Enthusiasms — What to look forward to 3-26-25
Welcome to Enthusiasms. Your reminder to always be looking forward to something. Pulltab Sports Editor-In-Chief, John King, points you in the right direction.
A BRACKET YOU MIGHT KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT
If you live in the State of Hockey, let’s be honest, the whole college basketball March Madness filling out your bracket thing can be stressful. What do we know about basketball? But you have to do one, right? It’s like wearing red on Valentine’s or green on St. Patrick’s Day. You don’t want to be a party pooper, so you fill out your stupid NCAA basketball bracket.
Not to mention the NCAA bracket is hard! 64 teams you know nothing about! It’s brutal. The only thing that saved my bacon this year was the TikTok trend of basketball experts showing you their entire bracket in sixty seconds. So, I did what any hockey loving basketball bracket filler would do, I copied Wally Szczerbiak’s entire bracket pick by pick:
https://www.tiktok.com/@cbssportscbb/video/7483174525614460206
Why cheat off Wally Szczerbiak on the March Madness test? Three reasons: 1) I think he played for the Timberwolves. And was good. 2) It seems like his entire post career revolves around knowing what he’s talking about (a lot more than me when it comes to basketball), and 3) If you’re going to outsource and use AI to fill out a bracket, look closely there is an AI in Szczerbiak, along with the rest of the unused letters in the alphabet.
The good thing is about 2 weeks after March Madness, the real March Madness begins . . . the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament!
Now here’s something we know a little bit about! Only 16 teams, two from right here in Minnesota. What’s not to like! Like the college hockey nerd I am, I watched the NCAA Hockey Selection show along with probably only the players and their families on ESPNU this weekend. For you Minnesotans, this college hockey tournament has a lot of parallels to this year’s High School State Tournament. It’s wide open.
I think Colby Cohen said it best on the selection show broadcast. Unless #1 overall seed Boston College decides to go “full Holy Cross” against Bentley in the first round, almost every other game in the entire tournament will have you scratching your head. Here is your cheat sheet:
On paper, the B1G Ten and Hockey East are the two strongest conferences representing ten of the sixteen teams in the field. In some ways, winning your bracket might be about deciding which of those two conferences is truly stronger.
While they might be lower sees, UMASS and Penn State were white hot from the World Juniors to the end of the season, and Penn State is effectively playing a home game in the Allentown, PA regional.
“Rest Vs. Rust” is the other quandary. Both Boston College and Minnesota have been sitting on the shelf for two weeks after poor conference tournaments. Is this a good or a bad thing?
It’s not going to be easy for anyone. Ohio State has to beat a star laden if inconsistent BU and Michigan State to get there. The BC Eagles will have to deal with current champion Denver. Maine is a #1 seed but runs into Penn State in Pennsylvania. And in Fargo you’ve got both the best offensive team (Western Michigan) and the best defensive team (Minnesota State). Oh, did we mention they play in the first round?
The Frozen Four is in Saint Louis this year. I’m a homer, predicting a Minnesota Vs. Maine rematch of 2022, with the Gophers turning the Saint Louis Arch into golden arches winning their sixth title, finally.
GERARD BUTLER IS THE COOLEST
A buddy of mine sent a note to the group text last week that simply read, “Den of Thieves 2 is the perfect movie.” Considering I didn’t even know there was a Den of Thieves 1, or 2—this had me curious.
I ended up spending a hungover Sunday watching both Den of Thieves movies. You’ll find Den of Thieves on Peacock, and Den of Thieves 2 on Netflix. Are they perfect movies? No. Are they awesome, fun, dude movies like the recent Road House remake? Absolutely.
I’d encourage you to check them both out if you like intricate heist movies like Heat or Oceans 11, or TV show Animal Kingdom. Also, Gerard Butler may become the new spirit animal for manly men over fifty with bags under their eyes who smell the ass of their jeans (laying on the floor) each morning to decide if they can wear them one more day. This is a guy who holds his knife with his oversized mitts like a savage as he butters his bread each morning. Gerard Butler is the ugly-hot hero we all need in our lives. I’m considering buying an oil cloth jacket and regrowing my beard. There’s still hope! Gerard showed us.
DOPER THIEF IS A COCKTAIL OF FUNNY & SUSPENSE
If I told you there was a prestige TV show on Apple TV with a couple down and out ex-cons who are posing as DEA agents and robbing drug dealers, your ears would perk up. And then if I told you one of the leads was Wagner Moura who played Pablo Escobar brilliantly in Narcos . . .your eyebrows would raise.
And then if I told you these two knuckleheads end up stealing half a million dollars from the wrong guy, a man so terrifying you don’t ever need to see him on screen to be scared . . .well, then I guess you’d just have to watch the show. New episodes every Friday on Apple TV.
IT’S FISH FRY SEASON
Even if you’re not Catholic, here us when we tell you that you cannot spend fish fry season (usually on Fridays) sitting on the sidelines.
At Pulltab Sports we’ve even developed the perfect algorithm to determine which fish fry is the best. It’s all about the FTBR: Fish to Batter Ratio. You want the fish to be fresh and meaty, the steak of the sea! And you want that breading light, almost tempura to have the ideal experience. In short, you want a lot more fish than you do batter. The fries matter too, but a little malt vinegar can even most out.
If you’re looking to start your Fish Fry pilgrimage on the right foot, try Manitou Bar & Kitchen (now being run by the Gabe’s folks) in White Bear Lake, and we’ve heard great things about the 328 Grill in Cottage Park. Welcome to heaven, Catholic style!
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