Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Final Four Chronicles - The Final (Day 4)

The Finals are upon us, and although today would be much better if Kentucky were in the Finals (primarily because Pepster is a Kentucky fan and Racecar is by proxy, but also because the Towns v. Okafor head-to-head match up is what college basketball needed to see), we are going to more than enjoy it anyway.

Morning - No Zing Zang, so no bloody marys.

10:23 - As we are getting ready, Trading Places comes on television.  A quick IMDB search shows that Kristin Holby, who played Penelope, did exactly 2 movies:  Trading Places and Manhunter.  She established her own line of dresses and owns a dress shop in Larchmont, NY.  Who knew?

11:37 - Depart for downtown.

11:45 - Pass by a Ponderosa - keep driving.

11:57 - Milktooth for brunch, and it is much less crowded today.

12:04 - Sinickal sees Stroh's on the menu, so he orders one, quickly followed by Hopps, Tony and Pepster.  After a brief discussion about the nostalgia of Stroh's, Racecar sees that it is only $3 and states "Drink up boys".

13:15 - After a brilliant brunch for all (but a little small for Hopps), Hopps inquires, "Where are we going to eat?"

13:29 - Leave Milktooth.

14:01 - After some delay in finding a space, we are finally parked downtown.  At this point we decide to split up.  Sinickal, Hopps, Tony, Racecar and Pepster proceed to the NCAA Hall of Champions while Allison goes to the neighboring Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.

14:06 - Allison enters the Eiteljorg.

14:09 - Everyone else enters the NCAA Hall of Champions.  Racecar's entry is free because she "ran" the Road to the Final Four 5K.

14:12 - We find the video trivia games related to NCAA sports.  We skip the rowing, lacrosse, softball, cross-country, outdoor track and field, indoor track and field, wrestling, volleyball and others, while sticking to football and basketball.

14:14 - Racecar notices a tribute to a golfer, with a quote from the golfer's coach.  Racecar knows the coach, and immediately texts him a picture of his attributed quote in the NCAA Hall of Champions.

14:29 - Enter the actual Hall of Champions with all of the yearly plaques.  So many great and recognizable athletes from across the spectrum of sports.

14:31 - Allison sees a display which includes pictures and information about a known relative of hers!!!

14:44 - Sinickal notices the almost half court set up in the Hall of Champions, and more importantly notices the sign, "No scrimmaging for your safety".

14:45 - Sinickal and Pepster go into the half court to put up some shots.  Pepster hits a few, and they stay until Sinickal hits one.

14:46 - Although no scrimmaging is allowed, a young kid drives to the hoop on an adult - who is most likely an older relative.  The relative blocks the kids shot off the wall.

14:47 - Notice marks on the floor of the gym with names, dates and information on famous last second shots.  Just behind the free throw line is, of course, Laettner.  Pepster laments the absence of a Keith Smart notation.

14:49 - Pepster and Sinickal cannot find the "One Shining Moment" tribute, which contains every single one ever made.  When inquiring about the location of "One Shining Moment", a hall worker explains that after the electrical fire to the building in 2006, they never replaced the One Shining Moment.  This is absolutely devastating.

15:09 - Enter TGI Fridays.  This also answers the question why did Sinickal and Pepster even go to TGI Fridays during the 2006 Final Four - it was because it is the closest bar to the Hall of Champions.  Also, it is the location of the meeting that Pepster and Sinickal had with the UCLA cheerleader sin 2006, when the discussion of Joakim Noah's ugliness occurred.  For those that remember, the UCLA cheerleaders later chastised Noah about his looks during the game.  Neither Pepster or Sinickal take DIRECT credit for that.

15:11 - Notify Allison that we are at TGI Fridays.  She is now at the Hall of Champions.

15:41 - Racecar, while catching up on some work related e-mails, orders a second beverage, while the guys who were mostly chatting and talking smack to each other notice that they are not yet ready for a second.  Racecar informs them that it is "Time to put on your big boy pants".

16:34 - Allison re-joins the group after having some much needed time away.

17:22 - After attempting to have dinner at the Weber Grill (1 1/2 hour wait), the group heads to Champps.  Tony's bartender is NOT there.

