Episode 9: March Madness, Los Mavs Night, and Don't Touch Ali's Notecards

On this week's episode of the It's A Lot Y'all podcast we dive into March Madness. Ali Dee's Miami Hurricanes move on to the Final Four for the first time in school history. Nicole is rooting for the LSU women to move on, and Ali talks about why women's basketball still triggers her after all these years. We also touch on the amazing evening that was Los Mavs, from Selena's husband to playing the anthem, and an amazing halftime act. Plus you'll learn what Producer Nicole did to make Ali's head spin before their $50,000 shoot out timeout.

Transcript

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Hello everybody. Welcome to the, it's a lot y'all podcast. I'm Ali D. This is Producer Nicole, and it is episode nine People. And I am just in pure freak out mode because the Miami Hurricanes are headed to the Final four for the first time in the history of our school. By the way, that's where I went. The University of Miami. Nicole, are you so excited for me? I'm so excited for you. I had to go get a water because I was getting like all woo, so I went grabbing water. I've been Wait over there. Yeah, I was, I know we had to delay the start of our recording because I was like, I'm gonna watch the rest of this game. anyway, so I go to the fridge in my office to grab a water and there is more Chick-fil-A sauce in my refrigerator than I think the entire Chick-fil-A has in the city of Grandberry. It's like overflowing. With Chick-fil-A sauces, I'm like, who's gonna eat all this? I need to clean out the fridge after this. But yeah. Okay, Miami go into the Final Four. Amazing game. I was on pins and needles the last few minutes because leading up to that point, we really weren't playing very well. I think we were down by like 13 going into the half ant. The team just seemed like they couldn't get anything rolling. Mm-hmm. But as you know, March Madness, it's not just a catchy name, it's the reality of the situation. Men's basketball is so fun for me to watch. I'm so glad the team has gotten so far, The coach, the players, they were all so excited and this is like why I live for sports. Just seeing their reactions so much heart and soul and energy, and years and years of trying to make it there. Getting to the Elite eight last year, having the heartbreak at the end of that game now finally going to the final four. It's just so amazing. I could go on and on and on about that cuz I'm extremely excited. I'm super excited for you, but you're so right, it's madness. There's been so many. Yeah. So many great games, but excited for your team. Yeah. Miami taken on Yukon now, so that's gonna be, yeah. obviously they have so much history, so that's definitely gonna be, tough for us going in there as first timers. Also, San Diego State taken on F A U, Florida Atlantic University, which is, near-ish to the University of Miami, so that's pretty cool representing down there. Florida. by the way, I used to have a really awesome gig for several years where I would go to all the NCAA final fours and mc the, Capital One Concert Party, bash Festival things. It was so fun. Oh, we talked about it a little bit when we talked about Rihanna. Oh, yes, yes. After. Super Bowl. Yes. So I'm really excited. It's back in Houston and that was the last time I was able to, mc was down there, so, final Four back in Houston. Great downtown. It's gonna be so much fun for those guys. I'm just so pumped. It's gonna be amazing and, I can't wait to see what happens there. And I think we're hosting the girls here in Dallas, Yeah. Let's talk about, I'm not sure exactly where the game is. The girls Miami team are playing LSU right now as we speak. So, yeah. So me versus you, you're excited. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. great basketball teams. Obviously you have a connection with L S U me, being in Miami alum, I'm very excited for them. But, you know, I will have to say that women's basketball does trigger me a little bit. It's because when I was like in high school and we would have pe, you know, we'd have to play basketball at some points and I would always try to like cry and get out of it or pretend I was sick or something because I was so little coming in at a whopping, like five foot one, probably 80 something pounds, and I just got clobbered for 45 minutes straight. So I absolutely hated playing basketball. I'm happy and and excited for them, but also I like go back a little bit to when I was little and like the tiniest person in the class just being pushed around everywhere. Not for you. But that's not all, not for you. No, there's more. So when I was in college, I cheered for the University of Miami and actually we cheered at a lot of the women's basketball games and it was a, major eyeopener for me because there was one game in particular I remember, and twice I fell down from a stunt. And I remember like the director of athletics came over and they were like, Listen, this is not high school. You do not fall down like period. Like your stunts have to stick. I don't care what it takes, like da da, da like went off on me and I was just like, oh. Because no one had ever really Told me off like that in sports and cheerleading, you know, and I just realized, oh my gosh, D one, it's a different level. So, anyways, besides those two things, not too crazy about it. well, you know, I used to play basketball back in the day when I was in kindergarten. I could see you balling out there. Oh my gosh. I remember It was like parent or something and the basketball court out there. And a funny story, I'll never forget this cuz I think it was like a highlight in my basketball career, So I remember playing basketball and I remember I finally got the ball, like finally got the ball and I was running down the court to make a layup. And I