Mr. Irrelevant Podcast v2.0: Recent Episodes
Mr. Irrelevant Podcast v2.0
Jamie Mottram, Matt Terl, and maybe some other people talk about D.C. sports. Mostly. Except for when they don’t.
By actual, honest-to-god request, Jamie and Matt are back to talk about the Washington football team formerly known as the Washington Football Team. There's a lot of chatter in this one about the actual team and what it means to have Dan Snyder gone and so on, but the highlight is definitely Matt having a brainfart that makes him look catastrophically dumb. If you like that sort of thing--and let's be honest, who doesn't!--this is the episode for you.
Jamie and Matt talk about the viral big hat, the viral Sean Taylor mannequin, the less-than-viral Commanders win over the Falcons, and the usual assortment of other stuff. It's a much more fun episode than I'm making it sound. I'm sorry.
Jamie and Matt talk about Taylor Heinicke's moxie at exhaustive length. Truly, you have never heard the word "moxie" used so many times in a non-ironic (or at least semi-non-ironic) way. Moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie moxie. Then they talk about some TV and music and other stuff, but not very long and not with any spoilers. Moxie!
With the news we've all been waiting for hovering out there, Matt and Jamie reconvene despite promising not to, and then the conversation mainly consists of Matt complaining about Scott Turner. It'll probably be really good if you like that sort of thing.
Jamie and Matt use the last-second win over the hapless Colts as a springboard for catching up on the hapless Commanders' season so far. This time around, Jamie is the bright side and Matt is hammering one frustrated point repeatedly. Around 36:50 or so, talk turns to House Of The Dragon, Andor, Werewolf By Night, and dadrock concerts. No spoilers for anything besides the Smashing Pumpkins' truly dreadful setlist. See you again at some point in the future that is undefined except that it will NOT be next week, win or lose.
Jamie and Matt start off by discussing the Commanders' loss to the Lions for awhile--the positive signs, the causes for concern, the abject lack of defense--and wind up talking for a surprisingly long time about a traditional North Carolina pig pickin. In the end, there's some brief conversation about the upcoming Andor series, culminating in an explanation of why yesterday's game was almost exactly identical to the Disney+ Obi-Wan series. So pretty much the usual, then.
Jamie and Matt are a little punchy from seeing a Washington football team look alive and playmaker-y on offense (and also totally devoid of linebackers on defense). There's some light spoiler-free House of the Dragon discussion in the middle but mostly it's all football. This might be the high point of the season, so enjoy it while it's here.
By popular demand (only eight of you asked us to please not do this!), Jamie and Matt return to talk about the Washington Commanders heading into Week 1 of the 2022 season. Is there ANYTHING to be hopeful about? Can the most 7-10 organization in the world manage to exceed that win total? One of us thinks so! Also, toward the end of the episode we discuss a bunch of TV and movie stuff (without spoilers) and then Jamie makes fun of emo for awhile. The Mr. I Pod is BACK, baby!
Jamie and Matt try to catch up on four months that included a name change, a new quarterback, multiple congressional investigations, a pre-draft process, a draft, post-draft evaluations, 40 hours of Marvel content, and six to ten top-notch TV/streaming programs. Mainly they talk about the draft and the team name before trying to do an overview of the pop culture stuff. There are no major spoilers I can think of in that part. It's all kind of a ramble but let's be honest: you're probably not here for hard-hitting analysis.
This episode actually has nothing to do with the actual locker clean-out day, so if anything interesting came out of the exit interviews don't expect to hear about it here. The title is more of a metaphor, as Jamie and Matt discuss the last few games of the season, their hope for the team going forward (minimal!); their thoughts on the new name, which will probably be Commanders (meh!); their ideas for how to succeed in spite of Daniel Snyder (¯(ツ)/¯); and their general analysis of the current squad. From a non-football standpoint, they discuss Yellowjackets (which appears to be on an assortment of streaming services, including but possibly not limited to Showtime, Hulu Premium, Pluto TV, something called Spectrum TV, or The Roku Channel), Station Eleven (HBO Max), and a little bit about if Disney+'s Book of Boba Fett is boring (yes).
