Two Guys, One Bracket: Bracketology for Outdoor March Madness

Bracketology is here and we're live with our bracket correspondent, Luke Pierce,

all of trail goods co. The bracket is out and there were some snubs. So let's get into that first.

What did you, what did you hope to see make it in the bracket that didn't this year?

I mean, Jeff, first of all, great to be here. Thanks for having me. It's a very exciting time of

the year when we go through the outdoor March madness. This is the first time, but I imagine

that next year it'll be great as well. Yeah. And last year we, we felt like we could have gone

through it and it would have been great if we had. Yeah. If that was an idea last year, it would

have been great. Absolutely. So I think before we get into the teams that made it in this year

in the contentious regions, we've got to talk about the snubs major snub on the snack region

Snickers bars. How did that not get in? They just, I just can't believe I cannot believe it did

not make the cut. Man, their coach should be fired after failing at this, this bracket this year

because everyone knows and you see peanuts once you're going to see them twice.

Absolutely. Yeah. And Snickers, I mean, there's literally challenges on the trails about eating

Snickers bars and they couldn't pull it off to get in the bracket. I mean, it's, it's, I would say,

one of the largest snubs of the season. Yeah. I also thought I was going to see knee braces in

in the gear region with, with how many boomers are hiking now? You'd think knee braces would have

made it in the final round of 64, but I guess not. Are you a knee brace hiker? I am not a knee

brace hiker. Everything else in my body is falling apart. My knees are generally okay. Okay. Wow.

And then the two other big snubs in our first four out series here, the superior hiking trail and

running out of toilet paper. So the Midwest got no love as usual and running out of toilet paper.

Well, we just don't know how to clean up that mess. So let's get into the teams that are here.

This just in. Yeah. I have people telling me in my ear that you may have left it out because

you failed the FKT attempt. Wow. No comment. Okay. We're going to focus. We're moving on to focus

on the teams that are actually in the bracket this year. Which region do you want to start off at?

I mean, I, I like to read left to right to let's go trail region. Yeah, trail region with our number

one overall seed. And you may have done some foreshadowing as to why it's the number one overall

seed is the Appalachian trail. I wonder how it snags such a such a rewarding spot on the,

on the chart. Yeah. I don't even know what Appalachian is. I'm from New Jersey. So we call it

Appalachian. So I don't know. Yeah. How far do you think this team can make it in the tournament

this year? I mean, much like yourself, it could go all the way. It is known for making deep runs

with a with a full length of 2200 miles. They're not stopping short for anything, but there are

two longer trails in the region. That is true. And by deep runs, we are not talking about Norovirus.

No. And we left toilet paper off the list for a reason. There will be no deep runs with toilet

paper, which could be better. Who else do you see making a deep run in this side of the bracket

in the trail region? You know, sleep sleeper trail that I think maybe is not as familiar to a lot of

people. Maybe we'll call it like a mini Pacific Crest trail, but great contender. You know it well.

I'm going to go with the John Meertral. Yeah. It is tough because it doesn't have a state in

its name, which, which usually lends itself to a deep run in this tournament every single year

that we've had it. And so John Meertral, while striking and beauty, the name just falls short,

especially with some of the contention around John Meertral lately too. Yeah. And you know,

if you've ever read an outdoor quote, you're probably familiar with the man. There is contention.

But, you know, the trail still made that through them. Yeah. Are you worried that the mountains

will call in the John Meertral will go and will lose the mid bracket? I mean, it is up against some

stiff competition with the bent McIe trail, you know? Yeah. It's, it's like two. I tried to put two

old hiking celebrities. It is an interesting matchup. It's two trails, one on each coast, one

known for each guy on each coast. It's a matchup to watch out for us, especially the 413. There's

usually an upset every year. I mean, that one does look tricky to me, but I do think John Meert will

probably edge it out just because of popularity. Yeah. And one one matchup that is interesting is our

710 on this side. The long trail versus the Florida trail and why it's fascinating to me is the

Florida trail happens to be longer than the long trail. And so, man, it is, it is tough to decide on

what you're picking here. Now, much like in bowling the 710 split, these both suck. Yeah. After you

hiked one of them, your knees would hurt. You, I imagine there's a lot of up and down on the

long trail. You've FKT dad before. But I also think there's a lot of swampiness on the Florida

trail, which swampy mosquitoes, you know, creepy crawly things. I don't know. People might just dislike

it. These two trails could not be more different. So, it's going to come down to whose style can

force upon the other to get that victory and move on. I agree. If you're a big fan of maybe

like humidity, so your hair looks great, you know, curly, maybe your Florida trail person. But

if you're a fan of like loose rocks and up and down, you're probably a long trail person.

