Play Day

The Friday before the tournament starts just exudes hopefulness as the fans of all four teams still think they have a chance; we just think we are going to have fun.

6:30 Hopps wakes up - obviously still on Eastern Daylight Time.

6:42 Pepster wakes up - also still on Eastern Daylight Time.

7:25 Tony joins Hopps and Pepster.

8:10 Hopps contemplates running to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, as Sinickal is "dead to the world".

8:12 Sinickal wakes up.

9:15 Pepster reads the blog post from day 1 and arrogantly explains to Sinickal that we are not in "Pacific" time, but rather Mountain time - more specifically Mountain Standard Time (as Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time.

9:16 Sinickal explains that if we are 3 hours behind the Eastern Time Zone, we are in Pacific time, and he will not abide by any of Pepster's technicalities.

9:21 Hopps changes the television from the Dan Lebatard show to the LPGA tourney.  None of us have the will to make him change it back.

11:09 On the road to lunch. Sinickal asks if we have a food preference for lunch.  Hopps responds "televisions and beer".

11:11 Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers, because Pepster wants, well, Cold Beer AND cheeseburgers.  Interestingly, Pepster is the only one that actually orders a cheeseburger.

11:17 The bartender at Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers is discussing how cold it is with a couple of waitresses (it wasn't), and proclaims, "All I have is a flannel".  We know this doesn't sound funny in print, but trust us, it was.

11:21  Sinickal points out that one of the televisions is playing a girls high school basketball game.  While discussing whether we should be OK with that or not, the bartender, Ashley, yells "I am not OK with it.  I am sorry, women's sports are boring.  Throw an elbow or something".  I guess we know where she stands on Title IX.

11:37 While researching the official NCAA team bars, Sinickal finds that South Carolina is hosted by Seamus McCaffrey's, while pronouncing it See-mus.  Hopps and Pepster immediately jump on the mis-pronunciation.  Sinickal responds, "I don't speak Irish".

11:42 We are unhappy with the Muzak selection, so Sinickal inquires from the nearest waitress if the music was a touch tunes jukebox or programmed.  After asking him several times to repeat the query, waitress says, "Apparently I don't speak English".

11:44 Lunch!

12:41 Two girls walk into the bar that do not look like they are regulars.  Hopps immediately assumes they are South Carolina fans (they are not).  Turns out they are from South Dakota and pre-scouting for one of their bachelorette parties.  It was not the bachelorette party, but rather the scouting trip for a future bachelorette party.  In retrospect, we should have rewarded their industriousness with a beverage.

13:04 Leave Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers for a quick Safeway trip, to stock up the fridge.

13:31 Discover that the Safeway has a beer and wine bar, inside the store.

13:36 The two other guys at the bar tell us that the good thing about that particular bar is they can drink while their wives shop, and the bartenders are not allowed to take tips.  Neither of their wives are shopping.

13:37 Sinickal asks the two guys if they are regulars.  One of them is way too emphatic in responding "Yes".

13:42 While paying the tab, Sinickal asks the bartender if he can take tips, he responds, "Yes, and thank you for asking".

13:42:30  Other guy at the bar "Apparently we aren't as regular as we thought".

14:01 We hear something sliding around in the trunk.

14:04 Open the hatch in the back to bring in our groceries, the 6 pack of Grapefruit Shandy that Hopps purchased for breakfast - it is fruit after all - falls onto the driveway and breaks.  I guess we know what shifted 3 minutes ago.

14:07 Back to Safeway.

14:20  While ordering two Scottsdale Blonde Ales, the keg kicked after almost filling one glass.  While changing the keg, the bartender splits the beer into two mugs for Sinickal and Hopps to have.  Hopps responds, "It isn't the first time we have shared a beer".  OK, so this isn't really funny, but it also isn't exactly what Hopps said either.

14:51 Older lady (perhaps in her late 70s) orders 2 chardonnays.  We immediately decide that she is our type of person.

15:13 Sinickal is searching for a social media post from almost exactly 6 years ago.  Struggling to find it he proclaims, "I post a lot".  Hopps finishes the sentence "Said every high school girl".

