DC on Sports: Crazy Like A Fox

A Follow-Up to: Inside Football on TV
BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This weekend, the sports world will turn its attention to Super Bowl LIV when it takes place Sunday evening in Miami as it hosts the NFL's championship game for the 11th time. The National Football League's 100th season will culminate with the Kansas City Chiefs facing the San Francisco 49ers for its league championship, and a marquee quarterback matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Jimmy Garapalo. But the traditional hoopla that surrounds the biggest event in American sports has been somewhat subdued this time around, as it takes place a week after the tragic helicopter crash that prematurely took the life of NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
   Broadcasting and producing the Super Bowl is the pinnacle for those who work in sports television in the world's largest media market and sports superpower. It is, by far, the most watched single day of the entire year in American television in terms of TV ratings and the number of viewers watching, as it brings together this country's favorite sport with stellar entertainment headlined by the halftime show, the always fascinating commercials that air during the game that go for millions of dollars for just a :30 spot, and so much more. And this year, the responsibility of that falls in the hands of the FOX network, televising this event for the ninth time in the history of the modern-day fourth broadcast network, whose stature in the media world comes because of a game-changing move.

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Three decades ago, FOX first made waves in the football and television worlds when they decided to do something outrageous: counter-program the 1992 Super Bowl halftime show with a live episode of its revolutionary sketch comedy series In Living Color. It stole viewers and headlines from an old-fashioned halftime show celebrating winter sports ahead of that year's Winter Olympics airing on CBS, and paved the way for the mini concerts that are now standard for every Super Bowl since then, starting the next year with Michael Jackson, and this year seeing Jennifer Lopez and Shakira share center stage in the heart of the hub of America's Hispanic community.
   The next year, FOX's parent company, overseas tycoon Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, ignited a power shift in television sports when they outbid CBS to take the rights it held for almost 40 years to the National Football Conference. As it has many of the franchises that have been in the NFL for decades and which are based in thirteen of the top 15 present-day TV markets, it is more prestigious than its American Conference counterparts. And the news of FOX putting CBS on the sidelines by their $1 billion wager sent shockwaves around the media world as it put the network that brought Bart Simpson to prominence on the map, and led to a number of affiliates of the Eye network to jump ship and join the fledgling network that, until then, was catered to a much younger audience.

When FOX Sports unveiled its plans for its inaugural season of NFL coverage in 1994 - the league's 75th anniversary season, it distributed a press guide to the media to outline the way it would televise the games. There, they promised to change the game in how fans got to see and hear their favorite sport, and it helped to change the way football was televised and whose innovations are now taken for granted a quarter of a century later.
   The letter to the media that opened that booklet (pictured above with the hat of the network's present NFL logo - and give credit to me if you use it), written by Murdoch, Fox Television chairman Chase Carey and sports division president David Hill read the following:

"The NFL is both sport and religion to millions of Americans who plan their weekends around watching and cheering their favorite teams and players. Broadcasting the NFL has become a sport and religion to us at FOX. Pulling together the talent, executives, technical personnel and staff to put forth an exceptional product, which our predecessor honed over 38 years, has truly been a Herculean task. In football terms, one might compare it to seven months of two-a-day training camp sessions in Texas' July heat.

   "We will be holding ourselves to our own criteria of excellence. Our belief is that we'll be become the benchmark to which others are compared. That's the challenge we've given ourselves, and the standard for which we strive. Same Game...New Attitude!"

DC ExtraTime: Someone You Should Know - Bachelor Nation's John Paul Jones

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

All Photos Courtesy ABC

The wintertime means one thing to this blogger's parents: spending a couple hours on Monday nights watching the start of the annual trilogy of Bachelor Nation. Two weeks ago post champagne-gate, my mom & dad and those who are reality nuts got to enjoy a staple of everyone's slumber parties being brought to a whole new level when pillow wrestling appeared on The Bachelor, and it was called by none other than Fred Willard and Chris Harrison a week after the former left Modern Family. And this past week, Cleveland hosted "The Bachelor Bowl" while Victoria Fuller revealed to star Peter Weber than country crooner Chase Rice is an ex boyfriend of hers.