Yeah, it's really a toss up for me. But waiting in the next round is the PCT and I see a deep run

coming from this team. It's a tried and true trail. Every time it gets burned, it comes back

stronger. I don't see anyone knocking this out of at least the elite eight. You know, I would have

to agree. It's hard to contend with the three big boys. But, you know, the PCT in recent years,

I feel like has increased in popularity, maybe even surpassing the AT. This just in news,

news, perhaps popularity increase. I don't know. CDT. CDT is also kind of like it's the red headed

stepbrother of long trails, you know. Yeah, do you think anyone other than the Appalachian trail

in the Pacific Crest Trail will come out of this region? Oh, that's hard to say. You know,

being a Colorado trail alumnus alumni.

Oh, that might have a sneaky chance. Yeah, I think the Colorado trail really got a bad seat. They

should be upset at the committee and their draw is difficult with a likely matchup against the

continental divide trail in the second round. I mean, they share most of the same trail and the

CDT is longer. So how is that even a fair fight? I don't know how that's a fair fight. You just

got to hope that that 60 miles that aren't on the CDT are really spectacular. Which yeah,

you've really got to hope that. So on your bracket, who do you have coming out of the trail region?

I mean, in my bracket, I would have to say that it's going to end up being the

AT. Yeah, I think there's a lot of old school lovers of the AT. I think it's going to go head to head

and probably the final the Elite 8 there dense probably the PCT, but my sleeper pick and this is

solely just for me. I am going with the John Mir trail. I think John Mir trail is going to get

up against the AT. I think maybe more, you know, West Coast people might be voting in this,

who have been on the John Mir trail and maybe might not go off the AT. Who knows?

Yeah, you never know. In the John Mir trail, Bang for Buck, it is right up there, but the funding

that the AT has is just going to be hard to overcome. Just, you know, what that ATC does with

their nearly unlimited budget and nonprofit designation. I mean, I've done some negotiations

with them. Yeah, they are tough. Yeah. All right, let's let's move on to our next region.

I think this is going to be the most interesting region, the snack region because there are things

that some people just despise and some that others just love and I'll tell you, seeding this side

of the bracket was was quite a headache. A lot of pressure. I'm sure there's a lot of pressure.

Yeah, peanut M&Ms taking the number one seed. There are there's a lot of rumblings on red

at about why that happened. Really? Yeah, I try to stay away from the reddit cesspool of

backpackers, although I do understand it's important in the community, especially when choosing a

free-shried meal. Absolutely. How do you how do you see some of the matchups on this side going?

Who are your sleepers? Who do you think got shafted on the seeding? I mean, there is one glaring

mistake that I see and that is the payday bar. I mean, did I ask my grandpa what he was eating

back in the news when he was, you know, forging through the, you know, superior hiking trail in

Minnesota? No, I don't know why. It looks like a poop. Yeah, it really does. Isn't it? No, it's not

in that one movie. But anyways, it's got a terrible first round matchup because Oreos could very easily

knock off payday immediately. Easily. I feel like that is a really big mismatch there.

Yeah, I don't know who did the seeding on this, but Oreos payday is really the game to watch

to start things off. I feel like the payday might be more of an ultra runner thing. I don't know,

though. I don't run. Yeah, no. Well, I mean, for those that do, they could choose the 16 seed running

gels, but I don't think there's going to be a long run by running gels. If you can choose any

other item on the list, people definitely would. And even our sneak, or sneaking into the tournament

was twizzlers. Did you see that coming? It's the 15. I mean, it's kind of a classic, um, you know,

fun to eat, putting it up against fresh fruit, you know, basically the matchup is not fresh fruit

in age for years, stale and gross twizzlers. I mean, versus have you ever had a hard twizzler?

I don't think I've ever had a good twizzler. No, not to be, uh, you know, you served by the red

vine. Yeah. Yeah. So I think our one, two, we're going to be pretty chalky, but once we get into the

bulk of this bracket, things really start to break down. Like the four seed nerd clusters,

I could see a deep run there. I mean, for me, nerd clusters, the clusters are S tier snacks.