15:30 Hopps is Facetiming with his kids.  Shows them, for some inane reason, the bathroom sink, toilet and shower.

15:58 Hopps is still Facetiming - tells his family that "Pepster is Cuban, so he is cleaning".

16:00 Big Wigg, a friend of Pepster's from Florida who now lives in Tucson, arrives for the festivities.

16:21 At All American Modern Sports Grill in Scottsdale to meet Don, a family friend of Sincikal. We will be here for a while having drinks and dinner.

17:51 Hopps witnessing Don speak to Big Wigg, remarks "Just an old black man giving an old black man a lesson.  Don was not teaching anyone a lesson, they were just having cigars.  I get the feeling Hopps was saving this one up to use.

18:51 My notes say "Chill means cold".  I have no idea what this means.

19:16 Big Si (Dad) texts Sinickal about what was going on.  Sinickal tells him where we were posted up.  Big Si's response, "You probably didn't know I lived in Scottsdale".

19:17  Big Si and Sinickal's mom stop in, as they were coincidentally having pizza next door.

19:18 Pepster meets Sinickal's mom and dad for the first time, ever.

19:53  Sinickal imparting some wisdom to the group, "If you hang out with high class women, you have to have high class game".

20:11  Head back home to drop the car off and Uber the rest of the evening.

20:33 Hopps stops at the convenience store for cigarettes and water.  We can't accurately explain exactly how delicious this water is.

20:44 Enter Tilted Kilt.  Sit at the bar for some food and drink and see that South Carolina women are up over UConn with only 5 minutes left.  Start to watch intently.

21:04 While the game is in overtime, dude comes up to us and starts talking about his track career in college.  Apparently he ran the 800m, 1500m and 3000m.

21:06 Pepster realizes that this dude is either lying or an idiot as he name drops that he went to college and was almost as good as "Olympian Jeremy Warner".  This dude does not realize that Pepster is an Olympic aficianado, and that the Olympian's name is pronounced War-i-ner (three syllables, not two).  Pepster immediately asks if he meant "War-i-ner" not "War-ner".  Dude says, "War-ner", there is no Jeremy "War-i-ner".  [Ed. Note - Pepster is right, as Jeremy Wariner has won 4 Olympic medals, including gold in the 800m in 2004].  Pepster tells dude that "If you are going to name drop you should at least get the name right".  Dude just turns and leaves.

21:15 UCONN goes down.  South Carolina's women's team defeats the mighty Huskies.

21:21  Hopps and Sinickal play Golden Tee.  Big Wigg gets hooked into the Golden Tee game as well and declares that it was "Time to fuck with some knobs".

21:51 A Pepset commences on Touch Tunes.  Of course it starts with Fat Joe's We Make it Rain.  No confirmation or denial about whether the set including anything by the Two Live Crew.

21:53 Big Wigg decides to play gracious host (as he lives in Arizona) and buys a round of tequila shots.

22:05 During the Pepset, It Feels Good by Tony Toni Tone' comes on, random guys playing darts next to us come over to high five Pepster.

22:49 We head to the next establishment.  As we are leaving half the bar asks us to stay so that they can keep hearing good music.  Apparently they don't realize how Touch Tunes works.

23:49 In an Uber XL to Bourbon and Bones, except we get a Chrysler 300. Hopps says that as an Uber driver himself, "this is not an XL."

23:51 Big Wigg asks the Uber driver if he and his partner broke up. We don't know how this conversation started, and we don't know if he is referring to a business personal partner.

23:53 Get to Bourbon and Bones and realize that our Uber driver (thick, white, nerdy) is in a pimped out Chrysler!

23:55  Bourbon and Bones, where they serve bacon automatically with your bourbon.  Sinickal becomes upset as his bacon "disappeared".  Only hours later did Pepster admit to eating Sinickal's bacon.

00:45 Arrive at Coachman House for a night cap...and another game of Golden Tee. Hopps is on to water.

01:30 Big Wigg departs for his hotel. I don't think he knew all of what he was getting into today.

01:43 Pepster announces that he will lay down and go to sleep on the floor of the bar.

01:55 Good night all

Picks of the Week

A second consecutive great week.  Let's see if we can keep this streak going.