In their second episode since shedding the canned intro music, Jamie and Matt discuss the WFT's debacle of a loss against Dallas, a game they lost by seven and never led and probably should've lost by 40. They touch on what went wrong (everything), what comes next (nothing good, probably), and spend several agonizing minutes talking about how much more impactful than Chase Young Micah Parsons appears to be (very). They close by very briefly touching on Succession and Hawkeye but don't really say much about either and if we didn't mention them here you probably wouldn't even notice that part of the episode happening.
Jamie and Matt grapple with a reality where WFT has won their fourth straight game, the playoffs are entirely in the conversation, and the remaining five games are all against NFC East opponents. It is a weird reality. They also have a spoiler-free discussion about the podcast The Rumor and the Disney+ documentary The Beatles: Get Back. It's a very pleasant chat that still hasn't made Matt feel any better about the episode from last week that somehow got lost to the capricious whims of the internet.
Jamie and Matt try to determine if the WFT's win against Tampa Bay actually matters, and then gets very engrossed in messing with the NYT Playoff Scenario Predictor machine to figure out the math of it all. They talk about Chase Young, about kickers and conspiracy theories, and also about Peloton and the Washington Wizards, if you like that sort of thing.
You deserve better than listening to a podcast about this team. Go practice some radical self-care instead.
Jamie and Matt react to the WFT's latest loss and go on to explore the intricacies of Ashburn Syndrome (TM the NBC Sports Washington WFT podcast). That part is pretty grim! Then they discuss a variety of pop culture stuff (without any spoilers), including Squid Game, Dune (2021), the Ringer Fantasy Football Podcast, and the new War On Drugs record. That part is actually kinda fun!
Jamie and Matt focus much more on the Sean Taylor tribute than on the game against the Chiefs, for obvious reasons. This includes some reminiscing about the week of Taylor's death, some musing on the nature of fandom, and some general existential angst. So pretty much the usual for Week 6 of a Washington NFL season.
Jamie and Matt battle some audio issues and some early-onset crushing ennui to TRY to discuss WFT's Week 5 loss to the Saints. They succeed, at least in the most technical sense of "There is a podcast posted," but whatever answers this team needs to find, they're gonna have to come from somewhere other than this pod.
Jamie and Matt get caught up on two wildly disparate weeks of WFT football. Much of the conversation focuses on the vaguely confusing concept that the offense is "fun" and maybe even "good," which neither of us quite knows how to handle. From there, it's a bit of a ramble across topics including the bad loss to Buffalo, the crazy win over Atlanta, and the DEA raid on the team's facility. The closing non-WFT wrap-up is brief and spoiler-free this week, with a nod to Mare of Easttown and a discussion of The Ringer's place in the modern media constellation. Plus you will learn the difference between a haiku and a senryu! The thrills never stop in the Mr. Irrelevant universe.
Jamie and Matt try to discuss a truly weird football game, and determine if they leave the WFT's win feeling good (Heinicke! Offensive signs of life!) or not-so-good (Because, really, the Giants should've won that game eight separate times and the WFT defense looks DREADFUL). They don't discuss anything else this week, because the game is more than enough.
Jamie and Matt discuss (YET ANOTHER) disappointing Week 1 loss. They look at (AGAIN) an underperforming defense. They consider (FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME) what the loss of the starting QB means. Matt is dreary (FOR A CHANGE). Then they talk about some movies, some streaming, and the sudden ubiquity of the phrase "understood the assignment". It's a real thrilling podcast (OF COURSE).
Jamie and Matt look back at the preseason, which Jamie has largely been ignoring, and forward to the regular season, which Jamie is pretty optimistic about despite (or maybe because of??!?) ignoring the preseason.
Jamie and Matt discuss how everyone's military football dad Ron Rivera made out in this draft. Turns out that while high-character, athletically-gifted football players with positional flexibility may pay off in-season, they don't make for the most exciting draft classes to discuss. Nevertheless, discuss we do. Also mentioned (briefly, toward the end): Invincible, on Amazon Prime; Yellowstone, on Jamie's DVR.
