December 18, 2025 • 38 mins
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
And not just because of the holidays. Between the final few weeks of a thrilling NFL season and the College Football Playoff, there’s no shortage of gridiron action to take in. That’s why on today’s episode of The GIST of It, co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz are tossing the perfect spiral: a College Football Playoff special, breaking down the 12-team field and this weekend’s spiciest showdowns. Hut, hut, here we go.
Show notes:
➕ Join The GIST Plus
🎓🏈 Join The GIST’s College Football Bracket Challenge
More on The GIST:
☎️ Leave us a voicemail! Call us at 1-437-564-5579 or hold down on this link
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
And not just because of the holidays. Between the final few weeks of a thrilling NFL season and the College Football Playoff, there’s no shortage of gridiron action to take in. That’s why on today’s episode of The GIST of It, co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz are tossing the perfect spiral: a College Football Playoff special, breaking down the 12-team field and this weekend’s spiciest showdowns. Hut, hut, here we go.
Show notes:
➕ Join The GIST Plus
🎓🏈 Join The GIST’s College Football Bracket Challenge
More on The GIST:
☎️ Leave us a voicemail! Call us at 1-437-564-5579 or hold down on this link
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, friends, Welcome and welcome back to another episode of
The Gist of It. Today is Thursday, December eighteenth, Happy
Tiny Friday. Indeed, we're your co hosts. I'm Ellen Hyslop
and I'm Steph Rot's and it's the most wonderful time
of the year, not only because it's the holidays and
Steph's house is kitted out with homemade craft decorations done
(00:32):
by her, but it's also, I think the best time
to be a football fan. We are in the last
few weeks of the NFL's regular season, and the College
Football Playoff or the CFP is about to begin, which
means there's no shortage of gridiron action, which, if you
are a longtime listener, means that I Am about to
(00:52):
be one exceptionally happy camper.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
You are about to be extremely sad. But yeah, all
that is to say that today's one big story is
going to be about college football. We're going to break
down the way that the twelve team playoff bracket works,
and we're going to preview this particular weekend's spiciest showdown,
(01:18):
so you can really and truly consider this podcast your
one stop shop for this weekend's first round So we're
gonna easy in.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yeah, we're getting to the playoffs of it.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
We're gonna perhaps the gist of it.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, a couple of things that I will say before
we dive into it. If you're not a college football fan,
don't worry about it. Still tune in. You're still gonna
like it. This is the time to tune in and
to check things out. Is a playoffs baby, it's so
exciting too. We are hosting a college bracket challenge for
(01:52):
who you think is going to ultimately become the college
football Playoff champion or the national champion in the NCAA.
So if you go to the Just sports dot com
you can go check out and play in that bracket.
And then three, we have such a great personal training
session today. We had a wonderful person email us and
talk about a very important topic that is both near
(02:12):
and dear to mine and Steff's hearts. And so stick
around for that too. If if you want to learn
a little bit about football, but then get into some
more juicy maybe not juicy, some more like controversial things
that are happening in the sports landscape right now.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I love it when you do this, when you're like
don't leave, I promise you. But wait, but wait, because
truly she's always right. Oh wow, thing, Ellen, she's always right?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
That is so not true. I think you know what.
I watched a lot of TV as a kid. I
loved TV. I still love TV. I really enjoy watching
TV so much, show stuff.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I was.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I feel like that kid who would watch a super
late game or a movie really nay that night. As
you know, I worked at the video store every Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday. My shifts were late also too, on the
Fridays and Saturdays, So I'd come home watch a movie,
and then I'd watch infomercials. And if there's if there's
people in this world who know how to write a
(03:11):
hook and who know how to keep you sat on
that couch, it's infomercial people.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I didn't know this, Laura, about you. Were you completely
sober while you did all the.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Oh one hundred percent. I just I have always enjoyed TV.
I don't know. I don't know what it is. I've
just I always have.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Oh, oh, you're talking to the TV girl.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, you when I was a kid.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
When I was a kid, and I was explaining this,
I think recently to somebody can't remember who, because that's
how my brain works. I would make a schedule. I
would take the TV guide because at the point we
would receive it printed in a booklet to our home.
I'm an IDs baby, and I would look at all
of the shows I want to watch. I would highlight them,
and then I would make my own version of an
Excel spreadsheet before I knew what Excel was mapping out
(03:52):
when everything was playing, because this was not Netflix. If
you missed it, you missed it, yes, And so I
would I would plan out my TV watching.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
And this was pre TVR obviously as well.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Oh of course, of course, so organized.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
What a sign of things to come? Literally, what a
sign of things to come. I also stuff I'll never
forget this, and a little cringey now when we look back.
But we spent an entire day watching Leonardo DiCaprio movies
one day together in my basement. Yeah. Remember that's three of.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Them in a row.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
And then we watched three or four in a row,
and it was three or four hour movies. And I
think my parents were like, girls, get outside, like literally
get outside. We had no reason or business to be
in a dark basement all day and we were like,
actually we've mapped out. I think you watch catch Me
if you can. Titanic the Aviator I remember us watching.
(04:46):
I remember that was really scary. And then there was
one more and we I think we watched three ourselves,
and then we were like, if people want to come over,
they could watch the fourth one. Yeah, with us together.
But that's so funny now looking back that we did
that and we just had a marathon. We would never
even have a Leo marathon today.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
No, this guy the screen three parents these days would
would just be so upset with how much screen time
that we relished it and got we're chieving girls.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Na Ellen, we made a career out of it. Now
we're radio radio. Now you can't see our faces. Hey,
you never know, maybe one day we'll be on the
big screen somewhere near you. Before we get into the
college football playoff. I do want to call an audible
and talk about last minute gifting ideas for the holidays.
They're coming up very soon and so it's really hard
(05:37):
to potentially grab things last minute. But it was really
sweet today Steph. At work, we have this thing called
Weekly Wednesdays where someone on our team just hosts a
talk that's basically totally unrelated to what we're doing at work,
And today Aaron hosted a weekly Wednesday where everyone on
the team got a ten thousand dollars in monopo. Obviously
(06:00):
it wasn't real money, and they got assigned a secret
Sanna and you had to come up with what you
were going to get that person if you had ten
thousand dollars. And it was so much fun to kind
of see what people came up with. And I think
the coolest part in all of that stuff was that,
as we've talked about to be loved, just to be
seen or to be seen as to be loved, whatever
(06:21):
that phrase goes. And it was really nice because I
feel like as much as we didn't have the ten
thousand dollars and we didn't have those gifts to give people,
people really showcased how much they knew each other and
showcase how thoughtful they were with so many of the
gifts that it was just the best thirty minutes ever
just kind of seeing what our team came up with.
(06:42):
And I thought that was so fun.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
That's such a good activity. This is actually picking back
on something that I saw on TikTok that I'm going
to try and pilot at my work next year. It's
the concept of a secret Sanna where you have assigned someone,
but instead of getting them a gift, you get a
toy that you think they would have liked as a child,
and then everyone they all get donated at the end
(07:04):
of the day. So you're still going out and shopping
and thinking about your coworkers, but you're thinking about what
they might have been like as a child, what they
might have enjoyed, and then at the end of the day,
it all gets donated. Isn't that so let's really good?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Great, that's really really sweet. I really like that donation aspect.
And for those of you who maybe are still looking
for those last minute gifts, probably hard to buy online.
Maybe like some places like an Amazon, you'd be able
to potentially get things last minute, but I think otherwise
kind of hard for it to come in time. If
there's one thing that we know that our just ers
(07:36):
are into that we've talked about a lot as a
JUST team is the travel side of life. And one
of the best stocking stuffers I think that you can
get is literally just going down the travel aisle at
a CVS at a Shoppers drug mart and getting those
things like the toothbrush that actually folds into itself so
it stays clean while you were traveling. Love a mini
(08:01):
deodorant that you could end up putting in your bag
or your purse. I love Also. I know that it's
not the best for you, and you've told me that
it's not the best for me either, But a little
mini like dry shampoo, I think those are so great.
