A super unexpected night of games (not the outcomes, necessarily, but the WAY things played out. Wow. But we will get to that in due course. First, we have to start from the beginning, especially given the absolutely EPIC brunch we had. Here is day 2!!!
08:30 - We are all now up, and just hanging out on the connected front porches, with coffee (for most).
08:42 - We already notice that there are A LOT of dogs in this neighborhood. Pretty good sign we are in a nice place.
09:01 - A lady is out on her porch just yelling. We don't know if she is yelling at someone inside the house, or at the side of the house, or at her dog in her front yard. She is just yelling. Sinickal states, "Please tell me that she is white." She was.
09:13 - All catching up on some recent political/military news, especially discussing the downed pilot. Kev-O asks if we saw that Secretary Hegseth lifted the ban on having weapons on military bases. Pepster says that at least it would make a good country song. Seeing the other three are perplexed, he continues, you know, Try That in a Small Military Base!
09:22 - Guy stops his car in the middle of the road right in front of our house. he sits for a bit so that we assume he is an Uber or Lyft driver. He is not. He is just trying to figure out how to engage the auto-parallel park feature on his Tesla. The space could fit a bus or two!!! Kev-O yells out, "Be a man."
10:40 - Off to brunch.
10:52 - Park outside our brunch location. There is a big sign that says "Welcome to the Big Dance" with a basketball next to it just sitting on the adjacent corner. People are taking pictures in front of it. Sinickal looks, turns to Pepster and says, "brunch right next to a dance studio, nice!" Pepster had to admit that he actually made the same mistake when he first saw the sign. We assume it was because of the pair of thighs obscuring part of the sign when we arrived.
10:58 - Enter The Fountain Room. As we await the hostess who is gathering menus and the like, we notice this little decoration, that was actually the active sound system playing music throughout the restaurant. We already think this is going to be a cool place.
Kev-O notices other parts of the stereo system just sitting as decorations around the restaurant and remarks that we are listening to about $20K worth of equipment.
11:00 - Ithiyia is our server. She asks us who we are rooting for in the Final Four. Sinickal says, a Bloody Mary. Right now I am cheering for your cocktail list. Ithiyia says, "Good choice. I think it is going all the way this year."
11:12 - Maybe a weird thing to notice, but the drapes in this place are amazing.
11:14 - As we are remarking about the drapes, we notice a guy outside of his car on the street trying to figure out how to close his trunk. It took him about four tries to realize that something was covering the sensor.
11:15 - Ithiyia - in continuing the sports metaphors - noted that she hit for the cycle, as all four of us ordered the steak and eggs.
11:17 - The skillet cinnamon buns as a brunch appetizer were amazing!
11:18 - Who is Pam?
11:20 - Sinickal receives this message from long-time friend and supporter of Southwestern Central, "I am reading the Final Four Chronicles from an Irish Pub in Budapest." The fact that we posted about Viktor Orban in yesterday's chronicle is not lost on us!
11:24 - Kev-O, who in fact does NOT love Southwestern Central, is launching his own school. In explaining the name, location, meaning, importance, and symbolism of his school - which includes an important Supreme Court decision from 1811 - Pepster makes a historical reference in a joke about Supreme Court decisions made around that time. Sinickal notes, "I love that Kev-O has given Pepster the opportunity to make Supreme Court humor.
11:37 - What a great skirt steak!!!!
11:50 - We notice a woman sitting by herself at a nearby table as a cupcake with candle in it is delivered. We ask if we can sing happy birthday to her and Ithivia asks "Can you sing?" We sing happy birthday anyway.
11:55 - A way too animated discussion about chimichurri sauce.
11:57 - Somehow transitioned our discussion from chimichurri to Costco. Pepster hates Costco. Not the store, or its products, but the parking lots, and the crazy people that are always at Costco. Sinickal says, "In Pepster's words, all of these things are self-evident!"
12:03 - Discussion of sundials.
12:04 - 6:30 is a sundown town in Northern Virginia for Kev-O.