There is just really very few snacks I compare to the, uh, you know, the crunch, the sour,

the sweetness and a little bit of chewiness that you need when you're out there. And nerd clusters

got a great draw in the second round. It's going to face either trail mix or peanut butter. I see

that as a blowout victory. And then it's got its toughest matchup, which is probably going to be

Oreos or peanutms and, you know, that could be anyone's game. I think one of the fatal flaws of

this entire category, it is very peanut heavy. There is four items that involve peanuts in the

category. So, you know, you've got your peanut M&Ms, you've got your payday, you've got your peanut

butter. And, uh, what's the fourth one there? A trail mix? Yeah. Well, RFK said we should probably be

eating more protein. So, you know, peanut have there you go. You get it. So what did peanuts? I,

I think the, the lost, the lost soldier in this region is goldfish. And I wish I could see it

making a bigger run. But I think it's going to have a real tough matchup in that second round

against either coffee or gummy bears. Yeah. I mean, everybody knows your fondness for goldfish and

how it's fueled many of your endeavors over the years, job. So that's a, it's, it's not a surprise

that it's made the list in such a high mark. But, um, you know, going up against skittles right

out of the bat might be a hard one. Maybe not as far as if they were sour skittles, but it's

still going to be tough there. And if they do make it out of that first round, they are going head to

head with probably one of the most classic snacks in gummy bears or one of the most addictive

things that you have on this entire snack region being coffee. Were you surprised to see that

gummy bears beat gummy worms in the championship round of their conference tournament to make it

into the bracket because I thought we were going to for sure see gummy worms, but instead gummy

bears pulled the upset and got hit. Yeah. In the Haribo regional tournament, you know, it was

pretty close between gummy bears and gummy snakes, I think, where they final two and the finals

there. But, you know, sometimes a classic just can't be beat, you know, kudos to the Haribo gold bears.

Yeah. I mean, they just ran a classic Princeton offense and got it done and, and really,

really made it into the tournament where anything can happen. But it is a tough draw because

there are some coffee enthusiasts. And it is really the one snack that's a little different

or the one item that's different than every other snack in the region. And you never know,

it could be our George Mason this year. Yeah, especially, you know, a trail goods instant

freeze-dried coffee. It's an exceptional source from local farmers in Columbia.

And I think this is a good chance to note our sponsors of this big event because not only do people

have their chance to fill out a bracket at freeoutside.com, but they have the chance to win numerous

prizes from a multitude of brands. And so there might by the time this airs, there might

even be more prizes. Yeah, they are coming in like crazy. I had to upgrade my Google inbox because

it is so full of opportunity. I mean, if you've known us before, we like to bring the prizes.

Yeah, absolutely. So let's let's walk through some of our sponsors, our proud sponsors. So

first off, we have trail goods, co. Yeah, that happens to be your company, correct?

It is. It is my company. Wow, great to be here. Happy to share the four wonderful

selection of meals with the winner as well as the coffee we just spoke about. And you know,

they're a premium freeze-dried meal made by me. These two hands. So you're going to really like

them. Whoever wins them, I will probably send a personal note to you. Yeah, you've been known

to send personal notes. And I've gotten messages like, does Luke mail all these out himself

into which I respond, well, if he wrote you a note, he probably mailed it out because that would

be tricky. I spent a lot of time writing notes. Absolutely. And some of our other sponsors,

we have John G donating a couple gift cards. So that's all your apparel needs,

sign shirts. It's that time of year. We have three race organizations for those that do run,

although I would encourage you not to pick running gels to win in the 161 matchup,

you could win a free entry into my race. Wow, I'm sponsored myself. What's new? Montana meltdown.

And then we also have the Desert Peaks Ultra, which is an Arizona. We're trying to cover the whole

country here. And then we have Sasquad Trail running donating an entry for a race in New Jersey.

So how about that? Wow. And that is my home state. Yeah. Sell us on New Jersey. What is New Jersey

known for? Beautiful beaches, sandy pine barons with beautiful, beautiful pine trees. You have

the Delaware water gap area where the AT actually comes through lots of rolling farms. And,

you know, people might think it's a densely populated state, which it is. But it's also the garden

state. So there's a lot of fresh produce made there. A lot of gardens, a lot of egg plants,

right? That's right. Yeah. Purple. And in the Sasquad trail running company, they also have a

fund which sponsors a lower income runners to give them the opportunity to run these races and

provide low cost entries. So we'd like to point that out as they try to get more people into the

sport we pretend is easy to get into. But it's actually quite expensive. It is quite expensive

from what I've witnessed. And then any of my friends and family from New Jersey are watching

in their runners. Maybe just an opportunity for you to do something like the, you know, on the

local level in New Jersey. So sign up. Absolutely. All right. Let's get back to the bracket. We'll

hit on the rest of our sponsors here in a moment. We don't want to lose everyone as we talk about

all these great products because they're probably going over to these websites as we speak like

trailgoods.co to buy these items instead of listening to the show. So we got to give them more

good content first easily. Absolutely. So let's go to the gear region. Now this is going to be

as contentious. I think is the trail region because everyone will be so steadfast in their

love for certain items and hate for others. Absolutely, Jeff. And you know, I'd like to start off

right there at the top. You have new shoes versus a compass. This seems to be

this one seems to be like comparing apples to oranges. I don't know of any backpacker. And this

is probably to a detriment that has carried a compass in probably the past 10 years easily.

