The Double Bonus: NCAA Tournament Preview

It’s the return of the Double Bonus Podcast! The NCAA Tournament has brought Tim and John S out of their unintentional retirement. Today they break down all four regions, pick all 32 games in the First Round (We don’t buy into the new terminology here at NPI), and make their Final Four predictions. Neither technical glitches nor an utter lack of awareness of what happened in college basketball this season slowed them down! It’s a podcast so long it had be split in two: Listen here for Part One, and here for Part Two, the grand finale!

The Double Bonus: Early Season Thoughts

The Double Bonus podcast is back! In the second podcast of the 2011-12 season, Tim and John S discuss the surprises of the first few weeks of this season. Is UNC as good as we expected? Is Ohio State even better? Have our sleepers looked good so far? Who is the third best team in the ACC? How does Austin Rivers compare to Kyrie Irving? Will Herman Cain be the next president? Also, who will win today’s Kentucky-North Carolina game? All these questions and more are discussed (to no definitive conclusions, of course) in today’s podcast. (Though, due to technical difficulties, we weren’t able to add the Pacific Life theme song, which, of course, is usually the best part of NPI Comes Alive!) Click here to listen to the podcast of a lifetime.

 

The Double Bonus: Season Preview

The Double Bonus returns! With college basketball season officially underway–and Monday’s 24-hour marathon on ESPN being a reminder of how awesome college basketball is–John S and Tim return for their first ever in-person podcast! Together they break down their picks for each of the major conferences, discuss sleepers and POY candidates, and fondly reminisce about the good old days of the 2009 season. Click here to listen to the podcast that will change your life!

The Double Bonus: Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight Preview!

Tim and John S are back to break down the second weekend of the 2011 NCAA Tournament! Today they’re discussing which really is the most exciting weekend of the year, whether or not Josh Harrellson is this year’s Brian Zoubek, the possibility of an NCAA Tournament Redemption Island, the dominance of the VCU Rams, and the last decade of Wisconsin Badger basketball. Oh, and they also give their picks for the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight. Click here for the magical elixir that is the Double Bonus podcast!

Monday Medley

What we read while dunking over a 1992 Buick LeSabre…

• John S offered his thought on the appearance of IBM’s Watson on Jeopardy! but that was before the computer built its insurmountable lead over the petty humans. Ken Jennings described what it was like to play against Watson, while others wonder what comes next for artificial intelligence (and how it can be used to boost Alex Trebek’s ratings).

• While we at NPI would never suggest putting any stock in the Grammys as arbiters of musical quality, we were pretty happy to see Arcade Fire steal the Album of the Year award from Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Eminem. Predictably, though, not everyone was as excited… including a student at our alma mater.

• Radiohead tried to steal Arcade Fire’s thunder by announcing their new album last Monday, and then rushing its release by the end of the week. As fans of the biggest band in the world, we’ll take it…

• We had something witty and observant to say about Joshua Foer’s screed to the memory championships, but we forgot it…

• Who needs time capsules when you have lost wallets returned two score later?

• We question the literary interpretations made by this video game. But we definitely want to play it.

• A short interview with an NPI-favorite comedian…

• And another NPI-favorite comedian is making a splash on SNL.

• The Sports Illustrated feature curse strikes again!