Tournament of Chompions: FINALS – In-N-Out Burger v. Shake Shack

"Tournament of Chompions: FINALS – In-N-Out Burger v. Shake Shack" is Episode 46 of *Doughboys*, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Tournament of Chompions: FINALS – In-N-Out Burger v. Shake Shack" was released on March 31, 2016.

## Synopsis

The climactic conclusion of the first ever **#MunchMadness** has East meet West, as New York’s Shake Shack battles sunny California’s In-N-Out Burger. Friend of the podcast and tournament commissioner Evan Susser helps Mitch and Wiger crown the winner — and also presents a brand new segment.

## Nick's intro

    March 27, 1939. The University of Oregon Ducks defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first ever Finals of the Men's NCAA Basketball tournament, in the event once informally, and now officially dubbed, March Madness.

Today, 77 years later, *Doughboys* concludes our first-ever spring chain-restaurant tournament.

Will it have as much staying power as the Sweet Sixteen and The Final Four? Only time will tell!

This inaugural edition has seen our bracket splintered and folded back upon itself like a royal family tree, but however we got here, none can dispute the worthiness of these final competitors.

Arguably the two most-esteemed chain burgers in the nation, the decades-old SoCal institution vs. the upstart Liberty City kid, both of whom inspire a cultish devotion. The Big Apple vs. Tinseltown. Wall Street vs. The Walk Of Fame. Subway vs. freeway. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Turtle from *Entourage*. Can the Beast from the East top the Best of the West? Can nostalgia and bang-for-the buck triumph over farm-to-table elegance?

This week on *Doughboys*, the conclusion of Munch Madness 2016: The Tournament of Chompions: Burger Brawl with our finalists, In-N-Out Burger vs. Shake Shack.

*Let's a-go!*

## Burger Brawl rules

The rules for the **Munch Madness: Tournament of Chompions: Burger Brawl** are as follows:

1. ~~Restaurants must have previously appeared on *Doughboys*.~~
2. The three categories that each burger is ranked by are Presentation/Creativity, Condiments/Bun, and Burger/Taste/Juiciness.
3. Categories are rated on a scale of 0-10 basketballs, which are arbitrary and meaningless, and they can be overruled by final decision, which is answered by "which burger would you send to coffee-drinking aliens from *Men In Black*?"
4. Burgers only! Sides stay on the sidelines. Drinks stay in the Gatorade jug, which is also on the sidelines. Other mains stay in Maine.

For the Finals, the Doughboys decided on a *Survivor*/political system (with superdelegates) to decide the Chompion. They ask all forty previous guests on *Doughboys* to choose between the two chains, while Nick, Mitch, Susser, and Dustin each get five superdelegate votes (bringing the total votes to 60). Any burger that gets 31 votes or more will be crowned the Burger Brawl Chompion.

## Basketball ratings 🏀

 Mike Mitchell
 Evan Susser
* ShackBurger

With his burger, Nick had Cheese Fries and the Rainbow Connection Concrete. Mitch had a Strawberry Mint Lemonade, a Boston Cream Pie Shake, and Fries. Mitch and Natalie split a Chick'n Shack.

 Mike Mitchell
 Evan Susser
* Cheeseburger

With his meal, Nick also had French Fries and an Iced Tea. Mitch had French Fries and a 7Up.

## Burger Brawl voting

Every prior guest on *Doughboys* was asked to choose between In-N-Out and Shake Shack. The ones who replied were:

 Shake Shack | Betsy Sodaro, John Gemberling, Joe Saunders, Julie Brister, Scott Gairdner, Eva Anderson, John Roy
 Carl's Jr. | Ben Axelrad
 Burger King | Emmy Blotnick
 Wendy's | Mike Carlson

Kowalick wanted to vote for Fatburger, but went with In-N-Out.

Mitch comes up with a life-raft system where you can bring a restaurant back from the dead. Nick also gives a blow dart to everyone to deflate anyone's life raft.

Mitch gives a life raft to McDonald's, but Susser deflates it with a blow dart. Susser then gives his life raft to **McDonald's** (1) anyway.

Nick gives a life raft to **Five Guys** (1).

After tallying these votes, the hosts and the Commissioner cast their five superdelegate votes towards who they believe should be the winner of the Tournament Of Chompions.

They all went off ballot (for a variety of reasons) to Wendy's.

 Mike Mitchell
 Evan Susser
 Dustin

So at this point, Wendy's pulled an historic comeback, tying In-N-Out with 21 votes each (21 prior guests picked In-N-Out and 1 picked Wendy's, plus these 20 superdelegate votes for Wendy's).