Just checking out that travel aisle at your local pharmacy
is a great stocking stuffer for the holidays.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Oh, those are so good. I love those little minis.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, and they're cute too.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
They're cute. They're so cute.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
And then you're packing and you're.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Like, we do have one more gift idea. We're gonna
we have to circle back. We're doing a circle back
before the end of the year. I know that's not
what everyone wants, but this one is a good one.
If you love digging deeper, diving deeper into sports with
the Gist of it, with the podcast itself, the Gist
Plus is your next step into the community that is
(08:50):
being built by the Gist. Your membership directly supports an
independent women founded sports media company that's reimagining what sports
coverage could look like. You know that you're here with
us twice a week, every week, and so you could
be here with us more virtually. The perks that it
comes with is early access to every new podcast episode,
exclusive member only sports analysis that you won't find in
(09:13):
the free newsletters, priority access to perks from our growing
roster of teams and league partners. So this is IRL two.
So that's like NHL, NFL ANDWSL and beyond. It's growing.
And if you care about elevating women's sports and the
media telling those stories, and you're looking for a gift
to give this season, either to a loved one or
to yourself, because I follow the one for me, one
(09:35):
for them philosophy, and if you do to here you go.
This is how you support the movement, join theis plus
or gift it to someone you love this holiday season.
My going to the Just sports dot com slash page
slash plus and that will be in the show notes.
You want to just go ahead and click.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
It, all right, So, if you're a football fan, this
weekend is tailor made for you. If you're not a
football fan, the next few weeks are Taylor made for
you and you are entering becoming a college football fan
(10:12):
at literally the perfect time. So, in addition to two
NFL games on Saturday, and yes we said Saturday, because
tis the season where the NFL schedule gets weird and
wacky near the end, the College Football Playoff or CFP
begins tomorrow, So begins Friday, normally College Saturday, normally NFL Sunday,
(10:33):
College beginning Friday, continuing in over the weekend NFL starting
tonight actually, but also continuing Saturday, Sunday and Monday. So
that's why it's one of the best weekends of the year.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
They're keeping us on our toes. They're making sure we're
still paying attention. Yeah in late December, aren't you with it?
Speaker 1 (10:53):
So in this segment of the podcast, we want to
go through what is the CFP and how does it
work the games that are happening this weekend, and then
we're also going to get into i'd say the top
two matchups from the weekend. We don't have time to
get into all of the matchups, that would take way
too long, but we want to get into the top
(11:14):
two matchups because we think that they'll be fun, and
we're turning.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Into so let's start with how it works. We're going
to start in that first segment. So this is the
first of four rounds in the twelve team playoff. The
top four seeds did receive a buye through the first
round in will zoom play in the corner finals and
those will be on nears even Year's Day. Fun, so
so fun. I love the sports holiday matchup personally. I
(11:37):
love that, and.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
The NFL's on Christmas this year again too.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
So Chef's kiss, We're so blessed. So the teams that
receive those buys are number one Indiana, number two Ohio State,
number three Georgia, and number four Texas Tech. So there
are four games in the first round, featuring the fifth
through to the twelfth seeds.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And if you're new to college football, buckle up. We
talked about this in a past podcast, but the postseason
lasts an entire month, this time, culminating with a championship
game on Monday, January nineteenth. So they play this week
slash weekend, and then they take a couple of weeks
off and then it's kind of those those three games
so far in a row, and before the game start
(12:18):
tomorrow on Friday. This is just your final reminder to
go to our website and submit your college football playoff bracket.
There's some really sweet prizes for anyone who wins one
to three and what else say, And we talk about
this a lot stefan college sports and in competition like
the World Juniors and what have you. Literally anything can
happen on the gridiron when it comes to college sports.
(12:40):
These are kids, ultimately, at the end of the day,
and no matter how hard they train, how hard their
coaches ride them, the strategy that they've come up with,
it doesn't always mean that the best team is going
to win because they are kids who do not have
formed frontal lobes. And so you can imagine the chaos
(13:00):
that can happen in college when there's already so much
chaos at the pro level. And those are people who
have been playing their sports for decades. So go and
play the bracket because it's a fun way. I find
that it's a fun way. Even if you don't have
a favorite team, you you almost can choose one and
it kind of encourages you to stay in touch throughout it.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, I love doing a bracket for like a college.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, because you really never know what's going to happen.
So let's talk about the guards. Let's talk about the
talk about the games.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
So the weekend's late, we'll go through. We'll list them all,
but we're not going to go into great detail on
all of them. But here they are. There's one game
tomorrow Friday, number eight Oklahoma versus number nine Alabama at
eight pm Eastern time. And then boom, we're on Saturdays,
back to back to back slate number seven Texas A
and m versus number ten Miami that starts at twelve pm.
So your day on Saturday starts at twelve pm Eastern time.
(13:54):
Next game is at three thirty pm Eastern time. That's
number six Ole Miss versus number eleven Tulane. And then
the last game is at seven thirty pm Eastern time,
and that's number five Oregon versus number twelve James Madison.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Whenever I think of James Madison, I think of is
it Ashley Madison that was that site? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
The site.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Yeah, with all the controversy, I can't helpe it. Like
I hear James Madison and I automatically am like, oh,
Ashley Madison, that was Rife with Scandal.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
There was a Law and Ordered Toronto episode that was
a spoof on Ashley Madison.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
I didn't even know that existed.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Law and Order Toronto, had no idea. Oh okay, I
love watching it because as someone who is.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You, all of a sudden, by the way, stuff just
started talking like a hockey bro like that the switch.
All of a sudden, I was like, she's changed your accent, Like,
what just happened? I don't know what happened to you
with the minute you mentioned Law and Order Toronto. Everything changed,
every literally everything changed. I don't know what happened lane
(15:00):
to like Toronto, Like it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
It's like when I pick up the phone to talk
to one of my family members, immediately I'm.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Right there, baby, Yeah, let's go. That was so funny.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
But in the show there's all of these landmarks and
different things that are very much so real in the city.
So I love watching it just to be that that
meme of Leon Dad or DiCaprio pointing at the screen.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Not Leo, not Leo, not a callback to Leo. Okay,
enough with that, let's go into So we've gone through
how it works, We've gone through the games, now we
want to deep dive on two of those games, and
we think that these are the games that are going
to be the spiciest of the weekend. So the first
one that we want to dig into is the Friday
(15:46):
night game at a pm Eastern, and that's between number
eight Oklahoma versus number nine Alabama. Also just Bama for
sure is what a lot of people go with. So
these are two very familiar SEC foes. Again is one
of now the Power four conferences, the Southeastern Conference, that
is the best known conference and arguably the hardest conference
(16:07):
in football. If you haven't watched the Netflix special yet,
SEC Any Given Saturday, not Netflix special, Netflix series, I beg,
is that what it's called Any Given Saturday? I think
it's any Given Saturday, Like, please watch it at this point.
If I'm making these recommendations and you're not doing it, like,
that's just rude at stuff. So Oklahoma finish the season
(16:30):
ten and two and Bama finished the season ten and
three with a notable final loss, which we're going to
talk to in a minute. But I think most interestingly, Steph,
when these teams played one another during the regular season,
Bama was ranked number four in the country and Oklahoma
was number eleven, And so when you look at the
stats now, Oklahoma has improved to number eight and Bama
(16:52):
has slipped all the way to number nine. So peaking
at the right time or choking at the wrong time
is really what's happening here.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Oklahoma did defeat Alabama on the road, and that was
a huge upset. And since that win, which was on
November fifteenth, Oklahoma has been riding some serious momentum, recording
four straight wins to end the regular season, whereas, on
the other hand, Alabama has struggled mightily since that game.
