Third time’s the charm.

Alright, so listen. You know the record? The record isn’t prepared for how straight I’m about to set it.

Here’s how last year’s match went down:
1) We planned things pretty far in advance.

2) About a week before the match we ramped up our publicity dramatically, which was met — in kind — and amplified by various news organizations. A combination of this surge of reporting and our first-ever flyering efforts landed us in the crosshairs of the Northwestern administration, for whom the match was basically just too awesome to handle. Like, their basic sentiment was that “we are not sure our campus can feasibly contain something this unequivocally badass so you’re going to have to cancel.” Also there was the whole the-CRC-dorm-isn’t-a-private-residence debacle which meant that we would have maybe been violating public broadcasting laws, but that stuff was basically just the official line provided to cover for aforementioned sentiment of deep embarrassment and shame the administration felt when they realized they had not come up with anything nearly as awesome as the Cage Match in, um, ever.

3) We didn’t actually cancel the match, obviously, but we had to change its venue, say we canceled it, and take down our donation link. While we still enjoyed the match, it was heartbreaking that the new screening location had severely limited space, which hindered our ability to invite people to join in the joy that is Nicolas. The lack of donation potential also struck a particularly sour note with us Matchers.

Here’s why that matters:
We learned some lessons. We’re looking into bringing in speakers to secure educational fair-use broadcasting privileges. We’re going to figure out exactly how this interacts with charity drives, and come up with a squeaky-clean, university-acceptable way to solicit donations for the Match. You know why we’re doing all this? Because if it wasn’t obvious yet…

Today, we are proud and excited to announce the new-and-improved third annual Cage Match.

Featuring:

• 18 movies.
• 34 hours.
• Streaming a la Cage Match Two
• Open attendance a la Cage Match One
• A speaker to open and legitimize the event
• A committed and interactive charity component driven through movie sponsorships, paid stream shout-outs, and more
• A lot of motherf***ing Nicolas Cage

This is Geoff, Ben, and my senior year; it is our last Match as Northwestern students; it is going to be special. If all goes as planned, come April 1st we will have hit our target of 50 Cage Movies watched in 3 sittings, which honestly has got to be some sort of record. And we can’t wait for you to join us.