Nuggets are a Mystery and My Favorite Sports Bracket

The Nuggets have been on a wild rollercoaster ride, from Jokić's historic 30-20-20 game to baffling losses against the league's worst teams and impressive wins against its best.

• Nikola Jokić made NBA history with the first 30-20-20 game ever recorded
• Minnesota Timberwolves seem to have the Nuggets' number, especially affecting Jamal Murray's confidence
• Despite resting starters, the Nuggets bench led by Aaron Gordon and Russell Westbrook pulled off an improbable win against Golden State
• This year's Nuggets can beat anyone and lose to anyone on any given night
• Created a personal bracket of favorite sporting events, with March Madness winning the championship
• The first weekend of March Madness offers the perfect blend of excitement, tradition, and community
• Taking time off work to watch basketball with friends and family creates lasting memories beyond the games themselves
• Some sporting events that didn't make the bracket include the NBA playoffs and Olympics due to their extended duration

Chapters

• 0:00 Nuggets' Wild Ride with Jokić
• 4:30 Timberwolves Have Our Number
• 9:15 Lakers Win Doesn't Feel Great
• 16:40 My Favorite Sporting Events Bracket
• 25:15 What 12-Year-Old Brian Would Include
• 35:35 The Bracket Matchups Begin
• 47:12 March Madness Takes the Championship

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

All right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom From Afar and stop me if you've heard this before. But it has been a wild stretch for the Nuggets Up and down, up and down, starting with Jokic's 30-20-20 game. First time in NBA history anyone has ever done that. We were riding high thinking, oh my goodness, this is the start of something amazing. So then, of course, the next game we lose to the Thunder. No shame in that. Thunder are amazing. It was on the road, but the very next day we beat the Thunder. Obviously, the loss got a lot more coverage because it happened on Sunday a national TV game but that's okay. Nuggets can fly under the radar and the Thunder win was a great team win. I was impressed with everyone, not just the starters, but the bench played well. Jokic obviously was amazing and it was a good win. So it felt like the Nuggets were building something.

Speaker 1: 1:08

Wednesday they got destroyed by the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves it almost looks like it's a varsity team versus a JV team, and the varsity team just has that internal confidence that they just know they're going to win. It's just a matter of how they want to win. They can be bullies, they can just be more skilled. T-wolves decided to do all of that. They could not have beat us more and it's really disheartening. The T-Wolves seem to have our number. I think the T-Wolves are kind of in Jamal Murray's head. After the playoffs last year and then all the regular season games this year. It's not great. We should probably try to avoid them in the playoffs. There was one play in particular that it really just stuck out to me. Jamal Murray was coming around a screen and was wide open for a three-pointer. Jamal Murray was coming out around a screen and was wide open for a three-pointer and I swear when he went up to shoot the ball he was looking sideways just because he was so scared that Anthony Edwards was going to block his shot, just like he's done in the past. And I just think the T-wolves are so in his head and they are impressive. They have our number. I'm not going to make any excuses. They are just beating us down right now and it's tough.

Speaker 1: 2:31

So of course, after a tough loss, the Nuggets followed up with a victory, but it was a victory that kind of felt like a loss. The Lakers sat most of their starters and were kind of giving us the game, yet it took a last-second Jamal Murray three-pointer to win. So although we did technically win, it didn't feel great. We couldn't be satisfied with a win where it didn't feel great. So we had to lose to the worst team in the NBA, the Washington Wizards. The Nuggets have now lost twice to the Wizards and it's just another low point for our beloved Nuggets that we just never know what they're going to do night to night. It just shows they can lose to anyone or they can beat anyone, and that was again shown against the Golden State Warriors. We did what the Lakers did and we sat most of our starters Choosing for the rest is more valuable than the win. We said, hey, warriors, we're not going to try, here you go. But Aaron Gordon, russell Westbrook, they had other ideas. They somehow lead the bench mob to an improbable victory in golden state, who's been one of the hottest teams in the nba since they got jimmy butler. I don't know what can you say? The nuggets just do what they do. You never know if they're going to win or lose. It does not matter who they're playing. They can beat the best and they can lose to the worst. So strap in, folks. I'm sure the last month of the season will be no different.

Speaker 1: 4:12

I want to do something in honor of my family. My Colorado family inspired me this past week. They continue our family tradition of going to spring training, kind of hanging out with the Rockies down there in Arizona, and really it's just good family time to get out of the cold weather and kind of the unofficial start to spring. So they all went down to Arizona, saw the Rockies, who have a bunch of good young players. I don't want to get too excited, but they seem like they got something building over there.

Speaker 1: 4:46

So today's podcast I want to do a bracket on my favorite sporting events of the year. Now, spring training inspired this. The bracket is also one of my favorite sporting events with March Madness. So I'm going to combine the two and we're going to do a bracket style battle of the favorite sporting events of the year for me and we will see who comes out victorious.

