Final Four Chronicles - The Arrival

THE ARRIVAL

Day 1

Thursday, March 29, 2018

            The beginning of yet another Final Four sojourn, travel, or a road if you will, and this year’s Road to the Final Four sees us deep in the heart of Texas, San Antonio specifically.  Your entire WeMakeItRain crew is here – Hopps, Pepster and Sinickal – along with Tony, which means the entire coaching staff of Southwestern Central is here (if you don’t know this story, it will pop up from time to time this weekend, so please ask one of us so that you can catch up.)  We also might have a few people popping in and out of the weekend for some added adventure.  No Allison or Racecar this year again, as we think they had enough of our Final Four shenanigans in 2015 in Indianapolis.  They will be missed.

Here we go.  (All times are listed in the time zone in which the event took place).

Earlier this week – Tony lands in Austin for work.

5:00 – Hopps wheels up to San Antonio (from Boston via Austin).

5:10 – Sinickal wheels up to San Antonio (from Washington, D.C. via Austin).

5:18 – Hopps sends group text with the first mention of a time change making him thirsty.  He is still 

at the gate at Logan.

5:40 – Pepster wheels up to San Antonio (from Fort Lauderdale via Orlando).

8:36 – A whole lot of coaching shirts at the Orlando gate to the Final Four (UNC Greensboro and Embry Riddle are the most prominent).  I wonder if we will see them in any of the NABC meetings.

10:29 – Pepster lands in San Antonio, now he just has to wait for the rest of the crew to arrive in San Antonio, as they are all flying into Austin.  Time to settle in for some lunch and to get some work done, but it shouldn’t be that long.

11:07 – At Weathered Souls Brewing for some lunch.  Selected because it was close to the airport, open, and it seemed fitting for a Final Four location as the name suits Grayson Allen.

11:33 – Sinickal arrives in Austin and meets Tony. A couple of Syracuse shirts spotted in the airport.

11:43 – First pitch of the baseball season is the Cubs at the Marlins.  Ian Happ drives the first pitch to right field ending the Marlins postseason hopes. The Cubs bat around in the first inning

11:55 – Tony and Sinickal settle into Skybar in the airport to wait on Hopps. We immediately apologize to the bartender about the arrival of Hopps.

11:56 – CUBS! MARLINS! Opening Day! Pepster is trash talking from an hour and a half away

11:57 – Pepster texts the crew to tell them that Ian Happ is on pace to hit 1,458 home runs this year (his actual pace).  None of us think he can keep this up.

12:08 – Hopps is on the ground and has joined the Skybar party. There is a whole lot going on with his outfit.

12:22 – Bar doesn’t have Bud Light. Hopps loudly announces that he can’t drink that Shiner Bock crap.

12:23 – Hopps realizes that we are in Texas. He orders a Shiner Bock.

12:54 – Sinickal and Hopps in a long conversation about which one of them is the bad influence. A surprisingly heated debate ends with Hopps stating that “it’s not about the money!”

13:05 – Trying to exit the parking garage Tony gets cut off by an SUV whose driver seems angry. Tony screams “Who the ____ you eyeballin’!?” Tony clearly can’t get out of New York, and Sinickal remembers that he loves northeast Italians.

13:20 – Hopps now snoring loudly in the backseat. Already near blackout since he has been drinking bloody mary’s since 5:00 am

13:33 – Hopps wakes up and looks around, and sees only farmland and a run-down gas station. Cautiously asks if “We gonna die?”

14:59 – Crew arrives at Weathered Souls and remark at how empty the place is.  No truth to the rumor Pepster chased everyone away.

15:08 – Hopps tries to convince us of the benefits of his glaucoma.

15:32 – There are also drawbacks to glaucoma.  Hopps, who is married to a lovely Filipina, claims he can spot any Filipino from a mile away, yet doesn’t notice that our bartender Jesse is half black and half Filipina.  Hopps exclaims loudly, “Fuck, my glaucoma is a bitch!”

15:34 – Hopps telling Jesse that he doesn’t live with an American, referencing the Mrs., to which Silas responds, “I don’t live with an American either; she was born in Mississippi.”

