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WNPR News sports coverage brings you a mix of local and statewide news from our reporters as well as national and global news from around the world from NPR.

Our 8th* Annual March Madness Show

Chion Wolf
/
WNPR
Bill Curry and Julia Pistell.

Every year at this time, as you may have heard, there's a big-old basketball tournament that goes on. And every year at this time, people in offices and in firehouses and in Rotary Clubs and in Atlantic Cities and in Las Vegases enter bracket pools, where they try to win a big-old pile of ducats by predicting just exactly how said big-old basketball tournament will go.

And so every year* at this time, for every year* that this show has been on the air, we put together an hour where we try to help you win a big-old pile of ducats, where we try to help you fill out your big-old bracket.

And to do this, we invite an improv comic and an ex-politician-turned-political-pundit on to prognosticate. Like you do.

The smack talk gets pretty intense. Here's Curry in a preparatory email:

All I can say is this time Julia better be nice to me. Or else!!!

And then Julia's withering rejoinder:

I'm the nice one!!!!

And back to Bill:

She usually beats -- okay, clobbers -- me which is fine but then she just brags... and brags... and brags...

Pretty heated.

Of course, no one's ever actually kept track of who beats -- or clobbers -- who, but hey.

*At least, we're pretty sure we've never missed a year. The internet doesn't seem to include any proof that we did this show in 2012. But then, who really needs proof of anything at this point, right?

GUESTS:

  • Bill Curry - Playing the part of Bill Curry
  • Julia Pistell - A founding member of Sea Tea Improv
  • Delanna Reed - Interim storytelling program coordinator in the Department of Communication & Performance at East Tennessee State University
  • Dave Zirin - Sports editor at The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.

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