As  a reminder, each pick is using the spread (straight up is for wussies), and the betting line is from the same website each week as of the time of typing the entry. I keep a running tally of my record, plus my winnings/losses. We will pretend that I bet $100 on each game, with one game each week going for $250. Winnings/Losses will be calculated including a 10% vig, which just makes the math that much simpler. Now, on to the picks.

New York Jets + 9 1/2 at New England Patriots
There was no way the Patriots were going to cover this spread.

Baltimore Ravens -6 1/2 v. Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta is reeling.  There one saving grace was their performance at home, until last week.  They are not at home this week.

Buffalo Bills -5 1/2 v. Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota may have given up on this season.

New Orleans Saints + 1 1/2 at Detroit Lions
Detroit without Calvin Johnson has had problems putting points on the board.  The Saints, although they have been losing, can still score.

Carolina Panthers +6 at Green Bay Packers
The Packers pass defense has not been stellar all year, and now their number 1 cornerback, Sam Shields, is out, and their number 2 cornerback, Tramon Williams, may not play either.  Look for a big game from Cam Newton, and probably even Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olsen.

Indianapolis Colts -3 v. Cincinnati Bengals
The Colts, especially Andrew Luck are on a roll, while the Bengals are moving backwards.  It is likely that last week's tie may have taken some of the spark from the Bengals this week.  As for Luck, did you see what Tom Brady did against the Bengals last week.

Cleveland Browns -4 at Jacksonville Jaguars
Cleveland is a lot better than most people think, the Jaguars are exactly as good as some people think.  Although, they do play hard and they have fought behind Blake Bortles.  I think the Browns pass defense might just be too good for Jacksonville to cover.

Seattle Seahawks -6 1/2 at St. Louis Rams
So I have not taken too many road favorites, so a second consecutive one does not bother me this week.  The Seahawks will be looking to make a statement after last week's loss at home to the Cowboys.

Tennessee Titans +4 1/2 at Washington Redskins
I am not sure I like either side of this pick, so I will take the points.

San Diego Chargers -3 v. Kansas City Chiefs
San Diego is the best team in the NFL right now, and they are only giving up a field goal at home.  Kansas City is better than their record, but they are not on the Chargers' level.  Plus, without Eric Berry at Safety for the Chiefs, Phillip Rivers should get 300 yards this game, easy.

Dallas Cowboys -4 1/2 v. New York Giants
The Giants lost bad last week to the Eagles, and they lost Victor Cruz.  He is their most targeted receiver, by far, and gets almost 8 yards after the catch.  That is going to be hard for the Giants to replace, even with the emergence of Odell Beckham, Jr.

Arizona Cardinals -3 1/2 at Oakland Raiders
Arizona is a tough team, and although Oakland has played very well in its losses, they have all been losses.  That should continue.  I would have put this spread at about 5 1/2, then it would be a closer decision.

Denver Broncos -6 1/2 v. San Francisco 49ers
If this was a playoff game, I pick the 49ers with this spread without hesitation.  But since it is a regular season game in Denver, I look for the Broncos to beat the 49ers by more than a touchdown.

Houston Texans +3 at Pittsburgh Steelers
What kind of a world do we live in where I have more faith in a Harvard quarterback than the Pittsburgh Steelers?  A great one!!!

BIG BET OF THE WEEK

Chicago Bears -3 v. Miami Dolphins
This spread is only 3?!  I hate selecting my favorite team for my big bet, but with this week's lines, I cannot help it.

Previous Week's Record: 9-5-1
Year to Date: 48-42-1
Big Bet Last Week: 1-0
Big Beat Year to Date: 5-1
Winnings (Losses) Last Week: $500
Winnings (Losses) Year-To-Date: $765

Gainesvegas, Florida

As some of you readers may recall, I had the opportunity to attend two home football games at the University of Florida this season. This came about because: (a) I love attending live sporting events; (b) its a college town with college co-eds; and (c) Racecar graduated from UF, and is thus incredibly brainwashed, indoctrinated or just a big fan, whichever one actually applies. Although the original plan was to blog from each of the games, too much drinking and a lack of actual maneuvering around campus contributed to a lack of stories for each of the two games, however, combining them into one post made much more sense. And the eve of the SEC championship game seems like the appropriate time. So that it's easier to read, I am going to treat the stories as if they happened in one weekend. For the record, the two games were against the University of Miami and LSU.