I've got one right here. I've got a compass right here. So this is why I put it in. That's wild.

Yeah, that might be the blowout of the tournament. Do you think new shoes will win by 100% here?

There will be a shutout. I mean, you might get maybe a navigational expert

topographer or something like that that signs up. That's just has a fondness for maps and compass.

But yeah, I think that's the blowout of the tournament. Because the problem is

anyone who wears shoes probably will pick shoes. So you need someone who doesn't wear shoes

but also doesn't use a phone for navigation, which would also mean they're probably not going

to be able to vote because they're not going to use the internet. So we basically need a time

traveler. Yeah, we could put this in a newspaper somewhere. Yeah, this compass may have a balance.

What year do you think compass would have won if this was taking place in another year?

I think you could probably go back to like the late days, maybe even early 90s.

And that would be the earliest that compass could win, but even then shoes were cool. It's tough.

Shoes were cool. Yeah, there wasn't as many options though, not like some of our sponsors.

Yeah, has compass ever been cool? I think compass was always cool. It's cool for

sailors. A lot of the early explorers. Yeah, when they played this game back in the eights,

they had compass as one seed. Yeah, the original outdoor march madness.

Before basketball was invented, compass was raining champ. We're just resurrecting it here.

Well, okay, well, we've spent enough time on compass, but we had to spend some because it will

not be advancing. And we wanted to at least note their great year to make it into the tournament.

Yeah, one of the worst mass jobs of the tournament, like we said. Yeah, great seating by the committee

that doesn't exist. So one of the interesting ones and kind of permeates the whole tournament

is these two things that are unalike and one would be the technology of headphones,

you know, first jacket. So how do you compare these? Well, you know, also at the same time,

how do you compare a trail to a gear to a problem to a snack? And that's why we're here.

You really don't, you know, that's the thing. You really don't put your make-hard decisions in

life and that's what you're going to have to do during the tournament. And to the winner will go

the spoils in terms of headphones to rain jacket. Who knows? I don't think I've ever worn a rain jacket.

So I'm going to go headphones. Yeah, I think people will have headphones winning the whole thing.

People that love their headphones absolutely love their headphones. They do. They do.

Podcasts, music, whatever you want to listen to. Sometimes you just want to drown out the world.

Yeah, or my favorite is wearing headphones in the store just so no one talks to you.

Nothing's playing in them, but you are unapproachable. Airport? Don't talk to me.

Yeah, sometimes I forget to put press play and that's okay. The headphones still do their job.

That's right. And this whole region is a lot of very different styles of play matching up against

each other. We have another one. We have anti-chafe cream against a watch. How do you compare the two?

Well, both can affect your time. You know, if you don't have anti-chafe cream, you're really slow

you down. If you don't have a watch, you won't even know how fast you're going. So that's how I can

make those two dots. Yeah, you'll either have a bad time or no time. It's up to you. That's right.

Choose what you choose. Yeah, who else do you see as strong contenders in this region?

You know, like one of the most interesting matchups for me was actually the headlamp to new socks.

I don't know, you know, as opposed to old socks, which would have been strange, right?

Like if you just got old socks up there, I would say, yeah, that one is quite odd, but also some

people might prioritize a headlamp. You know, in my many, many miles on trail, I tried to not hike

at night, nor do I really need a headlamp most of the time. So I would go with new socks, personally.

Yeah, I also think we could see a big run from sun hoodie. People that wear sun hoodies

love their sun hoodies. I can see it going all the way actually.

Yeah, if you get any of those fans of a jolly gear or maybe town shirts, you know, they're

pretty fanatical. Yeah, and if any of them want to donate to the prize pool, they are welcome,

along with any other brands out there. You know what, we're going to do some reaching out after this.

Yeah, and so it is one of my favorite regions because it sums up the whole bracket on how absurd

the matchups are. Like when in your life, are you choosing between a map and new socks and

probably never and also map is not going to win? I thought the compass was pretty bad, but I think

the visor might be worse. The visor got way overseated. I'm thinking there's in a 10 spot.

