who I want to win there.
Speaker 4: But let's just go within the University of Washington's Dogs
Speaker 4: Go Dogs.
Speaker 2: Is that who you have one in it?
Speaker 4: Yes, we've actually.
Speaker 1: Been talking a lot about how being loyal.
Speaker 4: Know how important being was if we're paid, if my
Speaker 4: school is in it, then yeah.
Speaker 3: I didn't know that you were a tight end, like
Speaker 3: you played college ball like football.
Speaker 4: I have constantly tell people, but yeah, because not us,
Speaker 4: because people.
Speaker 2: Don't know tight end is like you're a big boy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but I didn't play. I was awesome at practicing
Speaker 4: and making the defense feel terrific about how they were doing.
Speaker 4: I would just burst out crying and we're like, why
Speaker 4: would you do that?
Speaker 1: That hurts so much.
Speaker 4: I was very large.
Speaker 1: At the time, growing up in Washington. Did you ever
Speaker 1: consider any other school?
Speaker 4: I applied to Santa Clara because they had an acting
Speaker 4: program in Santa Clara in the tournament for the first
Speaker 4: time in thirty years. Proud Canadian and he So I
Speaker 4: applied to a few schools on the West coast, nowhere
Speaker 4: else and like the University of San Francisco they used
Speaker 4: to have a really great basketball program and now they're back.
Speaker 4: But it was just growing up was like you dub
Speaker 4: or yeah or and I just kind of was like,
Speaker 4: that's where I want to go. And I was recruited
Speaker 4: to row at you Dub.
Speaker 3: Out of all like the colleges, campuses and fan bases
Speaker 3: that you've either played in front of or visited, what
Speaker 3: is one that you think people should add to their
Speaker 3: travel list.
Speaker 4: The University of Washington that you really have you it
Speaker 4: is the most beautiful setting for a game. The tailgate
Speaker 4: is boats boats.
Speaker 1: Yeah, sale gate.
Speaker 4: So you yeah, sale gate ups.
Speaker 1: It's pretty crazy And.
Speaker 4: If you all show you the photos, it's I did
Speaker 4: not know that I do.
Speaker 1: I would like to give you Dub a shout out
Speaker 1: in the sense I think a lot of major universities
Speaker 1: that are in big cities don't actually get very good
Speaker 1: fandom just because there's so much other stuff going on.
Speaker 1: But the University of Washington in Seattle, I feel like,
Speaker 1: despite being in a map said metropolitan area with so
Speaker 1: much else going on, still gets much, much, much love.
Speaker 3: I love that those things in our ways we can't know,
Speaker 3: we can't, but it's.
Speaker 4: Through Where is Sophie? Oh, right through the window? You know,
Speaker 4: I get it get I like the first.
Speaker 1: Oh, this is yes, this is that horrifies me.
Speaker 4: Look yeah, people over there.
Speaker 1: Going, oh god, this is good. This is good.
Speaker 4: We've come to the point in your podcast where we
Speaker 4: have to return the trophies to their beloved table. Yeah,
Speaker 4: we did it.
Speaker 1: This is good.
Speaker 3: How far would you travel for your team to go
Speaker 3: watch in person?
Speaker 2: Front row popcorn?
Speaker 1: Yeah you dubbed Final four? Would you go?
Speaker 4: How far go to Mars?
Speaker 2: Would you really?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Great?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll travel endlessly.
Speaker 4: Yeah I do. I am gone. I have all the
Speaker 4: miles and uh no, if if you dub was in
Speaker 4: the Final four, I would go.
Speaker 1: Were you as you go? When they played Michigan in Houston.
Speaker 4: I did not. I was working at the time, so
Speaker 4: I couldn't get out of work. There's been a number
Speaker 4: of things like that where I'm like.
Speaker 1: Oh, but your job.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like with animal Control when it's going we're doing
Speaker 4: sixteen narrow days and it's so I'll zip down to
Speaker 4: Seattle for maybe at night, but it's exhausting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, in your lifetime, what's the deepest the Huskies have
Speaker 1: made it in the tournament?
Speaker 4: In my lifetime? That left shrimp got them to the
Speaker 4: elite eight.
Speaker 2: Clearly, you travel a lot.
Speaker 4: I do a lot of travel, which is great.
Speaker 3: Hotels, planes, no buses, trains, walking trains, RVs.
Speaker 1: Bike, swimming, trains.