It is that time of year again for those who are part of the granddaddy of all romantic reality TV series to begin the week... same goes for those at the Revel Social bar in Denver, CO to hold its weekly viewing parties of The Bachelor. Similar scenes will be repeated for The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise and the new music-themed spinoff Listen to Your Heart at where Chase McNary from JoJo Fletcher's now-renowned 2016 Bachelorette class works at after taking sojourns to MTV (where three other suitors from his season followed in his footsteps to both Ex On The Beach and to Siesta Key), and then last year returned to familiar surroundings on Bachelor in Paradise.

What makes Chase's Bachelor Nation viewing parties the happening in town for those in the Mile High City obsessed with the show is that of alumni and current castmates from the ABC franchise join him weekly as special guests of honor to watch roses, romance and rosé with fans. The most recent guest of his to Revel Social is our latest Someone You Should Know subject... one who was with him in Mexico last summer, and is probably the only alum of his show where people must refer to him by his full name, which also happens to be a historical namesake.

DC SocialPulse: Floribama Shore - The 4th, A Return, and Chi Chis

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Welcome back... it's been a tough week for a lot of you out there. But let's hope we can bring some enlightenment to this end of this week and month as we bring you the Pulse of Floribama Shore, and things heating up down in the Sunshine State.

Previously, the group split up into two: the guys to South Carolina to visit Codi's family while the girls went to Nashville as Nilsa paid tribute to her fallen friend and Mattie decided to spend the rest of her summer down in St. Pete Beach. But once the ladies came to join the fellas, they invited some of their parents along for them too. And if what we saw the first time out at the end of season 1 was something, it was blown away by one of the most exciting parties you'll ever see in MTV Reality: Kookapoo, slip 'n slides and lots of fun for both young and old alike.

As the roommates return to SPB, the endless summer rolls along with it as well, and the 4th of July brings out both patriotic pride and the propane for a barbecue... but the group will discover that the combination of those and matches aren't a good mix, especially when it comes to having a slice of Mattie's Cajun roots. After some flirting when she came, she and Jeremiah begin to explore their relationship a bit more, just as Kortni makes the trip back down south as the saga with her & her ex emerge. And what happens when a night out turns into something else?

After the break, the Chi Chis are out as we roll along with the Pulse of Floribama Shore. Thanks for joining us on this #ShoreDay...

DC SocialPulse: Ex On The Beach Peak of Love - Mums, Zeus & Kissing Sisters

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

And welcome... all of us across the world are continuing to grieve together with a broken heart after the sudden & tragic death of Kobe Bryant as we process the events of last Sunday. His family, widow Vanessa and everyone in the Laker and NBA communities are in their thoughts, and there will be a post devoted to Kobe to come later. But for now, if you can take your mind off of that for a bit, we'll be able to proceed with the business at hand of resuming covering MTV Reality on here.

Ex On The Beach: Peak of Love rolls along with all the drama taking place in the winter wonderland of Queenstown, New Zealand, and last week saw the spotlight on Naked Brothers Band alum and a single from last year's relaunch of Temptation Island, Allie, as her ex Carlos showed up on the Peak to turn the battle for her heart into a juicy one with her next, Niall. Meanwhile, Nicole and Sydney scored the latest getaway date, but waiting for her at the jacuzzi on that date was the Real World & Challenge alum's second ex of the winter, Ashley C. from Real World Ex-Plosion.

Also there, Marlon & La Demi began to struggle to find out where they are in their relationship, but as we return to the Chalet he may find himself in a precarious spot when he may have a second ex of the season come by. It is also Ice week in the house, which means the exes are on the cut line... and it also means a visit to the Sauna of Secrets for someone in the Chalet. And there, the couple who have grown the closest here may have the most unexpected of guests coming their way... which means we have to get used to how the Brits pronounce their favorite lady in their loves.

After the break, all the action, reaction and interaction of Week 8 of Ex On The Beach winter style, plus Team MTV gets together with a pair of EOTB alumni as they celebrate a new baby. Thanks for taking time out from what's been a tough time for all of us to have you here.