Jamie and Matt get together for quick pod in response to the Washington Football Team signing a QB. It's Fitzmagic Time, and everyone is perhaps more excited than a 38 year old journeyman QB really warrants, so those feelings get hashed out. Only brief digressions at the end, as Matt recommends a Taylor Swift deep-dive podcast, and Jamie contemplates exploring a new facet of nerdery.
Jamie and Matt discuss a bunch of stuff, including:
- Alex Smith's departure from the WFT and what legacy, if any, he leaves behind
- The reported contents of Beth Wilkinson's report on Daniel Snyder and the WFT
- The surging Wizards
- The question of boring basketball in the DMV
- The consistent Caps
- The outlook for the Nats
- WandaVision finale, including SPOILERS for the whole season
- Hulu's Nomadland
And probably other things that we're forgetting to list. Who can say, really?
Matt and Jamie run through a whollllllllllllllllllllllllle long list of potential QBs for the 2021 Washington Football Team. There's also a discussion of odd punctuation, and at the end a brief but EXTREMELY SPOILERY discussion of Disney+'s WandaVision.
Jamie and Matt look back on a truly entertaining end to a truly bizarre football season, then forward to what will probably be just another typical football offseason. If you listen for the non-WFT stuff, this is going to be a pretty disappointing pod (unless you're very excited about the Nationals' hot stove, in which case skip forward to the last, like, three minutes of the episode).
Jamie and Matt discuss the WFT win, the Eagles tank, the matchup against Tampa, the outlook for the future, and plenty of other football stuff. Then it's a little Wiz, a little Bean Dad, and a very little pre-WandaVision planning. But mostly discussion of the NFC East champion Washington Football Team. Man, that sounds weird.
Jamie and Matt discuss Dwayne Haskins's latest (final????) terrible performance and the WFT's failure to clinch a playoff spot. Then they discuss the Wizards' 0-3 start (30:15) and the question of if Scott Brooks is actually a good coach. Finally, they discuss Connor Ratliff's excellent Dead Eyes podcast (41:45) and trade stories of "dead eyes" moments in their own careers.
Jamie and Matt discuss the Washington Football Team's loss to the football team from Washington. They try to figure out if there was any long-term positive to take away from Dwayne Haskins' performance, go over playoff scenarios, and somehow get bogged down in the Kirk Cousins conversation AGAIN. Then they talk about the Mandalorian season finale (with FULL SPOILERS) and speculate about the series' future. This was recorded before Disney's announcement Monday morning about their 2021 slate, so Matt in particular goes off on some wild speculation that's already OBE.
Jamie and Matt continue to wrestle with the possibility that the WFT are actually .... good? And likeable? And maybe almost kinda playoff-bound? Then they discuss how much Mandalorian is too much Mandalorian, Marvel's upcoming Disney+ shows, and each recommend a podcast for some reason. Good times all around, really.
Jamie and Matt celebrate a week of creaky old guys riding to the rescue, including Alex Smith and the WFT toppling the undefeated Steelers, Russell Westbrook coming to the Wiz (33:00), and [MANDALORIAN SPOILERS] yet another fan-favorite from other Star Wars stories making a long-rumored return (44:05). We're continuing to try to improve the audio, so please do let us know how things sound to you.
Jamie and Matt discuss the WFT's recent successes and question whether it is sustainable or just a mirage with victories over terrible teams. (Matt is irrationally optimistic; Jamie wisely skeptical.) Then, does introducing a beloved extended universe character into The Mandalorian (31:30) diminish Jamie's enjoyment of the show? Finally, they talk about Christmas music, if there is a second song about Chanukah, and, somewhat inexplicably, the Smashing Pumpkins (43:30).
Jamie and Matt discuss the Washington Football Team's comeback/collapse against Detroit and try to resuscitate their interest in this franchise. Then they discuss the Mandalorian (spoilers through Season 2, Episode 3), the Queen's Gambit, and a bunch of other stuff. It is immediately clear what keeps them more entertained these days.