Speaker 4: Can you usually stay on the train, canoe. Yes, I'm
Speaker 4: in a lot of hotels and a lot of it's
Speaker 4: a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And you host the SPS, which is like around.
Speaker 4: I hosted the SP's. That was super fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that that's a big deal.
Speaker 4: That was extremely nerve wracking and wonderful. And so when
Speaker 4: you walked out, you see you see all the it's
Speaker 4: like some weird wax museum of your favorite athletes, and
Speaker 4: you're like, oh, everybody's here, and as you know, they
Speaker 4: really want that's super competitive. They're they're pissed if they're
Speaker 4: not winning. What city was that in? Los Angeles? That
Speaker 4: was in l a Yeah, that was a good That
Speaker 4: was a good one.
Speaker 1: When you're traveling on the road and obviously we all
Speaker 1: know how exhausting that that can be. Do you feel like,
Speaker 1: because you're traveling in a city that you don't always
Speaker 1: get to spend time in that you're you owe the
Speaker 1: city a little night out to go to a restaurant,
Speaker 1: go like find a drink somewhere and kind of experience it.
Speaker 4: Or you feel like I owe the city the city?
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love like the second I got here from
Speaker 4: looking at coffee shops and eater and I'm like, what's
Speaker 4: what's happening here? And I went for a walk last night.
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
Speaker 4: I almost froze to death. It was I was almost lost. Yes,
Speaker 4: they would have just never seen it.
Speaker 1: Were you tour bussing or you fly?
Speaker 4: I fly, I'm not like for chser level.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you're not just a commute like you do
Speaker 1: so much other stuff.
Speaker 3: I don't tell us what you're doing. Do you have
Speaker 3: like three great shows like like what are you doing
Speaker 3: right now?
Speaker 2: For? Sorry?
Speaker 4: What the heck? Cream seven just came out? What's your role?
Speaker 1: Are you abowing to tell us?
Speaker 4: Yeah? It came out two weeks ago, so that cat's
Speaker 4: out of the back. Okay, I play a cat in
Speaker 4: the back?
Speaker 1: Good?
Speaker 4: Uh? No, I played Campbell's husband. But you're watching Animal Control, right, guys?
Speaker 4: Absolutely on Fox and you work with three animals. We
Speaker 4: do Netflix, Hulu is.
Speaker 1: There a person's job that like has to fly in
Speaker 1: and they're in charge of how you interact.
Speaker 4: With They're locally based in Vancouver and they have a
Speaker 4: lot of exotic and non exotic animals. The only time
Speaker 4: I was really scared was when I got on top
Speaker 4: of a It's a young camel named Mayhem from Calgary.
Speaker 4: The cambell's name was Mayhem, and I was like, why
Speaker 4: isn't camel named Mayhem? Yeah, no saddle And they're like, hey,
Speaker 4: if he takes off, just hold on. But just to
Speaker 4: know he's having a good time.
Speaker 1: You ran to Calgary. I have rocks.
Speaker 4: Calgary is great. Calgary rocks really good French food in
Speaker 4: Calgary because all those French we are up there.
Speaker 1: Has a lot of French influence. They do more than
Speaker 1: we do.
Speaker 4: I would agree. They got an entire part of their
Speaker 4: country that speaks French.
Speaker 1: Do you have time to travel internationally?
Speaker 4: I tried to as i'd love to, and sometimes for
Speaker 4: work it is overseas, which is great. But I'm just
Speaker 4: about to take the family on Saturday to Japan, the best.
Speaker 4: I've been there once and I was like, I got
Speaker 4: to get back here as soon as I came.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's such a cliche to talk about
Speaker 1: how cool Japan is, but it is so awesome. What's
Speaker 1: your schedule, Like, what are you guys hitting?
Speaker 4: We're doing Tokyo, yeah, five days, and then Kyoto for
Speaker 4: another five and we're going to Mount Fuji, so we're
Speaker 4: doing a lot of tourist things. But I'm like, great,
Speaker 4: we haven't seen it before, so let's go. Yeah, that's
Speaker 4: the best trip you'd ever take. I'm very excited. I'm
Speaker 4: going to eat like its career.
Speaker 1: And then read real quick. You're born in Rome, Born
Speaker 1: in Rome. What were your parents doing? I don't know.