DC ExtraTime Funny File: A Prank from Paradise

Originally Posted During The Challenge Vendettas in 2018

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Coinciding with the channel's resurgence in the past year, one of MTV's great success stories has been unfolding in the docu-soap Siesta Key. Those who watched the first half of Season 1 of the summer series have been glued to the drama down in Florida in its winter half, and in a few days from now is its season finale.

Before there was Bananas, there was Spencer Pratt, who first popped up on a little-known reality series where he was Brody Jenner's right-hand man. But it was when he invaded the second season of Laguna Beach spinoff The Hills in 2007 that would become his legacy to many reality TV fans. There, Spencer began to date and then shack up with Heidi Montag, and it was the beef between them and her former roommate and friend Lauren Conrad that was one of the overarching stories of the show's six-season run.

Outside the MTV cameras, the Speidi story was just about everywhere: the second season of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! U.S. where they left a sour taste in everyone's mouths with what happened there, an episode of How I Met You Mother, and even their own musical single. After they got hitched, Spencer & Heidi also created headlines when she had to file for divorce which then turned out to become nothing less than a publicity stunt, and him getting cuffed up in Costa Rica after getting caught trying to smuggle in hunting weapons in a flight to that past Challenge host country.

With two stints in the U.K. Celebrity Big Brother house -- runners up in their first go in 2013, Marriage Boot Camp and time to talk to Rob Cesternino of Rob Has a Podcast, it was no surprise that a 2015 Yahoo! poll named Spencer over Omarosa and Survivor's Russell Hantz as the "Greatest Reality TV Villain" a year before that steal that likely made that vote meaningless. He has settled down a bit: a USC political science degree, a baby who just turned five months old. And it's no surprise that he was asked by Cosmopolitan Magazine to offer his thoughts on MTV's Florida-based revival of the reality-soap concept, Siesta Key... which brings us to a few weeks ago.

There, Pratt Daddy was in New York to drop in on TRL to offer his thoughts on Siesta Key in the Times Square studio with DC Young Fly and company. Those who check out Cosmo for the episode recaps know that he has no filter when getting to offer his two cents on the Florida heartthrobs. But while in the digital room getting asked questions about the cast, he had absolutely no idea that one of the Siesta Seven was in the same room as him.

During the winter half of Siesta Key, Kelsey has gotten back together with resident gym rat Garrett, and has also flirted with the new stud in town Carson. The Midwesterner has also seen modeling knock on the door again, which saw her go up to New York along with Madisson... only for reality to set in afterwards. That was only part of the second half of a season that has seen the whole dynamic of the clique change considerably from when it all began a few weeks before Dirty 30 premiered.

Kelsey had heard Spencer say some negative things about her on both TRL and on Cosmo, and saw the perfect opportunity to get back at him. And in that classic manner we all love, Kel goes into disguise with a wig, a makeover and using a different name to serve as a boom mic operator for a camera crew while MTV News is asking him about what's been transpiring this season. See for yourself below, as this surprise Punk'd prank unfolds. Sorry, no Ashton Kutcher appearing.

TAKE THAT, PRATT DADDY! 😂 Bet you didn't see this one coming @spencerpratt... pic.twitter.com/V4GsH6ihLK

— Siesta Key (@SiestaKey) February 19, 2018

- I AM DC
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Inside MTV Reality: The Siesta Key WRAP - Birthdays, Cops, Relationships & A Return

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Hello and welcome to a week Inside MTV Reality that sees a British bromance headline a Vegas strip revue, The Situation returning to Jersey Shore, Kortni returning to its Floribama cousins, and the hockey term of "kissing sisters" come to Ex On The Beach. And the week begins here & now on a weekend that sees the Lunar New Year of the Rat, the Grammys and big sporting events take center stage with the fallout to the biggest blowup Siesta Key has ever seen.

Last week, something that has become a familiar sight for those now nine roommates who are now their neighbors an hour's north of them in St. Pete Beach erupted in their territory. Before that, Madisson got to introduce her former producer boyfriend to her dad, who was not pleased with someone who's 21 years older than her being soulmates, while her ex Brandon was resparked things with Amanda just as they did in the very first episode. But all eyes were fixed to Juliette & Kelsey's housewarming party where Robby brought a new TV, BG gave a toast and everyone came by to christen the new home. But it's when Chloe and Jules got on the porch to discuss Robby that a fight between them ensued and lit up social media.

