Saturday, April 1
April Fool's Day, and more importantly - IT'S BASKETBALL DAY! The Semi-Finals are tonight with San Diego State opening against Florida Atlantic, and Connecticut against Miami. This is what we all came here for - to watch the games, but we also like to have a bit of fun, food, and drink. There might be some strong language, but as journalists, sometimes we have to use the exact quotation where a reasonable facsimile doesn't tell the same story. Here was our day ...
7:35 - Pepster rises.
8:59 - Tony awakens.
9:12 - Silas arises.
9:24 - Silas talks about how he loves living in a real city where he can go to a Cuban place and get tacos at 3:00 a.m. Pepster says, "I call that my house."
9:31 - Discussing Caitlyn Clark and how she is so good and just toys with opponents. Silas goes, can I add that "She's white?" Pepster says, "Not if you are Isaih Thomas!"
9:45 - We hear rumblings of a dick. [Ed. Note - "Dick" is Kevin's last name.]
10:00 - Kevin comes downstairs and he is already showered and dressed for the day!
10:04 - Kevin and Sinickal discussing some posts in their golf club's group chat when one of them says that a guy they know is "So trying to be Ryan White." Pepster asks if he is trying to get a blood transfusion that kills him? Everyone stunned that we all actually get this reference.
10:06 - Sinickal on his computer because he might "have to send something home tomorrow." It's his anniversary.
11:00 - Sinickal talking about his LA-DCA-HOU flights from yesterday and complaining about flying Southwest says, "And on Southwest you have to sit next to some fat, sweaty person." Pepster responds, "I'm right here!" Sinickal replies, "I was talking about me!"
11:23 - We find out our house is basically next to a college campus. Which college? St. Thomas. Pepster says, "I doubt that's a real college." That is probably the last religious reference of they day. [Ed. Note - it is not.]
11:41 - Uber to Goode Company Barbecue.
11:50 - Inside Goode Company and their is a sign for "restrooms" posted on the inside of a side door looking out.
11:52 - Lady sporting an FAU shirt in line in front of Sinickal. Talking FAU hoops with Sinickal she tells him that her friends with her live in Houston. Sinickal then asks, "Are FAU graduates allowed to live anywhere but Boca?"
12:05 - Kevin dazes out a bit. Tony tells him to "Always keep one ear to the conversation because you never know when it will go off the rails. Great advice!
12:07 - Out of context sentence, but Kevin adds to the conversation with, "I don't get to speak a lot at home!"
12:20 - Sinickal again complaining about not being in a real city with real transportation, and Kevin responds with a statement about the DC Metro yellow line being down forever. Sinickal says that he could just take the blue line. Kevin answers with, "And just swirl around Rosslyn for an extra 30 minutes?" Pepster adds, "Isn't swirl around Rosaline what Romeo did before he met Juliet?"
12:30 - We buy mid-level tickets for $65. Usual price for upper-level seats is $200 to $220. Tony says, for $200 they might let us coach.
12:45 - Leave Goode Company and cross the pretty busy 5-lane road to Christian's Tailgates. Kevin gets a little gun shy and does not run when we do. (To be fair, an Impala turned onto the road and was gunning it.)
12:46 - Enter Tailgate's sans Kevin.
12:47 - We see Kevin, still on the other side of the street, light up a cigarette.
12:48 - Strong Miami contingent in Tailgate's!
12:49 - Kevin enters Tailgate's. Good thing we didn't order him a beer (Lone Star) as he orders a Shiner Bock.
12:50 - Discussing Kevin's initial failed attempt to cross the street, Sinickal emphatically declares, "One Die, All Die!"
12:50 - Pepster askes the bartender "Villareal" - more on that later - if the owner's name is Christian. She answers, "No, it's Alan." Pepster then asks if only Christians are allowed in the bar or if they let in heathens. Her response, "a couple!"
13:02 - Free jello shots! Villareal says they may or may not be roofied. Kevin says, "just trying to plan for the rest of the day!"
13:10 - Watching the Astros - White Sox game on television. Sinickal is upset that they have "Chicago" written on their uniforms. He says there is only one team in Chicago.