12:10 - We are talking about Julius Caesar (because of the calendar change), which leads to a comment about the fact that the first known autopsy was performed on Julius Caeser. Not necessarily important in and of itself, but ...
12:11 - Katie the Manager stops by to talk to us about the brunch drink menu and to apologize to us because, apparently, we had an old one, and Sinickal had ordered a drink that they can no longer prepare. Sinickal asks her if she wanted to go back into the kitchen and come back with a steak knife to stab him in the back. Tony says that we were just talking about Julius Caesar. Katie's response, "Et tu, Brute?"
12:12 - This latest round of drinks came courtesy of the weather. It is pouring outside. Can't walk to the car now.
12:22 - We now notice that Katie the Manager is putting in work, a very hands-on manager. She is all over this restaurant. In fact, she just went into the back walk-in cooler to get something for one of the other employees.
12:33 - Discussing hollers. Sinickal has to explain to Tony what a holler is. Kev-O notes that Sinickal is literally translating from Hillbilly to Northeast Italian, like some weird Rosetta Stone.
12:50 - Ithiyia arrives with another round of drinks. She walks up right as Sinickal is saying, "That is why she is really annoying." Ithiyia says, "I didn't think I was THAT bad!" [Ed. Note - He was not talking about Ithiyia.]
13:18 - Leave Fountain Room.
13:19 - Reminiscing about the olden days, or as Sinickal called it, "The sweatshirt over the ass AIDS phase!"
13:26 - Stop into a convenience store to buy beer. Whoops. Can't do that in Indiana.
13:26:30 - The convenience store worker says, "Good ole Indiana," then directs us to the liquor store 3 blocks away.
13:29 - Enter liquor store.
13:31 - Couple that entered the convenience store after us just entered the liquor store. We all notice each other and know that the exact same thing just occurred to them that happened to us.
13:52 - Back home. Kev-O opens up his Grippo's BBQ chips. These are REALLY good. Apparently, it is the one thing that Cincinnati is known for.
15:00 - We were going to head downtown, but How I Met Your Mother is on, and it is the Robin Doesn't Go to the Mall/Slap Bet episode. We are here for another 30 minutes.
15:42 - Uber arrives and we are on our way to Whistle Stop, the closest bar to Lucas Oil Stadium. We need to be close because it is still raining.
15:52 - There is a line outside of Whistle Stop. Not that long a line - especially when compared to the other bars near us - and we can stand under an awning.
16:00 - See a group of four guys wearing an orange t-shirt that says "Illinoisivic".
16:19 - As we are standing in the bar talking, Pepster and Kev-O start talking a little baseball. Guy in Illinois gear, who looks way too much like Dr. Hodgins on Bones, says to us, "I did not have hearing a Moises Alou reference on my Final Four bingo card for today." [Ed. Note - seriously, this guy was a dead ringer for Dr. Hodgins. Here is a picture for reference.]
16:44 - As we are standing in Whistle Stop, a lady at the table next to us notices Kev-O's Kentucky shirt and asks him where he was from. Turns out, she owns a condo in Kev-O's hometown, and has been vacationing there for 25 years. Sue was her name, and it turns out she was at the Final Four with 5 other of her friends, all in their late 50's. This is their 12th consecutive Final Four, and in their words, "This is our girls trip. Husbands not invited!" They are basically us. We keep telling you that this event is a must-see, every year.
17:55 - Leave Whistle Stop for Lucas Oil.
18:02 - Enter Lucas Oil Stadium.
18:09 - Tip-Off. Radio Silence.
18:33 - Who are we kidding. During a timeout, the jumbotron contains some information introducing us to the teams. It lists Illinois as being in Champaign, Illinois. Kev-O immediately notices that it does not say "Urbana-Champaign" as is usually the case. Pepster notes that it is because under the current administration anything hyphenated is considered DEI, and they don't want to lose their federal funding.
19:08 - UConn's mascot is definitely a furry. Kev-O surmises that the person wearing the costume has to sign a contract requiring him/her to remove the UConn logo before attending any furry conventions.