was running the wrong way the entire time. running the complete opposite way. Like I wasn't You shot at your own basket. Nicole. Oh my gosh. Thank goodness. TikTok wasn't around back then, because, you know, you would've been viral on TikTok at a very young age for that one. You're going the wrong way. let's talk more about your connection with LSU women's basketball. not that I'm really a huge LSU fan, but obviously it's my home state and Pull for the Tigers, especially when they're doing well. I'd like to see them win. so super excited for the women's basketball team and their head coach, Kim Mulkey this year. She is always a showstopper. I don't know if you keep up with her, but her outfits. Oh yes. You never know what she's gonna wear. And to be honest, that's. Forward to. I look forward to the outfit, But fun fact, she actually is from Hammond, Louisiana, which is literally right in my backyard. I grew up in Pan, Wow. She grew up, yeah, she's like from my hometown and she's back in her home state Coaching the tigers and has been very successful this season. Dream come true for her, I'm sure. Because just being there right in your home state and people from your state have so much pride in being from there. Yes. And also the athletics and everything that goes on down there, like LSU fans and Saints fans, they're just on another level. so Coach Kim, I don't know if that's what we call her, she has become like TikTok famous. She's always on my free page icon. Yeah. Yeah. She is like next level. and then also the dance team is TikTok famous there. I see their dances and their routines all the time on my for you page. And you have a connection there as well. they are. Unbelievable. The choreography's phenomenal. I think they went viral last year. Whenever they attended the state championship. They did a routine to Sierra's like a boy. It was so unique, so different, went viral on TikTok, Super awesome routine and fun fact. I don't know who choreographed that one, but previously their hip hop team has always came out on top and one of their main coaches, Candace, back in the day when I danced and did like a little competitive dance every now and then at Lamoin Academy and Hammond, Louisiana, shout out to Lemoine I got to be choreographed by Candace. So we had one routine. She was our coach. So it's a cool connection. I mean, I'm not as good as those LSU girls, but I did get to have, Hey, you could have been. Yeah. That is so cool. you know who else had amazing choreography? Last game was D Town, the Mavs Dance Team. Holy Nikes. We need to get into the whole thing. That was Los mAbs night. The last game, that we had at home. Absolutely incredible. The entertainment was so on point from the Dallas Mavericks, all the teams, they brought in all the energy, the excitement, like every single time out. I was so excited to see what was going on. So the dance team, yeah, they killed it that night. They put the lights down, they were so sharp, so clean. Such a fun routine and I feel like everyone in the stands was just dancing watching and they did very, very good. And like I just feel like the past couple games, I don't know, I'm super upset, like with the regular season ending, so I don't know if it's like since the season's come into an end, but every game the atmosphere and American Airline Center has been. Unreal. So amazing. Such a good atmosphere in there. And you know what's interesting that you mentioned that, because that is not by accident. In fact, I was told like these last five home games were going playoff atmosphere and the fans, and they have stepped it up because they have, that's exactly what's happening. Like you walk into that bowl and it is just crazy, like the energy. So again, amazing from the entertainment side of the Dallas Mavericks. Mm-hmm. really providing. Playoff atmosphere, getting the fans going. also, that night had a lot more cool stuff going on. So we had, Selena's husband was our national anthem and he played the guitar. Phenomenal job. Super cool to tie in that whole, theme night It was super unique. Yeah, he played guitar, you guys, it was amazing. Like the whole crowd was so excited to see him, obviously. and then actually what was interesting was I noticed he went up to his seats. He had like, maybe, I think it was four of them. Mm-hmm. looked like he had a bodyguard and maybe a couple people that were assisting him with his music stuff. They went to go sit in their, And within like five minutes he had to come back down to the tunnel because he was being bombarded by the fans that were so excited to see him. it was wild. halftime, by the way, we had a great mariachi band that came in. They were so cute. A lot of younger kids. oh my gosh. The youngest one must have been like, I dunno, five or something. She was teeny tiny with her little fiddles. She was so precious. Yes, so precious. They were all, they. Sing beautifully. So entertaining, super cute performers. I mean, the whole shebang. Yeah. And it's not easy to sing, like even for someone who's seasoned, but they were, you know. Yeah. Well, what I'm saying is that being on center court when you're. Under the, the big screen and everything, it's like a dead zone, so you can't hear anything, like, you can't hear yourself, but you could kind of hear some echos going on. And so for them, they didn't have a monitor or anything. I couldn't believe it. Mm-hmm. And they just were able to nail it. So on tune. Very in sync. And they sounded really good in the bowl. Yeah, it's always a little nerve wracking. when we have a halftime that has a lot of people because the referees have to get off the court, so we try to time it mm-hmm. To get everybody on the court before the referees are ready to get off the court. Because obviously when refs are coming on or off the court, there's a lot of security. So