Friday, March 31, 2017

We Are Whole!


Pepster and Hopps have arrived, and the group is complete. We have also moved into our rented house in Old Town Scottsdale. No special guests today, just golf, drinking, and nonsense.

As always, all times are local. And Pepster notes that it isn't Pacific time, it is Mountain Standard Time. As Sinickal notes, it is still 3 hours behind real time...

Thursday (March 31st)

06:35 - Wake up and get coffee. Mom is once again cooking bacon and sausage. Find out that once again, the parents are leaving us at the house. So much for spending a couple of days with them.

11:15 - Tony and Sinickal leave the parents’ house to check into the AirBnB we rented in Old Town Scottsdale.

11:19 - Tony and Sinickal realize that they have forgotten to grab an extra set of golf clubs for Tony. Pull a u-turn in traffic, on a two lane road, and in front of two police officers investigating an accident.

11:35 - Back on the road and see that it was a really bad accident!

11:50 - Now on the highway and five motorcycle cops traveling together at very high speed pass us. They look like C.H.I.P.S.

12:12 - This. House. Is. Cool…And it has a 4' tall gun safe. Tony and Sinickal decide that we have to keep Hopps away from this room.

12:25 – Sinickal and Tony decide to get a drink and some food before Hopps lands.

12:27 - Hopps texts that his plane has landed. Damn no time for food.

12:31 - Arrive at Coachman House for a beer. There is always time for a drink. This place looks so different when it isn't decorated like a Christmas present.

Today
Holiday Season

12:45 - Leave to pick up Hopps at airport.

13:09 - Hopps! He is a little miffed [Ed. Note:  Shocker!]  after an apparent mishap with his golf bag. It took an awful long time to arrive. Tony and Sinickal realize that this is just American Airlines, and are somewhat angry that they didn’t have another beer.

13:42 – Group arrives at Orange Tree Golf Resort for a 13:45 tee time. Yeah, we are late.

13:46 – While checking in with the pro shop, we hear our name being called to the first tee. Of course, Hopps is at some bar on the wrong side of the resort buying beer.

13:50 – We race to the first tee and meet our 4th player, Mike. He is the golf pro at Talking Stick Golf Resort. He is in for one hell of a round with us. Mike claims that he will be fine. Just wants to drink beers and swing the club. We realize that he will fit right in.

14:45 - Hopps goes birdie - birdie on holes 5 and 6. He appears to be catching fire…and then Hopps shows up to the golf course

17:00 - Good, non-eventful round going on when Mike lets us know that we can come out to play Talking Stick as his guests this weekend. Hook-up!

17:55 – We exchange numbers with Mike. Sinickal is ecstatic.

18:35 – Group heads back to the house where Hopps discovers the gun safe. Sinickal and Tony quietly look in. Uh oh.

18:50 – Group heads into Old Town for food, and decide to start at Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers. Because we really wanted cold beers AND cheeseburgers.

19:02 – We meet Rob of Rob's Mini Limos on the top floor of a parking garage in Old Town. He runs one of the golf cart services in Old Town. He brags that his cart can go up to 50 mph, so he can drive pretty much anywhere in the city. He gives us his card, and tells us that he can pick us up and drop us off any time we need him. Looks like we may have private limo service for the week…well, golf cart service

19:15 – We are comfortably seated at the bar. We really DID want cold beers and cheeseburgers!

19:40 – There is an announcement in the bar that team trivia starts in 20 min. Tony notes that we have 18 minutes to eat and get the fuck out.  Would have been a different story if Pepster was here.

20:15 - Hopps and Sinickal are watching the Women's 3-point shootout as if it were the Super Bowl. We have a problem.  And no – we did not have money on it.

20:17 – There is a woman named Jessica January competing. We thought the television had been changed to one of the Vivid Video channels.

20:28 – Her jumper is wet! She just beat the dude! He will never play another meaningful minute of basketball in his life.

20:32 – Take a golf cart back to the Coachman House. We have the golf cart stop at an ATM for Hopps. Standing at an outdoor ATM on a dark street corner, Hopps turns and screams this one gives out fifty's! Tony and Sinickal remind him that AZ is an open carry state

20:39 – The first round of Golden Tee begins. Tony notes that he hasn’t sweat yet today. It must just evaporate. Welcome to the desert.

