The OhVarsity! Roundup: Volume 4

In an effort to inject a little fun into a stressful basketball season, we’re kicking off a new weekly series called The OhVarsity! Roundup. Here’s the premise: All four members of OhVarsity! get a maximum of 500 words to talk about whatever they want, regardless of its relevance to UC. Simple enough?

Note: This edition does not feature OV member Alex Apyan. He has a new baby and a job at NASA. Writing the Roundup is not exactly high on his priority list.

SPENCER TUCKERMAN:

My Netflix consumption occurs primarily before bed as a lay there with my phone and watch some random crap until I fall asleep. I'm sure some doctor would tell me that this is unhealthy, but we're way beyond fixing it. This very specific setting and purpose has a huge effect on my Netflix selections, as I use it to unwind and relax at the very end of my day. If I were to watch Breaking Bad, I'd be up until 5 a.m. That show is not relaxing. Instead, I've found myself plowing through every children's movie I can get my hands on. I think people underestimate how comforting these are. They make me feel like a huge baby before I doze off. Here are my reviews for some recent movies:

Paddington - Things start off a bit heavy, but I'm a big fan of this little rascal and his love of marmalade. I've never had marmalade. Maybe I should try it. Anyway, everyone speaks with a British accent, which is very relaxing. The hi-jinx rarely get past a harmless level, so don't worry about getting stressed out. A perk of watching this movie is that you can go see Paddington 2 in theaters now. It's the most well-reviewed movie in Rotten Tomatoes history. I'm serious. Did I go see Paddington 2 on a Saturday night, you ask? Buddy, yes I did. It was good. Anecdotally, you may find it interesting that my fiancée originally thought Paddington was a Harry Potter prequel.

The Boss Baby - I'll come out and say it: The Boss Baby would have scared me as a child. Even as an adult, the scene where the older brother discovers that the baby can speak with the voice of Alec Baldwin is slightly disturbing and the movie really leans into this vibe. I know for a fact some children were terrified by this. The movie, believe it or not, has a pretty expansive universe, rife with a diverse cast of characters and a predictable but engaging plot line. This thing got nominated for an Oscar, and I'm not really surprised. It shouldn't win, but it's not bad.

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie - Folks, this is where the heat is at. I loved this movie. I'll be the first to point out that Kevin Hart is wildly over saturated, but putting him in an animated role was a great call. Not having to see him takes the edge off, and the rest of the cast is great. Thomas Middleditch, Ed Helms, Jordan Peele, Nick Kroll, and Kristen Schaal are all fantastic. The animation is gorgeous and the potty humor is childish, yet self-aware. The villain is named Professor Pee-Pee Diarrheastein Poopypants, Esq. I'm sorry, but that's good stuff. The plot isn't exactly dense, but it's engaging enough and I swear there were several subtle jokes that made me laugh out loud. If you like lighthearted animated movies, please watch this.

EMILY WITT:

Hi guys, it’s Emily, newest member of the OhVarsity! team. I’ll be helping out with photo and blogging endeavors. Allow me to begin my first Roundup with some background on moi:

Growing up, I was always the quiet, creative kid who excelled in writing and art. As I grew older and out of my shell, I discovered two very important worlds that would later shape the very fabric who I am: baseball and public relations.

I was the horrible and wonderful age of 16 when the Reds launched full-force into their first playoff appearance in 15 years. While I would spend my time complaining that Cincinnati was “boring,” and “there was nothing to do here,” my friend brought me to Reds games with her family and taught me baseball. She showed me how important this team was to this city, and that Cincinnati and the Reds were up-and-coming, growing, learning and full of potential, just like us.

I quickly fell head-over-heels for the Reds, baseball and Cincinnati. Jay Bruce’s walk-off simply sealed off my heart for good.

A year later, I shadowed the Reds PR Manager for a day at the ballpark. He explained to me his job, and how he gets to help tell the story of the Reds every single day. He said gets to create and connect with people all across Reds Country for a living.

I was hooked.

In college, I worked to pursue my dreams of working in sports PR, exploring many different facets of both entities. I dived into every opportunity presented, working with a university (the largest employer in the region, mind you) radio station, PR agency, startup accelerator, and yes, the team and MLB itself. I was able to find what I liked and what I didn’t like, until I finally came to this conclusion:

I love connecting people to things they are passionate about.

It’s why I loved being surrounded by baseball and UC for my college career. It’s why I still love writing and art, but I channel that into blogging and photography. It’s why I’m so unbelievably excited to be a part of OhVarsity!, because they connect people to everything UC so well.

It’s why I’m so happy to be on this crazy journey of being a young professional. When I was 16, I thought Cincinnati and myself were full of promise. At the ripe age of 23, I’ve realized that we still are - we’re a bit older and a bit smarter, but we still have a lot to learn.

I guess we can consider this my @uofcincy retirement plan.

TL;DR: I really like being creative. I’m excited to be here. Go Cats.

Personal Stuff: My boyfriend Andrew and I just moved in together! We’ve been roommates for two weeks now and things are going well - he’s made every meal and I’ve done a lot of laundry. As someone who hates cooking and finds a lot of gratification from clean clothes, it’s a great deal. We both love our dog, Kelsey, even when she wakes us up in the middle of the night to go outside. The apartment is very clean, we spend a lot of time talking to Alexa and we also own the largest TV I’ve ever seen. All in all, I’m happy.

MATT ALLAIRE:

I didn’t know what to write about this week, so I decided to write about the thing that I do the most, which is listen to podcasts. I have podcast thoughts and recommendations and you’re ALL going to hear about them.

I’m admittedly a pretty big Barstool guy, so for a long time the majority of the podcasts I listened to were Barstool related. If you’re looking for some good sports podcasts, allow me to recommend Pardon My Take, Pat McAfee Show, or basically anything on the new Sirius XM channel. The only Barstool I really want to talk about even if it’s just for a second is Mickstape. Hosted by Tyler and Coley they had maybe the funniest podcast episode I’ve ever listened to a couple weeks ago. They basically spent a solid hour talking about two of the funniest hypotheticals I’ve ever heard, and I cannot recommend it enough. I can try to explain to you how funny this is but it’s best that you just listen to it. Listen here.

Alright, so for non-Barstool podcasts, I have two main recommendations for you. The first has been around for a while, the second is relatively new.

If you’re not already listening to The Dollop, you’re seriously missing out. The two hosts host a bi-weekly podcast where once a week, one of them reads a story to the other (who doesn’t know the story) from American history, and it’s always the most ridiculous thing ever. I would recommend listening to #51 (Michael Malloy), #160 (Fed Ex Flight 705), or #150 (1904 Olympics). All of them are good jumping off points to see if you would enjoy the rest of the podcast. I cannot recommend this enough. Listen here.

[Editor's note: Matt and I got into the podcast off the recommendation from Jon Bois. His list of favorites is a great place to start.]

Finally, I gotta rep my boys from Lights, Camera, Podcast. Currently my favorite podcast, although I am biased for the Big Time Movie Boys. They are all ridiculously funny, and break down movies in a way I’ve never heard or seen before. They don’t make you feel like they know more than you, because, outside of Jeff, they don’t. There isn’t a particular jumping off point I would recommend, I would just suggest subscribing and listening to episodes as they come out, then going back and re-listening to old episodes as you have time. They have been continuing to grow as time goes on. Please listen to them so they can continue to get better. Listen here.

Okay, I'm done. Go away.