With every fracas such as what the girls had, there are always consequences - and as it was for Floribama's broken bromance it may mean a friendship may end here. That, plus relationship drama and the return of the king awaits you after the jump, along with the one link between this show and the man who recently beat down the Paul brothers in the ring... and thanks for joining us.

DC ExtraTime: Congratulations Melissa!

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This month, while reality TV fans in the U.S. were glued to pillow wrestling on The Bachelor this week as well as the finale of Netflix's The Circle, those across the pond in the United Kingdom have found solstice from the cold outside in reality TV. There, the original version of global phenomenon Love Island launched its fifth series on British tellies with its first season to air during the winter, being held in South Africa during the Southern Hemisphere summer.
   Over on MTV UK, after over a year away the original British installment of Ex On The Beach returned for its tenth series and took a cue from its American cousins & its strategy of making reality stars THE stars of our version. Celebrity EOTB debuted this week with Love Island 2017 alum and two-time Challenger Georgia Harrison being part of a cast of singles that also includes Geordie Shore alum Sophie Kasaei, Mob Wives' Marissa Jade, VH1 staple Tiffany "New York" Pollard and other reality stars from shows airing on UK television that we might not have heard of.

Ex On The Beach rolls along on our side of the Atlantic with its winter-themed Peak of Love season, where Love Island 2018 islander Georgia Steel and British reality star Callum Izzard are part of this winter's cast. But it's because of what was airing at this time two years ago that we have this series on our MTV. Four past EOTB alumni competed on The Challenge Vendettas as part of the British invasion, and their time on the show acted as the bridge to the eventual springtime debut of EOTB USA (which includes mom-to-be Taylor Selfridge after she held her baby shower last week).
   Those who were chosen to cross the pond two years have made big impacts: Joss Mooney had a memorable elimination with Derrick K. there and made it to the Final Reckoning final, while Rogan O'Connor went from being purged on that season to becoming king on War of the Worlds 2. And after one of them got a sense of what it's like to be a stripper like his fellow new Challenge champ, this weekend Team Jogan will be co-hosting the Chippendales shows at the Rio Las Vegas, all after a press tour to promote the same gig Jersey Shore's Vinny Guadagnino had last year in Sin City.

While the bromance has given us reason to love Joss and Rogan and those who've worn the Union Jack on our airwaves, then there's the girls who made it onto that Challenge, and what brought them there was their common attraction to a former footballer that turned into blowups on their two EOTB series. And if you think that the feelings she still had with Nelson Thomas helped to befell Angela Babicz' former BFF relationship with Season 1 bestie Victoria Alario was huge, then its a different cry to what Kayleigh Morris and Melissa Reeves did that brought them to Vendettas.
   The two lasses were on two series of EOTB UK, starting with its second season in 2015 when they were part of the original group of singles alongside Rogan. Both started out on good terms, but it's when soccer player Ashley Cain came into the mix as the UK franchise's first two-time castmate that things got dicey for Kayleigh and Mel. And when all three of them, along with the former's ex Joss, came onto the last two episodes of Series 5 a few years later things got ugly for the girls: a couple arguments between them got out of control.
   The middle leg of the dirty/bad blood trilogy two years ago brought Kayleigh, Mel, Joss, Rogan and Geordie Shore bad boy Kyle Christie to American screens for the first time. And while the lads have made plenty of buzz on our shores, them being in the same place at the same time saw the girls make up without much fanfare, all while the former Big Brother UK houseguest got bullied by the girls in Spain, and the DJ battled Sylvia in a stirring elimination & received a straight red card the next time around when she & Kailah got into a fight after the opening purge on Final Reckoning.

Of what is now the sixteen British competitors who've competed on The Challenge thus far in this new era (and more to come with the upcoming season), only one of them at the present time is a parent. But now, the mom who delighted us in putting up a good battle with Georgia H. last fall, Esther Falana, will have some company, thanks to an Instagram announcement last week from the sunny locale of Barbados...