It could even win that first matchup emergency calories. Come on.

Must have had a late season run or something like that. Yeah, I went undefeated in the

coffins championship tournament. It was whatever the undefeated team is this year, it was that one.

The pack three. Yeah, it hit one all three games against its other competition who would have been,

I don't know, hats. No, I have a question for you. When people are looking at this category,

are they deciding like, I would rather take this with me or have this or how should a fan be looking

at this? Yeah, it's great question. I'm glad you asked Luke Pierce all of Trail Goodsco.

People should be looking at this as if they look at the March Madness basketball tournament,

which you know, it's the lesser known of the brackets that are out there, but you are picking

what you think will win. Not your favorite, not kind of what how things are going. And then when you

go over to vote in the Google form, that's where you pick what you would like to win each matchup.

So what you're doing on the bracket is you are picking how you think it's going to go. How you think

the public will choose. And after watching this podcast, will it be a link in the description where

they can go to add the brackets? Absolutely. There, there's links everywhere. It's, it's the age of

the internet. There will be one in the description, along with many others. And if you don't find it

by now, then just Google free outside March Madness. And it will be number one on Google because

we are so well known. Putting a lot of dollars into Google ads. Absolutely. And none into AI,

which seems to be a mess by us. But you know, marching forward. So yeah, so who do you have coming out

of the gear region? You know, it is so hard to kind of get outside these top seats. They're so

great. You know, if I was going to take a sleeper, I would probably take the sun hoodie. Like you

mentioned, you know, they're kind of a mid tier pick right now. But like you said, fanatical

following for people that kind of enjoy using the sun hoodie. Also, another one that I think

might be a sleeper is sunglasses. If you've ever hiked at a high elevation, you know, those

sunglasses will save your eyes. So, you know, maybe those two. But ultimately, I would say that

new shoes might make a run out. Yeah, I think the pack pack is the weakest of the the top

seats, though. I think it could bow out of the tournament very quickly because a number of people

don't hike with the pack. Don't run with the pack. A pack is not essential in the way that new shoes

are for our fragile feet. Yeah, I think so too. I mean, treat your feet.

That's what we've always said. All right, back to talking about the rest of our sponsors here.

We have prizes donated from that country exposure. We have a food bag. And you are actually

great friends with the owners. Yeah, you just saw him last month. Just saw him last month. He

came out to the relaunch of Trail Goodsco and Salt Lake City. He has started his own company

backcountry exposure, which is also his YouTube channel where he does amazing gear reviews. But his

his food bags are flying off the shelves. He just launched a couple of new things today.

If you're on his email list, so yeah, he's popping off and making really good stuff at home made

in the USA. Absolutely. We yeah, all kinds of the cool thing about this bracket is whether you're a

runner, a hiker, a threw hiker, an FK tier, a talking head, a bracketologist like us.

There's something for you. And as you vote, you can check which prizes you want to be entered to win.

And you don't have to check those. You don't. So, you know, it's really a something for everyone

kind of competition. We want everybody to be involved in this very inclusive. Yeah. And it's for

the low price of free free. You know, it doesn't get better than that. Then we also have

Sawyer. They've donated a tub of sunscreen, which is how I quantify the amount of sunscreen

that I use. That's phenomenal. I didn't even know that I tub. Yeah. It's tub. Maybe it's a jug.

Something that conveys a lot of sunscreen. Yeah. Does it have a pump? I think so. It has a pump pump

included. Wow. I'll get you to do the whole summer. And and a Kanoch or CNOC or CNOC

Yeah. Collab filter for for through hikers or runners who often get lost.

You got their bag on it. The Kanoch bag with the Sawyer filter.

Absolutely. So that is the prize. And then I think we had everyone. But our last one is Mount

to Coast has donated some shoes. So, you know, nothing like shoes.

You know, ever since you started wearing them, I have been very interested in giving them the

try. So if I could win, that's the one I would want to win, I think.

We'll speak offline. I think we can take care of you over here at free outside headquarters.

We are rolling in the dough with how much revenue is coming in from this free contest.

That's right. I will tell you what. Man. That's right. No, they look great.