They barely defeated a mediocre Auburn two games later, and
(17:25):
then we're pummeled by Georgia in the SEC Championship game,
recording negative three rushing yards as a team.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Like, that's so bad. Negative three rushing yards. So that
basically means that on the whole, their running backs, their quarterbacks,
whenever they decided to actually run the ball in total,
they never made it past a lot of scrimmage. They
actually ended up three yards behind the lne of scrimmage
if we looked at everything throughout that entire game. That
is really hard to do. That's really hard to be
(17:53):
that bad in a game, So I'm like, what the
heck is going on there? And that's also just such
a hard sort to fall on a championship game. But again,
you never know what's going to happen. Sweet Home Alabama
A magical movie, a magical movie. A lot of magical
things happened in that movie in the last minute, and
who knows, maybe that's what these playoffs are going to
be for them. Let's break down these teams a little
(18:15):
bit more. For Oklahoma, this is their first College Football
Playoff appearance since twenty nineteen. Back in twenty nineteen, that's
when only four teams made the bracket. They are only
one of a few schools with a winning all time
record against the perennial juggernaut Alabama. They have five wins,
two losses, and one tie all time. And I do
(18:36):
think the difference here, Steph, and you'll appreciate this is
that Oklahoma has very solid defense. They lead the nation
with the most sacks at forty one. And sometimes in football,
defense does truly win you championships.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
That phrase always coming back in our lives.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah, especially in your life. Bama, on the other hand,
is a CFP regular They made their last appearance in
twenty twenty three, but as we mentioned before, this has
been one of their most inconsistent seasons ever. In fact,
it was so inconsistent that they barely made it into
the College Football Playoff over Notre Dame, much to the
chagrin of many Notre Dame fans. In the displus discord,
(19:15):
I think, very opposite to Oklahoma, Alabama's strength does lie
in their offense and oftentimes in football more like always,
but I think, especially in college football, so much of
that offense does come back to do you have a
good quarterback or not? And they have a good quarterback
in ty Simpson. And doesn't that just sound like a
(19:37):
quarterback name too, stuff like ty Simpson.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
I've got some tie tie background trauma.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Yeah you do. Oh my god, Oh my god, one
of my neighbors, one of my neighbors. And stephan a
background trauma there. Anyway, ty Simpson great quarterback name, But TLDR,
I do think that this way could go either way.
I think a lot of Notre Dame fans are super
pissed off that Alabama is in this and so for
(20:06):
those Notre Dame fans, maybe in your life choose Oklahoma
and your bracket and or cheer for them at least.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
So that's the Friday matchup. So that's the one game
that's going on on Friday. So we're going to detail
one other game that's happening on Saturday at three thirty pm,
and that's number six Ole Miss versus Number eleven two
Lane oh Ole Miss. This team was the drama by
the end of the season, but it's not the player's fault.
This one's not about the players. It's all thanks to
(20:34):
their former head coach, Lane Kiffin. And in case you
missed it, Kiffin Gone left the Rebels on November thirtieth,
after their final regular season game, and this is the
year that they have a legitimate chance of winning their
first ever college football playoff championship. Big news.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, like, you don't do that to a team, You
really don't do that. Ole Miss finish eleven and one,
only losing to Georgia, which made them basically a lock
for the College Football playf and Lane knew this, and
so a lot of people were like, can you not.
But the reason why he left, Steph is because he
went to go become the head coach of LSU LSU
(21:14):
is a big school across all sports, but it's also
just such a storied college football program. For example, the
one and only Joe Burrow has come out of LSU.
LSU fired their head coach, Brian Kelly on October twenty six,
another star in the Netflix series of Theirs. But LSU
has won four national titles. They produced megastars in addition
(21:37):
to Joe Burrow. You might know Minnesota Vikings wide receiver
Justin Jefferson. You probably know Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jamar
Chase because Joe Burrow is always throwing to him. The
program itself, Steph is valued at one billion dollars, ranking
at number six on the Wall Street Journal's most recent list.
When you look at these teams, and so basically LSU
(21:59):
had a really shit and as they were finishing their
season at seven and five, they were like, we have
to go for somebody big who we properly feel like
can turn around this school. And it's so the coaching
because of the changes to the transfer portal, because of
how important recruiting is in college sports. Now, who your
(22:21):
head coaches is exceptionally important, arguably more important than ever
because of the agency that all of the students have too.
So the students, it's great that they have all this agency.
But because of that, LSU knew that they needed to
bring up and like land someone big, and that's where
Kiffin came in. He chose LSU, which is ole Miss's
(22:43):
forever arrival, which is very interesting. He really did betray
a lot of fans. People are really feeling horrible and
bad about it. But he was like, you know what,
I gotta do this, I gotta take this joke.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
And to be fair, Kiffen did want to stay on
and coach ole Miss through the postseason, but all Miss
denied that request and said it's either us or it's LSU.
And so of course at that point he chose his
future job LSU not an ultimatum. Yeah, they gave him
an ultimatum.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, it's wild. So now ole Miss is being run
by defensive coordinator Pete Golding and this is going to
be his first time head coaching literally this weekend, and
so you know, at Pete, we are rooting for you.
So Pete's name to know for Old Miss, but I
think another name to know is QB. Trinidad Chamblee. He
was not the starting quarterback at the beginning of this season.
He is a senior transfer from Farris State, which is
(23:33):
a Division two school, and so when ole Miss's original
QB one, Austin Simmons, was injured during Week two, so
many people were like, oh, ole Miss is going to
have a hard time, and then out of nowhere, this
Division two QB one comes in and basically saves the season.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
He had a.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Tremendous regular season and I think he's been the focal
point surprisingly of ole Missus potent offense, which averages the
most yards per game in college football.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
And their opponent on the Saturday's game, the Green wavar
eleven and two this year, with one of their only
losses coming to Old Miss. So that's not a great
going into this, but again, it's college football. Anything could happened.
They're coming into this game hot off of winning the
American Division title, and if they win it is considered
an upset at this point too late. They are not
(24:25):
as strong offensively as Old Miss, and their quarterback, Jake
Rhetz Laugh is kind of inconsistent and not as good
as Old Miss as quarterback, so they don't have that
going for them in this particular matchup, but they do
have good defense. Their team is very good at forcing turnovers.
So putting that out there in the air, it's going
to be fun.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Regardless of who you're cheering for, what you're doing, enter
your brackets, tune in. We promise it will be a
good show.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
It's time for our personal training sash. This is the
last segment of the podcast. This is where we would
absolutely love to answer any questions that you have about
anything and anything in the sports world, or we would
love to amplify a hot take or receive any sort
of feedback from you.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Yes, we love this SASH so much and it's been
such a great ad to the new pod. When did
we start doing this stuff. I don't even know. A
few months ago now I'm not really sure. But this
time we got an email from Jazz and Alberta. So Jazz,
thank you so much for emailing us at pod at
the justsports dot com. If anyone else wants to send
us an email for the next personal training session, this
(25:37):
is what Jazz had to say. I'm Jazz, emailing from Alberta.
I loved your episode about heated rivalry last week. I
would like to offer one slight correction. You mentioned how
LGBTQ plus rights are being stripped away in the States,
but they're being stripped away right here in Alberta as well.
Bill nine passed recently. It prohibits transfolks from participating in
(25:58):
sports even in great It forces teachers to out kids
to their parents. You can't join a GSA at school
without permission, and you can't go by a different name
or different pronouns at school without parent permission. Puberty blockers
can no longer be prescribed to kids for the purpose
of gender affirming care, even with parental consent, but can
otherwise be prescribed, which is dumb. I love the gist
(26:21):
and have been listening since about the twelfth episode. Your
mission is so important. I think we as Canadians sometimes
like to think of what's happening in the States as
something far removed from Canadian politics, when the reality is
that their politics are pervasive north of the border as well.