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Mini me coming summer 2020 👶 🍼

A post shared by Melissa Reeves (@djmelreeves) on Jan 18, 2020 at 10:21am PST

@DJMelReeves

With that simple caption of "Mini me coming summer 2020 👶 🍼," Melissa is the latest MTV'er personality to become a parent-to-be, posted the same day that Taylor Selfridge & Cory Wharton held their baby shower out in California and he wrote in the Instagram comments, "Awwwwww 🙌🏽 CONGRATULATIONS 🎈!!!" The one time Vendetta wrote, "Wait WHAT!!!!," while Big Brother's Bayleigh got to say to her, "MY LITTLE TWIN IS ON HER WAY! You know I’m obsessed already but this photo just made me even more obsessed !!!! I love you sis ❤️😘."
   A number of her other fellow Challengers, as well as those from the MTV UK family and the now expanded Viacom/CBS community have also sent their congrats to the soon-to-be mommy Mel, including ETB UK veteran Chloe Goodman and others. But it also triggered buzz among some in the social community of who might possibly be the father of that new Baby Reeves... that question remains to be answered and the resolution to that may come another day, but for now our congrats go out to Melissa.

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Time for the inundation of bump pics ⚠️🤰🏼

A post shared by Melissa Reeves (@djmelreeves) on Jan 19, 2020 at 8:48am PST

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1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4....Iv been pregnant for way too long 🤰🏼☀️

A post shared by Melissa Reeves (@djmelreeves) on Jan 21, 2020 at 9:43am PST

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I can’t wait to meet you little one ❤️

A post shared by Melissa Reeves (@djmelreeves) on Jan 23, 2020 at 10:18am PST

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DC ExtraTime Flashback: Ex On The Beach USA - Season 1 Uncensored!

*** WARNING: Videos Embedded in This Post Contain Explicit Language & Adult Situations, Sexual References and Violence. Viewer Discretion is Advised. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Six years ago this month, the world of MTV Reality was turned on its head: a future Challenge champ got to welcome six strangers to her adopted Bay Area backyard for a Real World season that anything but typical once their exes came by for Ex-Plosion. A week or so later, the 2014 year in Teen Mom began with just the TM2 cast taking center stage when Kailyn Lowry gave birth to the second of her three kids and tied the knot to Javi Marroquin. And then, the second show to land the coveted spot of airing after the baby mama drama debuted when Are You The One premiered, MTV's first foray into 2010's dating television.

It was after the season finales of those three shows aired in the spring of 2014 that, without those in the United States ever knowing about it, a show that took the twisted concept of the first of what would be five different MTV shows Cory Wharton would be on to new heights, Ex On The Beach debuted on MTV's British channel and its affiliated networks in non-American territories. It was the beachy version of what he had to go through in the City by the Bay: the ex girlfriends & boyfriends of the singles coming in to wreck their summer vacation, and it has been a staple of MTV UK for five years, expanding to many other countries in the years following.

It was only a few years later that those in the U.S. would discover what this show would be all about, just as MTV in America began to once again become relevant in a newly changed media landscape. And with its most notable couple just announcing the next phase in their relationship, as well as its most explosive character giving us one of the biggest MTV moments of 2019 that didn't even air on the cable channel itself, we at DCBLOG felt like giving Season 1 of Ex On The Beach U.S. a second look... but in a totally different and twisted way than you've ever seen, or heard.

DC ExtraTime: Taylor & Cory - Baby Gender Reveal Time!

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Pic Credit: MTV/Us Weekly

As we enter the fourth decade of this wonderful MTV Reality story and the jaw-dropping moments it continues to provide us with, we often lose sight of the fact that the stars of the shows you love and who give us the greatest shows on TV are also human. Thanks to social media, we're given a daily pass into who they are when the cameras are not rolling, and to prove for a bit that they are regular people like us. And two of the things that gives proof to this truth are two signs that we are getting old: parenthood and settling down with that significant other.

