Knowing that our friend, Morning Joe's Willie Geist--"The Oracle of MSNBC"--is a big sports fan, we thought we'd check in with him about the NCAA's Final Four. Willie has fielded some questions from us before, so we're pleased he had time--between Indian-wrestling matches with co-host Mike Barnicle--to answer a few more.

OK, give us the Willie Geist breakdown of the Final Four.

First, a disclosure: I have massive, life-changing amounts of money riding on North Carolina beating UConn for the national championship. This country's fascist anti-gaming laws prevent me from saying anything more, but I do have a rooting interest here.

My financial considerations aside, UNC and UConn are the two teams that should play in the title game. A typical college basketball team is lucky to have two good players. Carolina and UConn each have four or five. I don't like most of those players, but that doesn't mean they're not good. North Carolina's star Tyler Hansbrough is perhaps the least likable college star to come along since Christian Laettner. He has a boring, old-man's YMCA-league game and he plays with all the joy of Meryl Streep's character in Sophie's Choice. His unchanging facial expression is reminiscent of the one you see on hostage tapes--"Someone's forcing me to be here. Send help." The good news is that he has no chance of being a good NBA player, so we won't have to watch him much longer.

More >>

"The NFL is this close to being the Taliban."

A few weeks ago, Morning Joe co-host Willie Geist was kind enough to answer a few questions for us. Impressed by his sagacity--or at least his insights into Family Ties and José Canseco--we decided to ask him a few more. So below, more of Willie's views on sports, television, and his co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

If you and Joe Scarborough had to share a bunk bed, who'd get the top and who'd get the bottom?

Before I answer, I want you to know I see right through your attempt to get me to describe my relationship with Joe in "Top/Bottom" terms. Having said that, Joe is totally a bottom, so I'd have to climb the ladder to the top of our NASCAR-themed bunk beds.

More >>

Way funnier than this photo would lead you to believe.

Open-minded types that we are, we're finding ourselves increasingly entertained by MSNBC's Morning Joe, which we'll nominate as the best show to breakfast by--it has a kind of looseness that TV needs more of, plus it's actually aimed at adults. And our favorite within this favorite is Willie Geist, who co-hosts the program with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski (along with regular guests Mike Barnicle and Pat Buchanan). Willie may well be the most amusing man on morning television, so we thought we'd ask him a few questions about his early-a.m. cable life.

Is it our imagination, or is more alcohol consumed on your show than on most morning programs?

It is not your imagination. People assume there's some FCC rule that says you can't drink alcohol on television. Nonsense. No such rule exists. Actually we haven't checked the rules, but there probably isn't one, right? Anyway, thousands of drunk people are watching our show at 3 and 4 a.m. in some parts of the country. The least we can do is share an occasional drink with them.

More >>