if you're at a game mm-hmm. pay attention to those moments, like when they come onto the court before the game starts or off and on the court at halftime, because it's really cool to see how much. goes on behind the scenes and the security that goes on with all of that. So, next time you're at a check it out. Cause I think that's really interesting. Yeah. But yeah, we had to hustle a large group onto the court before those refers. They great though. it was perfect timing on our ends. very entertaining. a lot of fun stuff despite the loss, but Yeah, I know. Oh man, the team is, it's, they're in a rough patch right now and it's not a good time to be in a rough patch. Getting ready for playoffs, obviously. We're hoping to make it to the play in. couple of back toback losses to Charlotte and it's been rough, but again, the entertainment side, we've been killing it. And so hopefully it'll all come together here in these final few games. Last game actually was kind of funny because we had the$50,000 shootout that I wanna talk about a little bit because it was one of our timeouts. It was obviously going to be, a little bit nerve-wracking because whenever there's that much money on the line, there's a lot of spotlight on every single piece that goes into making that. and wasn't that the first time that we ever did this contest with this sponsor? Yes. it was Jack Pocket, which is an app, and it was the first time that they had ever done anything with the Mavericks and they went all in. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I was assigned to that timeout, and so I was a little bit nervous because okay. There's a lot to talk about for this particular timeout. So first of all, there is a practice court underneath American Airline Center. I don't know if y'all know this, so it's a full. Basketball court that's at the aac and a lot of times we'll take contestants down there to practice if the timeout involves some kind of basketball skills. So whether they have to make a layup or, free throws, they'll get to practice all of that before we go to the actual courts. Kind of warm up and get ready. it's very intimidating when you walk into, yeah. You walk into the arena and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna play basketball in front of, you know, all these thousands of. So I told Nicole, I said, let's go to the practice court and catch'em while they're warming up. We can make our notes on my note card, like who's gonna be our contestants, where they're from. All that little stuff that goes on my note card. And you didn't know there was a court. Yes, I know. This is my first time even hearing about the practice court and it's funny because whenever I was in Cleveland at Rock and Mortgage Field House, we had a practice court in there too, but that was really utilized for either. Entertainment teams to kind of practice before they went on court for performance or it was for the players if they got at the arena early, if they wanted to shoot around or have kind of like more of a secluded practice. so I thought that was just Cleveland had their own practice court because to that, when I was with the pelican, At the Smoothie King Center, they don't have a practice court in their facility. Right. so it's interesting, but I think a reason being is because I believe that the Pelicans rent out Smoothie King Center, that they don't actually own that arena. So that might be why it's not as catered towards an NBA team. so I didn't realize that, you know, the Mass had a practice court too, and I was like, yeah, the contestants are probably warming up and. What I didn't even know this is a thing. I didn't even know we did this. So she brought me over and it was super cool to see. I think it's a great thing for, you know, as a contestant to be able to practice and kind of get those jitters out before you hit the big stage. I'm curious, what was your first impression when you saw the practice court? Were you like, whoa, this is cool cuz you can also see the stairs. I don't know if you saw the stairs that were on the side that go up to the locker room and, you know, it's kind of cool that they had that whole facility there. What, what was your first impression? Yeah. I thought it was really neat. I thought it was cool. it blows my mind how big underground it is and you don't realize that, you don't think that it could fit a whole nother court. But God, this is a full. NBA court. Yeah. Besides the main court that everybody sees, you know? Yeah. So it was pretty cool to be down there. So Nicole and I go onto the practice court and as soon as we walk down the stairs, cuz it's like another level underground, oh my goodness. We walk down the bombed, we were down the stairs. Yeah. We were bombarded with you know, a lot going on. So we had two contestants, we had several people there that represented the Mavs Entertainment site and we had. Three or four people that represented the sponsor side. So the Jack Pocket folks were there to make sure everything was going okay and, I introduced myself, told'em I was gonna be running their promotion. And it's so funny cuz one of the guys immediately started to say like, be sure you say Jack Pocket, it's not jackpot and da da da da. Like, he's kind of like starting to, you know, I don't know how to say it, but just like ice the kicker, you know? I'm just going right. Oh my gosh. Okay. I'm getting more and more nervous cuz he is like, don't do this, don't do that. and I'm like, Hey buddy, you gotta tell me this. Stuff actor, because like now you're putting all these things that I never thought I might accidentally say. Like I would never would've said jackpot. Like it says Jack Pocket, you know? But now all of a sudden I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna say jackpot. I'm gonna ruin the whole thing. Cuz then he says, how