Every four to six years or so, there seems to be a transition of sorts when it comes to The Challenge: unless you're a big-name veteran who will get invited to do these shows just as long as the show is still airing, those who we've enjoyed watching during the most recent seasons decide that it's time to step away for kids and rings. Are You The One alum and 6-time Challenger Amanda Garcia is preparing to welcome her first kid next month, and earlier this month her Denver barber boyfriend successfully proposed to her at their baby shower. And during this past long holiday weekend came another MTV-related baby event: this time with someone who the Popoff Queen competed alongside with on five Challenge seasons.

At this time six years ago, Cory Wharton was plowing along with his first month in The Real World house with no idea that his ex would come for a visit to him and the seven strangers in the Bay Area, who also brought up a subject that he would eventually have to deal with not once, but twice. He had no idea that it would also be the start to an eventful MTV career: one that not only has brought him to six Challenges, but also to a most unlikely destination of parenthood and a spot on MTV's most tabloid-friendly franchise. And it was Cory being part of the first U.S. class of its most globally traveled show that where he met his current girlfriend Taylor Selfridge, and who now are awaiting their latest chapter of where his previous MTV girlfriend Cheyenne Floyd went to: baby life. And this past weekend, they got to reveal the gender of what will now be his second kid.

DC SocialPulse: Floribama Shore - The Most Epic Family Party Ever!

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DC SocialPulse: Ex On The Beach Peak of Love - "Ex-Cuzzi"

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Welcome back... we've just witnessed the return of the king in Conor McGregor in 40 satisfying seconds in the first UFC pay-per-view card of the 2020's in Sin City, all in the company of Team #Jogan and the crazies from Ireland who are rejoicing & chanting in the casinos on the Strip. And depending upon where you are right now, we got a good nightcap for those out east & an appetizer for our west coast friends to what's been quite a Saturday in MTV land as we bring you now the Pulse of Ex On The Beach: Peak of Love.

Last week, the sign in every season of the U.S. version of this global franchise that we are halfway through this journey came when the singles were the ones who found themselves walking on eggshells as the exes took control for their midseason ice ceremony and who they would cut, and they sent home the house's lone Bachelor Nation representative, Daniel, back to the Great White North. We also got more into the relationship of Allie and Niall, and Ryan stepped into the spotlight when his beautiful ex came down the mountain.

And after going on that date with the first of the two reps from Love Island UK (which returned this past week to tellies in the UK and where Callum's original show Ibiza Weekender premieres its new series this weekend), this week the spotlight turns to the lady who made her national TV debut as a girlfriend of a Naked Brother, who may find herself with another candidate to win over her - just a year after her return engagement in living rooms everywhere. And while Marlon & La Demi struggle to find out where they are in their relationship, a Fire Date awaits one couple and, as it was a month ago, no one seems to escape their past.

After the jump: a trip into the Ex-Cuzzi awaits as we bring you the 'Pulse of Week 7 of Ex On The Beach: Peak of Love, plus we'll join an Are You The One alum turned Challenge queen as she gets to celebrate her new addition with a ring on it. Thanks for joining us this Saturday night...

Inside MTV Reality: The Siesta Key Wrap - Saturday Night Fight Night!

CAUTION: One Video Embedded Below Contains Violence Some Viewers May Consider Disturbing. Viewer Discretion is Advised.

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We've arrived at the first 3-day weekend of the 2020's, and tonight Conor McGregor makes his long-awaited return to the UFC Octagon after over a year away... that's given reason for new Challenge king Rogan, British buddy Joss, Big Brother champ Josh and passionate MMA fan in AYTO alum Anthony B. to join the fandom in Sin City. It's with conflict in mind that we bring you into DCBLOG's look Inside MTV Reality of Week 2 of the new year, and we begin with its biggest bombshell and our first candidate for Fight of the Year... and it doesn't come in a bar in the South, a chalet in New Zealand, or even this week's big Catfish reveal -- but from a show we're covering on a weekly basis for the first time this winter in Siesta Key.

