Day 2 - Saturday, April 2
Game day is finally here. Let's see what is in store for us. Sinickal and Pepster are so excited as it has been 3 years since our last Final Four trip. Kev-O has just started to learn about what this trip is all about.
8:00 - Pepster and Sinickal arise. It is storming out, but the rain is supposed to let up around noon. That means a lazy morning.
8:20 - Lazy morning means watching "Winning Time." Sinickal cannot believe that Pepster is not watching this. We roll through 3 episodes.
9:57 - Kev-O comes downstairs. He has been awake for a while, apparently buying a house or something. Says it was a good thing drunk Kev-O left him some chili cheese fritos and a diet coke on the nightstand.
11:39 - Rain has let up and we walk to the quarter for lunch.
12:13 - Some of the casual places to which we intended to go we already packed, so we pop into Antoine's, one of the trinitiy of old-school New Orleans restaurants (the others being Commander's Palace and Galatoire's). We wonder if we might be too casual to be allowed in, as Kev-O has on a hat and Pepster is in flip-flops. Then, we spot a customer in a Christian Laettner jersey. If they allow that trash, flip-flops are good.
12:18 - Bourbon drinks with lunch!!! All 3 of us start off with gumbo.
12:42 - While talking about Kev-O finding out that he bought a house during a phone call from his wife, Sinickal finds out that he bought a recycling bin from a text message.
13:06 - Walking up Bourbon with no actual destination, just soaking it all in. A car passes with all types of writing. On the back window it says "Honk if you hate Coach K", and then a Venmo!
13:08 - Three guys about our age or a little older are walking ahead of us. 2 guys wearing Duke jackets, but the third is wearing a Harvard hat. Pepster wants to go say hi, but then, he takes out and puts on a Duke jacket. Sinickal and Kev-O bust out laughing.
13:13 - Enter Tickler's. We are literally the only patrons in the place. Really loud piano/drum duet, but, they are pretty good.
13:16 - Remember that we forgot to see if Connecticut or Stanford won last night in the women's tourney (it was Connecticut). Pepster unloads this stat: Geno Auriemma has been in 22 Final Fours; He is 12-10 in the semi-finals and 11-0 in the Finals. Sinickal immediately calls in to get some money on UConn on the money line.
13:20 - Back on the street and a guy wearing a Villanova shirt stops Sinickal, which somehow turns into Sinickal chastising a Kansas fan about Syracuse's 2003 Big 12 championship.
12:31 - Enter Parade. Not a parade, it is the name of the establishment.
13:34 - Talking to two Kansas fans about the weekend, when one remarks, "I am that glad we have some red in our colors, so we stand out." Pepster tells him, "You can't be a Blood AND a Crip!"
13:51 - Bartender for no reason just yells out "Yeah Sportsball!"
14:08 - Racecar texts Pepster, "What brand of washer do I want to shop for?"
14:11 - Kev-O is outside. Pepster and Sinickal hope he is just smoking and not talking to his wife with her telling him they just bought a duplex.
14:13 - A second line goes by outside, but no parade, just a five-piece band.
14:18 - Oh, there is the rest of the parade. Looks to be a funeral procession as lots of people have signs with the same guy's face on them.
14:21 - Young-looking kids come into the bar (seriously, they just got carded). One is wearing a Duke jersey and the other a Carolina jersey. After questioning how they could actually be friends, Sinickal tells them that they should be lucky that Syracuse brought the ACC tournament to New York. They insist that it should always be in Charlotte. Sinickal says, "Or somewhere neutral, like Raleigh!"
14:23 - Sinickal explains to these kids that Madison Square Garden is the second most famous arena in the world. These kids ask, "What is the first?" Pepster looks at them and disdainfully says, "The Colosseum!" We have no idea what they are teaching these kids in Duke and North Carolian.
14:28-14:31 - Again walking in the Quarter and we see 3 really poorly-timed bachelorette parties.
14:35 - Sandwich board outside a bar reads, "How much ass can you handle?" We believe the correct answer is "How much you got?"
14:40 - Enter Bourbon House. One of Pepster's friends from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is eating lunch with his friend, so we sidle up to the bar to wait for them to finish.
14:45 - Three guys eating at the bar see us and start to engage us about the weekend. One of them says that he was rooting for Duke. Pepster tells him, "You look smarter than that!" He responds, "Really?" Pepster answers, "I guess not!"
14:51 - $28 for 3 Elijah Craig small batches!!! We will be back here for sure!
15:22 - Kev-O says, "Worst case scenario, no on both!"
15:24 - Kev-O, who had previously stated he was buying the next round, had popped into the facilities when the bartender asks if we want another round. Sinickal says, "We will reload, just waiting for out buddy. He's paying!" Manager loses it and backs off from the drink he was making.
15:33 - In describing Susan, Kev-O's wife, Sinickal says, "She is from Texas, but will give you everything Brooklyn's got!"
15:39 - Matt Young and Keion finish lunch and join us at the bar.
15:44 - Matt graciously orders a round (4 bourbons this time), and Keion wants a beer. Asks the bartender for an IPA. Bartender says we have plenty. Keion says, a west coast IPA. Bartender quits. Other bartender brings him an New England IPA.
15:50 - start the walk to the Superdome.
16:30 - Enter Johnny Sanchez's for some hydration (Bud lights) from the walk. Celebrity Chef Aaron Sanchez apparently owns the place, and is HERE!
17:00 - Arrive at Caesar's Superdome!
17:07 - See the Saints only have 7 names in their Ring of Honor - one is a kicker and the other is an owner. The members are: Will Smith, Morton Anderson, Rickey Jackson, Sam Mills, Tom Benson, Archie Manning, and Willie Roaf. (We imagine Drew Brees and Sean Payton will be there soon!). Sinickal notes that "Will Smith is going to resign from the Ring of Honor also!"