15:37 – After we stop laughing at the above – Tony says that “They think New Mexicans are Mexicans!”

16:30 – Arrive at our AirBnB house.  The house is great, but it is in a “up and coming” neighborhood.  Four bedrooms, two baths, good sized living room and television, you know, for as much time as we will be staying here.  We noticed that we did not stop by the grocery store.  We send Hopps and Tony.

16:40 – KT, friends with Sinickal and Tony through work/business, and who lives in Austin, arrives.  She immediately asks Sinickal and Pepster, “Where are your drinks?”  We knew we should have stopped by the store first.

16:42 – As Sinickal is securing our tee times for tomorrow and possibly Sunday, discussions for which round KT was going to join us.  That discussions also involves renting clubs to which KT states, “I like men’s clubs better because they have stiffer shafts.”  She was not trying to make a double entendre.

16:51 -  To prepare to go out for Happy Hour, we each (excepting KT – who is not staying with us) retire to our respective bedrooms.  Pepster claims the bedroom in the front of the house with windows facing the street by saying, “I have the drive-by room”! (The neighborhood isn’t that bad at all – but “up and coming” is an apropos description.)

17:07 – While looking at the neighborhood Hopps notices something peculiar about the house across the street; it has graffiti, on plywood, on a broken window.  This house is in direct line-of-sight of the drive-by room.

18:17 – Our ride arrives, and it most specifically is NOT an Uber XL.  Note there are 5 of us total, and the four males are pretty sizable.  Pepster and Tony order another Uber and wait.

18:40 – Sinickal, Hopps and KT run an audible.  Instead of going to the Pearl Brewery, they end up next door at Down on Grayson.  Perfect audible since we all hate Grayson Allen.  (That has to be where the name comes from right? – Oh, its on Grayson Street? Never mind.  Still appropriate).

18:44 – Pepster and Tony arrive, suffering slightly from motion-sickness from their Uber.  They are so glad they volunteered to take the second car.

A note, Down on Grayson is a nice place, with a packed patio for Happy Hour.  Our wait for a table was 45 minutes, so we just sidled up to the bar and ended up staying there.  REALLY good brussel sprouts, among other snack items.  Very friendly staff and place was hopping!  We might be back here – if we don’t get too distracted by the Riverwalk.

19:12 – As the bartender remarks on the fact that we actually ordered just a few items for the 5 of us.  Pepster remarks that we didn’t want to order so much that it seems like it is our last supper.

20:01 – We have premature payalation (TM pending).  Hopps pays the tab, which causes a problem since – because for logistical reasons – this is the only establishment that KT can pay for us.  We make the bartender go credit Hopps back, so that KT can pay.  Did we mention that this place was busy.  This bartender was very nice but we are sure deep down inside she HATES us.  Perhaps we may not come back.

201:17 – Head to Botika, a sushi place.

20:38 – Hopps starts to pay attention to this group near us.  This group has several guys and one girl.  Hopps, by noticing their body language believes that at least two of the guys has had – or is having – relations with the girl.  We don’t think either of the guys knows about the other.

20:49 – “Are you Cape Verdean?”Sinickal to Hopps after Hopps decided that Sinickal was the only black guy in our new neighborhood.

21:00 – KT exclaims, “If I am going to cheat, I am going to make it worth it”.  She is talking about her diet.

21:01 – KT calls Hopps, “John” (not his name).  We have no idea why this is so funny, but it is.  Hopps likes being called “John” better than “K-Fed” (2007) and “DeAngelo Russell” (2015).  See previous editions of the Final Four Chronicles for the meaning behind these.

21:08 – KT orders a caipirinha.  Hopps does not understand this drink at all, saying “If I am going to eat white sugar, I am just going to eat white sugar!”

21:21 – Our annual conversation singing the praises of Dr. Hopps – Hopps’s father, arrives early.  This man was astounding!

22:25 – Contemplating heading through the Riverwalk for a couple before bedtime, but Pepster is beat since he left his house at 2:00 a.m. C.D.T., and we have a tee time tomorrow.  It did not take too much convincing.  We say KT goodbye, and head to our home for the weekend.  Pepster sleeps in the Uber.