20:58 – A Bonnie Raitt song comes on the jukebox. A blonde woman appears from seemingly nowhere and begins singing to us. Just weird.

21:40 – This is a workmanlike evening so far. Not a lot of interaction, just drinks and bar visits. That just ended with our entering Bottled Blondes. This is going downhill. Fast.

22:02 – A woman walks by with two tiaras. When asked by Sinickal why she is carrying the tiaras, she responds “I wanted it to be my birthday, so some random guy bought it for me. Do you want it?”

22:09 - Hopps  "I am deep enough to know how shallow I am."

22:35 – We are trying to work our way back toward the car and stop at Dierks Bentley. The bar, not the band. Sinickal is so glad that this is Scottsdale, land of 60-year old children, and not Kansas City where this bar would just be creepy.

22:59 - Pepe has landed. Now we have to figure out how to get him.

23:02 - Hopps "I gotta find a way to get a golf cart street legal in Quincy MA "

23:40 – Pepster is in! We are whole! And, he looks thirsty.

23:58 – Back to the Coachman House. We are trying to wake Hopps up and thought that some Golden Tee would help. This is not working.

00:39 – We decide on one more round of beers, but Tony is done and Hopps is trying to be done. Pepster is screaming "I will drink theirs."

00:53 - While watching a Bulls – Cavaliers rerun, Sinickal realizes that one of the Lopez brothers plays for Chicago. Pepe notes that it is the bad one.

01:23 – We are going to call it a night. On to Day 3.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Early Arrivers!

It is that time of year again! The annual pilgrimage to the Final Four has begun, and once again, we will be blogging about it. There will be a lot of special appearances in the blog this year since Sinickal’s parents live in nearby Scottsdale, and he spends a lot of time here. Sinickal and Tony have arrived a couple of days early to visit Sinickal’s parents. Pepster and Hopps will be joining us in a couple of days for the rest of the weekend. Absent this year are Corey (despite UNC being in the Final Four), and Pam and Whitney who were fantastic hosts last year.

Here we go. All times listed in Pacific Time.

Tuesday (March 28th)

22:03 - Tony is first on the ground in Phoenix. He has a 20-minute wait until Sinickal arrives

22:30 – Sinickal is on the ground in Phoenix. Meets Tony in the terminal where we watch someone walk into his luggage. PHX Terminal 3 is currently being renovated, and it seems to take us 20 minutes just to get to baggage claim then to the rental car shuttle. Tony remarks that we could have walked to North Scottsdale by now.

23:00 – Finally in a rental car! The Nissan Rogue is nice. Not a lot of space for luggage and golf clubs, but it does have XM Radio. Sinickal immediately programs Backspin and Fly, remarking that Pepe will immediately reprogram the stations upon entry.

23:44 – We arrive at Sinickal’s parents house in North Scottsdale. We will be staying here until Thursday when the others arrive and we check into the house we have rented in Old Town Scottsdale.

00:05 – Annye (Mom) is asleep, but Si (Dad) is up, and it doesn’t take long before we are into beer and politics. It is always funny to Tony that Dad believes that Sinickal is a republican.

01:30 – Bed. Long travel day

Wednesday (March 29)

07:00 – Mom makes her first appearance! As usual, she refers to Tony as her favorite son. Sinickal ignores this slight and gets some coffee.

07:45 – We find out that Dad has already left the house, and Mom is leaving shortly. So much for spending time with parents. At least she made us something to eat!

08:30 – Tony and Sinickal decide that since it is the last day of spring training, we should try to see the defending World Champion Chicago Cubs. The cheapest tickets on Stubhub are $120!! Nope. We choose to purchase tickets to the Milwaukee Brewers. Those are only $10.

10:25 – Stop at Bank of America to get some cash. An older woman stops Sinickal at the outdoor ATM to ask if he is playing for one of the teams this weekend. She then says that Sinickal could help her favorite team, the Philadelphia 76ers. She tells us about her husband having dementia, the length of the marriage, how long they have lived in Scottsdale, and more. This was a 3-minute encounter.

10:32 – Sinickal and Tony head for Maryville Park. A lot of Wu Tang Clan on Backspin for the trip. It is noted that the trip to the west side of Phoenix looks a lot different than North Scottsdale. The only businesses along Indian School Road west of Central Avenue are liquor stores, strip clubs, pawn shops, and churches.

