Ok, ok, ok. I know what you all came here for today. It’s so obvious. Every year at this time you all want my latest and greatest scoop. You all want that info you can’t possibly get anywhere else. The informative, behind-the-scenes, accurate info that frankly, no one else has and you don’t even have to pay for. Been doing this a while now, and every time right after the “Bachelor” finale airs, you’re all coming begging for it. Like a dog waiting for it’s food. You know I’ve got it, you know I’m dangling it in front of you, and you’re just waiting in anticipation for me to give it to you so you can tell your friends and co-workers. It’ll make you the envy of your office or friend circle. People will be in awe of your vast knowledge when you share it with them. Well, here it is. I’m talking about how you all want my Guaranteed Lock of the Century Round 1 NCAA Tournament pick. I’ve done this for the last 3 tournaments and I’ve given you 3 straight winners. Need I remind you?
2017: UNC-Wilmington (+8 ½) vs Virginia – Winner (lost 76-71)
2018: Loyola-Chicago (+4 1/2 ) vs Miami – Winner (won outright)
2019: UC Irvine (+4) over Kansas St. – Winner (won outright)
Last year obviously there was no tournament. But I was giddy with anticipation waiting for the lines to come out on Sunday night hoping I’d get the right line, and boy did I ever. Although that line has dropped drastically, I don’t care. I think this team will win the game outright, so the points are just a bonus. Ohio (+7) over Virginia. Something to note here is that line was +10.5 when it first came up. It’s the biggest line move so far in the tournament and there are a few reasons for that. 1) Virginia is in COVID protocol right now. They won’t even practice as a team all week and are arriving in Indiana on Friday for their Saturday game. Not to mention, some players (we don’t know who yet), won’t even be playing bc they either have COVID or are still in contact tracing. So I expect that line to keep dropping once names come out. 2) Ohio has one of the most unsung players in the tourney named Jason Preston. Just watch. He might be this tournaments darling and will be an NBA draft pick some day. 3) NCAA rules state they will not disqualify any team as long as they can suit up 5 players. So imagine if Virginia has to do that, and you’re getting +7 with the Bobcats? Not likely, but still a possibility, so there’s major upside to taking as many points as you can right now 4) Like I mentioned earlier, health or no health, when I saw this matchup, I thought Ohio was going to win the game outright anyway. They are hot coming in, Virginia is the opposite AND aren’t practicing all week. All season teams that have gone on a COVID break have NOT played well at all in their first game back. So gimmie Ohio +7 and on the money line. Lets see if I can make it 4 tournaments in a row giving out a first round winner.
And before you say, “Gee Steve, you must really hate Virginia as you’ve now gone against them twice in the last 4 years in the first round.” Funny thing is, if I would’ve gone against them in 2018 as well, you would’ve had the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history when UMBC bounced them as a 16 seed. However, if you remember 2019 the last tournament played, I said when people asked me to who to pick to win it all, the value pick was Virginia. They had gotten beat as a #1 seed the season before, and NO ONE was picking them to bounce back and win it all. So if you chose to in your pool, you were probably one of the only ones to do so. I know a couple of you actually emailed me listening to what I said and thanked me. So it’s nothing against Virginia, but I just think they’ve got too much working against them right now having no practice, not arriving til the day before the game, us not knowing who is out for the game, and Ohio coming in scorching hot with a player that can singlehandedly win a game for them in Jason Preston. I LOVE this game. BONUS PICK: UCSB (+7) vs Creighton.
Ok, enough about my genius college basketball knowledge. Lets get to what you really came here for: Who I think will win the House and Senate elections in 2022. Kidding. Have a few notes to go over on this page, then next page will be all the contestants I’ve released so far that are currently quarantining and possibilities for Katie’s season. I’d say one of the biggest stories about next season was this that I broke last Friday:
(SPOILER): Tayshia Adams & Kaitlyn Bristowe are your new co-hosts for Katie’s Bachelorette season. Every1 is currently quarantining in New Mexico – Katie, the men, the co-hosts, and production – & filming begins late next week at the Hyatt Tamaya, just outside of Albuquerque, NM.
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) March 12, 2021
I think we all kinda new Chris Harrison wouldn’t be the “Bachelorette” host next season. It was too soon. But the question for the last few weeks has been who would replace him? You’ve read me here, you’ve heard me on the IG lives with Ashley, and you’ve heard me in my podcasts continually say, I didn’t know who it was going to be, but I always thought they’d replace him with someone from the franchise. And I said that because any TV veteran host already had a job that wouldn’t allow them to just take off for 2 months. Not to mention, any respectable TV veteran would not want to join this franchise knowing that they only get 2 minutes of airtime an episode. Every time the names of Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan were being thrown out, it made zero sense. They work in NY 5 days a week, they can’t just up and leave for a much, MUCH lesser show for such a diminished role. Kaitlyn and Tayshia make sense to me. Although the ironic thing is, everyone always talks about how little Chris Harrison’s role is and now you’re replacing it with TWO people. It’ll be interesting if all Kaitlyn and Tayshia do is present date cards, appear on group dates, and then show up at cocktail parties to say time’s up.
There’s definitely a familiar factor they’re going with next season, which is needed. However the way things are playing out in the media, the lack of response STILL by production over what changes have been made behind the scenes, to me, all speaks to at some point Chris Harrison returning to this franchise. I mean hell, Chris Harrison was doing the voiceovers last night for the show saying Emmanuel Acho would be hosting the ATFR. I thought he was on a break from the show? This was the statement they released a few hours after I’d tweeted that Kaitlyn and Tayshia were co-hosting next season:
And there you go… pic.twitter.com/w6Ow8srOxj
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) March 13, 2021
Maybe now that the season is over, Robert Mills will do someone’s podcast and verbally address everything that happened this season. I’m not sure. But man, this franchise is still doing the bare bones minimum as of now. People want answers and they’re not getting them. That statement is just not enough, sorry. You gave almost the exact same type of statement this past summer promising racial diversity and inclusion, and while your last two casts were the most racially diverse ones you’ve ever had, you bumbled it because you didn’t know how to actually produce it. All we can do now I guess is wait until the next couple seasons play out and see if/how changes were made. Let me just say I’m not getting my hopes up.