17:09 - Tip-off of Kansas/Villanova. Radio silence during the game.
17:11 - OK, who am I kidding about radio silence. Kansas is on pace to win this game 140-0. (Seriously, it is 7-0 after 2 minutes.)
17:13 - The Kansas student section is not full.
17:29 - Sinickal notes that one of his subtly favorite parts of the Final Four is that "The Road Always Ends Here!"
17:42 - Sinickal is upset that he can't make a wager on something, saying "Caesar's must be blocking my MGM app!"
18:00 - Kev-O notes that "Bill Raftery should have better seats".
18:18 - Getting beers when the server asks for IDs. Sinickal says I could just tell you who was President when I was born. Worker, "I wouldn't know what that means". Kev-O says, "I blame your civics teacher!" He replies, "I didn't have one!" Sinickal notes that he must be from Florida.
18:55 - During a time out, they do a "Dance Cam," but they are playing the Village People! Ugh!
18:57 - Villanova guard does a pointless Missy Elliott dribble. Driving to the hoop he just "put the thing down flipped it and reversed it" back out to the three-point line.
18:59 - Back to Bill Raftery, we start discussing which 3 broadcasters we would love to have with us at dinner. Topic arises because Kev-O believes Raftery is in that group. Pepster believe it is because at the end, Kev-O will get, "A Kiss!" Other solid names, Vin Scully, Jim Nantz, and the darkhorse, Gus Johnson! Imagine him at the table. "And here is Sinickal, WITH A CAESAR SALAD!!!"
19:08 - Oh yeah, there was a basketball game. Kansas wins.
19:39 - Duke is not filling up its student section.
19:39 - Kev-O yells, "I can see Banchero's forehead from here!"
19:53 - After a monstrous Mark Williams dunk, Pepster tells Kev-O that although Williams was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, his sister was a four-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and then it occurs to him, "Mark Williams is the Reggie Miller of Duke!"
19:54 - Duke fan two rows up is ALREADY obnoxious.
20:17 - Pepster notes that Krzyzewski has 5 titles in 13 Final Fours. Notes that "Krzyzewski is the LeBron James of college coaches!" Sinickal adds, "He is the John Wooden of not being as good as John Wooden!"
20:26 - Sinickal and Kev-O go to the restroom where they get to witness a Superdome employee just pissing in the sink. Guy sees them walk in and goes, "It has been a long day brah!" No more hand washing this time. (Although to be fair, this stadium has seen a lot worse.)
20:29 - Papa Si texts Sinickal asking "What happened to Roy Williams?" Sinickal's response was "Do you even watch sports anymore?"
21:18 - Roll out to buy one last round because it must be close to last call. The employees tell us they have stopped serving. The sign on every concession says, "No alcohol sales after the 10:00 mark of the second half!" The clock on the game, as show on the televisions in the concessions says "14:53!". When pointing this out, the employees say, "We didn't even know we had a sign!" Sinickal connives his way into 3 beers.
22:04 - Duke calls timeout between a pair of Caleb Love free throws. Kev-O to the obnoxious Duke fan behind us, "Did he do that to ice the shooter or to prolong his career?"
22:07 - North Carolina wins.
22:16 - During the long procession outside the Superdome, Kev-O disheartingly notes that "We didn't get to see a kid in a Duke uni crying, you know, like Conor from Raleigh!"
22:21 - Pepster's friend Wass texts him a tweet from Tim Reynolds that reads, "North Carolina points out that in the phrase "Coach K's farewell games," there are, in fact, tow Ls!"
22:53 - Enter the Virgin hotel for the Rooftop bar.
22:57 - Meet up with two of Pepster's college dormmates, John from Chicago and Kendrick from Memphis. It turns out John knows Sinickal's sister and brother-in-law, independently!
23:33 - John asks Kev-O to take a picture of the three of them. The first time, the flash does not go off, John remarks that "I am just all eyes and teeth"!.
23:35 - The better picture.
23:38 - Begin the long walk back to the AirBnB. We are definitely going to have to make several stops along the way.
23:47 - Kev-O recounted a story of him and Susan, which Pepster hears, "Her lease was up so she moved in!" Remembering his own situation, Pepster says, "The Lease is up. That is how they get you!"
23:59 - Lady on Bourbon Street just yelled out "Aftermath Party!"
So seriously, Bourbon Street is PACKED! It is hard to walk in the street, and the police barricades make it even more difficult as every intersection becomes a bottleneck.
00:01 - Pop into the Royal Sonesta bar - it looks accessible in the crowdedness that is Bourbon Street. Lady closing the door tells us to "Hurry up, when I close the door we are closed!" But she lets us in to get one last one. We get up to the bar and the bartender says, "Sorry guys, we are closed!"
00:06 - Just down the block is Mango Mango Daquiris. We do not get a daquiri.
00:26 - Pass a fairly sizable group of older people walking in the other direction on Bourbon Street wearing black tie!!! Pepster states that "They are coming back from Coach K's funeral!"
00:31 - Pass a guy who for no reason looks at us and says, "Good luck with Google, Knowwhatsaying?"
00:39 - Enter some place. No idea what it is. But, it is 2 blocks from home.
00:55 - Heading home.
01:03 - Enter the Stab-N-Slab, which is our new name for the convenience store across the street. It is packed. We see why. Sinickal and Kev-O both order 2 piece fried chicken.
01:14 - We are locked out of the AirBnB. Code isn't working. Luckily Lauren answers her texts. Apologizes because apparently somebody re-set the system.
01:15 - Pepster goes to bed, while Sinickal and Kev-O devour their chicken.
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