And as a trans, non binary person in Alberta who
is feeling the effects firsthand, it's important that we call
it out. Thanks for reading. I really do love the
(26:43):
gist and I can't wait to see what y'all take
on next.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Thank you so much Jaws for writing absolutely correct in
so many topics. When we come to political ideology and
things that are happening in the States, they are always
happening here too, So thank you so much for correcting
on us. Whether that's to do with trans writs, LGBTQIA
plus rights, or even anything that's happening in Quebec with
religious symbols. We experience these things here as well. So
(27:10):
we as Canadians do need to hold each other accountable
and we do need to talk about these things. And
this bill, Bill nine, that was referred to in Jazz's
message is just it's terrible. So it was introduced on
November eighteenth and passed through the legislator less than a
month later on December tenth. And in Canada, I believe,
similar to the States, I'm more of an expert on Canada,
(27:32):
healthcare is provincial, so it's province or province, So everything
that happens from a health perspective from the legislator. It's
referring to the provincial legislator and the verbiage and the
bill says it will quote preserve the future choices of
children and youth, strengthen the role of parents as their
child's primary caregiver and ensure fairness and safety and amateur
(27:54):
competitive sports end quote.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
But what it's actually doing is really exactly what Jazz
said stuff, and that is negatively impacting the rights of
LGBTQA plus Alberton's and in particular, it feels like an
attack on trans folks and trans youth. So this Bill
nine stuff. It's called the Protecting Alberta's Children Statutes Amendment Act,
(28:19):
which is quite a mouthful and quite a name that
makes you roll your eyes. This will also essentially ensure
that three other pieces of legislation that are related to
gender diverse youth cannot be struck down because of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So essentially, what this
bill has effectively done is created this loophole in the
(28:42):
system because of something called a notwithstanding clause, and that
clause essentially allows a federal or provincial government to temporarily
override certain fundamental rights for up to five years. Canada
is the only constitutional democracy that has as a clause
that covers this broad of a scope. And so that's
(29:05):
a huge reason of why Bill nine is such a
big deal because it's now incorporating these three other acts
as well.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
This notwithstanding clause is so frustrating. It's been enacted a
lot in Quebec, in Ontario and now in Alberta. I
can't remember how many times in Alberta. But it's essentially
a way for the provincial government to just guarantee get
what they want.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
It's absurd that it still exists. It was creative for
wartime measures and stuff like that, and it's definitely being
abused continually to this day. Okay, So here are the
three laws implemented in twenty twenty four that are mentioned
in Bill nine and that Jazz was referring to in
the email. Health Professionals Act. Prohibit gender reassignment surgery for
(29:53):
children under the age of eighteen and the provision of
puberty blockers and hormone treatments for the purpose of gender
reassignment for children under sixteen. Education Act requires schools to
obtain parental consent when a student under sixteen years is
of age wishes to change his or her names or
pronouns for reasons related to their gender identity, and require
parental opt and consent to teaching on gender identity, sexual orientation,
(30:19):
or human sexuality. And then the Fairness and Safety in
Sport Act require the governing bodies of amateur competitive sports
in Alberta to implement policies that limit participation in women's
in girls sports to those who were born female. Of course,
all three of these have received pushback from organizations and
(30:41):
individuals across Alberta and across Canada, and they should. And
all three of these definitely assume that a child's parents
are a safe place for them, and that the parent
is the the person who should have autonomy over the
(31:04):
child's decisions, and whether or not that is a safe
decision or an unsafe decision is definitely something worth discussing.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
It's really sad to see and I think we've chatted
about it on the pod before, where Alberta feels the
most kind of familiar to potentially or the most similar
to not familiar to different areas of the States, and
probably some areas of the South in particular. What's interesting
in these cases SEF two is that it's the government
(31:33):
and people who have no actual understanding of what it's
like to be a trans person who are enacting these
bills and these laws. The Royal College of physicians and
surgeons of Canada are against all of this, for example,
and so are so many other groups that do actually
(31:53):
know better. And so that's really where Alberta as a
province is at. And I think to continue the conversation
that Jazz started, I think that there's this sense of, Okay,
what happens next? Are we just going to let Alberta
get away with this? What can anyone, whether you're in Canada,
whether you're in the US, do to support the LGBTQAA
(32:18):
plus community in the province and to make sure that
Alberta is and could be a safe place for them,
because right now it really doesn't feel like that.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
A really good example and I think an organization that
we really need to give flowers to or kudos to,
Skate Canada. So on Tuesday, Skate Canada said that it
will no longer host major events in Alberta, explicitly citing
the province's legislation on the participation of transgender athletes and
women in sport. And this is a great example of
something super super concrete that you can do to combat
(32:51):
this transphobia and to really put your money where your
mouth is, you know what I mean to protect your athletes.
To not host a competition in Alberta will have severe
consequences on their economy, like they've hosted many in the past,
and they didn't have anything scheduled I'm pretty sure when
this was announced, So they're not taking anything off the calendar,
(33:12):
but they're certainly not adding anything on the calendar.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
And I think sef you really summed it up nicely,
and you have to hit them where it hurts, and
that's on the economic side of things. And I think
Skate Canada is a great example of what we can
do in sports, and I hope that a lot of
other NSOs follow in Skate Canada's footsteps, and hopefully a
lot of NSOs in the US are also looking at
Skate Canada and saying that's a really great example. And
we've seen different organizations do that as well, pull out
(33:38):
of different states. But you don't have to work in
sports to make a statement like this too, So if
you aren't working in sports, or if you are working
in the event space, there's ways where you, as an
individual person can decide not to travel to Alberta. You
as an individual person can lobby your corporation to say
(34:00):
maybe Let's not host our next team off site in Alberta.
Let's not host our next conference in Alberta and choose
another province instead. And so those are the things where
I think we can actually make a difference m HM.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
As part of Skate Canada's statement on this, they said,
following a careful assessment of Alberta's Fairness and Safety and
Sport Act, Skate Canada has determined that we are unable
to host events in the province while maintaining our national
standards for safe and inclusive sport period And this isn't
the first time that they have been on the right
side of history. Three years ago they changed their definition
(34:37):
of team to refer to two skaters instead of a
man and a woman. And like these, all of this matters.
This matters so much, and I am hopeful that this
could inspire other organizations to be brave and to really
take a stance like this.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
The one thing I just want to say, on that
team side of things, I think that sometimes we look
at that and we go, oh, this is something great
for the LGBTQA plus community as it comes to skating.
It also is because there are less men getting involved
in skating right now, and so for ice dancers or
for pair skaters, some of these organizations are saying we
(35:16):
are allowing two women to finally skate together because there's
more women who are actually interested in competing in figure
skating than there are men. That's just my one asterix
is that the team sport of it all, Yes, totally
like I think that maybe this had some of some
part of it, But when you look at the university
and college system, they've been allowing same sex couples for
(35:39):
a while simply because of who is in the figure
skating worlds and us me still thinking I'm a figure skater,
but the figure skating world truly not having enough men
in the way that we would love to have men
on the pair side and on the ice dand side
as much as we could.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
That's a very important caveat. Thank you so much for
bringing that to my attention problem.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
And Jazz, thank you so much for bringing this up,
for calling us out on it, for providing so much
details on this. We really really appreciate it, and we
want everyone to take some inspiration from Jazz And if
you'd like to be featured on a future episode, please
call us, leave us a voicemail at one four three
seven five six four five five seven nine. As we
(36:21):
mentioned already, you can email us at pod at the
just sports dot com, or feel free to message me
and Steph on Instagram. Steph is at Sephanie Rotts and
I am at Ellenethgist.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
And with that, that bring us to the end of
today's episode. Thank you so much for being here, for
tuning in, for being part of the conversation, and we'll
be back in your feed with a new podcast on Tuesday.
I believe that's the last one we have.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Uh for the year, right, Yeah, that will be our
last one of the year. However, our She's Not Next,
She's Now series is going to continue over the break
because we wanted to make sure we left you all
with something. Do you remember stuff. I think it was
two years ago where we were like, guys, we're taking
a break for the holidays, and there was some listeners
who are like, no, don't do it, because yes, because
(37:05):
I think the thing is is that you think you
want to take a break over the holidays. And then
obviously we all of our families, all of our friends,
but sometimes sometimes we all just need to walk. We
just need a walk. We just need a break, and
so thankfully we have that. She's out next She's now
a series going on right now. So when you need
a walk, when you need a break, when you need
some fresh air, we can be chatting with you and
(37:27):
be your safe to face during that time.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
That's such a good point because I want to I mean,
obviously I'm not telling myself to work, but I certainly
remember looking at my podcast feed last year and being like, oh,
I've listened to a holidays.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Yeah right, yeah, because it's good. Everybody needs a break,
everybody deserves a break. But we have some really great
evergreen content that we're recording right now and early next
week so that everyone is good heading into the holidays.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Fantastic, Thank you so much to the gist of This
episode was edited by Savannah Held and produced by Lisa Minnutillo,
Katie Iho Foster, and Alessandra Puccio. Again, I'm Steph
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Frocks and I'm Ellen hits Leap, and we'll chat with
you on Tuesday.