I can't I mean, you made you didn't have KT in those shoes. Absolutely. They they performed well,

even when I mailed myself two left shoes. Yeah. Wonderful. Yeah. I would suggest wearing one left

and one right. But if you have two left feet, you know, that is a saying some people do. So

that's right. All right. Let's move on to my favorite region. Much like a problem child,

we have a problem region. And this is the funniest one to think about. The winner of this region

will be facing off against something so unlike itself because something so bad will be facing

against something so good coming out of the snack region. So it is a very tricky side of the

bracket to handle. Yeah. I mean, this is quite possibly some of the worst things you could ever

experience a while backpacking. So, you know, choosing between something like poison ochre ivy

and shin splints. I mean, my god, one is literally a crack in your bone. Which of these have you

not experienced because it will be quicker than going through what you have? Well, Jeff,

being one of the world slowest hikers, I would say that bonking is not something that I have

truly ever experienced. I try not to go so far that I can't move any further, but I'm sure you

experienced bonking many times. Almost daily by noon usually. Yeah, you're all wrong now. Everything

else you've experienced here, you've lost a toenail, you ran out of food. Yeah. I've never run

out of food. I mean, look at me. I'm a food guy. You own a food company. It would be bad for business.

I had so much food on the Colorado Trail that I was giving it away. It was like it was a store.

I don't know what I thought. That's why everyone hiked next to you, right?

I like, hey, can I get a free, free stride meal? Sure. I got it. I got three extra.

I don't know why I thought I'd need 14 to get me to Breckenridge. Well, you know, you learn

the hard way in from all those lessons you've built an empire. That's right. I have.

So what I like about this region is there are some great choices. And then it feels like the

creator of the bracket just threw in some because they ran out of options like mud, rain, come on.

That's just weather. Those are just yeah, weather. I'll tell you what, those did seem like kind of

tossed like throw in, but I will tell you one that's been really difficult for me to kind of

pick a winner on. That is chafing versus post-holing. I hate both of those. You know, there's nothing

worse than feeling like you have razor blades between your butt cheeks when you're hiking up

a mountain. But also at the same time, there's nothing like dropping eight inches into a snow

every time you move. So yeah, or two feet or two feet. I don't know how you measure eight inches,

but it's like choosing where you want the razor blade. Do you want it on your shin or between your

butts? Yes. Yeah, it just it's horrible. But those that is that that might be the toughest matchup

in that entire problem region. Yeah, it is a problem region. In the 512 matchup, I mean, sometimes

that 12 pulls off an upset. It's true. Another tricky one is wrong turn versus mosquitoes. Both are

so frustrating and so frustrating. I think a wrong turn, it reaches a higher level of frustration,

but for a shorter period, yet mosquitoes last a lot longer. So it's just choosing how intense

and how long you want your pain. I mean, I have a story when I was younger backpacking with my

father and brother on a superior hiking trail. And my brother lost his mind. It was like watching

a mental breakdown with the mosquitoes attacking him. And he threw down his backpack and just ran

down the trail like for like a quarter of a mile to try to go away from them. It was one of the

most hilarious things I've ever seen. Watching my brother have this complete and utter meltdown

from tiny little mosquitoes. And older brother too, right? Yeah. Older brother.

Could not keep it composed. You did not have the same breakdown?

I did not have the same breakdown. I consider myself a lot manlier. Wow. That is what you need

when you're a mosquito cutter. That's very much I'm sure he knows how to build things. You can cook,

though. That's yeah, I can cook. All right. So what do you see as some of the sleepers in this region?

You know, losing gear. All right. That really does suck. It does suck. I mean,

but if you forget your spoon, that's one thing. But if you forget something a little more essential

and like you can't, you know, set up your tent. So you forgot your tent bowls. That's another,

you know, $500, losing a gear mistake is detrimental to your life. Yeah. Like if the wind picks up

your tent and blows it into, let's say, a canyon. Huh. That's happened to me actually. Yeah.

That must have been frustrating. Yeah. It literally picked up my tent, blew it over a cliff

and into the lake below. And I never saw it again. Yeah. I'm sure it wasn't possible we get

down the cliff. That's why I stood. Yeah. I did not even attempt. It was like certain death

if I did, but I stood on the edge of that and just stared like, I can't believe this happened to me.

So anyone with that story might choose losing gear to go quite far. I mean, I bet you did think

for a minute like, how could I get down there? But I think you make it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,

I am alive, but without a tent. I could be dead, but could have had my tent. So it was

a toss up for a few moments. Yeah. You would have really left the trace there. Your body was down

there. Yeah. Well, that brings up a really good point on this entire region is if you have a story

of bad mosquitoes or losing gear or GI issues or chafing, then that's probably going to win the whole

bracket for you. That side of the bracket. So that's the tricky part of the problem region is it

is the most subjective of the regions, I would say. Absolutely. It's an all personal experience,

more or less. I mean, I remember on a backpacking trip, I was chafed up so bad. I just found a

waterfall and stuck my cornhole right in it, you know? Yeah. Not the not the bags game. The true

corner. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think of some of our or our stronger seats like GI issues and

dehydration on this bracket? I mean, not being a stranger to GI issues. I will say that,

you know, that has the most appeal for me personally as a top contender, even more so than the

number one seed blisters. You know, you can deal with a blister. You can put some glucose tape on it,

you know, do what you need to do, but you can't go walking if you're pooping. Yeah. That literally

drove you to create a food company where GI issues are a lot less common. A lot less common.