11:50 – We have arrived at Maryville Park for beers, brats, sun, and baseball. The weather is perfect, but neither of us is ready for this much sun.

12:10 – There is an older Angels fan sitting in front of us. He won’t stop talking to us. He claims to be a baseball umpiring expert, and he thinks he is the funniest person in the park. He is neither. Tony appears to be plotting a way to punch him in the back of the head without anyone noticing.

14:08 – We made it through 6 innings, 4 home runs, and 14 runs.  Oh, and Tony’s head is turning bright red. We decide that it is time to relocate somewhere where there is shade.

14:30 – Traffic is ridiculous. Of course, Sinickal is attempting to explain why the traffic is so bad and ends up missing the exit. This adds 15 more minutes onto the trip. Damn civil engineers.

14:45 – We arrive in Scottsdale at Stone and Vine to meet family friend Bob Lanier (yeah, that one) for a drink.  He is sitting at an outdoor table with fried Donna, Dave and Wayne Embry (yeah, that one). It is a couple of days after Wayne’s 80th birthday, and the stories from the old NBA days are outstanding.

15:25 – Bob: “Do you remember that blond. I think she was a cheerleader. We were in Milwaukee. Damn.”            
Wayne: “You mean Stacy? Yeah, I remember.”  Wayne then starts dapping the table since he has remembered a random girl from 1972.

16:00 – Dave is a 60-year-old local business owner and seems like a nice simple guy with a wife and a country club membership. Then his wife Cheryl arrives. Hammered! She just finished 2 hours at the 19th hole at Ancala Country Club.

16:05 – Cheryl’s arrival is like someone throwing a grenade into a fire pit at a party. She is currently trying to climb over the fence on the patio at the restaurant so that she can join us. Sinickal eventually lifts her up over the fence.

16:12 – Cheryl is trying to get over to the other side of the table to hug Wayne. She apologizes to Sinickal for rubbing her boobs on him. “I did that on purpose by the way. You’re cute!”

16:18 – Bob: “Cheryl, what did you shoot today?”
              Cheryl: “Anyone in my way!”

16:25 - Bob has decided that we will gamble for the tab. Tony looks at Sinickal…Damn, this is going to be a big number. Bob appears to be making up a game where everyone writes down a number, then we all have to guess numbers. No one understands the rules of the game, and somehow Bob loses anyway! Serves him right.

16:29 – Cheryl (to her husband): “What are we going to do for our 26th anniversary babe?”
Dave: “Fuck like rabbits.”
Cheryl: “You will wake me first, right?”

16:36 – Discussion turns to a Mexican restaurant in Milwaukee named Chi Chi's. A former Milwaukee police officer who has joined us (Tim) tells us that the longtime owner named the place for his wife's boobs.
Cheryl: "Wow, that was back before we knew anything about augmentation also."

16:50 – Sinickal and Tony head back to North Scottsdale to meet the parents.

18:05 – Sinickal, Tony, Mom and Dad leave for dinner at DC Ranch.

18:40 – At All American Bar & Grill. It takes Mom 6 minutes to order Buffalo Shrimp, and Mac and Cheese. So many questions! It is clear that the sun got Tony today. He is wearing down and is not going to last much longer.

18:55 – Mom is trying to convince us that Phoenix will be the best Final Four city. The argument is nonsensical. Sinickal dismisses her argument as incoherent babble.

20:40 – Sinickal and Tony have run to Walgreens to stock up on supplies, and are now in Cave Creek at a rodeo bar called Harold’s. Ferrari’s and Porshe’s litter the parking lot, cowboy hats and acid washed jeans litter the inside. This will be a weird nightcap.

21:00 – Karoke starts. This is about to get interesting.

21:05 - A Bad Elvis impersonator opens Karoke singing, you guessed it, an Elvis song. The impersonator is so bad that Tony refuses to acknowledge him as an Elvis impersonator. We decide to leave believing that this is the best this will get.

21:25 – Back at the parent’s house for an early night. Hopps and Pepster arrive tomorrow.

Monday, March 27, 2017

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS
Elite 8 Day 2 

A great pair of games yesterday, and I mean GREAT!  I say this being a Kentucky fan, but I still have to admit that last minute of the Kentucky - North Carolina game was amazing.  Perhaps this means we will no longer see as much of that damn Christian Laettner shot.

