When it comes to the ven diagram of fashion enthusiasts and fans of dumb sports blogs, I have to assume there’s not much overlap if any at all. They very well could be two separate circles. But sometimes, those two worlds combine. And not just when Russell Westbrook or Kyle Kuzma walk into an NBA arena, or when Jason Kidd rocks an oversized collar. Sometimes you tweet something dumb, get sent a $4,000 jacket, and wear it to a Cubs game. And when you do, sometimes the designer of that jacket decides to fly in for the game. In which case, you have to interview her, which is exactly what I did.

Meet Martha Gottwald, the creative director of NEUBYRNE and arguably the coolest person I’ve ever met. She was so much fun from start to finish through this entire process and even more fun and enthusiastic in person. If have even the smallest taste for fashion and/or design, I suggest throwing her a follow on Instagram here.

The post An Interview with The Designer of Kim Mulkey’s Pink Ostrich Feather Trimmed Jacket appeared first on Korked Bats.

There’s Holly Rowe, Erin Andrews, and Shane freaking Riordan from 670 The Score. The legend himself stopped by Murphy’s Bleachers in the calm before the pink-ostrich feather storm and interviewed me leading up to the day.

The post VIDEO: A Pregame Interview for My Day With Kim Mulkey’s Jacket appeared first on Korked Bats.

This week continues to get more and more amaze.

I feel like this entire blog has become just updates on this Kim Mulkey jacket situation and movie reviews from Kenny. (Shout out, Kenny!) But a lot has happened in the past week, and I haven’t had a ton of time between editing, blogging, and – oh yeah – my actual job to update with other stuff. So just bear with us here, because we’re only a few days away from Saturday (April 22), when I will be wearing Kim Mulkey’s jacket to Wrigley Field for the Cubs-Dodgers game. It’s absolutely ridiculous how big this has grown. From the reverse of that Garth Brooks song with Baton Rouge calling me…

It’s a good question if you think about it.

From then hopping on 670 The Score in Chicago with the legends Laurence Holmes and Leila Rahimi.

To the @Cubs following Korked Bats on Twitter…

To finding out that Martha Gottwald of Neu Byrne, the designer of the jacket, and LSU Women’s Basketball assistant coach Jennifer Roberts are both flying in for the game. WHAT. IS. HAPPENING? All from that stupid tweet from me just sitting on my couch laughing at that jacket.

As for the jacket itself, it’s hanging in the bag in my kitchen just staring at me every single day. Waiting until Saturday. And so am I.

The post VIDEO: An Unboxing of The Kim Mulkey Jacket & Other Updates To This ‘Amaze’ Saga appeared first on Korked Bats.

Imagine the “OH MY GOD IT’S HAPPENING!” GIF from The Office, but in real life. Because that’s what’s going on in my brain right now.

I don’t know if you’ve been following this incredibly dumb saga or not, but if not, feel free to catch yourself up here:

Or here:

Or even here:

But for those who are caught up to speed. The jacket, Kim Mulkey’s jacket that looks like if Animal from The Muppets worked at Bath & Body Works, is en route to me in Chicago as you read this. I’m sure you’re wondering where I found one. Allow me to correct you real quick. Not just one, but THE one. As in the only one of these jackets that exist. The one Kim Mulkey wore in the women’s Elite Eight. The one photographed in my tweet above. According to the jacket’s designer, Martha Gottwald – who is so damn cool, by the way – this jacket was originally for a couture runway show and is the only one in existence.

Initially, Martha wanted me to do something epic in it like, in her words, “a keg stand or something.” But apparently, the jacket is needed after I’m done (more on that below), so I gotta take care of it and keep it in pristine condition. I mean, it is retailed at over $4,000 by the way. Side note: I should’ve gotten into fashion design instead of sports blogging and radio.

Here are a few of the most common questions I’ve gotten so far:

When is it arriving?

This Saturday before 7 p.m. according to the tracking number I have for UPS. Yes, I’ll be upset if Martha (we’re on a first-name basis now – I don’t know if she knows that) is just mailing be a giant box of dog poo as a goof. I’ll admit it’s a well-played goof, but I will be pissed.

Will it even fit?

That we don’t know. I did some at-home measurements before we shipped it out and it’s going to be close, but Martha said it should be good. So fingers crossed there.

Have you picked a game to attend?

Short answer: yes. The Cubs kick off a quick California road trip on Friday and aren’t back to the Confines until next Friday, so we have to wait a week, but as of right now (barring rain), we’re looking at Saturday, April 22nd against the Dodgers, which should be nice, because, with out-of-town Dodgers fans in attendance, I probably won’t be the most flamboyantly dressed person in Wrigley. FOLKS!

Where are you sitting?

I was hoping to score some behind-home plate seats just so that jacket could be in the line of sight for TV cameras, but have had no luck so far. So as of right now, I’ve got some seats in the bleachers, which I think is the next best place to sit at Wrigley. Especially in high-end designer fashion.

Anything else planned?

I still have a few things I’m working on to make the day pretty cool. We’ll obviously be updating you as we learn more. But for right now, this is everything. If you have any ideas or wanna help in any way, please reach out.

But one thing is for sure, I’m definitely getting a Beer Bat.

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Is that $4,000 jacket just yours now?

You kidding? I wish. Unfortunately, no. While it would look good with the rest of my wardrobe, I do have to send it back the next day. There are murmurs that this jacket could be displayed in a hall of fame, so Martha asked that I take good care of it and ship it back in one piece. So I will protect this jacket with my life.

