The Plugged In Show, Episode 137: Do Fantasy Sports Strike Out? Or Score Big? (Plus, Thor and Rise of Gru!)

LISTEN TO THE PLUGGED IN SHOW, EPISODE 137

Not every sport features a ball, or a net or a field. But almost all sports share something in common: winners and losers. Why would fantasy sports be any different? But these winners and losers aren’t always measured by what they do in the game (virtual or otherwise).

Sure, fantasy sports can be fun, and that’s a win. They can foster and strengthen relationships. But they can also sap away a player’s time, money and energy. They can draw a parent’s attention away from his or her spouse and kids and drag it to a screen—a television screen where you can watch 15 hours of football in a weekend, or a computer screen where you can track the stats of your rotisserie baseball team by the minute. Sometimes, fantasy sports aren’t all that fantastic.

Our Plugged In team talks about that this episode (all without asking me how my fantasy football team did last year), unpacking where the phenomenon rounds the bases and where it strikes out.

And then we turn our attention to another sort of fantasy—an animated one. Minions: The Rise of Gru recently hit theaters, and we talk with our intern Marsella Evans about whether this flick is one we can boldly walk into the theaters and watch, or whether we might want to … turn yellow.

We talk a little Thor: Love and Thunder, too.

And then we turn our attention to our own fantasy sport—Pop Culture Connection.

Why, now that I think about it, you could draft we Pop Culture-Connection players in your own (admittedly small) fantasy league. If you do, we’d love to hear all about it—or anything else related to what we talked about. Let us know on Facebook or Instagram, or write us an email at [email protected].

And check out links to everything we talked about below.

• Plugged In Blog: “The Fun and Fumble of Fantasy Sports”   
• Plugged In Review: Minions: Rise of Gru   
• Plugged In Review: Thor: Love and Thunder  
• Focus on the Family: Setting Media Standards
• Focus on the Family: Making Wise Entertainment Choices
• Plugged In: Tech Guide
• Focus on the Family: How to Develop Media Intelligence in Your Home