I mean, do you offer personal health GI days for your employees? You know what? If I had an

employee, I definitely would, but this employee gets as many GI days as he needs. And I've had

such bad dehydration in the past two that I've like laid on the ground and wondered if my life

was ending. So if you have a bad batter dehydration, I could see that really influencing choices in

this side of the bracket as well. Yeah. Once again, I feel like, you know, in your particular case,

like that's something that would happen to you. But in most backpackers cases, like they're

kind of not doing what you're doing and think about water or have the ability to carry more water

with them. So, you know, I think everyone's a little dehydrated when they're out there, but not in the

way you do it. Very fair. And of the seating, I do feel like blisters really rode a hot tournament,

a hot conference tournament and popped off with that number one seed. Man, they just really broke

through. They were just bubbling over what they just put up a really good fight. Yeah. No,

I would say that we're the rest of the competition. Yeah. I mean, throughout the entire season,

blisters always seem to rise to the top, no pun intended, but they have had a very strong showing here

in the pre tournament play in side of things. So yeah, they deserve the number one seed, but I think

there's some stiff competition. And their their star player hotspot is looking good. So if he can

keep his hot stuff going, then we might see them just bubble over into the final four.

Yeah. I mean, again, we are kind of in a world here where anything can happen. It's a very

exciting region to kind of keep an eye on as the tournament goes on. And do you do you think the

bubble will pop on blisters in this tournament? Absolutely. Eventually, the bubble always pops on

blisters. So, you know, it could go up against, let's say, mosquitoes in the second round, which,

you know, mosquitoes can pop a blister any day. Who's your Cinderella in this in this bracket?

In this bracket, I would have to say the Cinderella story could be a rain. A lot a lot of people

have been affected by rain to ruin your day. You know, rain can cause bigger issues. It could

cause, what do you call it? Like swamp foot. Like yeah, yeah, yeah, trench foot. You know,

you could get trench foot from our perhaps even become hypothermic. So would you put those into

kind of the overall genre of rain? We could have a big story on our heads.

Absolutely. And rain for anyone who loves parades, they are going to choose rain as the biggest

problem out there too. Yeah, can bring a parade like that. So quickly. Yeah, I would like to see

the matchup of sunburn versus rain. So hopefully they make it to the elite eight because I would

love to see that type of matchup. I mean, that is going to cause some real problems for our

bracketiers at home. Even if it if somehow mud made it out of the first round and into the elite

if we had mud versus rain, wow, just just throw up your hands and say we don't know what we're

doing. We'll hire new ecotologists. I mean, one causes the other. They're they're related,

much like all of Alabama. Come on. Yeah. So who's your pick? Who's your pick out of the problem

region? You know, it has to be GI issues. It's the one I'm, you know, most familiar with, let's say

I think it will have quite a strong showing, although I can see it going up against something

like running out of food, which there are those two things are a little counterintuitive.

Yeah, and running out of food is basically bonking. So whoever made this bracket, wow,

they took some liberties. Yeah, I mean, I don't know that it could be a real problem unless both

of them got to the elite eight, but you know, anything can happen at outdoor march madness.

Yeah, we have handed the keys over to the voting public. And so we will see what they decide.

So before we pick our final, our champion, I want to talk about some of the players to watch

in this tournament. One of the big ones is trail mix has this player called M&M who is looking

very good right now. It's the best thing going for that team and M&M might be able to carry the

trail mix team. Yeah, I think that absolutely that could happen. See, the thing about trail mix

that makes it so unique is that you get multiple categories of snacks within one item. So

you're really taking the best of a lot of different worlds and putting them into one, which,

which truly, you know, when you think about it, there's a lot of value there. So, you know,

that kind of value is the type of thing we look for to bring teams to the next level.

