As I publish this post, we should be settling in–or more accurately devising a clever scheme at work–for the NCAA Basketball tournament. To kill time before tip, we are typically checking out our favorite news outlets and blogs for the latest breakdowns of the latest well-edited spring practice video.
Instead, we find ourselves deprived of these simple joys due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Lunchtime tip replaced by daily pressers from the White House. Planning for office bracket pools swapped for a juggling act of home schooling lesson plans while working from home.
Sporting events, rightfully, remain absent during these trying times; however, we still desire something to fill that void and find a path of escape. With that in mind, we here at HLS shall do what we do best: attempt to fill said void in the silliest ways possible.
Considering that both spring football and March Madness have been taken from us, we will combine our love of virtual video game football, aka the HLS Sim, with our love of dumb bracket competitions. That’s right, we are going to gather 64 68 teams from the NCAA ’14 video game and have them face off until only one remains.
If you are in the HLS Discord, you’ve already seen a sneak peak of the bracket. For everyone else, expect another post on Sunday for the bracket release as well as additional details, like the schedule for when games will air on our Twitch channel (as of now, aiming for a Tuesday First Four tip), and making sure degenerates have the ability to wager some Space Bucks (yes, a virtual currency, we ain’t your bookie) on the games to scratch that itch as well.
One detail that we will release now is that we will use this silliness for a good cause. Many of y’all are aware that I charity stream for Extra Life; however, for the month of March, I’ve been concentrating on a campaign to support Feeding America’s COVID-19 response fund. We will be promoting this effort on the streams to help support families that have already been or now find themselves struggling with food insecurity. If you are able, please consider supporting.
Let’s have some fun. Gather (virtually via chat) to watch some video game football. Wager (virtually) on things we have no control over. Laugh and have some moments of escape so we all stay sane.
Texan by birth, Irish by choice.
First-generation Domer and a former student manager, HLS podcast host, HLS Sim creator, Extra Life streamer, and technical problem haver. You can find more non-Notre Dame related writing on his Patreon.
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021