Speaker 4: They were My dad was everyone's like were they in
Speaker 4: the military and the CIA? No, my dad was the
Speaker 4: dean of students at Loyola University Rome Center, which is
Speaker 4: part of chic Loyal in Chicago and uh, and then
Speaker 4: my mom was a student at Loyal University of Room
Speaker 4: Center because she her dad, my grandfather got a job
Speaker 4: with the un regulating fish populations around the world. Let
Speaker 4: that sink in.
Speaker 1: Yes, So do you feel a tie to Italy?
Speaker 4: Very loosely, but I I really like when I'm there,
Speaker 4: I get I tear up and get emotional. And then
Speaker 4: my aunt and uncle and cousins still live there. They
Speaker 4: moved out of Rome to Tuscany, but uh so they yeah,
Speaker 4: they're Then then a bunch of my cousins live in
Speaker 4: uh London, and then the others live in Nairobi. So
Speaker 4: it's all they're all over the place. Mikhail is Irish,
Speaker 4: don't know, yes, so okay, and then the other side
Speaker 4: of me is Norwegian.
Speaker 3: Wait do you love actually because you get to travel
Speaker 3: all over the place seriously, and that's like super cool.
Speaker 4: I travel almost every weekend. I mean you grab me,
Speaker 4: you know. But it's yeah, of our schedules partly routine,
Speaker 4: and so once if you get to the hotel and
Speaker 4: they're like, which like a complimentary beverage, and I was like, yes, it.
Speaker 1: Is hard when travels a part of your career, it
Speaker 1: makes it hard to always enjoy it. But when you
Speaker 1: when everything's set up for you and it's nice and
Speaker 1: it's perfect it's dreamy.
Speaker 3: Well, I was gonna say, what is like your dream
Speaker 3: vacation spot. Are you more of a beach person? Are
Speaker 3: you more of a snow I'm not.
Speaker 4: Kidding being here in Indiana, I'm not kidding when I
Speaker 4: say this. In any like, I've been going pretty it's
Speaker 4: been pretty exhausting last few day. So I got here
Speaker 4: and I it was great, went out for dinner and
Speaker 4: then I slept all night, which and it was I
Speaker 4: was like, oh, you're well rested. It so it was
Speaker 4: like a night. I was like, oh, this is like
Speaker 4: a vacation. Yeah, and went to the gym. It was great.
Speaker 4: So they like when I get those one day like
Speaker 4: those one days, I'm like, ah, recuperated.
Speaker 3: So your dream vacation is not necessarily a location, it's
Speaker 3: if you get rest.
Speaker 4: Yeah, how about you.
Speaker 3: So this is where we differ and we joke about
Speaker 3: this all the time. I'm more like, I need a
Speaker 3: beach sun.
Speaker 2: I need it.
Speaker 3: I need that type of vibe, maybe margarite in my hand.
Speaker 3: And so I'm very much like a water boat pool person.
Speaker 4: So right now, if you're walking out.
Speaker 3: I got Fiji, Bora, Turks and Caicos even just like
Speaker 3: a simple Florida, anywhere with a beach and like sun
Speaker 3: Ryan get a tan say less.
Speaker 2: That's my my dream because.
Speaker 1: You have bucket list places that you haven't been that
Speaker 1: you want to go, but then you also have places
Speaker 1: that were such a good experience you are itching to
Speaker 1: go back.
Speaker 2: But I like it.
Speaker 1: I just like being in like a fun city where
Speaker 1: there's energy and people and you meet people from other places.
Speaker 1: Cape down to that because on my list right now,
Speaker 1: I would love to do that. But I the older
Speaker 1: I've gotten, the more I've appreciated hotels because I used
Speaker 1: to always try to crash with a friend or you
Speaker 1: just forget how nice it is to have your bed
Speaker 1: made for you somebodys or like have stuff put away.
Speaker 3: Yeah see, I've never been one to like crash with people,
Speaker 3: but I because of how much we travel, I appreciate.
Speaker 3: I become a hotel snob. I appreciate a really really
Speaker 3: nice hotel.
Speaker 4: I feel like a kid because I'm like, oh I
Speaker 4: get to relax.
Speaker 1: Yeah wait, how do you travel?
Speaker 3: Like what are your esentils and things that you're just like, Okay,
Speaker 3: I don't need that, like when you're packing, when you're
Speaker 3: doing that.
Speaker 4: Oh ear plugs. I'm asked for the flight ear plugs.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, your plugs are like headphones ear plug and
Speaker 4: some sort of tablet.
Speaker 1: Shows to watch movies, shows.