20:01 - We move to the standing room only section from our seats, and end up next to what we are pretty sure a couple that will engage in domestic violence later, especially since they - and their friends - are decked out head-to-toe in Illinois gear. We feel bad for the guy. [Ed. Note - she is a trainwreck, and will warrant several mentions in this post. We will call her DV for reference.]
UConn wins and advances to the finals.
20:55 - Chainsmokers "concert" between the games. They are not good. Pepster explains that "Chainsmokers" is American for "Coldplay!"
21:06 - In between games, DV comes into the middle of Pepster and Sinickal's conversation. Asks them their names, calls Pepster a liar because she doesn't believe anyone has that name, and then says, "Guess what my name is. Guess what name a girl who grew up in a shed on a farm would have." Pepster guesses, "Baaaa!" She goes "So close. It's Alexandra." We look at the guy she is with. He just shrugs his shoulders.
21:08 - DV starts attempting to breakdance, on the concrete floor of the concourse. Emphasis on "trying". She would have lost to Raygun in the Olympics. Then she comes back up to Sinickal and starts playing Vanessa Carlton's A Thousand Miles on air piano.
21:12 - Since we were in the standing room only section, we were sharing a table with a couple who attended Illinois, and their daughter - who is a Purdue alumna but wearing a Illinois shirt because her father "paid for her college" - and her fiance'. Very nice people. Good conversations. The fiance' says that after meeting us he wants to start a guys' trip to the final four. But anyway, the daughter and her parents want to go walk around a bit, and says to us to keep their half of the table. Pepster says, "Of course. Unless your Eastern European players come up and try to annex it."
21:14 - DV comes back and is being uncomfortably close to Sinickal. Not only does Sinickal put his hands in his pockets, he turns to Kev-O and says, "I am putting my hands in my pockets. There will not be any confusion about this situation. DV's man once again just shrugs.
21:16 - Tip-Off. More Radio Silence.
21:38 - Time of Death.
22:00 - So one of the people hanging out with DV starts a conversation with Sinickal because he is wearing his Syracuse orange colors. He says Illinois is the only true orange. Sinickal reminds him that his school name is the Syracuse Orange! [Ed. Note - we heard this conversation 1,100 times today.] But, Dave is wearing a Chicago Bears jacket, so when Sinickal says "Bear Down!", Dave came up and properly introduced himself.
As a side note - This town is 75% Illinois fans. The Michigan presence is disappointing, as is Arizona. UConn - after having won 2 of the last 3 titles - just doesn't care. Here is Illinois student section versus UConn's.
One section is full. The other is not. And pretty much every Illinois fan is from Chicago. Although we all know that means the northern and western suburbs. Their defeat means this stadium will be a ghost town Monday night.
22:45 - Michigan goes up 56-36. Time to leave.
22:51 - JESUS is it cold!!!
22:58 - Enter Loughmillers. We beat the rush. Several tables for us to choose from.
00:14 - Finishing up at Loughmillers. Decide to Door Dash to the house. For some reason, Arby's makes sense. Sinickal places an Order.
00:15 - Arby's is not available for Door Dash. White Castle it is.
00:26 - Enter our Uber. A valet at the Westin hotel - which is next to Loughmillers and the location we gave for pickup to the Uber - literally yells at our driver for trying to enter Westin's driveway. Uber driver rolls down his window and says, "You didn't have to yell. You could be nice."
00:28 - TV Off by Kendrick comes on the radio. Kev-O asks the driver if he could please turn up the radio.
00:28:15 - The driver turned up the radio so loud, that the sound was distorted and we were all about 2 decibels shy of bursting our tympanic membranes.
00:40 - At home, and The A-Team is on. Sinickal is quoting the movie verbatim.
01:10 - White Castle arrives.
01:22 - Pepster calls it.
01:37 - Tony calls it.
At the conclusion of the A-Team - Sinickal and Kev-O call it.
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