It's a brief 🚨emergency🚨 pod, in which Jamie and Matt do not answer the episode's eponymous question, but they do ask it, over and over again, and speculate wildly as they fumble for possible reasons. The audio is pretty clean in this one, although there's a chunk that got lost in the middle that I've covered with a gimmicky sound effect.
Jamie and Matt react to a muted Washington loss with muted enthusiasm. They also discuss the difficulty of adjusting to the new non-name, and argue about whether the team would've been better off signing Cam Newton. It's a low-key episode, but it's also a test run of a new recording approach that will hopefully avoid the stupid overlapping audio issue. Hopefully from that perspective, at least, it's a success.
Jamie and Matt finally get around to discussing Washington's dominating defensive performance and unexpected season opening win. Then they talk about Hobcaw Brewing, the new venture from Mr. Irrelevant co-founder Chris Mottram. But the episode begins with an apology: Matt and Jamie know that it sometimes sounds like they're talking over each other AND not listening to each other; this is not the case. Matt and Jamie are grown adult humans who totally understand how normal human conversations theoretically work. It's some sort of glitch with the app they're using to record, and it is VERY annoying. Matt has reached out to tech support and they are trying to figure out what's up, but in the meantime it may have happened again this week. Everyone involved is very sorry about that.
Matt and Jamie run down the most eventful offseason in team (league???) history, then try to make sense of what success would look like for the Washington Football Team in 2020. Then they gripe about podcasts and stuff. Somewhere in there, Matt makes what Jamie quite rightly calls the worst joke he's ever heard.
Jamie and Matt discuss the sudden seeming certainty that the Redskins will have a new name the next time they take the field. There are some minor audio issues (misaligned tracks, mainly) for the first minute or so but then it seems to clear up.
Matt and Jamie talk about WATCHMEN -- mainly the (stellar) HBO show, but Matt also drones on ENDLESSLY about the comic book, and touches on the (abysmal) 2009 movie version.
🚨🚨SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING THROUGHOUT. 🚨🚨
The guys also grapple with centuries of institutional racism and their own need to educate themselves, and also talk about the Redskins grappling with their own institutional racism in the form of George Preston Marshall.
Despite both admittedly having no particular insight or knowledge, Jamie and Matt happily break down the possibilities for the Skins in the upcoming NFL Draft. Then they talk about life during COVID-19 and discuss if there will be over or under 9.5 games in the 2020 NFL season. Jamie tries to sell Matt on #TheLastDance and (in a surprise twist) a deep-cut Grateful Dead podcast, and Matt tries to sell Jamie on a pointless music-related diversion.
Matt pulls Jamie away from his die-hard DC Defenders fandom and forces him to discuss the Redskins offseason. (Also, there’s a Super Tuesday bit at the beginning that I promise is over quickly and doesn’t actually get particularly political. Don’t panic and bail!)
Jamie and Matt discuss the Redskins’ coaching change and late Thanksgiving celebration, then move on to the Nationals’ odd signing (33:00), the Mandalorian season finale and other Star Wars minutiae (35:20), mention a couple of music podcasts (44:15), and wrap up by talking about how other NFC East teams are handling their coaching searches (49:40).
Jamie and Matt discuss easily the best-looking loss in a season full of losses, debate Urban Meyer as a potential head coach, and weigh the realism of a Bill Callahan return. Then Jamie lets Matt rave about Watchmen, they discuss Mandalorian, and Jamie breaks down Drew Magary’s novel-length Stephen A Smith interview. The audio is probably still screwy but we can’t even bear to check before posting.
[NOTE: Sorry for the posting/unposting and the general delays. We’re still bumping into an audio issue — our tracks are slightly misaligned so it sounds like Jamie takes loooooooong pauses before responding and then Matt talks over him. We’re exploring options to fix it in future weeks but decided to post this one as-is rather than skipping another week. Truly, we are the Redskins of podcasting.] The dream -- or nightmare -- of a fluky playoff run is dead, and Jamie and Matt speculate on what might be next. Then, some light, spoiler-free discussion of The Mandalorian, a weirdly deep-dive into things The Ringer is good at, and some other general chatter.