Each weekend we arrived, we would go to the Dragonfly in downtown Gainesville for dinner. A great place for sushi and people watching as everybody, and I mean absolutely everybody, tries to get in there on game weekends. We try to arrive by 6:00 - 6:30 at the latest, otherwise it's an incredibly long wait. From Dragonfly it's usually back to Racecar's friends, Steffan and Tera's house. Steffan and Tera are incredibly gracious hosts on game weekends, letting friends and acquaintances stay the night in their extra rooms and usually hosting a gameday party/cookout/kegfest the day of the game. Each of these two gamedays were no exception. Much love to Steffan and Tera.

After getting back to Steffan and Tera's, Racecar and I changed clothes from our trip (it's a good four hour drive, made a bit longer on game weekends), to go out for the evening. Steffan is a regular, well everywhere, but Racecar and I were to take leave of our hosts that evening to meet up with my boy KZ and his wife Amy. He is a UF alum, while Amy just puts up with him. KZ wants to meet at the Purple Porpoise (I know it is officially Gator City, but no self-respecting patron would ever call it that). For those not familiar with the Porpoise, it is a college bar, through and through, separated into 3 sections. The front looks like a regular restaurant/bar, with a long bar and tables to sit at. The middle section turns into a dance club at night, while the back is a pure bar, with televisions showing games, pool tables, video games, dart boards, etc. We saunter into the back for a number of reasons, but primarily because it is the least crowded. Racecar and I arrive first.

We decide to start the evening with a pitcher and a shot each, so I walk up to the bar to order. (Who am I kidding, we "started off" at Dragonfly). I walk to the bar to purchase our libations and I see a college kid wearing a t-shirt with a Republican elephant on it talking to three attractive females in brightly colored dresses about how the Republican Party under George Bush has abandoned its principles by overspending any administration in history. Even though I agree with that statement, I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Buddy, trust me on this one. It's great that you are political and involved, but I am sure that on game weekend these lovely ladies don't want to be discussing politics".

I know that he took the advice to heart, because as I went to order round 2, another pitcher with a patron for me (no training wheels), I hear him holding court with the same lovely young ladies. This time he is talking about music, particularly the Unda Surveillance song "On Deck". He is talking about the words to the song, but butchering the line "Got my Patron on Deck". Again, I intervene and tell him the proper line, "Got my Patron on deck". He says thanks, I turn to the bar, grab my shot, and tell him, "No, I am serious, my Patron was on deck". Sometimes it is just way too easy with college kids.

KZ and Amy arrive, with lots of their friends in tow. We have a good time, but its getting to be about time to liven the place up a bit. I walk over to the jukebox to play a PepSet. (I must give Sinickal the credit for first coining the phrase SiSet, but I have now co-opted it, as PepSet sounds better anyway). Now, I enjoy different types of music, but each has their own place. At around 10-10:30 on game weekend in a college bar, its time for some rhythm. I put on some Stevie, some Earth Wind & Fire (the greatest band of all time) definitely some Michael J (two songs in fact), a little U2 (Sunday, Bloody Sunday). I continued the set with Mary J. Blige, Outkast, Flo-Rida (for Racecar), Beenie Man and finished it up with Akon and two new ones by Kardinal Offishall and Lady Gaga. I know I had a few more. A pretty good set if I do say so myself. A kid named Edwin was standing behind me with some money, looked at me and said, "Great picks, now I don't have to play any songs". Now we just wait until my songs play.

As we are talking to our friends and imbibing some surprisingly expensive beers for a college bar, we see a completely obliterated couple come up to the jukebox (we are situated close to it) and make some plays. Only, it turns out, they paid extra to have each of their songs played "next". The first four were garbage, but then Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison" comes on, and they start screaming and dancing. I look at the guy, asked him if he selected this song, and he says "Yes, isn't it great?" My reply was, "Yeah, 1 out of 5 ain't bad". Too easy I tell ya.