Last week those who follow the older, college-aged version of Laguna Beach and The Hills were welcomed back to this picturesque part of Central Florida for another summer of drama. Unlike the first two seasons of this, it doesn't have Juliette & Alex together after their dramatic breakup last year, but it does have the Queen together with a new man in Robby Hayes of The Bachelorette, giving those who love roses a reason to look forward to Tuesdays along with Peter Weber on this year's Bachelor carnival. But on premiere night in the Key, the spotlight would eventually not be on him or her despite holding a summer kickoff party to celebrate her graduation, but on Madisson and an uninvited guest of hers who was 20 years older than her, to that twilight toast to the new graduate.

After what went down there with Ish crashing that party and Brandon bolting out that things might calm down quite a bit. But, this is, after all, summer in Florida -- it's also hurricane season here... and you never know what will happen next, especially when even a quaint little housewarming party can bring out some bad blood, and on a night after a bottle of champagne lit up Villa de La Vina. Join us -- and Jim Lampley & Larry Merchant, too -- after the jump at ringside as we bring you our WRAP of Saturday Night Fight Night in Siesta Key, plus we join the girl who calls herself the Squid as she interrogates the cast on the first two episodes of a season that's surely matching the heat in your house's heating system here in cuffing season. And welcome to the weekend...

DC ExtraTime: Team MTV and Tigers at the College Football Playoff

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

For as long as we can remember, there is something about turning the page to the new year and a sport that has been ingrained in Saturday Americana for what is now a century & a half. Sure, the sport of college football has changed quite considerably in the course of the past several decades: conference alignment pushing traditions aside for more money, universities taking advantage of that financial reward in a landscape where the highest hierarchy of the NCAA has often frowned upon student athletes being paid, and many other intricacies that put college athletics in the front page for things that happen outside the courts and fields.
   But when you get to the heart of it, it's on the field where it all counts. And once the calendar turned to December, so began the assortment of the many bowl games which punctuate a college football season that began in the heat of summer. They are, in essence, exhibition games that give teams with a decent record a reward at season's end to relax in its host city, and play in front of a national TV audience with NFL draft prospects as well. But once the last weekend of 2019 came, so began the juicy stuff: the College Football Playoff and the New Year's Six -- the Cotton, Orange, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Peach -- which, on an annual rotating basis, serve as semifinals to determine who plays for the National Championship, and the fourth iteration of college football holding a true championship game in the only sport in the entire NCAA system not governed by the collegiate bureaucracy, and thus not have the same kind of sanctioned national championship as their basketball counterparts.

The 2019 college football season marked the 150th anniversary of the first college football game between Princeton and Rutgers that took place in 1869, and this season began back in August with Florida beating Miami and Auburn beating Oregon in a split week of opening games before Labor Day. Off the field, laws were altered in college athletes' battle for compensation and for fair pay for play, while Missouri and Ole Miss paid the price with probation being handed down for off-field violations, and UConn flee to the Big East. But as always, the attention was on the field where Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Louisiana State and Oregon won the conference titles of the Power Five conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, PAC-12), while Georgia and Wisconsin were the victims of major upsets as were Central Florida when their nation-leading 25-game winning streak was snapped, and Nick Saban's Alabama faltered in the annual Iron Bowl against Auburn.
   For this season's College Football Playoff postseason, top-ranked LSU was matched with Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl and the first semifinal in Atlanta, while Ohio State and defending national champion Clemson faced off in Phoenix in the other semi of the Fiesta Bowl. In both games, the two teams whose nickname of Tigers would win those battles - the ladder in a thriller, to then go up against one another in the CFP National Championship Game in New Orleans at the Superdome, the home of the Sugar Bowl. On Monday, LSU and Clemson faced off in that national championship, and on the back of an impressive performance by Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, his Tigers bested the defending champions 42-25 for its fourth consensus national championship and first since 2007, all the while completing an undefeated perfect season along the way.
   Louisiana State University is located in the state capital of Baton Rouge, a 75-minute drive north along I-10 from New Orleans, and as it was when the Tigers won their last two national crowns in '07 and '04 (a disputed split national title with USC during the maligned era of the Bowl Championship Series) this year's National Championship amounted to a mere home game for those by the Bayou. The state capital is also home to two of those who've made their marks on The Challenge in recent years as both a regular and a special guest athlete, and a third member of the MTV family also has experience covering the Tigers along the sidelines at Tiger Stadium during the football season.