8:55 - Everyone is awake.
9:28 - Hopps and Pepster head to the store/coffee shop for well, coffee and breakfast. Three doors down there is a gentlemen outside his house (decrepit with a weed-ridden yard) pointing at things and discussing with a woman who looked like she was a neighbor walking down the sidewalk before he stopped her. Hopps says, "Is he trying to convince her that his house is nice?" We were pretty sure that he was hitting on her.
10:07 - Hopps pulls into the Church's Fried Chicken parking lot as the sign on the door says they open at 10. (Yes, there was a Church's in our neighborhood). Hopps goes to the door, but it is locked. Waits for several minutes until he sees someone inside and goes back to the door. It turns out the sign says open at 10:30. Hopps blames his glaucoma.
Entire morning - We do work. It is a Monday after all.
12:20 - Uber downtown.
12:28 - We pass the Texas Liver Institute, conveniently located within blocks of the Riverwalk.
12:31 - Strong opening presence for Villanova.
12:36 - At MadDogs for lunch.
12:45 - 8 ladies in Villanova garb sit down at the table near us and immediately order shots of Jameson's. We take bets as to whether they will make it to the game or not.
13:13 - This bar serves Coors Lite or water in tins that resemble large solo cups. The cans are Coors Lite swag given to the bar. Sinickal asks the bartender if he can have his water in a regular cup and his Bud Light in the tin. The bartender tells him that it would feel like lying if he did that since the cups were from Coors Lite, and then continues, "I only lie to girls." The other bartender has no such qualms.
14:10 - Finish lunch and go to the Alamo. This is the quickest academic trip any of us have ever taken.
15:00 - Some homeless guys on the Riverwalk go to toast us because they also have "energy drinks". The toast ends with them saying, "And don't forget to, uh ... uh ... well ... just be careful tonight."
15:25 - At Durty Nelly's on Riverwalk. As we approach the bar a piano player is playing Country Roads. Pepster remarks that "If he really liked country roads, he wouldn't have flown his own airplane!"
15:32 - See a lady walking wearing a "Michigan Alumna" shirt. Pepster applaudes her because it says "alumna" where all the rest of the shirts say "alumni", and this annoys admittedly way more than it should.
15:40 - As we sit at the outside patio tables at Durty Nelly's, gusts of wind blow all types of "things" off the trees on the Riverwalk. Hopps is annoyed (go figure). Hopps responds that, "In Quincy [MA} the trash is on the streets." Sinickal reminds him that "In Quincy, the trash walks the streets!"
15:41 - Pepster just responds to Hopps (about something different from the above statement), "Really Hopps? We are in public!"
15:43 - After a random discussion, Sinickal mentions that, "We party so hard we brought our lawyer.". Lady sitting alone at the table next to Hopps and Pepster and across from Tony and Sinickal finally laughs. It should be noted that she is alone because her husband has been out of the restaurant on the phone for about 20 minutes. She has been trying to ignore us, but this line brought her into the conversation.
15:45 - Sinickal decides that next year we all share our phones with each other's location finders because "Racsan always turns right". Racsan in this situation is Hopps, and it is Nascar spelled backwards. (For those that don't understand, the Nascar races on ovals, or most of the races, only include left turns. This is not the first nickname for Hopps (See "K-Fed" 2007; See also De Angelo Russell 2016).
15:46 - The husband of the lady at the table next to us returns from phone calls and texts. It turns out he is just like us, travelling to as many final fours as possible. This is also his fourth in a row, just as it is for Pepster, Sinickal and Tony. It's Hopps's third out of four years. We tentatively make plans to meet in Minneapolis.
15:48 - It is becoming increasingly hot outside. Sinickal wants to find some air conditioner, at states, "We need some shade." Hopps responds that "I have been trying to throw shade for 4 days!"
16:00 - We meet Mike and Larissa at The River's Edge. Mike is a fellow member at Sinickal's golf club in the D.C. area.
16:00 - 18:00 - Mostly radio silence as we try to make Hopps behave in front of Mike and Larissa.
18:22 - While discussing a memorial golf tourney in honor of Dr. Hopps, which will be in D.C. later this year, Sinickal tells Mike that "This is something that you want to be a part of", Mike, grasping his beer for another sip says, "Thing is, I don't drink."
18:41 - We seea young girl walking on a stone wall on the Riverwalk near her parents but not really paying attention to her surroundings. She hits a tree, causing her to fall onto the wall and then onto the sidewalk. We think she is OK.
As an aside, we have no idea how more people don't fall into the river at the Riverwalk. The walkways are narrow, made mostly of uneven stone, with no guardrails of any kind, with too many people, and lots of beverages. It is a good thing the river is only about 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep.
19:00 - We notice that at the table next to us is Tubby Smith, Lute Olson, and their respective wives. Go Cats!
19:02 - Hopps actually takes a picture with Tubby Smith, but Hopps doesn't share.
19:34 - After finally getting our tab (boy is service generally bad here), we head to the Alamodome.
20:01 - In the concourse, see 3 of 8 Villanova girls that had the early Jameson shot at lunch. I guess some of them were able to make the game.
20:08 - In seats for the championship game.
20:12 - 20:14 - After watching Michigan's dapmaster, we determine that a dapmaster is somebody that everyone should recruit for their team!
20:20 - Tipoff. Mostly radio silence.
21:47 - Villanova's band plays Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas. After destroying Kansas in the semi-finals, this is funny.
22:30 - Villanova Wildcats - YOUR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!
As a side note on the game, despite jumping out to a lead, the Wolverines never had a chance, especially once Mo Wagner caught a personal and a double foul on the same play early in the second half. He was legitimately the only scoring threat on Michigan's team, and he had to monitor his play in the second half to keep from getting an early fourth. This is coincidentally when Donte DiVincenzo went on his second run of the game. We glossed him "Donny Buckets!"
22:45 - Villanova's band plays All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled.
22:52 - One Shining Moment! The pinnacle of the Final Four.
22:57 - Sarah Spain tweats, "Is it better to be on One Shining Moment crying, or not on One Shining Moment. We all agree the former.
As an aside, watching a game like this while simultaneously monitoring social media - especially twitter - is AMAZING!!!! (Assuming your follow sports writers and commentators).
23:18 - Off the Alamodome campus.
23:31 - Meet up with Hopps at Durty Nelly's. (Hopps left before the end of the game to beat the rush).
00:38 - Order Uber home. The drive that picks us up is the same driver that took us to Riverwalk.
00:40 - We try to calculate the percentage likelihood that this would happen. Driver reminds us that only 30% of Uber vehicles classify as "Uber XL".
00:56 - Go to sleep. Pepster has to leave at 5:00 to go to the airport in the morning.
00:57 - Immediately start planning to go to Minneapolis 2019.
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