Speaker 4: And play video tennis. Really yeah, I play big of
Speaker 4: a tennis fan. You were big tennis fan, and I
Speaker 4: play eight bit football as well.
Speaker 1: What's your favorite tennis van you in the world.
Speaker 4: I mean, Indian Wells is one of the best. Looks beautiful,
Speaker 4: it's so great, and there's courts everywhere. They let you
Speaker 4: play if you want. There's a sushi I mean like
Speaker 4: they have great food. But I got to go to
Speaker 4: the French Open.
Speaker 2: And have you been to the Australian Open.
Speaker 1: I've never heard.
Speaker 4: That's that's the I would love to. I got to.
Speaker 3: That's a that's a bucket list maybe, especially if you're
Speaker 3: a big tennis fan.
Speaker 2: There is awesome.
Speaker 4: Yes, I would, And it's ruckus. As I was saying,
Speaker 4: New York is wonderfully ruckous, beautiful facility, hard to go.
Speaker 2: I'm the only one who's left out. I think I
Speaker 2: need to make that a bucket list for me.
Speaker 4: It's great, really and it's yeah and uh, but the
Speaker 4: French is right in Paris, so you can it's and
Speaker 4: it's just there and it's not big, and you're like, oh,
Speaker 4: this is where the French are open happens?
Speaker 1: What are their sports? Like, Okay, you're a tennis guy,
Speaker 1: so all those championships are kind of their own spectacles.
Speaker 1: You've done the Super Bowl, yep. Anything that you haven't
Speaker 1: done that you like really want to do.
Speaker 4: I'd like to go to a Duke basketball game with
Speaker 4: Ken Jong. See yeah, yeah, he's a huge and so
Speaker 4: like to see. Now Ken's going to get a compliment,
Speaker 4: but he's like the king of Duke and so he
Speaker 4: goes to those games. And so I was like, Ken,
Speaker 4: someday we get to go this sea. We are pretty
Speaker 4: best decently we've when we met on community, we fell
Speaker 4: in love.
Speaker 2: Really is he.
Speaker 4: Expect him to be yes? And I'm saying that measured
Speaker 4: because Ken is also a doctor.
Speaker 3: Imagine if he was Duke's team doc.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it would be you.
Speaker 2: I would go to do just for that.
Speaker 4: We just get injured and just be like, oh my
Speaker 4: elbow dream.
Speaker 2: Sporting Okay, I'm kind of weird.
Speaker 3: I want to go to I don't even know what
Speaker 3: it's called, but I want to go to like the
Speaker 3: best surfing competition in the world.
Speaker 4: I don't know, because you would get everything you want.
Speaker 4: You would get the beach, the beach, and then there
Speaker 4: would be a sporting.
Speaker 3: Sport like I just and it's just like a sport
Speaker 3: that you don't necessarily get to see on TV as
Speaker 3: much or like it's not as accessible to people, and
Speaker 3: I think that would just be super cool.
Speaker 4: I mean that's yeah, I'm on I'm on board with that.
Speaker 2: What about you.
Speaker 1: I'm one of the Kentucky Derby for the first time
Speaker 1: this year and that's I surprise you haven't bet. No,
Speaker 1: I got to put a lot into this outfit. I
Speaker 1: get you.
Speaker 4: I know I'm to go like this. No, no, we're
Speaker 4: not you you need like a three piece suit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, I'll be ready.
Speaker 4: We love to come with you. Thank you for the invite.
Speaker 1: You're welcome.
Speaker 4: See you there. I would like to go to a
Speaker 4: professional bowling match, which I've never been to.
Speaker 1: Professional darts is like I.
Speaker 4: Would love to go to a professional dart out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's wild. So that's next for us. Three.
Speaker 4: Do you guys play darts? No, I mean I'll do
Speaker 4: it at the bar like I got into darts big
Speaker 4: time in college.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 4: I love it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Joel, thank you for being Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4: Guys, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3: Before we go, we got to tell you all about
Speaker 3: the amazing sweeps we got going.
Speaker 2: Marriott.
Speaker 3: Bonboy is giving away a pair of tickets to twenty
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Speaker 3: on Instagram and comment on Live from the Bracket post
Speaker 3: related to the sweepstakes. Be sure to include the hashtag
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Speaker 3: Full details in the episode description Don't miss It Nope.
Speaker 3: Purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the fifty US
Speaker 3: States or DC who are at least eighteen years old
Speaker 3: as of the date of entry ins April fifteenth, twenty
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