An uneventful day for our standings, as nobody had South Carolina, so ... if you picked North Carolina you gained points on the field, if you did not, you slid.  Simple. 

Florida and Kentucky fall, so that leaves only 3 chamoins ramining in our field, North Carolina, Gonzaga and Oregon.  It will be interesting to see which of those selections payoffs for our contestants.  Updating our champions remaining: Arizona, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Oregon, UCLAVillanova, Wisconsin.  This list will remain the same throughout all of the updates, but I will remove the “bold” from teams as they lose.

Steven Usma 1 remains our leader, with Measha Williams 3 still in second and Christian Searcy remains in third.  Of note, Jennifer Armstrong is in 6th place, meaning she is he highest ranked bracket that can no longer earn any more points.

We also have a "last place champion"  - John Wiederhold.  John is in last place, and he has no possible points left.  Please let me know the best way to return your $5 donation, and CONGRATULATIONS.

The semi-finals are on Saturday, but Your Tournament Host and some people will be travelling on Thursday to Phoenix/Scottsdale/Glendale for the Final Four.  We will be plausibly live-blogging our trip on WeMakeItRain.blogspot.com, so you can easily follow the weekend with us.

As always, please review the standings and double check my math, as I may have missed something, missed an upset, or just simply miscalculated.  I try to be accurate, but sometimes I do mess up.  I will listen and change things as necessary.  If you point out a potential mistake, I will not take offense, but I will go re-score your entire bracket to make sure everything is accurate.  Just so you know - somehow the standings numerically are off as they go to 110, but we only have 109 in our pool.  That means I listed somebody's bracket twice.  I will rectify that by the final standings

Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.  I might be calling you out later this week if you have not.

Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings (Bold entries can still earn points).

1.   Steven Usma 3 - 111  North Carolina/Florida

2.  Measha Williams 3 - 110  North Carolina/Duke

3.  Christian Searcy - 109  Arizona/North Carolina



4.  Measha Williams 2 - 106  North Carolina/Gonzaga

5.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 101 - North Carolina/Arizona

6. Jennifer Armstrong - 100  Wisconsin/Kentucky



7.  Carolyn Fowler - 99  Gonzaga/North Carolina

8.  Joshua and Katie Zdrowak - 99  Duke/Kansas


9.  Mac Kroesen - 98  Kansas/Gonzaga

10.  George Walks 5 - 97 Kansas/Gonzaga



11.  Phil Doherty 2 - 95  Gonzaga/North Carolina


       Measha Williams 5 - 95  North Carolina/Gonzaga

13.  Greg Kummerlen - 94  Gonzaga/Kansas



14.  Kulwadee Yung - 92  Kansas/Florida

15.  Thomas Bean 1 - 91 North Carolina/Arizona
       Colleen Hamilton - 91  North Carolina/Villanova
       Eric Sain - 91  North Carolina/Gonzaga

       Justin Yung - 91  North Carolina/Duke

19.  Adam Jorgenson 1 - 89 Arizona/Kansas


       Alex King - 89  Arizona/North Carolina
       Chris Kroesen - 89  Kansas/Gonzaga
       Vic LaPira - 89  Gonzaga/Kentucky


       Jonathan Wasserman - 89  North Carolina/Duke

24.  Thomas Bean 2 - 88  Duke/Kansas
       Debbie Searcy - 88  Gonzaga/UCLA
       Cheryl Spuhler - 88  Oregon/Gonzaga
       Amy Zdrowak - 88  Duke/UCLA


28.  Hershey Zdrowak - 87  Duke/North Carolina

29.  Thomas Bean 3 - 86  Arizona/North Carolina

       Matt Hopps - 86  North Carolina/Gonzaga
       Pepe Sosa - 86  North Carolina/Arizona


32.  Eric Inge - 85  North Carolina/Duke

33.  Matt Nieman - 84  Kentucky/Duke


34.  Dan Barsky - 83  North Carolina/Arizona

       Ty Leatherman 2 - 83  Villanova/North Carolina

36.  David Peterson - 82  Kansas/Arizona
       Jeff Plamondon - 82 UCLA/Villanova



38.  Phil Doherty 4 - 81  Arizona/Kansas
       Karen Katz - 81  Gonzaga/UCLA
       Max Macon 2 - 81  North Carolina/Gonzaga
       Steven Usma 1 - 81  North Carolina/Florida State
       Wes Wiggins - 81  Arizona/North Carolina
       Day Yi 1 - 81  Arizona/Kentucky
       Day Yi 2 - 81  Villanova/UCLA
       Biscuit Zdrowak - 81  Duke/Kentucky