Hello, friends, Welcome and welcome back to another episode of
The Gist of It. Today is Thursday, December eighteenth, Happy
Tiny Friday. Indeed, we're your co hosts. I'm Ellen Hyslop
and I'm Steph Rot's and it's the most wonderful time
of the year, not only because it's the holidays and
Steph's house is kitted out with homemade craft decorations done
(00:32):
by her, but it's also, I think the best time
to be a football fan. We are in the last
few weeks of the NFL's regular season, and the College
Football Playoff or the CFP is about to begin, which
means there's no shortage of gridiron action, which, if you
are a longtime listener, means that I Am about to
(00:52):
be one exceptionally happy camper.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
You are about to be extremely sad. But yeah, all
that is to say that today's one big story is
going to be about college football. We're going to break
down the way that the twelve team playoff bracket works,
and we're going to preview this particular weekend's spiciest showdown,
(01:18):
so you can really and truly consider this podcast your
one stop shop for this weekend's first round So we're
gonna easy in.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yeah, we're getting to the playoffs of it.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
We're gonna perhaps the gist of it.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, a couple of things that I will say before
we dive into it. If you're not a college football fan,
don't worry about it. Still tune in. You're still gonna
like it. This is the time to tune in and
to check things out. Is a playoffs baby, it's so
exciting too. We are hosting a college bracket challenge for
(01:52):
who you think is going to ultimately become the college
football Playoff champion or the national champion in the NCAA.
So if you go to the Just sports dot com
you can go check out and play in that bracket.
And then three, we have such a great personal training
session today. We had a wonderful person email us and
talk about a very important topic that is both near
(02:12):
and dear to mine and Steff's hearts. And so stick
around for that too. If if you want to learn
a little bit about football, but then get into some
more juicy maybe not juicy, some more like controversial things
that are happening in the sports landscape right now.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I love it when you do this, when you're like
don't leave, I promise you. But wait, but wait, because
truly she's always right. Oh wow, thing, Ellen, she's always right?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
That is so not true. I think you know what.
I watched a lot of TV as a kid. I
loved TV. I still love TV. I really enjoy watching
TV so much, show stuff.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I was.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I feel like that kid who would watch a super
late game or a movie really nay that night. As
you know, I worked at the video store every Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday. My shifts were late also too, on the
Fridays and Saturdays, So I'd come home watch a movie,
and then I'd watch infomercials. And if there's if there's
people in this world who know how to write a
(03:11):
hook and who know how to keep you sat on
that couch, it's infomercial people.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I didn't know this, Laura, about you. Were you completely
sober while you did all the.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Oh one hundred percent. I just I have always enjoyed TV.
I don't know. I don't know what it is. I've
just I always have.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Oh, oh, you're talking to the TV girl.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, you when I was a kid.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
When I was a kid, and I was explaining this,
I think recently to somebody can't remember who, because that's
how my brain works. I would make a schedule. I
would take the TV guide because at the point we
would receive it printed in a booklet to our home.
I'm an IDs baby, and I would look at all
of the shows I want to watch. I would highlight them,
and then I would make my own version of an
Excel spreadsheet before I knew what Excel was mapping out
(03:52):
when everything was playing, because this was not Netflix. If
you missed it, you missed it, yes, And so I
would I would plan out my TV watching.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
And this was pre TVR obviously as well.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Oh of course, of course, so organized.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
What a sign of things to come? Literally, what a
sign of things to come. I also stuff I'll never
forget this, and a little cringey now when we look back.
But we spent an entire day watching Leonardo DiCaprio movies
one day together in my basement. Yeah. Remember that's three of.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Them in a row.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
And then we watched three or four in a row,
and it was three or four hour movies. And I
think my parents were like, girls, get outside, like literally
get outside. We had no reason or business to be
in a dark basement all day and we were like,
actually we've mapped out. I think you watch catch Me
if you can. Titanic the Aviator I remember us watching.
(04:46):
I remember that was really scary. And then there was
one more and we I think we watched three ourselves,
and then we were like, if people want to come over,
they could watch the fourth one. Yeah, with us together.
But that's so funny now looking back that we did
that and we just had a marathon. We would never
even have a Leo marathon today.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
No, this guy the screen three parents these days would
would just be so upset with how much screen time
that we relished it and got we're chieving girls.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Na Ellen, we made a career out of it. Now
we're radio radio. Now you can't see our faces. Hey,
you never know, maybe one day we'll be on the
big screen somewhere near you. Before we get into the
college football playoff. I do want to call an audible
and talk about last minute gifting ideas for the holidays.
They're coming up very soon and so it's really hard
(05:37):
to potentially grab things last minute. But it was really
sweet today Steph. At work, we have this thing called
Weekly Wednesdays where someone on our team just hosts a
talk that's basically totally unrelated to what we're doing at work,
And today Aaron hosted a weekly Wednesday where everyone on
the team got a ten thousand dollars in monopo. Obviously
(06:00):
it wasn't real money, and they got assigned a secret
Sanna and you had to come up with what you
were going to get that person if you had ten
thousand dollars. And it was so much fun to kind
of see what people came up with. And I think
the coolest part in all of that stuff was that,
as we've talked about to be loved, just to be
seen or to be seen as to be loved, whatever
(06:21):
that phrase goes. And it was really nice because I
feel like as much as we didn't have the ten
thousand dollars and we didn't have those gifts to give people,
people really showcased how much they knew each other and
showcase how thoughtful they were with so many of the
gifts that it was just the best thirty minutes ever
just kind of seeing what our team came up with.
(06:42):
And I thought that was so fun.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
That's such a good activity. This is actually picking back
on something that I saw on TikTok that I'm going
to try and pilot at my work next year. It's
the concept of a secret Sanna where you have assigned someone,
but instead of getting them a gift, you get a
toy that you think they would have liked as a child,
and then everyone they all get donated at the end
(07:04):
of the day. So you're still going out and shopping
and thinking about your coworkers, but you're thinking about what
they might have been like as a child, what they
might have enjoyed, and then at the end of the day,
it all gets donated. Isn't that so let's really good?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Great, that's really really sweet. I really like that donation aspect.
And for those of you who maybe are still looking
for those last minute gifts, probably hard to buy online.
Maybe like some places like an Amazon, you'd be able
to potentially get things last minute, but I think otherwise
kind of hard for it to come in time. If
there's one thing that we know that our just ers
(07:36):
are into that we've talked about a lot as a
JUST team is the travel side of life. And one
of the best stocking stuffers I think that you can
get is literally just going down the travel aisle at
a CVS at a Shoppers drug mart and getting those
things like the toothbrush that actually folds into itself so
it stays clean while you were traveling. Love a mini
(08:01):
deodorant that you could end up putting in your bag
or your purse. I love Also. I know that it's
not the best for you, and you've told me that
it's not the best for me either, But a little
mini like dry shampoo, I think those are so great.
Just checking out that travel aisle at your local pharmacy
is a great stocking stuffer for the holidays.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Oh, those are so good. I love those little minis.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, and they're cute too.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
They're cute. They're so cute.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
And then you're packing and you're.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Like, we do have one more gift idea. We're gonna
we have to circle back. We're doing a circle back
before the end of the year. I know that's not
what everyone wants, but this one is a good one.