Speaker 1: 5:17

So I do have to say this was a little tougher than I thought it was going to be, only because I left out some pretty big events. Well, let me tell you what I left out and then I'll explain why. So I left out the Olympics. I actually love the Olympics, but every four years and it just takes a couple of weeks, like for everything to happen. So one of my rules for this bracket is going to be it needs to either be a single day or perhaps over a weekend, so the Olympics being every four years ineligible.

Speaker 1: 5:55

Now I also, because of this rule, left out the college football playoffs, the NHL playoffs how about the baseball playoffs and NFL playoffs? And let's not forget the NBA playoffs. So this may seem kind of ridiculous, but I have to follow my own rules. The NBA playoffs obviously are my absolute favorite sporting event of the year. Basketball is just so much fun to watch when all the players are trying their absolute hardest and it's kind of do or die every game. So it broke my heart to leave these playoffs out, but they're spread out too long. I couldn't include them in my bracket. The same goes for NFL, baseball, hockey, even college football. It is amazing as a sports fan to watch the playoffs and watch everything. Kind of step up a level. But it just didn't fit in the bracket because I have to follow my rules.

Speaker 1: 6:55

Now, if I were to build this bracket and ask 12-year-old Brian which events I'd like to include, there would have been some that 12-year-old Brian would have included that I did not today, and those events include NBA All-Star Weekend. I used to love NBA All-Star Weekend, the dunk contest, the three-point contest, just watching all the All-Stars play together. I grew up in the era where the All-Star game play together. I grew up in the era where the All-Star game they tried a little bit harder than they do now, which is zero, and the dunk contest and three-point contest really were a big event and the stars participated and it really was just a fun watch. And it's really gone downhill lately and it's really more. Now. You kind of check out the highlights the next day instead of appointment viewing on that Saturday night.

Speaker 1: 7:50

Another event that 12-year-old Brian would have included that I did not is the New Year's Day bowl games. It used to be such a big deal if your college football team got to play in a bowl on New Year's Day. There's obviously so many bowl games now. With the playoff system they really have added to the sport in different ways, but the New Year's Day tradition has kind of gone away. The NFL preseason will not be in my bracket. 12-year-old Brian used to love it because it was like oh yes, football is back and I would be excited about preseason games and getting to see the players out on the field now and everything, but I do not care about preseason any longer. It is one of those things where I just hope that our real players do not get hurt during the preseason. So I almost hope that they don't play. And last 12-year-old Brian would have said it should have been a national holiday when the newest version of Madden got released. That was a big deal in our household. It's not in the bracket. So what is in the bracket, you may ask.

Speaker 1: 8:59

Well, let me tell you Our top seed on this Selection Sunday. Well, it just makes sense. It's the first weekend of March Madness. It's one of my favorite events of the year. There's so much that goes into it that I love. Kind of going back to the inspiration for this podcast, my family has really been involved and loved March Madness really since I can remember, and so I think that's part of the reason why I love it so much is it's kind of something that we did as a family and just kind of became a tradition and I've passed that on to my kids now and I just love the whole spectacle of the first weekend with all the games. Now the top seed will be taking on the eight seed Masters Sunday.

Speaker 1: 9:43

I don't watch very many golf tournaments throughout the year Uh, really, only two. But for some reason the masters just seems important and it's probably because I grew up watching tiger and it almost seemed larger than golf of watching him in his red sweater, red shirt on a Sunday and just kind of dominating and kind of being knowing that you're seeing one of the greatest to ever do it dominate his sport. So I kind of got hooked in there and it just always seems like it's a a big deal to watch up masters Sunday and, um, I still appreciate it. It just it's, it's almost like a nice kickoff to spring. Now the four or five matchup is interesting in this versus spring training. Now, obviously the Super Bowl is the peak of the NFL season and the spring training is just the very beginning of baseball season.

Speaker 1: 10:38

I had a tough time ranking these. I did give the Super Bowl the four seed and spring training the five seed, spring training, like I said, it was a family tradition really since I was 12 years old and we got the Colorado Rockies to come to Denver and we started going to spring training. And if you listen to my interview with my sister, krista. Baseball is a big part of our life and we just we loved going down to spring training and getting out of the cold weather and hanging out with the players and just like falling in love with baseball. The Super Bowl is right up there with it, so that's why I have them so evenly ranked. Being a Bronco fan, they've gone to many Super Bowls and lost many Super Bowls, but we have had the opportunity to win a few as well. There's really nothing better when your team wins the Super Bowl it's pretty exciting. And even when the Broncos aren't playing, the Super Bowl is such a big national event that it had to be ranked high Down at the bottom of the bracket we have the three-seed baseball opening day.

