Brock Hardy - The Nebraska Wrestler Who Got "Spladled" - Came On The Yak & Won Our Hole Hearts
Yesterday we were back on The Yak after a March Madness hiatus, but basketball wasn't on Big Cat's mind. It was NCAA wrestling that he was downright giddy to talk about all thanks to a viral move during the championships: The Spladle. Unless you've been under a rock you, too, have seen the clip of Nebraska’s Brock Hardy stuck in the most twisted pretzel imaginable during the quarter final. And the salt rubbed into that pretzel? The move lasted well over a minute, the cameras never panned away, and it was posted multiple times across the biggest sports accounts out there.
For a full 20 minutes (27:31 - 47:27) we could not stop Yakking about it and resident wrestling expert KB was on a roller coaster of emotion. He compared the move to a cicada outbreak - you don't see one for decades but then suddenly a Spladle happens and, bam, its everywhere. You could tell KB had so much respect for Hardy & felt so bad that this was the big takeaway from an incredible 3rd place finish with the title of All American. At the same time he admitted to being a little pumped we were all finally invested in his sport.
We all agreed that the only way through it would be to have a good sense of humor, but that it was probably way too soon if not impossible altogether because how do you move past having someone else showcase your b-hole spread eagle on national TV for that long? Thankfully, later in the show we were all proven wrong.
To our extreme delight Brock Hardy called in (1:41:30) and he was fucking awesome. Super chill, totally cool talking about The Spladle, and an amazing sense of humor all around.
The part that completely won me over was this moment after he was alone in his hotel room post-Spladle, pre-finals:
"I went back to the hotel room, knew I had to wrestle in the blood round, and I had Instagram deleted, and I was like, 'Should I download it again to see what's going on?'… And I did, and it was everywhere. But it was good! I wrestled the rest of the tournament going, 'I can't let that be the last thing. I gotta - in spite of the world I gotta take third right now."
He also said he was going to keep a fun attitude about it for anybody else out there who's been Spladled. You can still be a champion after the world sees your perineum, folks. Big whoop.
By the end of the call he was talking about an NIL deal with Barstool, The Yak is coming out with a sweet Spladle shirt which he'll get a cut of, and this summer when he's in Chicago for a tournament we're getting a whole crew to go all out for Nebraska Wrestling. Brock Hardy has won the hearts & holes of America. Or at least The Yak.