Hang Up and Listen: The Mr. Monopoly Was a Hipster Edition
Slate’s sports podcast on the Final Four, the Premier League's relegation system, and Monopoly's new rules.
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In this week's episode of Slate's sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Mike Pesca, and Mary Pilon preview the analytics-defying NCAA men's basketball final between Connecticut and Kentucky and the preordained women's final between Connecticut and Notre Dame. They are then joined by sportswriter and Fulham FC diehard Andy Glockner to discuss what it's like to root for a team facing relegation from the world's top soccer league. Finally, they talk about Monopoly and Hasbro Inc.'s upcoming inclusion of "house rules" in the century-old board game.
Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:
- In the men's tournament, UConn defeated Florida, and Kentucky edged Wisconsin on Saturday night.
- For the first time, neither finalist is in both the offensive and defensive top 25 of stats guru Ken Pomeroy's ratings.
- In the women's tournament, unbeaten UConn and Notre Dame will play for the national championship.
- Mary Pilon wrote in the New York Times that “Mathematicians Are Hoping Their Calculations Add Up to the Perfect Bracket.”
- The women's final matchup pits UConn coach Geno Auriemma against Notre Dame coach Muffett McGraw.
- The New York Times story on UConn president Susan Herbst wooing donors at the men's and women's finals.
- The Mirror suggested that if Fulham is relegated it could lead to years outside the Premier League.
- Relegation would mean missing out on a share of the Premier League's incredibly lucrative 3-billion-pound broadcast rights deal.
- Fulham is owned by Shahid Khan and was previously owned by Mohamed Al Fayed.
- Mary's book The Monopolists will be released in June 2015.
- Mary wrote about Monopoly's new "House Rules" contest on Facebook.
- On Slate, Stefan pointed out that Hasbro is not changing the rules of Monopoly, but simply including "House Rules" as a publicity stunt.
- NYU professor Jesse Fuchs asks: Does Monopoly suck?
- Stefan wrote for Slate about Hasbro's contest to add a word to the official Scrabble dictionary.
Hang Up and Listen's weekly Sir Craven of Cottage:
Mary's Sir Craven of Cottage: Considering Risk, the game of world conquest, and its versatile inventor, filmmaker Albert Lamorisse, who directed The Red Balloon.
Mike's Sir Craven of Cottage: Decrying the euphemisms sports teams use to avoid referring to injuries of the gluteal muscles.
Stefan's Sir Craven of Cottage: Remembering sportswriter and editor Steve McKee, author of My Father's Heart and The Call of the Game, who died last week.
Podcast production and edit by Mike Vuolo. Links compiled by Casey Butterly.
You can email us at hangup@slate.com