Matt and Jamie wrestle with a genuinely good performance by the Redskins and have difficulty remembering how to process positivity. Then, some light Mandalorian talk, discussion of Jamie's "400 Best Songs of the 2010s For Real," and Matt gets positively effusive about HBO's Watchmen. Check out Jamie's Best Songs playlist here.
Jamie and Matt discuss the hapless Redskins, if they would root for a hypothetical D.C. AFC team, the curse of the Redskins defensive backfield, Tua and the draft, and then (30:30) pivot to a spoilery discussion about The Mandalorian.
Jamie and Matt contrast the euphoria of the Nationals World Series win with the sheer mindless tedium of Redskins fandom and reach the startling conclusion that winning teams are easier to root for. Also, some technical glitches plague the last few seconds of the podcast and deprive Jamie of his usual final words, but honestly, by this point in a lost season, who really cares?
It's a return to the classic "technical difficulties" of our early days! As Jamie journeys northward to the World Series, he and Matt try to discuss the damp squib of a Thursday Night Football game, ask just what it is the Redskins think they're accomplishing, complain about Dan Snyder, celebrate the Nats, plot a triumphant return for Zubaz clothes, and then get cut off pretty abruptly.
Jamie and Matt have a desultory conversation about a mediocre game played in dreary weather in a horrible stadium by a rudderless team. Then they brighten up a bit to talk about the World Series, Watchmen, Paul Rudd's new Netflix show, and also of other, much more interesting topics.
Matt really explores the depth of his irritation with the Redskins franchise, Adrian Peterson, Bruce Allen, and even Michael Lombardi. Jamie, meanwhile, maintains a healthy cynical detachment. Neither one actually watched the game this week.
Now that the inevitable has come to pass, Jamie and Matt discuss what this means for the Redskins moving forward, if anything will change for the better (probably not!), who the head coach should be, and more. Then they try to reconstruct Jay Gruden's last game as head coach, which neither of them bothered to watch. Finally, they introduce the new segment Jamie and Matt's Spirits Corner and discuss Tullamore Dew's inexplicable ad campaign and reminisce about schnapps of their youth.
Jamie and Matt go in sad little circles about how the move to Dwayne Haskins was handled about as badly as possible and then finish with a looooooong detour into the Mr. Irrelevant Pop Culture Hour, covering classic rock, Yesterday (the movie), Glimpses (a book), Built to Spill, Sturgill Simpson, an improbable amount about blink-182, and lots more.
To discuss a truly awful Monday night game, Jamie and Matt compare Skins coaches to MNF broadcasters, lay out what could happen this week to make them even slightly optimistic on Sunday, and try to remember the correct term for emotional support dogs.
Jamie and Matt react to a loss in the home opener in their usual calm, rational manner, asking not just IF coaches should be fired, but which ones and how soon it can happen. We do keep relatively on-topic this week, but also ask: Why has Jay Gruden declared war on Adrian Peterson? What is the point of Dean Blandino? Is this team even worth watching? And more, probably.
Jamie, from a car in New York, and Matt, from a car with a dog, discuss the week 1 collapse against the Eagles. Matt tries to remain optimistic, while Jamie is stil hesitant.
Jamie and Matt put a bow on this year's Redskins preseason. One of them is cancelling DirecTV and planning fall weekends out with his family while the other is as optimistic as he's been in eight years--and you may be surprised by which one is which! (I mean, you won't be now that we've put that thought in your head. But you would've been otherwise!)
Jamie and Matt stay remarkably on topic for the first half of the episode, although the topic is unfortunately a dull-as-hell preseason football game. Then they go on for even longer about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (with spoilers), the value of good curation, and a bunch of other stuff. Then they talk about Colt McCoy and fantasy football.
Jamie and Matt look at the first preseason game of 2019, wonder if maybe the starters should play more, continue Preseason HoF watch, admire Jimmy F’in Moreland, and move away from the Skins to discuss Quentin Tarantino, Euphoria, and the sad news about David Berman.