46.  Jacey Fowler 1 - 80  Florida State/North Carolina

47.  Steffan Alexander - 79  Arizona/UCLA
       Thomas Bean 4 - 79  Gonzaga/North Carolina
       Brent Bellinger - 79  Gonzaga/North Carolina
       Jessica Ervin-Hang - 79  Oregon/Arizona
       Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 79  Villanova/Kansas
       Martha Kroesen - 79  Gonzaga/North Carolina
       Emily Lawson 3 - 79  Villanova/Kentucky
       Kyle Sheehan - 79  Duke/North Carolina
       Hannah Sosa - 79  Florida/Kentucky
       Jason Spuhler - 79  Duke/UCLA
       Measha Williams 1 - 79  North Carolina/Duke

       Katie Zdrowak - 79  North Carolina/Arizona

59.  Silas Nichols - 78  Duke/Kansas



60.  Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 77  Duke/North Carolina

       Rich Samuels 1 - 77  Villanova/Louisville

62.  Jim Coleman - 76  UCLA/Duke


       George Walks 1 - 69  Kansas/Gonzaga
       Measha Williams 4 - 76  Duke/UCLA
       George Walks 3 - 68  Oregon/Arizona


66.  Phil Doherty 1 - 75  Kansas/Arizona
       Koma Gandy Fischbein - 75  Villanova/UCLA
       Alvaro Gonzalez - 75  North Carolina/Arizona
       Arlene Amo Hopps - 75  Villanova/North Carolina

       Katie Kollmeyer - 75  UCLA/Villanova/0
       Allison Parker - 75  North Carolina/Arizona

72.  Colleen Hamilton 2 - 74  Villanova/North Carolina
       Jeremy Spuhler - 74  Duke/UCLA

74.  Paul Cummings - 72  UCLA/Villanova
       Kingfish Parham - 72  Kentucky/Gonzaga
       Jane Reynolds - 72  North Carolina/Duke

       Joshua Zdrowak - 72  Kansas/Villanova

78.  Emily Lawson 1- 71  Villanova/Kansas
       Ashley Poer - 71  Arizona/North Carolina

       George Walks 2 - 71  North Carolina/Duke

81.  Phil Doherty 3 - 70  UCLA/Gonzaga

82.  Sasha Moon - 69  Duke/Kansas
       Rich Samuels 2 - 69 Arizona/Miami
       Roxy Sheehan - 69 Notre Dame/UCLA
       George Walks 1 - 69 - Kansas/Gonzaga

86.  Kent Armstrong - 68  Kansas/Duke


       Brian Badger Spatchek - 68  Villanova/Kansas
       Jacey Fowler II - 68  Villanova/Kentucky
       Albert Harper III - 68  North Carolina/Duke


       Abigail Sosa - 68  Arizona/North Carolina

91.  Max Macon 1 - 67  Kansas/Duke

       Glen Merchant (with Mango and Duncan) - 67  Gonzaga/UCLA
       Jason Murray - 67  Arizona/Kansas
       Steven Usma 2 - 67  Miami/Arizona
       Traci Sheehan - 66  UCLA/Duke

96.  Anthony LaPira - 65  Arizona/UCLA



97.  Jamie Foreman - 64  Villanova/Louisville
       Emily Lawson 2 - 64  Gonzaga/Kansas


99.  Ty Leatherman 1 - 63  Duke/Kansas

100.  Luke LaPira - 62  Gonzaga/UCLA
        George Walks 4 - 62  Gonzaga/Kentucky

102.  A.J. Rippin - 61  Arizona/UCLA

        Samantha Sheehan - 61  Duke/UCLA


104.  Philip Kroesen - 58  Kentucky/SMU

105.  Eddy P - 56  Wisconsin/Michigan

106.  Keith Zdrowak - 51  UCLA/Duke

107.  Colonel Kareem Montague - 50  UCLA/Villanova

108.  Barkley Sosa - 49  Villanova/Kentucky

109.  Jessica Koch - 48  Miami/Notre Dame

110.  John Wiederhold - 45  Villanova/Kentucky