17:49 - Hopps comes out of the restroom stating that there was an "appropriate level of ass fresh".  Assuming he meant air freshener, this was a funny Freudian slip.  He didn't.

19:14 - After getting a roadie, which is legal in Indianapolis so long as it comes in the original container in which it was sold - no unnecessary plastic cups - we wander around some merchandise tents.  The group decides to split up.  Tony, Allison, Racecar and Pepster head over to the NCAA promenade by the stadium, Sinickal and Hopps head to ... wait for it ... Taps and Dolls.

19:30 - Sinickal and Hopps begin playing Golden Tee.

19:51 - While in the craft beer line, Pepster hears the two guys behind us talking television shows when one states - rather emphatically - the best show of all times is The Simpsons.  The second says that he automatically discounts this because it is a cartoon.  Pepster cannot refrain and just tears down the second guy with facts like the length of time The Simpsons has been on the air, the number of Emmys, and starts rattling off countless classic episodes, especially ones that have been repeated.  He even cites a South Park  episode in which the kids try to come up with plans to take over the world - only each of their plans was already on The Simpsons.  The guys notice Pepster and Tony's Southwestern Central shirts and inquire, and they immediately eat up the story.  Pepster and Tony fully convince these guys that the programming at the NABC conference was exceptional - including the seminar on addressing student-athlete's social media accounts.

19:54 - A side note, these two guys were Wisconsin fans, as were 97% of all people in the promenade.  2.8% were neutral.

19:59 - Arriving at the beer truck to order, and the two bartenders on that side are arguing with each other.  After about 30 seconds, Pepster rattles off the four beers for Allison, Tony, Racecar, and him.  Bartender turns to Pepster and says, "we will be with you in a minute".  Pepster responds by repeating his order.  These bartenders probably made thousands this week, but if they hustled, they could have made tens of thousands!

20:30 - The NCAA Promenade is practically empty.  It is almost game time!

20:34 - Sinickal and Hopps reappear.  We only have four tickets, so the two ladies head for home.

21:01 - Enter Lucas Oil stadium.  As we enter the north entrance, two ushers are yelling to the crowd that it is easier to use the south or west gates, while another is saying that it is easier to use the east or west gates.  The north seemed pretty easy, it took us 30 seconds.

21:10 - At our seats.  The crowd is 99% red.  The Duke student section behind the basket is not even full.

21:18 - Game time!  No posts during the game.

21:24 - OK, so I lied.  There are four Duke fans in front of us.  The all have face paint and one of them has E-K-U-D painted on her cheek.  So the mirrored lied and none of her friends said anything about it.

22:45 - Jump Around comes on the loudspeaker and predictably, the Wisconsin fans go nuts.  Sinickal wants to know why Wisconsin is stuck in 1993.

23:50 - They show One Shining Moment on the jumbotrons and large screen.  Pepster is incredibly happy.

23:52 - Pepster and Sinickal notice that Jahlil Okafor doesn't not even make the All-Tournament team.  They both figure he went for a work out because he didn't even break a sweat during the game.

23:54 - Leave Lucas Oil stadium.

00:05 - Enter Taps and Dolls.  Doorman just waves Hopps, Tony, Sinickal and Pepster in, despite the line.

00:06 - Hopps and Sinickal play Golden Tee - AGAIN!  This is well passed a problem for these two.

1:02 - Sinickal wants it known that he beat Hopps at Golden Tee by a hole-in-one on 16, thus tying the match, and holing out on 18.  Nobody else cares.

01:15 - Time to go.  However, the owner notices Tony and Hopps and decides to give the four of us a tour of the entire place.  They are remodeling, but the building will be about 6 separate bars, one of which has the capacity of 1,800.
02:10 - Uber home.  As we leave downtown Sinickal asks the driver, Sherry, what the towns people thought of Lucas Oil Stadium because it looks enormous from the outside.  Sherry responds that "nothing can ever be too big".

02:16 - Hopps notes that "It gets dark early here".  Pepster responds, yeah, like 2:30 in the morning.

02:24 - Arrive at the house.

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