## Burger Brawl Chompion

The Doughboys next must pick an alien for which to send the best burger to: Mitch chooses ALF, Nick has an obscure choice in Sheltem (from the video game *Might and Magic V*), and Susser wants to go with the aliens from *Close Encounters Of The Third Kind*.

Unkar Plutt, Xenomorphs from *Alien*, Predator, Spaced Invaders, *Batteries Not Included* aliens, a *Cocoon* cocoon, and Superman are also at this alien *Last Supper* table. (Aliens from *Aliens* are not there.)

Now the final decision had to come from In-N-Out and Wendy's, with just Nick, Mitch, and Susser voting.

 Mike Mitchell
 Evan Susser

**In-N-Out is the Chompion!**

Wendy's came in second, and Shake Shack is third.

## Where In The World Is Evan Susser? 🌎

For this segment, Evan Susser brings some snacks from around the world for the Doughboys to try.

* From Tokyo, Susser brought different flavors of Kit-Kat: Adult Passion Fruit (passion fruit and chili), Shinshu Apple, Strawberry Cheesecake, and some sort of purple one (presumably Beni Imo, purple sweet potato).
* From Thailand, Susser found some Baskin-Robbins hard candy.
* From Hong Kong, Susser got pretzels flavored as shark-fin soup.

Nobody particularly liked the pretzels. They all found the Baskin-Robbins candy confounding.

They did seem to all enjoy the different flavors of Kit-Kat, though they didn't like the purple. Mitch liked Strawberry Cheesecake Kit-Kat best, while Nick and Susser's top choice was the Shinshu Apple.

KitKat (Beni Imo)KitKat (Shinshu Apple)KitKat (Strawberry Cheesecake)KitKat (Adult Passion Fruit)Shark Fin Soup PretzelsBaskin-Robbins Hard Candy

## *Sonic the Hedgehog* questions

* Does Charmy the Bee have a speaking role?
* *Sonic* has a famously vile corner of the internet and its fan fiction is very explicit. Is that addressed in the movie? Is there a point where Sonic's mouth extends and he comes a living urinal?
* Can you confirm the rumor that Nack the Weasel and Mighty the Armadillo have a romance in *Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie*?
* Was it ever brought up, the idea that Espio the Chameleon and Vector the Crocodile would have a presence in *Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie*?

## #hashtags

* #I'mEvan'sMum
* #DoughboysFanFiction or #DoughboysFanArt
* #I'llMakeYourBurger

## The Feedbag

If the Doughboys were approached by a burger place (not necessarily a chain) to create their own celebrity burger, what would be on it?

* Scrambled eggs and cheese inside a donut-shaped patty
* top is a donut, bottom is a croissant
* Pizza Dough / Marinara / Mozzarella all baked around the burger

## Drops and Plugs

 Jim Johnston "No Chance In Hell"
 David Yazbeck and Sean Altman "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego"
 David Barrett "One Shining Moment"

## Related Episodes

* 41. Eat-In Minisode
* 42. Mild Card Round 2
* 43. Semi-Soft Finals Round 1
* 44. Minisode
* 45. Semi-Soft Finals Round 2
* 46. **Finals**
* 43. Burger Brawl: Semi-soft Finals 1
* 46. **Burger Brawl: Finals**
* 90. In-N-Out Burger 2
* DD. Secret Menu
* 174. Octdoughberblessed: Chick-fil-A vs. In-N-Out
* 196. Mouth of the Border: Finals
* 269. In-N-Out Burger 3
* 45. Burger Brawl: Semi-Soft Finals Round 2
* 46. **Burger Brawl: Finals**
* 111. Shake Shack
* 314. Shake Shack 2
* SP4. Snack Pack
* 379. Shake Shack 3
* 427. The Musso & Frank Grill
* 45. Burger Brawl: Semifinal 2
* 46. **Burger Brawl: Finals**
* 64. Doughlympics: Fryathlon
* 92. Chicken Fight: Sandwich Region
* 96. Chicken Fight: Semisoft Final 2
* DD4. Chicken Fight: Fat Chance Kitchen Finals
* 97. Chicken Fight: Finals
* DD9. Wendy Wexler
* DD22. Songs of Summer
* DD. Bacon Maple Gremlins
* 196. Mouth of the Border: Finals
* 263. Wendy's Breakfast
* DD. Pie Noon: Confection Selection
* 294. Wendy's 2