Tag: Steelers

NFL Playoff Preview, Hoosiers Advance and You Can Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and l look ahead to the NFL Playoffs, talk about the Hoosiers advancing in the college football playoffs, and give you all a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card if you win our group in the ESPN Pigskin Bracket Challenge.

CLICK PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO OUR NFL PLAYOFF PREVIEW

ENTER OUR ESPN GROUP TO MAKE YOUR PICKS FOR THE NFL BRACKET CHALLENGE. THE GROUP NAME IS TORG STORIES NFL PLAYOFF CHALLENGE. SEE LINK BELOW:

  • Click here to make your NFL Playoff Picks and join our Torg Stories 2026 NFL Playoff Challenge. The winner of the group will win a $50 Amazon Gift Card.

Personally, I’m excited that the Panthers are division champs and headed for the playoffs. As for Anne, her alma mater–the Indiana Hoosiers!–are in the final four of the college football playoffs. Anne, you say you’re jumping on the bandwagon? 

Let’s start with this. When you look at the final NFL Standings, what are your…

  1. Biggest surprises of being good: Seahawks 14-3 #1 seed with Sam Darnold. Broncos 14-3 with second year QB Bo Nix 
  2. Biggest disappointments: Bengals going 6-11 is pretty bad. Raiders going 3-14 with Pete Carroll. Commanders were bad 5-12 after a good year. Lions missing the playoffs. 
  3. Something you really missed when it came to your preseason expectations? I thought the Chiefs would continue to be good, and they missed the playoffs with a 6-11 record. 
  4. Anything you nailed by being really right? I was early all in on the Pats to win the division and they did. My bet on the Panthers to win the division was just a flyer on being a fan. I thought Rogers would be much better than he was for the Jets and that they could make the playoffs. 

Panthers lose to Tampa Bay Buccaneers but still make the playoffs. 

  1. Panthers botched a flea flicker 1st and 10 on the Tampa twenty down 16-7. 
  • My basketball camp stick with what’s working
  • Haven’t heard a more detailed explanation of what was supposed to happen 
  1. Falcons needed to beat the Saints. 
  2. Alford with a big interception late. 
  3. Canales said his phone was blowing up after the game, including a short call with team owner David Tepper, who made the playoffs for the first time since he purchased the Panthers in 2018. (from ESPN) 

Let’s pick first round playoff games against the spread. What should our bet be? We decided our bet was that the loser of the first round picks had to supply the $50 Amazon Gift Card for the bracket challenge contest.

  1. Rams at Panthers Sat at 4:30 with the Rams favored by 10.5 points. 
  • Anne Rams, Bill Panthers 
  1. Packers at Bears Sat 8PM with Packers favored by 1.5 points. 
  • Anne Bears, Bill Packers 
  1. Bills at Jaguars Sun at 1PM with Bills favored by 1.5. 
  • Anne Bills, Bill Bills 
  1. San Francisco at Philly at 4:30 on Sunday with Eagles favored by 3.5. 
  • Anne Eagles, Bill San Francisco 
  1. Chargers at Pats Sun 8PM with Pats favored by 3.5 pts.  
  • Anne and Bill Pats 
  1. Texans at Pittsburgh Monday night 8:15 with Texans favored by 3.5 pts. 
  • Anne and Bill Steelers 

We invite everyone to compete in the ESPN Pigskin Bracket Challenge with us. Anne and I will go over our brackets now. Click here to join our group. 

Super Bowl Winner Draft: Our final brother sister contest: let’s draft Super Bowl Winners. Anne, you can have the first pick: 

  • Anne’s picks: Rams, Eagles,  Broncos, Seahawks, Bears, Steelers, Texans 
  • Bill’s picks: Bills, Patriots, Packers, 49ers, Jaguars, Chargers, Panthers 

We’ll finish up with some talk of the Hoosiers in the Final Four of College Football Playoff: 

  1. Indiana vs. Oregon in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta at Mercedes Benz Stadium 
  2. Fri Jan 9th at 7:30 pm. 
  3. Oregon is 13-1 with their loss being at Indiana 30-20. 
  4. Ole Miss and Miami on Jan 8th. 
  5. Jan 19 championship. Monday. 

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

High School Basketball Season Begins + Dodgers Win the World Series

Episode: Dodgers Win the World Series + High School Season Begins

On this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast, we’re talking about the official start to high school basketball season here in North Carolina, the Dodgers winning the World Series, the Colts vs. Steelers matchup, and the Panthers upset win over the Packers. Congratulations to Anne again for another Dodgers World Series win. What a wild finish to Game 7. I got home from a long day of scrimmages with my Watauga High School girls basketball team and I texted Anne “Boom Baby” at 11:15 PM when Miguel Rojas hit that homer. Later, the Dodgers would end the World Series on a double play in the 11th, win their second straight title, and the first back-to-back champion since the Yankees run that ended in 2000. Yamamoto was named the World Series MVP, and the stat lines around his postseason performance feel like something out of baseball mythology.

Meanwhile, high school basketball season is off and running. We had two days of tryouts, practiced on Halloween (with costumes!), handed out gear for our first set of scrimmages, and then drove 115 miles to Charlotte to open the season at Providence Day — three scrimmages on three courts with over 25 teams and more than 50 college coaches in the building. The first two weeks are jam-packed with games, paperwork, fundraisers, and parent meetings before the rhythm of the season settles in. This episode is basically the intersection of sport at the highest level and sport at the most local level — the Dodgers as world champions and a bus ride through curvy mountain roads to an 8:30 AM tip-off at Freedom High School next Saturday morning.

Hope you enjoy the episode!