13:58 - Sinickal regaling us with some Hank Aaron stories.
14:20 - Kevin, who relayed the stories to the biggest Atlanta Braves fan he knows. His friend replies simply, "What the fuck!"
14:22 - Villareal is wearing an Astros jersey with the number 07 and "Villareal" on the back. Pepster asks if her last name is Villareal or does she just really like 2008 baseball. She responds that its her last name. [Ed. Note - Oscar Villareal is a pitcher that played in MLB from 2003-2008, including for the Astros in 2008.]
14:38 - Pam and Whitney arrive at Tailgate's!!! Hugs all around. For those that are not frequent readers of the Chronicles, Pam is one of Sinickal's college roommates from Syracuse, and Whitney is her wife. They live in Houston.
14:39 - Pam's shirt reads, "I Sweat Champagne".
14:51 - Two women walk into Tailgate's. One is in a dress with a baseball cap that reads, "Girls Are Drugs!" We all concur.
15:27 - Simmons and Laura arrive, just as we are thinking about Ubering to the Stadium! Simmons is Pepster's friend from South Florida.
15:28 - While greeting Simmons, an older lady at the bar taps Pepster on the shoulder to ask him to slide over a bit one-way-or-the-other as he is blocking her view of the Mississippi-Auburn softball game.
15:42 - Simmons asks Sinickal how long we are staying. Sinickal responds "How fast can you drink a beer?" Simmons replies, "45 seconds." Then, Sinickal orders one last beer for himself. Simmons goes, "How fast can you drink a beer?" Sinickal says, "43 seconds." Simmons - unbeknownst to Sinickal, starts the stopwatch feature on his phone and lays the phone on the bar. While drinking and talking to us, Sinickal sees the stopwatch, picks up the beer and finishes it. Simmons stops the stopwatch and says, "39 seconds!" Tony adds, "If they start unzipping, I'm outta here." Laura quickly quips, "I already know who is going to lose!" Uproar ensues.
15:43 - Uber to NRG Stadium.
16:01 - Simmons tries to trip up Pepster with some Houston trivia that he learned. The question is, "what sporting event annually brings the most income to Houston?" Knowing that this has to be something a bit unusual, and thinking of Houston, Pepster responds, "the Rodeo," Simmons is despondent.
16:15 - Arrive at NRG.
16:24 - There are way more Miami football jerseys than Miami basketball jerseys.
16:58 - After milling around the festival outside the stadium, we enter NRG. Really easy ingress.
17:01 - While on the escalator, Sinickal starts his first, "Let's Go O-Range!" chant.
17:08 - FAU/San Diego State tip-off. Radio silence during the game.
17:09 - OK, I lied. This stadium is NOT EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO FULL!
17:38 - Sinickal looking around the stadium trying to see where all the teams fans are sitting says, "I hate it that both teams are red." Pepster responds, "You know who else hated that the Aztecs were red? Europeans!"
17:45 - During a time out "Tootsie Roll" blares from the loudspeakers, and they show pictures of fans in the stadium. Not one of them does the Tootsie Roll.
18:00 - During halftime they announce the Hall of Fame inuctees for the Class of 2023. Right now they are announcing the 1976 silver medal-winning US Women's Olympic basketball team. Pepster says, "They would have been inducted much earlier if they had won the gold medal!" [Ed. Note - when researching teams elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, the 1976 Soviet Union team - the gold medalists - are not listed.]
18:05 - They mis-spelled Dwyane Wade's name - IN THREE SEPARATE PLACES!!! Pepster - a Miami Heat fan - is absolutely livid!!! He has not been this angry at a Final Four since the Lexi Thompson situation in 2017. If you want a refresher, here is where you can find out about THE LEXI THOMPSON SITUATION at the 18:16 mark.
18:08 - Watching the San Diego State dance team, Kevin remarks, "I don't think this was the safety school for any of them."
18:19 - Lady saunters down the aisle next to us and sits down with two guys two rows in front of us. One of the guys looks and acts like his is uncomfortably out-of-place. Kevin asks, "Why did that woman bring her coke dealer with her?"