If you love digging deeper, diving deeper into sports with
the Gist of it, with the podcast itself, the Gist
Plus is your next step into the community that is
(08:50):
being built by the Gist. Your membership directly supports an
independent women founded sports media company that's reimagining what sports
coverage could look like. You know that you're here with
us twice a week, every week, and so you could
be here with us more virtually. The perks that it
comes with is early access to every new podcast episode,
exclusive member only sports analysis that you won't find in
(09:13):
the free newsletters, priority access to perks from our growing
roster of teams and league partners. So this is IRL two.
So that's like NHL, NFL ANDWSL and beyond. It's growing.
And if you care about elevating women's sports and the
media telling those stories, and you're looking for a gift
to give this season, either to a loved one or
to yourself, because I follow the one for me, one
(09:35):
for them philosophy, and if you do to here you go.
This is how you support the movement, join theis plus
or gift it to someone you love this holiday season.
My going to the Just sports dot com slash page
slash plus and that will be in the show notes.
You want to just go ahead and click.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
It, all right, So, if you're a football fan, this
weekend is tailor made for you. If you're not a
football fan, the next few weeks are Taylor made for
you and you are entering becoming a college football fan
(10:12):
at literally the perfect time. So, in addition to two
NFL games on Saturday, and yes we said Saturday, because
tis the season where the NFL schedule gets weird and
wacky near the end, the College Football Playoff or CFP
begins tomorrow, So begins Friday, normally College Saturday, normally NFL Sunday,
(10:33):
College beginning Friday, continuing in over the weekend NFL starting
tonight actually, but also continuing Saturday, Sunday and Monday. So
that's why it's one of the best weekends of the year.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
They're keeping us on our toes. They're making sure we're
still paying attention. Yeah in late December, aren't you with it?
Speaker 1 (10:53):
So in this segment of the podcast, we want to
go through what is the CFP and how does it
work the games that are happening this weekend, and then
we're also going to get into i'd say the top
two matchups from the weekend. We don't have time to
get into all of the matchups, that would take way
too long, but we want to get into the top
(11:14):
two matchups because we think that they'll be fun, and
we're turning.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Into so let's start with how it works. We're going
to start in that first segment. So this is the
first of four rounds in the twelve team playoff. The
top four seeds did receive a buye through the first
round in will zoom play in the corner finals and
those will be on nears even Year's Day. Fun, so
so fun. I love the sports holiday matchup personally. I
(11:37):
love that, and.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
The NFL's on Christmas this year again too.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
So Chef's kiss, We're so blessed. So the teams that
receive those buys are number one Indiana, number two Ohio State,
number three Georgia, and number four Texas Tech. So there
are four games in the first round, featuring the fifth
through to the twelfth seeds.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And if you're new to college football, buckle up. We
talked about this in a past podcast, but the postseason
lasts an entire month, this time, culminating with a championship
game on Monday, January nineteenth. So they play this week
slash weekend, and then they take a couple of weeks
off and then it's kind of those those three games
so far in a row, and before the game start
(12:18):
tomorrow on Friday. This is just your final reminder to
go to our website and submit your college football playoff bracket.
There's some really sweet prizes for anyone who wins one
to three and what else say, And we talk about
this a lot stefan college sports and in competition like
the World Juniors and what have you. Literally anything can
happen on the gridiron when it comes to college sports.
(12:40):
These are kids, ultimately, at the end of the day,
and no matter how hard they train, how hard their
coaches ride them, the strategy that they've come up with,
it doesn't always mean that the best team is going
to win because they are kids who do not have
formed frontal lobes. And so you can imagine the chaos
(13:00):
that can happen in college when there's already so much
chaos at the pro level. And those are people who
have been playing their sports for decades. So go and
play the bracket because it's a fun way. I find
that it's a fun way. Even if you don't have
a favorite team, you you almost can choose one and
it kind of encourages you to stay in touch throughout it.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, I love doing a bracket for like a college.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, because you really never know what's going to happen.
So let's talk about the guards. Let's talk about the
talk about the games.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
So the weekend's late, we'll go through. We'll list them all,
but we're not going to go into great detail on
all of them. But here they are. There's one game
tomorrow Friday, number eight Oklahoma versus number nine Alabama at
eight pm Eastern time. And then boom, we're on Saturdays,
back to back to back slate number seven Texas A
and m versus number ten Miami that starts at twelve pm.
So your day on Saturday starts at twelve pm Eastern time.
(13:54):
Next game is at three thirty pm Eastern time. That's
number six Ole Miss versus number eleven Tulane. And then
the last game is at seven thirty pm Eastern time,
and that's number five Oregon versus number twelve James Madison.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Whenever I think of James Madison, I think of is
it Ashley Madison that was that site? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
The site.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Yeah, with all the controversy, I can't helpe it. Like
I hear James Madison and I automatically am like, oh,
Ashley Madison, that was Rife with Scandal.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
There was a Law and Ordered Toronto episode that was
a spoof on Ashley Madison.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
I didn't even know that existed.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Law and Order Toronto, had no idea. Oh okay, I
love watching it because as someone who is.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You, all of a sudden, by the way, stuff just
started talking like a hockey bro like that the switch.
All of a sudden, I was like, she's changed your accent, Like,
what just happened? I don't know what happened to you
with the minute you mentioned Law and Order Toronto. Everything changed,
every literally everything changed. I don't know what happened lane
(15:00):
to like Toronto, Like it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
It's like when I pick up the phone to talk
to one of my family members, immediately I'm.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Right there, baby, Yeah, let's go. That was so funny.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
But in the show there's all of these landmarks and
different things that are very much so real in the city.
So I love watching it just to be that that
meme of Leon Dad or DiCaprio pointing at the screen.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Not Leo, not Leo, not a callback to Leo. Okay,
enough with that, let's go into So we've gone through
how it works, We've gone through the games, now we
want to deep dive on two of those games, and
we think that these are the games that are going
to be the spiciest of the weekend. So the first
one that we want to dig into is the Friday
(15:46):
night game at a pm Eastern, and that's between number
eight Oklahoma versus number nine Alabama. Also just Bama for
sure is what a lot of people go with. So
these are two very familiar SEC foes. Again is one
of now the Power four conferences, the Southeastern Conference, that
is the best known conference and arguably the hardest conference
(16:07):
in football. If you haven't watched the Netflix special yet,
SEC Any Given Saturday, not Netflix special, Netflix series, I beg,
is that what it's called Any Given Saturday? I think
it's any Given Saturday, Like, please watch it at this point.
If I'm making these recommendations and you're not doing it, like,
that's just rude at stuff. So Oklahoma finish the season
(16:30):
ten and two and Bama finished the season ten and
three with a notable final loss, which we're going to
talk to in a minute. But I think most interestingly, Steph,
when these teams played one another during the regular season,
Bama was ranked number four in the country and Oklahoma
was number eleven, And so when you look at the
stats now, Oklahoma has improved to number eight and Bama
(16:52):
has slipped all the way to number nine. So peaking
at the right time or choking at the wrong time
is really what's happening here.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Oklahoma did defeat Alabama on the road, and that was
a huge upset. And since that win, which was on
November fifteenth, Oklahoma has been riding some serious momentum, recording
four straight wins to end the regular season, whereas, on
the other hand, Alabama has struggled mightily since that game.
