Mr. Irrelevant Podcast v2.0

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...

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...

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 a...

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...

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...

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...

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 s...

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.]...

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?