Speaker 1: 11:46

So, as I mentioned, baseball has been a big part of my family. I've kind of drifted away from it a little bit, but I still get excited for opening day. Now, being a Rockies fan, the excitement doesn't last too much longer after opening day because we immediately go to last place and stay there for the rest of the season. But if you've never had the chance to do baseball opening day in downtown Denver, it's so fun. The whole city kind of shuts down and it's one giant party and it's usually beautiful weather and, like I said, hope springs eternal at the beginning of the season, so everybody's in a good mood and it's just. It's an awesome, awesome event. So that's why it gets the three seed Baseball opening day. We'll take on the sixth seed, nba on Christmas day. Now, christmas is my favorite holiday and basketball is my favorite sport, so this had to be on here. I love how basketball has kind of made Christmas its own holiday and the games are usually the best teams. The only reason this isn't ranked higher is the Nuggets have a bad habit of getting absolutely destroyed on Christmas day, so that brings a little bit of a sour note to it, but it's still pretty fun that we're considered one of the best teams and get to play on that day. Now the last matchup is the seventh seed.

Speaker 1: 13:07

I mentioned earlier that I only watch two golf tournaments per year and one of them is the Players' Championship, which is our seventh seed. This is a local tournament for me, living in Jacksonville, and we try and take the family, if we can, to the tournament. It's usually just a nice family day to enjoy the weather, walk around the golf course. It of course has that iconic 17th hole. That's fun to watch players, so it's really a good time. Even if you're not a big golf fan, it is fun just to kind of have a big event like that here in Jacksonville. And the two seed. Our last entrant into the bracket is football on Thanksgiving. So this is obviously the original holiday, plus sports equals so much fun and Thanksgiving's amazing. Just eating food and watching football, hanging out with family, you really can't beat it. So this one was a no-brainer to put in the bracket and it earned its two seed.

Speaker 1: 14:08

As the matchups went along, we got some interesting results. In the 1-8 matchup, which was the first weekend of March Madness versus the Masters, it really wasn't that close. I love March Madness and it advanced easily. We just had Selection Sunday and we're going to be filling out the brackets with the family here tonight. And then I of course asked for Thursday and Friday off of work so that I can go watch the games and I just love March Madness the first weekend. So so much. Now in the 4-5 matchup, it was very close.

Speaker 1: 14:42

Like I said, the Super Bowl, you determine a champion. Spring training it's a bunch of dudes you've never heard of, but the weather's really nice and it's fun to watch baseball. So although I did go back and forth a little bit, I did have to give it to the Super Bowl. You're determining a champion to be remembered for the rest of history. And as much as I love spring training, sometimes you're watching a fat catcher wearing number 97 that you'll never see again In our bottom of our bracket.

Speaker 1: 15:12

Number three six baseball opening day versus NBA on Christmas. Baseball opening day had the lead. I thought for sure it was going to advance, but I love basketball so much I had to advance NBA on Christmas day. I know there's so much that's special about opening day, but I love basketball. And in the last matchup, the Players' Championship versus football on Thanksgiving again, players' Championship just couldn't really hang. I do love watching golf on Sundays, but not as much as I love watching football while I'm in a coma from eating too much turkey. So our final four is set.

Speaker 1: 15:54

We have first weekend of March Madness versus the Super Bowl and NBA on Christmas versus football on Thanksgiving. Now, because I was not only the selection committee but I'm also determining the results, you may think that there wasn't too many nerves or excitement while I thought about the results of this, but you'd be underestimating how dorky I truly am. So in our first matchup, march Madness versus the Super Bowl one game versus so many games, one game versus so many games 60 minutes plus a whole lot of funny commercials, sometimes an entertaining halftime act versus Jim Nance, charles Barkley a bunch of 18-year-old kids that become legends I really thought about this one and I had to give it to March Madness. I just love March Madness so much. My buddy and I we get together at a sports bar and just sit there for 13, 14 hours looking at our bets, filling out our brackets, just talking about past years and everything like that. It's just such a good time to hang out with friends and family. I love it so much.

Speaker 1: 17:16

And in the other Final Four matchup, nba on Christmas versus Thanksgiving football I mentioned before I just love basketball, but when it came down to it, I think Thanksgiving and football beat out Christmas and basketball just by the slightest margin. It has to be because it's been a tradition for longer. I'm in my forties now and I don't remember a Thanksgiving where we didn't watch the Lions or the Cowboys. Or now they have the Sunday night game and it makes it even better. So Thanksgiving takes the win.

Speaker 1: 17:51

So our final championship matchup is the first weekend of March Madness versus football on Thanksgiving. You really can't go wrong. It was a tough battle, but what time of year is it? It's March Madness time. March Madness takes the victory. It is the best sporting event of the year. If you plan ahead, take time off of work. Best sporting event of the year If you plan ahead, take time off of work, make sure your friends and family meet up with you, eat some terrible food, bet on games that you have no idea about either team and you will have a great time. Thank you so much. Enjoy March Madness.