They barely defeated a mediocre Auburn two games later, and
(17:25):
then we're pummeled by Georgia in the SEC Championship game,
recording negative three rushing yards as a team.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Like, that's so bad. Negative three rushing yards. So that
basically means that on the whole, their running backs, their quarterbacks,
whenever they decided to actually run the ball in total,
they never made it past a lot of scrimmage. They
actually ended up three yards behind the lne of scrimmage
if we looked at everything throughout that entire game. That
is really hard to do. That's really hard to be
(17:53):
that bad in a game, So I'm like, what the
heck is going on there? And that's also just such
a hard sort to fall on a championship game. But again,
you never know what's going to happen. Sweet Home Alabama
A magical movie, a magical movie. A lot of magical
things happened in that movie in the last minute, and
who knows, maybe that's what these playoffs are going to
be for them. Let's break down these teams a little
(18:15):
bit more. For Oklahoma, this is their first College Football
Playoff appearance since twenty nineteen. Back in twenty nineteen, that's
when only four teams made the bracket. They are only
one of a few schools with a winning all time
record against the perennial juggernaut Alabama. They have five wins,
two losses, and one tie all time. And I do
(18:36):
think the difference here, Steph, and you'll appreciate this is
that Oklahoma has very solid defense. They lead the nation
with the most sacks at forty one. And sometimes in football,
defense does truly win you championships.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
That phrase always coming back in our lives.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah, especially in your life. Bama, on the other hand,
is a CFP regular They made their last appearance in
twenty twenty three, but as we mentioned before, this has
been one of their most inconsistent seasons ever. In fact,
it was so inconsistent that they barely made it into
the College Football Playoff over Notre Dame, much to the
chagrin of many Notre Dame fans. In the displus discord,
(19:15):
I think, very opposite to Oklahoma, Alabama's strength does lie
in their offense and oftentimes in football more like always,
but I think, especially in college football, so much of
that offense does come back to do you have a
good quarterback or not? And they have a good quarterback
in ty Simpson. And doesn't that just sound like a
(19:37):
quarterback name too, stuff like ty Simpson.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
I've got some tie tie background trauma.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Yeah you do. Oh my god, Oh my god, one
of my neighbors, one of my neighbors. And stephan a
background trauma there. Anyway, ty Simpson great quarterback name, But TLDR,
I do think that this way could go either way.
I think a lot of Notre Dame fans are super
pissed off that Alabama is in this and so for
(20:06):
those Notre Dame fans, maybe in your life choose Oklahoma
and your bracket and or cheer for them at least.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
So that's the Friday matchup. So that's the one game
that's going on on Friday. So we're going to detail
one other game that's happening on Saturday at three thirty pm,
and that's number six Ole Miss versus Number eleven two
Lane oh Ole Miss. This team was the drama by
the end of the season, but it's not the player's fault.
This one's not about the players. It's all thanks to
(20:34):
their former head coach, Lane Kiffin. And in case you
missed it, Kiffin Gone left the Rebels on November thirtieth,
after their final regular season game, and this is the
year that they have a legitimate chance of winning their
first ever college football playoff championship. Big news.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, like, you don't do that to a team, You
really don't do that. Ole Miss finish eleven and one,
only losing to Georgia, which made them basically a lock
for the College Football playf and Lane knew this, and
so a lot of people were like, can you not.
But the reason why he left, Steph is because he
went to go become the head coach of LSU LSU
(21:14):
is a big school across all sports, but it's also
just such a storied college football program. For example, the
one and only Joe Burrow has come out of LSU.
LSU fired their head coach, Brian Kelly on October twenty six,
another star in the Netflix series of Theirs. But LSU
has won four national titles. They produced megastars in addition
(21:37):
to Joe Burrow. You might know Minnesota Vikings wide receiver
Justin Jefferson. You probably know Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jamar
Chase because Joe Burrow is always throwing to him. The
program itself, Steph is valued at one billion dollars, ranking
at number six on the Wall Street Journal's most recent list.
When you look at these teams, and so basically LSU
(21:59):
had a really shit and as they were finishing their
season at seven and five, they were like, we have
to go for somebody big who we properly feel like
can turn around this school. And it's so the coaching
because of the changes to the transfer portal, because of
how important recruiting is in college sports. Now, who your
(22:21):
head coaches is exceptionally important, arguably more important than ever
because of the agency that all of the students have too.
So the students, it's great that they have all this agency.
But because of that, LSU knew that they needed to
bring up and like land someone big, and that's where
Kiffin came in. He chose LSU, which is ole Miss's
(22:43):
forever arrival, which is very interesting. He really did betray
a lot of fans. People are really feeling horrible and
bad about it. But he was like, you know what,
I gotta do this, I gotta take this joke.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
And to be fair, Kiffen did want to stay on
and coach ole Miss through the postseason, but all Miss
denied that request and said it's either us or it's LSU.
And so of course at that point he chose his
future job LSU not an ultimatum. Yeah, they gave him
an ultimatum.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, it's wild. So now ole Miss is being run
by defensive coordinator Pete Golding and this is going to
be his first time head coaching literally this weekend, and
so you know, at Pete, we are rooting for you.
So Pete's name to know for Old Miss, but I
think another name to know is QB. Trinidad Chamblee. He
was not the starting quarterback at the beginning of this season.
He is a senior transfer from Farris State, which is
(23:33):
a Division two school, and so when ole Miss's original
QB one, Austin Simmons, was injured during Week two, so
many people were like, oh, ole Miss is going to
have a hard time, and then out of nowhere, this
Division two QB one comes in and basically saves the season.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
He had a.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Tremendous regular season and I think he's been the focal
point surprisingly of ole Missus potent offense, which averages the
most yards per game in college football.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
And their opponent on the Saturday's game, the Green wavar
eleven and two this year, with one of their only
losses coming to Old Miss. So that's not a great
going into this, but again, it's college football. Anything could happened.
They're coming into this game hot off of winning the
American Division title, and if they win it is considered
an upset at this point too late. They are not
(24:25):
as strong offensively as Old Miss, and their quarterback, Jake
Rhetz Laugh is kind of inconsistent and not as good
as Old Miss as quarterback, so they don't have that
going for them in this particular matchup, but they do
have good defense. Their team is very good at forcing turnovers.
So putting that out there in the air, it's going
to be fun.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Regardless of who you're cheering for, what you're doing, enter
your brackets, tune in. We promise it will be a
good show.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
It's time for our personal training sash. This is the
last segment of the podcast. This is where we would
absolutely love to answer any questions that you have about
anything and anything in the sports world, or we would
love to amplify a hot take or receive any sort
of feedback from you.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Yes, we love this SASH so much and it's been
such a great ad to the new pod. When did
we start doing this stuff. I don't even know. A
few months ago now I'm not really sure. But this
time we got an email from Jazz and Alberta. So Jazz,
thank you so much for emailing us at pod at
the justsports dot com. If anyone else wants to send
us an email for the next personal training session, this
(25:37):
is what Jazz had to say. I'm Jazz, emailing from Alberta.
I loved your episode about heated rivalry last week. I
would like to offer one slight correction. You mentioned how
LGBTQ plus rights are being stripped away in the States,
but they're being stripped away right here in Alberta as well.
Bill nine passed recently. It prohibits transfolks from participating in
(25:58):
sports even in great It forces teachers to out kids
to their parents. You can't join a GSA at school
without permission, and you can't go by a different name
or different pronouns at school without parent permission. Puberty blockers
can no longer be prescribed to kids for the purpose
of gender affirming care, even with parental consent, but can
otherwise be prescribed, which is dumb. I love the gist
(26:21):
and have been listening since about the twelfth episode. Your
mission is so important. I think we as Canadians sometimes
like to think of what's happening in the States as
something far removed from Canadian politics, when the reality is
that their politics are pervasive north of the border as well.