So hey Chicago, whaddaya say?! If you’re going to be at Cubs-Dodgers next Saturday, please find me. I’ll be the guy in the pink ostrich feather-trimmed floral jacket.

The post UPDATE: Kim Mulkey’s Jacket Is En Route To Chicago, Will Be Worn At An Upcoming Cubs Game appeared first on Korked Bats.

Legends of WGN: Harry Caray, Jack Brickhouse, and now some doofus who’s gonna wear a pink ostrich-feathered floral jacket to a Cubs game.

If you haven’t been following, you can fill yourself in here:

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I swear Kim Mulkey’s jacket continues to make my life weirder and weirder. From getting 18,000 likes on a tweet that I didn’t expect to get more than maybe 40, to getting me in touch with the designer of this jacket, to now popping on the morning news with WGN. What the hell is going on? I have no idea, but I gotta find a Cubs game to go to.

The post Kim Mulkey’s ‘Fraggle Rock’ Jacket Has Somehow Landed Us On WGN News appeared first on Korked Bats.

MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS in the search for Kim Mulkey’s jacket.

The post UPDATE: We Found Kim Mulkey’s Custom-Made Jacket And Have An Update On If We Can Wear It To A Cubs Game appeared first on Korked Bats.

I’ve done it again. I severely underestimated the power of the Internet.

If there’s one thing the internet loves, it’s extremely dumb things. From naming ships Boaty McBoatface to wanting to see Jason Kidd’s collar grow…

And now getting me to a Cubs game in the most ostentatious jacket in the history of clothes.

So let’s take it back to Friday night, shortly after the LSU Tigers won their Sweet Sixteen matchup in the NCAA Women’s College Basketball Tournament, I tweeted out the following.

I assumed 5,000 was ridiculous enough to where people would find it funny, but not come through. I’m actually on a short vacation in Florida right now, and when I posted the tweet, I figured there would be an 80% chance I would not make it to 5,000 likes. Mainly because the “like this for this to happen” tweets are so played. We’ve seen them a million times and they all feel like they’re just clout-chasing. So I posted this tweet somewhat facetiously because I figured the visual of me at a Cubs game in this jacket would make people laugh. Plus, it was posted on a Friday night (when fewer people are online), thus causing the snowball effect to start off super slow. I assumed I’d get maybe 1,000 or 1,500 likes before it died off. Well, I guess that visual was enough to get people on board. A lot of people. Includng the Portland Pickles.

I went to bed last night with only 1,400 likes. Feeling a tad nervous, but confident it would still take a lot to more than quadruple that. But, of course, I woke up to 4,000. And ultimately hit 5,000 less than an hour later. Greeeeeeat.

And now the search has begun.

My Google search history currently matches that of a rich suburban PTA president or a Freddie Mercury impersonator. I’m hoping my wife doesn’t see it. Maybe I should switch to incognito mode? But this search might be more difficult than originally thought. Without getting in actual contact with LSU head coach Kim Mulkey, I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to find this jacket, assuming (and hoping) it’s not custom-made by what appears to be Jim Henson.

Luckily, I’ve had a few internet sleuths do some early digging for me. Shout out to Maggie Hendricks of Bally Sports (and her follower Shawn Mangan), Logan Cummins, and David Webb for their help so far.

It’s not like I can run into any Chico’s or Ann Taylor LOFT to find this thing. The aforementioned Rodeo Boutique hasn’t been active on Twitter since 2015 and I haven’t been able to find a social media presence for Queen of Sparkles. If it’s custom-made, I’m screwed. I’ll just have to get creative. This jacket is like if Harry Styles’ and Brandon Flowers’ jackets had the sloppiest sex and accidentally procreated this.

Look, I’m a man of my word. I will follow through with this and document here on Korked Bats. If you care to follow along, @korkedbats on Twitter, IG and TikTok. If you thought the World Baseball Classic was the showiest thing baseball had to offer, just wait until I hit up Wrigley in a jacket louder than the corner of Clark and Addison on November 2, 2016.

The post Welp, I Guess I Now Have To Wear Kim Mulkey’s Pink Ostrich Feather Jacket To A Cubs Game appeared first on Korked Bats.

Big Razz filled out a bracket.

UPDATE: Andrew “McLovin” Perloff weighed in on this…

The post VIDEO: Sports Talk Radio on March Madness appeared first on Korked Bats.

And yes, I’m writing this blog solely on behalf of the players because their well-being and health is all I care about and you should too. I’m definitely not writing this blog because I’m getting older and need to get to bed at a reasonable hour. No, this is ALL for the student-athletes. And notice how I didn’t say athlete-students. Because student comes first. Always. And it should here too. Let’s compromise and say 3:30pm tipoff? That way we’ll make it home from work in time for the end. I mean, the student-athletes will have time to study after the game.

Please change your communist ways, NCAA.

The post Shame On The NCAA For Starting The National Championship At 9:20 On A School Night appeared first on Korked Bats.

One of the greatest March Madness games of all time happened over the weekend that featured a fundamentally sound, game-tying basket, a buzzer-beater, a table jump, and one overly-hyped ref.

We took the final :15 seconds of this game and broke the whole thing down, bit by bit. Let’s relive this iconic finish by talking about it.

For more of our Breakdown videos, click here for our YouTube playlist.

The post VIDEO: Let’s Talk About The End of UCLA-Gonzaga appeared first on Korked Bats.