Blake Monroe Steals Christmas, Iconic Airport Chili's Gets Axed, And I Hate Netflix's Sports Coverage

Welcome to a very special Boxing Day edition of Nightcaps!

What is Boxing Day? No idea!

All I know is that it's the day after Christmas, and they love it in the United Kingdom and Canada.

I bet a quick Google search could solve this one for me, but I'll be honest, I kind of like not knowing. 

The mystery is fun.

Anyway, I hope you had a great Christmas. I know I certainly did. The wife and I had a nice steak dinner on Christmas Eve, then spent Christmas Day with family. In the afternoon, assumed the role of pitmaster to smoke a succulent, cherry-bourbon-glazed ham that came out perfect (though I might be a bit biased).

I ate so much of it that by about 8:30 that evening, I was asleep on the couch like someone had clubbed me over the head with something. Perhaps some sort of club.

But that's a good Christmas in my book.

Still, it's time to get back to work, and what better way to do that than by sitting in on Nightcaps duty, reviewing the game tape from Christmas '25.

I Think I Officially Hate How Netflix Does Sports

If you're poking around these parts of the internet — *hocks a loogie into an old-timey spitoon* — then you spent a good chunk of your day watching football.

And, for the first two games on the slate, you had to watch it on Netflix.

Now, this has been the case for a couple of years, and I think I can officially say that Netflix's way of doing sports stiiiiiiiiiiinks.

It's so over-the-top gimmicky from the graphics package, to some of the on-air personalities (although I will defend the inclusion of Seth Rollins; he knows ball), to the way they pummel us with shoehorned promotion for Netflix series. 

Like this moment to promote the finale of Stranger Things:

GET IT?!?!?!?

And then there was the decision to start making Zoom calls to NFL greats in the middle of the game. That was just downright enraging at times. You're trying to watch the game, but then all I could think about was that there was way too much headroom in Emmitt Smith's shot:

And how someone needs to get Barry Sanders some artwork or a framed jersey to put over his couch:\

There was a time when I thought Netflix would be a good home for sports, but not anymore. If Formula 1 had ended by cutting a deal with them, they'd probably cut away from a battle for the lead to show one of the Stranger Things kids driving a go-kart.

Lest you think I'm the only one who thinks Netflix's sports coverage blows, think again:

It feels like one of those alternate broadcasts, which are perfectly fine. On Christmas Day, we also had an alt NBA broadcast with Disney Characters. Minnie even took charge. 

These can be fun. I watched the one TruTV did early this week for an NHL game featuring the Sklar Brothers and enjoyed it.

But here's the thing: those are alternative broadcasts. Not the primary broadcast.

The solution here is for Netflix to do a regular broadcast and then offer the goofy one with Zoom calls and K-pop Demon Hunters kicking monsters in the face or whatever.

Maybe they'll learn, but I'm not holding my breath…

The John Madden Biopic Starring Nic Cage Looks Like A Must-Watch

While we're on the topic of foo-baw, how about the trailer for the upcoming John Madden biopic starring, of all people, Nic Cage?

When it was announced, it sounded insane, but after I saw some pictures, I thought it might work.

Now that the trailer has landed, I think it will definitely work.

That's it, I'm in.

Put this in the running for best make-up awards right now because turning Christian Bale and Nic Cage into believable Al Davis and John Maddens is bordering on sorcery. 

And that supporting cast is going to be great.

Kathryn Hahn, John Mulaney, Shane Gillis (who I think probably could've played John Madden), Sienna Miller, and Joel Murray.

This has the makings of a great movie or a movie that will let all of us down, and we'll resent everyone involved with it.

One or the other. 

I guess we'll find out next fall.

Blake Monroe Wishes Everyone A Merry Christmas

Hey, here's someone who could probably explain to me what Boxing Day is!

The British wrestler is one of the biggest names on the WWE NXT roster. She's a phenomenal wrestler with a great gimmick and… well…

I think you'll understand when you see her how she wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

Yup; that'll do it. That'll help you sell some t-shirts.

Monroe — who used to wrestle in AEW under the name Mariah May — was previously the NXT Women's North American Champion, which you can see those photos (I'm gonna guess you didn't notice the belt upon first glance). However, she lost it earlier this month to Thea Hail in a match that was widely believed to have been botched, with the initial plan for Monroe to maintain the title.

So, she'll challenge Hail at NXT's New Year's Evil on January 6 for an opportunity to regain the belt she was allegedly not supposed to lose in the first place.

Anyway, best of luck, and Merry Christmas… now, what the f--k is Boxing Day?!

Russian Hockey Continues To Russian Hockey

I feel like I've said it a million times, but it's just the truth: Russia's KHL is the bizarro NHL.

The weirdest things happen over there. Guys drop phones, get bitten by police dogs, and one coach looks like Alfred E. Neuman.

So I wasn't surprised to see some weirdness from over there, but I wasn't expecting to see a backup goalie get annihilated while on the bench… and it was all his teammate's fault.

That hit came courtesy of Ska St. Petersburg's Markus Phillips, and it was — *chef's kiss* — absolute perfection.

But he may have put a bit too much mustard on it, and that sent Dinamo Minsk's Vitaly Pinchuk into orbit before he crashed back to Earth, and by "Earth," I mean Ska backup netminder Yegor Zavragin.

I feel like there's a Yakov Smirnoff-style "In Russia…" joke somewhere, but I'm still so full of ham I think it's affecting my brain…

Pour One Out For The Orlando Airport Chili's

When I go through an airport, I like seeing familiar faces, and by that I mean restaurants that I actually know from outside of the airport. Not some weird, knockoff Panda Express, not some phony-Irish pub; just give me something I know is going to give me something halfway decent with a low chance of food poisoning.

I find that chains usually fit this bill, and one that I would make a beeline to is Chili's, which is having a sort of renaissance as of late.

But not at the Orlando International Airport. They're killing off their iconic airport Chili's, and people are in mourning.

I don't know how you picture the moments immediately after death as you ascend into the afterlife, but for me, it's a little like that. An escalator to a Chili's and eternal happiness.

As you may expect, the airport Chili's-going public is in a state of mourning…

I mean, people are so distraught, they can't even think straight and are saying some absurd things:

Hey, we all say crazy things in a time of crisis.

It still has a few days left, so let's all send our best to the Orlando International Airport Chili's a Triple Dipper salute…

Stay Calm, We've Got A Pop-Tarts Bowl Trophy Malfunction

Now that Christmas is in the books, we're about to hit the rich, nougatty center of college football bowl season, and one of the highlights — as it has been the past few years — is the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

BYU and Georgia Tech — the latter a stand-in for Notre Dame, who are still pissed about the College Football Playoff, or maybe they just hate toaster pastries — are in Orlando (RIP airport Chili's) to fight for the most coveted prize in football: a chance to eat a frosted, fruit-filled mascot.

But with that opportunity to dine on a costumed character also comes the only trophy in sports that doubles as an electrified kitchen appliance.

At least, it's supposed to, because it looks like there was a bit of a problem when BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key took the toaster trophy for a test toast.

How many football coaches does it take to work a toaster trophy? More than two apparently…

…

Well, that's it for this Boxing Day (Fine, maybe I'll go look it up; I need to know) edition of Nightcaps.

Have yourself a great weekend!