After a bit more conversatin' (geez, Gainesville is rubbing off on my diction - no pun intended - Ok, maybe it was), the girls want to go into the dance club section of the bar. Only, it isn't playing any of what I would consider dance music. Toni Basil's "Mickey" was the first song I heard, then Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". I look around and I see why they aren't playing any dance music as the young, mostly white crowd is flailing around aimlessly. Not much dancing really going on. In a (not so) completely unrelated note, Racecar may, or may not, have fallen a couple of times. For those of you that remember my post from last November, this could officially become a trend.

The next morning we wake up, have some breakfast and bring some bagels back to the household to help Steffan and Tera prepare for the party. It goes relatively swimmingly, except for the one guy who takes over the grill and immediately starts serving double cheeseburgers to everyone that requests a burger. Not that I minded, but then again, I didn't buy the burgers. He then looks back at the grill and sees two burgers that don't look right, so he just throws them into the bushes. Unfortunately, this clown didn't realize that Tera is a vegetarian, and those were her veggie burgers. Needless to say, Tera was hungry.

After some great afternoon drinking, we decide to head up to the stadium a few hours before kickoff for some official tailgating. This is incredibly easy for us to do as Steffan and Tera live six blocks from the Porpoise and the Swamp (the bar) and seven blocks from The Swamp (the Stadium). It's an easy two-legged commute, and an easier two wheel commute (bike taxi). We actually walk to the stadium and stop off at Pita Pit for a bite. If you have one near you, try it. While I stand in line, three obviously college age girls stand directly in front of me. One is on the telephone and the other two have rather disgusted looks on their face. While listening to half of the conversation, I surmise that the one on the telephone is trying to meet up with some guy. Right before hanging up, she says, OK, we will meet you at Mothers. The other two girls tell her that they don't want to go to Mothers, and proceed to leave the Pita Pit. The first one then shouts, "Wait, where is Mothers?" I answer her quickly, "Chicago". Didn't I tell you that sometimes it is just too easy with college kids?

We then head out to a pre-determined tailgate, hosted by the business partner of the brother of a friend of Racecar (or something like that). We get there, meet some people, have some drinks, and generally enjoy ourselves. Lots of music is playing, and as the song turns to Akon's "I Wanna Make Love (Na Na Na Na)", everyone proceeds to (try to) dance. After the interesting performances the previous night, and watching at this moment, I officially give Gainesville, Florida a nickname. Not the "Titletown, USA" that they wanted to steal from Green Bay, WI in the ESPN travesty, but rather, "Gainesville, Florida: The Town that Rhythm Forgot". Trust me, it is apropos.

From the tailgate we proceed to the game. As we are walking, we remember that a couple we know had a really bad spat earlier during the day. Why do we remember this? Because that couple is who got us tickets. Talking about awkward. Still enjoyed the games, as much as possible when the game is boring (Miami) and completely uncompetitive (LSU).

I don't want to get into the full rant now, as I am trying to work out a future post, but Florida fans, at least the ones in the stadium, are awful. Telling people to sit down during important plays because they are trying to watch the game. This seems to be a trend, as a similar situation occurred during last year's Capital One Bowl game versus Michigan.

Due to the lopsided scores, and our day long inebriation, we leave the game a bit early, stop and get some pizza, and take a bike taxi back to Steffan and Tera's house. Once everyone else returns, the partying continues until everyone passes out.

Now Steffan and Tera are great hosts, as I mentioned earlier, offering up spare bedrooms, couches and everything else available. On one of these occasions, Racecar and I were awarded the office. Much better than a couch or even the picnic table outside, we considered ourselves lucky, as the office had an air mattress. Unfortunately, Racecar and I are not the smallest couple in the world, and I think this had an effect on the air mattress, which wilted under our collective pressure (weight?). The entire night, each toss and turn proceeded to throw the other person around the mattress, or off of it entirely. Definitely an entertaining evening.

For those that like live sporting events, you can certainly do worse than a football game at the University of Florida. Just take my word for it, do not say anything bad about Tim Tebow. They get really touchy about that in Gainesville.