And as a trans, non binary person in Alberta who
is feeling the effects firsthand, it's important that we call
it out. Thanks for reading. I really do love the
(26:43):
gist and I can't wait to see what y'all take
on next.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Thank you so much Jaws for writing absolutely correct in
so many topics. When we come to political ideology and
things that are happening in the States, they are always
happening here too, So thank you so much for correcting
on us. Whether that's to do with trans writs, LGBTQIA
plus rights, or even anything that's happening in Quebec with
religious symbols. We experience these things here as well. So
(27:10):
we as Canadians do need to hold each other accountable
and we do need to talk about these things. And
this bill, Bill nine, that was referred to in Jazz's
message is just it's terrible. So it was introduced on
November eighteenth and passed through the legislator less than a
month later on December tenth. And in Canada, I believe,
similar to the States, I'm more of an expert on Canada,
(27:32):
healthcare is provincial, so it's province or province, So everything
that happens from a health perspective from the legislator. It's
referring to the provincial legislator and the verbiage and the
bill says it will quote preserve the future choices of
children and youth, strengthen the role of parents as their
child's primary caregiver and ensure fairness and safety and amateur
(27:54):
competitive sports end quote.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
But what it's actually doing is really exactly what Jazz
said stuff, and that is negatively impacting the rights of
LGBTQA plus Alberton's and in particular, it feels like an
attack on trans folks and trans youth. So this Bill
nine stuff. It's called the Protecting Alberta's Children Statutes Amendment Act,
(28:19):
which is quite a mouthful and quite a name that
makes you roll your eyes. This will also essentially ensure
that three other pieces of legislation that are related to
gender diverse youth cannot be struck down because of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So essentially, what this
bill has effectively done is created this loophole in the
(28:42):
system because of something called a notwithstanding clause, and that
clause essentially allows a federal or provincial government to temporarily
override certain fundamental rights for up to five years. Canada
is the only constitutional democracy that has as a clause
that covers this broad of a scope. And so that's
(29:05):
a huge reason of why Bill nine is such a
big deal because it's now incorporating these three other acts
as well.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
This notwithstanding clause is so frustrating. It's been enacted a
lot in Quebec, in Ontario and now in Alberta. I
can't remember how many times in Alberta. But it's essentially
a way for the provincial government to just guarantee get
what they want.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
It's absurd that it still exists. It was creative for
wartime measures and stuff like that, and it's definitely being
abused continually to this day. Okay, So here are the
three laws implemented in twenty twenty four that are mentioned
in Bill nine and that Jazz was referring to in
the email. Health Professionals Act. Prohibit gender reassignment surgery for
(29:53):
children under the age of eighteen and the provision of
puberty blockers and hormone treatments for the purpose of gender
reassignment for children under sixteen. Education Act requires schools to
obtain parental consent when a student under sixteen years is
of age wishes to change his or her names or
pronouns for reasons related to their gender identity, and require
parental opt and consent to teaching on gender identity, sexual orientation,
(30:19):
or human sexuality. And then the Fairness and Safety in
Sport Act require the governing bodies of amateur competitive sports
in Alberta to implement policies that limit participation in women's
in girls sports to those who were born female. Of course,
all three of these have received pushback from organizations and
(30:41):
individuals across Alberta and across Canada, and they should. And
all three of these definitely assume that a child's parents
are a safe place for them, and that the parent
is the the person who should have autonomy over the
(31:04):
child's decisions, and whether or not that is a safe
decision or an unsafe decision is definitely something worth discussing.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
It's really sad to see and I think we've chatted
about it on the pod before, where Alberta feels the
most kind of familiar to potentially or the most similar
to not familiar to different areas of the States, and
probably some areas of the South in particular. What's interesting
in these cases SEF two is that it's the government
(31:33):
and people who have no actual understanding of what it's
like to be a trans person who are enacting these
bills and these laws. The Royal College of physicians and
surgeons of Canada are against all of this, for example,
and so are so many other groups that do actually
(31:53):
know better. And so that's really where Alberta as a
province is at. And I think to continue the conversation
that Jazz started, I think that there's this sense of, Okay,
what happens next? Are we just going to let Alberta
get away with this? What can anyone, whether you're in Canada,
whether you're in the US, do to support the LGBTQAA
(32:18):
plus community in the province and to make sure that
Alberta is and could be a safe place for them,
because right now it really doesn't feel like that.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
A really good example and I think an organization that
we really need to give flowers to or kudos to,
Skate Canada. So on Tuesday, Skate Canada said that it
will no longer host major events in Alberta, explicitly citing
the province's legislation on the participation of transgender athletes and
women in sport. And this is a great example of
something super super concrete that you can do to combat
(32:51):
this transphobia and to really put your money where your
mouth is, you know what I mean to protect your athletes.
To not host a competition in Alberta will have severe
consequences on their economy, like they've hosted many in the past,
and they didn't have anything scheduled I'm pretty sure when
this was announced, So they're not taking anything off the calendar,
(33:12):
but they're certainly not adding anything on the calendar.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
And I think sef you really summed it up nicely,
and you have to hit them where it hurts, and
that's on the economic side of things. And I think
Skate Canada is a great example of what we can
do in sports, and I hope that a lot of
other NSOs follow in Skate Canada's footsteps, and hopefully a
lot of NSOs in the US are also looking at
Skate Canada and saying that's a really great example. And
we've seen different organizations do that as well, pull out
(33:38):
of different states. But you don't have to work in
sports to make a statement like this too, So if
you aren't working in sports, or if you are working
in the event space, there's ways where you, as an
individual person can decide not to travel to Alberta. You
as an individual person can lobby your corporation to say
(34:00):
maybe Let's not host our next team off site in Alberta.
Let's not host our next conference in Alberta and choose
another province instead. And so those are the things where
I think we can actually make a difference m HM.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
As part of Skate Canada's statement on this, they said,
following a careful assessment of Alberta's Fairness and Safety and
Sport Act, Skate Canada has determined that we are unable
to host events in the province while maintaining our national
standards for safe and inclusive sport period And this isn't
the first time that they have been on the right
side of history. Three years ago they changed their definition
(34:37):
of team to refer to two skaters instead of a
man and a woman. And like these, all of this matters.
This matters so much, and I am hopeful that this
could inspire other organizations to be brave and to really
take a stance like this.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
The one thing I just want to say, on that
team side of things, I think that sometimes we look
at that and we go, oh, this is something great
for the LGBTQA plus community as it comes to skating.
It also is because there are less men getting involved
in skating right now, and so for ice dancers or
for pair skaters, some of these organizations are saying we
(35:16):
are allowing two women to finally skate together because there's
more women who are actually interested in competing in figure
skating than there are men. That's just my one asterix
is that the team sport of it all, Yes, totally
like I think that maybe this had some of some
part of it, But when you look at the university
and college system, they've been allowing same sex couples for
(35:39):
a while simply because of who is in the figure
skating worlds and us me still thinking I'm a figure skater,
but the figure skating world truly not having enough men
in the way that we would love to have men
on the pair side and on the ice dand side
as much as we could.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
That's a very important caveat. Thank you so much for
bringing that to my attention problem.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
And Jazz, thank you so much for bringing this up,
for calling us out on it, for providing so much
details on this. We really really appreciate it, and we
want everyone to take some inspiration from Jazz And if
you'd like to be featured on a future episode, please
call us, leave us a voicemail at one four three
seven five six four five five seven nine. As we
(36:21):
mentioned already, you can email us at pod at the
just sports dot com, or feel free to message me
and Steph on Instagram. Steph is at Sephanie Rotts and
I am at Ellenethgist.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
And with that, that bring us to the end of
today's episode. Thank you so much for being here, for
tuning in, for being part of the conversation, and we'll
be back in your feed with a new podcast on Tuesday.
I believe that's the last one we have.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Uh for the year, right, Yeah, that will be our
last one of the year. However, our She's Not Next,
She's Now series is going to continue over the break
because we wanted to make sure we left you all
with something. Do you remember stuff. I think it was
two years ago where we were like, guys, we're taking
a break for the holidays, and there was some listeners
who are like, no, don't do it, because yes, because
(37:05):
I think the thing is is that you think you
want to take a break over the holidays. And then
obviously we all of our families, all of our friends,
but sometimes sometimes we all just need to walk. We
just need a walk. We just need a break, and
so thankfully we have that. She's out next She's now
a series going on right now. So when you need
a walk, when you need a break, when you need
some fresh air, we can be chatting with you and
(37:27):
be your safe to face during that time.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
That's such a good point because I want to I mean,
obviously I'm not telling myself to work, but I certainly
remember looking at my podcast feed last year and being like, oh,
I've listened to a holidays.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Yeah right, yeah, because it's good. Everybody needs a break,
everybody deserves a break. But we have some really great
evergreen content that we're recording right now and early next
week so that everyone is good heading into the holidays.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Fantastic, Thank you so much to the gist of This
episode was edited by Savannah Held and produced by Lisa Minnutillo,
Katie Iho Foster, and Alessandra Puccio. Again, I'm Steph
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Frocks and I'm Ellen hits Leap, and we'll chat with
you on Tuesday.
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