Yeah, definitely. And another interesting thing to watch for in the trail side is the former

assistant coaches for the continental divide trail and the Pacific Crest Trail have moved to the

Colorado Trail and the John Mir Trail. And so they've brought pretty much the exact same style

on a smaller level at those mid majors. I mean, I had no idea until this moment that that was the

case. And now that could change everything. Knowing that a top tier program is now supporting

one of the mid-tier programs that changes everything. Yeah, definitely. It's going to be really

interesting to see the different styles in this tournament because never in the history of the

world has there been such a multitude of matchups featuring just contrasting styles. I mean, even if

we go to the gear region, we have sun hoodie facing off against headlamp. One is lights out and

one is meant to keep the light out. How will it go? It's like defense first offense. We don't even know.

Yeah, and you know what they do say defense does win championships. So, you know, whichever one of

these you deem defensive, that might be the one to pick. Yeah, that is what I'm saying. And

do you have an MVP of the tournament that you might choose? I was sort of thinking that the sun

portion of sun hoodie may shine. You know, I like what you're doing there. And I really appreciate that.

Now, if we're going back to the gear region and staying on that same sort of a

categoric situation, I'm going to say that the map will always show you the way.

Hmm. Well, I don't know. I'm really interested to see how watch hand handles the competition.

They're they don't have too many seconds to lose. They've got to figure it out. Time is not on

their side, but they are very measured and precise. Yeah, and when you put watch up against something

like news socks in the second round there, you know what time it's going to be.

Yeah, watch time. Watch out is what I would say. Watch time. Yeah. Or sock time. Or sock time. All right,

who who is your final four? My final four. This is, you know, I don't want to influence anyone else's

brackets here. I do have I did do a little work before this this moment right here. And in my

final four, I will tell you, I have the John Meertrelle. Whoa. Whoa. New shoes. Wow. I have I have the

nerd clusters and GI issues. Wow. You went the opposite of chalk here. I that's right. Wow.

And who is your champion? Of course, Jeff. It's going to have to be GI issues. That's not number one,

but always number two. That's why it was a number two seed. If you drive drift here, I am curious

to see which region the most champion choices come out of because I'm wondering if it will be the

problem region or the snack region because both have such an impact on your life. But then again,

a through height can be life changing. It can indeed. And when you do one through hike, you might

just spend the next three years of your life doing nothing but through. Yeah, or every waking moment

covering over 10,000 miles in a year. And just remember, everyone loves to hear the story of your

through height. Keep repeating it no matter what. I personally chose Appalachian Trail or Appalachian

Trail to win the whole thing because I think the fans will just carry that to victory. When they

travel, they show up. They have millions of fans and even more money to recruit some of the top

players in the country. Love them or hate them. They might buy this championship. Now, Jeff, I do see

where you're going there and just just to kind of turn back towards my choice. Not everyone has

hike on the Appalachian Trail, but certainly everyone has had diarrhea. So, you know, that is

something that you might want to consider. That is interesting. So do you think everyone who's

hike the Appalachian Trail has had diarrhea, but not everyone who's had diarrhea has hike the

Appalachian Trail? Is that is that absolutely and I would be willing to say that everyone that's

hike the Appalachian Trail has probably had diarrhea on the Appalachian Trail. I will wound up you

though, because on the Appalachian Trail, there are privies. So if you have diarrhea, it is a more

pleasant experience than on comparative trails. That's true, but it's still diarrhea.

It's still diarrhea. All right, this is Brynn, our our Bracketology. Where can we, where can we find

you online as we will continue to do updates throughout this madness? You know, if you want to

personally talk a little smack to me during the tournament, you can find me wook pierzol photo on

Instagram, but you can just toss that aside. Just go to trail goods company on Instagram. I'm always

there. I'm the guy. And if you want to check out our meals, it's trailgoods.co. See you there.

And yeah, and let's let's close on one thing. What is the one matchup you're most excited to see how

people vote for in the first round? And I think since I said it out loud, the sun hoodie versus

headlamp is kind of funny because one blocks the light and one creates the light.

Man, that is a fine note to end this on. I'm going to skip to the second round. I'm just going to

totally disregard your question. You know, I came to a point where I had the cheese it versus the

nerd clusters. This might be me lead later somewhere, but that was the hardest decision for me.

I love both of them. I was painstakingly making that call, but you know, I did make the call that I

thought would win the tournament. And ultimately that's what it's about. It's not what you love the most.

It's about who you think's going to win. So remember that when you're filling out your brackets.

Yeah. And I did not know. Nerd clusters had such a dedicated audience until the last couple

years. But man, it is one of the biggest. Yeah, this tier. All right. Well, thank you guys for

joining. We will see how the madness unfolds. Good luck, everyone. And we'll see you at the end.

Absolutely.