18:46 - As FAU takes an 8-point lead, Pepster wonders if this is now the time to tell the San Diego State fans that the Aztecs played a primitive form of basketball in which the losing team was sacrificed to the gods?"
19:28 - SDSU - WOW!!! Lamont Butler with a buzzer-beating to defeat FAU 72-71.
19:53 - They bring the students into the student section behind the baskets after clearing out FAU and SDSU. UConn students rushing to their seats; Miami fans trickling in. Pepster says, "UConn students rushing to support their basketball team, Miami students are still doing coke in the hallway!"
19:54 - UConn fan behind us, "I like that I went to UConn. I didn't develop a coke problem until AFTER I graduated!"
20:15 - Miami-UConn tip-off!
20:42 - Sinickal asking UConn fans questions about some of the differences between the two schools playing, and the UConn fan says, "No comment." Pepster and Sinickal rephrase their original questions, and UConn fan exclaims, "No comment on the no comment."
20:43: Sinickal summarizes, "Your no comment on the comment is the no comment that I wanted on the comment."
20:44 - Discussing who Calcaterra of UConn reminds us of: Pepster says Calcaterra is trying to be Donte DiVincenzo. Sinickal says, "Grayson Allen!" Pepster receives a message from his friend Jeremy that says, "Calcaterra is the Kirkland Brand Grayson Allen," and his timing was impeccable.
20:56 - Once UConn's Donovan Clingan is finished with basketball, he could always play Frankenstein's monster in a remake.
21:47 - Pepster sees a message from his friend Raj regarding the mis-spelling of Wade's first name. Raj said, "Some employee is going to blame it on autocorrect. Then some manager is going to replace the employee with ChatGPT!"
21:51 - Leaving NRG. Yes, there are 11 minutes left in the game! Egress was EASY!!! Of course it is when the stadium is not full.
21:59 - In the parking lot walking to light rail and a guy is preaching to the crowd through the microphone, saying that we "Have to lose ourselves in him. Lose ourselves to the Lord. Lose ourselves to him." Pepster says back, "You better lose yourself in the music, the moment. You own it, you better never let it go. You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime!" Crowd gets into it.
22:01 - Another preacher through a megaphone talking about his body this, his body that, your body this, my body that and Sinickal sings, "My body is a temple," while Pepster starts in with "Your body is a wonderland!"
22:14 - Leaving early has its privileges, as we don't have to wait for the light rail. It is waiting for us and there is no line.
22:18 - Packed train and we ARE the entertainment. Sinickal by the door on one side, Pepster on the other, with Kevin, Tony, Pam, and Whitney in between. Well, Pam found a seat a bit away from us, but still. Talking Houston sports since we are leaving NRG Stadium and Pepster comments that he "forgot Earl Campbell played for the Titans!"
22:20 - FAU guy asking at which stop he should exit the train. Someone asks him where he was trying to get to. Pepster answered, "He was trying to get to the Finals!" FAU guy laughs.
22:23 - Sinickal and FAU dude have a conversation that none of us can hear that ends with, "Is somebody going to have to cut a bitch in the next 9 stops?" Tony responds with, "Do you think you are the only one on this train packing?" Pepster says, "Is Wayne Brady on this train?" Neither Sinickal nor FAU dude were being serious.
22:28 - Sinickal gets into it with some UConn people talking about Syracuse being an actual basketball power. Pepster reminds him that Syracuse is a former basketball power. Sinickal's response of "Fuck you" has the entire train laughing!
22:31 - Exit train secure in our knowledge that everyone on that train would have said they wanted a quiet ride home if asked, not realizing they actually needing us as entertainment.
22:36 - At Mai's Restaurant - a 24-hour Vietnamese place.
22:39 - First bourbons of the evening.
22:43 - Mai's is REALLY GOOD!!!!
23:45 - Walk across the street to Wooster's for one last nightcap. Old people are getting tired. Pam says she is going home.
23:47 - Enter Wooster's for a nightcap. Pam is still with us. [Ed. Note - Wooster's is a cool looking place with some damn good craft cocktails. Pepster ordered a beer.
00:23 - Home!
No comments:
Post a Comment