Jamie and Matt return from a long hiatus with an actual plan! Thy talk about Redskins training camp, identify potential Preseason Hall of Fame candidates, acknowledge that D.C has a basketball team, look back in sadness at Game of Thrones, and, genuinely, much more stuff.
Jamie and Matt do a perfunctory wrap-up on the (very good!) 2019 Skins draft, and then (at about 9:20) go full SPOILERS on Sunday night’s Game of Thrones, which Matt really, really didn’t like.
Jamie and Matt must’ve taken their Ritalin today, as they actual stay more or less on-task, assuming that the task includes talking about Game of Thrones (including speculative SPOILERS) and Avengers: Endgame in addition to Washington’s surprisingly successful first round of the NFL Draft.
Jamie and Matt provide their traditional level of deep football analysis on the upcoming NFL Draft, which is to say that they mostly seem aware that football players are a thing that exists. Also discussed: JP Finlay, the constant encroachment of geek culture, more JP Finlay, and a hypothetical upcoming future episode of this very podcast.
Jaime and Matt hold another EMERGENCY pod to catch up on stuff that happened, like, weeks ago. Hey, they’re busy guys. Life gets in the way. You pay for what you get with this thing. Also, soothing background rain noises!
Jamie and Matt take on the EMERGENCY that is the Case Keenum signing, and also Captain Marvel for some reason.
In which Jamie and Matt touch on a variety of D.C. sports topics and find very little to look forward to in that world. Also discussed: Disney trips with older kids, the emotional toll of Pixar movies, minor league football, and more.
Like the end of Rogue One, Jamie and Matt attempt to extract a vague promise of hope out of this hallway massacre of a season. Like the end of the making of Rogue One, that hope proves to be pretty tenuous and based almost entirely on special effects and self-delusion.
Matt and Jamie get together for the most perfunctory postgame conversation ever recorded. This content is snack-sized and can be listened to in its entirety during halftime of a Christmas Day NBA game.
Matt is miserable about a 16-13 win, while Jamie still has joy in his heart and light in his eyes. It’s like a Hallmark Channel holiday movie, except that Matt stays grouchy right through till the very end.
Jamie and Matt yet again get a little punchy this week. Rather than breaking down the latest stupid game, they spend most of the time talking about who to fire, when to fire them, what former players should replace those people, and if anything will ever improve ever. It is more cheerful than all of that sounds.
Jamie and Matt talk about the season-crushing loss to the Eagles, but also about salumi, barbecue sauce, easy cheese, and a truly mediocre broadcast experience. Plus: more #Cooley4Coach talk!
Against a soothing aural background of rain against a windshield, Jamie and Matt contemplate the grim reality of what Thursday’s loss to Dallas means. But they do it in the most cheerful way possible!
Only one major technical glitch in this one, which Jamie and Matt largely spend discussing a quiet football ga—OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS LEG?!? 😞🤢🤮
Technical difficulties return, making it sound like Jamie and Matt are constantly cutting each other off. They also talk about football.
Jamie and Matt get punchy over a win, read Tress Way’s Wikipedia page, study tweets about Dean Blandino, and try to come to terms with a world in which the Redskins are still in first place in the NFC East.
Jamie and Matt try to make sense of a dominant defense, an absent offense, and an ugly win over Dallas.
The audio itself sounds cleaner this week, but technical difficulties do still plague the recording. Meanwhile, Jamie is enthused about the win while Matt is inexplicably cranky about a game he barely watched.
Matt and Jamie solve many of their audio issues, while they continue to wrestle with the larger issue--i.e., this football team being incredibly annoying.
Jamie and Matt return to battle technical difficulties, audio issues, and spiritual ennui to discuss the Week 3 win over the Packers.
Matt explains why he and Jamie haven’t posted a thorough analysis of that dreary home opener.
Jamie and Matt celebrate Rosh Hashanah by talking about the Redskins first season-opening win since 1836. Episode brought to you by @brentsower.
Jamie and Matt look back on the preseason and forward to the real games with a focused, laser-like intensity.
Jamie and Matt provide detailed analysis of a preseason opener they almost sort of watched.