recently, you know, the hosts have kind of messed up the thing and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, okay, we can't talk anymore cuz you are making me nervous. But at the same time as on Yeah, I'm having that conversation. You are helping me because you're going to. Contestants and you're asking them like for their name, and you grab my note card and you jotted their names down And then I was like, there was a lesson learned at this game, there was a lesson learned and I'll never do it again. Because I freaked out for a minute. I'm sorry about that, but go ahead, I mean, one of my responsibilities too as a stage manager is whenever there are contestants involved, I get the name for the contestants. So Allie or the mc knows who's playing and that way they can introduce them on court. So I got their name super quick and I was like, where's Allie's note card? So, cuz it's fresh on my mind, I'm like, okay, he's shooting first. If, if it's a tie, this one's winning. So I go to write their names down and in parentheses, First and then by the other guy, I think his name was Mark. I put like a, A star. So I was like, listening to all the sponsors. She's got a lot going on, right? Yeah. Starting will be like, okay, make sure you say this, this and this. And it's like, right. Ooh, the pressure, the pressure's hot. Mm-hmm. So now We're about three minutes and we're like, we need to start heading back to the court. So I give Allie her card and it's Mark and Dwight and next to Dwight's name I have first because he's being introduced first. And then next to Mark's name, I have, uh, asterisk because if there's a tie mark wins a tie breaker cuz they already like rock, paper, scissors. So I'm explaining it to her. go ahead. So, ok, explain like, This is there you guys. Nicole took my no card and wrote on it what would make sense to probably most people, but to me it was like she just put so much stuff into my brain that I was like, you cannot be writing on my no cards. Like I'm the one that has to write on the no card. And you were like, oh, I didn't know that. And I was like, yeah, because I have to figure out how my brain is gonna recite this information. And it was totally the opposite of the way that you wrote it. So that's why I. I gotta get a pen. We gotta scratch this out because here's why you put, this is so minute and this is silly. Yeah. And I'm even embarrassed. But you put Mark's name first and then you put Dwight. But Dwight was gonna be the first one playing. So you said, we've got Mark and we've got Dwight Dwight's gonna be first. And I'm like, okay, then Dwight's name has to be first on the new card. New first. Yeah. And look, I get that, but to my. Whenever they were telling me their names, it was like Mark Dwight. So I heard it and wrote it down. Yeah. And then I heard, okay, Dwight's first. And that's why I put, I don't think we discussed this, but that's why No, that's why they were outta order. Otherwise I would've done it the other way. But anyways, long story short, I learned don't touch all's note card and I will not write this ever. You can touch it, but not with a black ink pen, cuz that is my job. Yeah. So anyways, I. Scratch it out and rewrite it, the whole thing. And then we have them play rock, paper, scissors in case they have a tie. Uh, basically what they were doing was shooting free throws. whoever shot the most free throws in 20 seconds was gonna have a chance to shoot for$50,000 a half quart shot. so anyways, I just had to make sure that all that was on the no card in my proper brain way. Cause you're the one that's having to say it. So I mean Yeah. I don't even know how you retain that information anyway. Yeah, moral the story is, Such a great job. Thank you. She did such a great job, guys, that when we were exiting the court after the contest, the whole sponsors that she was talking to on the practice court, there was like four or five of'em were like, you did so great. Thank you so much. And I was like, that's my girl, thank goodness was out there. I'm going, don't say Jack. Pot. Don't say this. Don't say that. Don't screw it up. but you know, like one interesting tidbit of information about that, and really anytime there's a half court and there's a lot of money on the line, like 50,000, a hundred thousand, did you know that that's insured? No, did you know that? Yeah. Isn't that so interesting? So they will get an insurance policy, which is, you know, probably two,$3,000, depending on how much the shot is for. They get an insurance policy in case they make the shot. That's actually gonna be paid for by insurance. Wow. I know. That's so crazy. Wow. So very interesting. And obviously insurance companies know all the stats on exactly how Yes. You know what the chances are that they're gonna make it from half court and that's how they determine what their policy is or how much it costs. But I mean, they're probably over there like, Oh my gosh, we got the math halftime shot. Good lord. Have mercy. Please don't let something good happen tonight for that guy. But yeah, anyways, he did miss the half court shot, unfortunately, so, bummer for him, but great for the insurance company. Mm-hmm. Well wow. That's all the time we have for this episode. We have got so much to say. We just go, go and go for like 20 to 25 minutes straight. Next thing you know, you blink and the thing's over. So thank you all so much for hanging out with us here on the, it's a lot y'all podcast. Please don't forget to subscribe and like our stuff on social media at, it's a lot y'all. And if you have a second, Nicole, and I would really, really love if you would give us a little five star review so it helps our ranking on Apple and Spotify helps us reach more people and we would love you forever for that. Thanks so much for watching. We'll see you next time. Bye.