AndrewstheMAN: NCAA Running Blog (UPDATED Mon. 1:15 AM CST)

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AndrewstheMAN
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Gabe and I are both keeping a running blog of this weekend's activities. Here are my thoughts, and some attempts at being funny. Whether it works out or not is up to you to decide!

5:22 PM: Live band playing at the airport. Nice touch Austin. Vegas has the slot machines. You have live music. I’m impressed that the live music capital of the world keeps it real in their airport as well. Nice.

5:32 PM: Our flight is meant to depart Austin’s Bergstrom Airport at 5 sharp, but as these things tend to go we didn’t get off the ground until around 5:25PM. I did get lucky though in getting the exit row seat. Is there anything better than having a bit of extra leg room in an otherwise cramped environment?

5:47 PM: In my need to exercise my extroverted-ness I strike up a conversation with the father and son sitting to my right. They seem nice enough, not the vagrants you typically run into on these ‘lesser’ airlines (i.e. Southwest, Jet Blue). Ha just kidding, I’m poor enough that if Brandon wasn’t sending me on this trip I would have to miss my first NCAA appearance by the Aggie Basketball team. Interesting note though about the father and son: they are UCONN fans. The son lives in Austin and the dad commutes from Philadelphia each week to spend time with his family. Even though they are the enemy they seem nice enough. I try to talk some basketball, asking them about Thabeet and other players on UCONN’s loaded roster, but they don’t know much basketball. Oh well, when the hell am I getting some peanuts?

I ask if they have tickets and they confirm, that is the reason they’re headed to Philadelphia as well. They tell me they’d rather meet up with us in the 2nd round. I’m not sure whether I should take that as a compliment or not. Are we that bad and just can’t see it in ourselves? I don’t think so. I think they just don’t realize the ferocity that the Aggies are about to unleash on Philadelphia.

6:00 PM: We touch down at Hobby in Houston. The pilot was Navy man, rough landing. I like Navy guys, they keep it real. Just can’t tell with those Air Force guys… too gentle on their aircrafts. The count is off for the number of people meant to be continuing onto Philadelphia. The stewardesses, I mean flight attendants, seem frustrated. Funny really when the ‘Friendly Skies’ crew has to lay down the law.

Side note: how are all flight attendants so good looking? Not like 10’s, but solid 6.5’s and up. I don’t fly all that much, but what little time I do spend in the air is spent with good looking attendants. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it, just odd that the airlines have cornered the market for good looking people in this way.

7:00 PM: Peanuts finally, and other assorted snacks. When did they start this? When did you get offered more than one choice? And when I went to grab more than one snack selection my hand wasn’t slapped by the man with perfectly coiffed hair. Rather, he said, “Have as many as you want.” Really? You really want to tell me to take as many as I want? I’m gonna be bored on this flight, and those 100 calorie snack packs are gonna start looking pretty good at some point. Note to flight attendants: don’t make promises you don’t intend on keeping.

7:23 PM: I’m excited to get to photograph the NCAA’s from the sidelines. That is for sure. I’m also excited about getting to see the city where our nation was begun. The Liberty Bell. Independence Hall. The stairs that Rocky ran up in the one Rocky movie I saw before that debacle where Stallone was 74 years old.

What I’m really excited about though is the prospect of partying with Billy Liucci. Maybe we could auction something like that off one day on the site. A night on the town with Looch! Not in a weird way or anything, just a trip to the Tap or something. I think I’ll start a thread and update it as often as I can titled: ‘What is Liucci up to now?’ It’ll be like a twitter feed here live on the Maroon & White Board. This is gonna happen. Until Looch takes it down.

8:47 PM: When are we gonna land? I’m ready. Really though I’m just using that as an excuse to placate my nervousness about how we’re gonna play against BYU in the morning. Cummard and that big dude of theirs kinda scare me. Cummard was money last year, and if not for Carter lighting them up for some big time plays we might have lost that game.

My take on what we’ll have to do to win the game:

1. Play like we did against Baylor at home the first time. I don’t think we’ll have to be as good as we were against Missouri, but we’ll have to be pretty good. Arizona good would make me happy too.
2. Dash needs to come ready to play. If he can keep the ball in our hands, and make some plays when we need a spark, I’ll feel much more confident at halftime, and likely pretty happy after 40 minutes of basketball. Guys like Dash and Holmes are the ones that will make the difference.
3. Elonu must, must, must stay out of foul trouble. (This one scares me to be honest. Let’s hope the refs either really like us, or really don’t like BYU.)
4. Most importantly, we’re gonna need to get the crowd behind us. A good effort in the bars beforehand, buying rounds of drinks, and otherwise classy Aggie type moves should make this fairly easy, but it needs to be a concerted effort. Who remembers the entire Florida Gator contingent in Jacksonville doing the Gator chomp and chanting “Aggies! Aggies!” Good job lil99chris on getting that one started.

8:52 PM: I just realized that our last trip to the northeast ended in a tournament championship. Sure it was the NIT preseason tournament, but still, the northeast has been kind to the basketball team.

9:03 PM: The pilot just came on and told us we’re starting to descend. Pretty interesting huh? I’ll hit you up again when I get to the hotel room.

10:30 PM: Plane landed and luckily the luggage was there waiting for us. Going to meet the shuttle but we had the story all wrong. The shuttle bus didn’t come to the regular curbside pickup, rather you have to meet up at some desk and take a number and wait to get called on. Terrible system. Luckily the crack squad at the ground transportation desk reluctantly answered enough of Gabe’s questions to get us onto the shuttle in a reasonable amount of time.

11:10 PM: Shuttle bus driver just picked us up and then got out and walked away. Literally gone for 10 minutes. Here’s the situation, me, Gabe, and 2 other ladies in the bus. Gabe is an ‘always talker’ as I’ve dubbed him, so he’s in the back going on about who knows what, and the girls are just trying to sit there and not act awkward. It’s not working for them, or for us. This is strange.

11:50 PM: One of the girls gets dropped off at the Omni Suites. She’s climbing out and we saw some major plumbers butt. For the record I tried to avoid it, but Gabe pointed it out right away. Gotta love Philadelphia.

12:05 AM: Checked in at Loew’s Philadelphia. Cute girl at the reception desk was very helpful. What do you expect though from a rather pricey hotel? Gabe was talking again, this time about her and my hair, I flirted with her to get the free internet hookup. The room is sweet. 50’s mod look, something out of a Eame’s catalogue for sure.

A bit of information on the building we’re staying in, pretty cool stuff: HERE.

12:20 AM: We’re going to some all night diner. Kristen at the front desk told us about it. You’re only in Philadelphia once in a while, might as well make the most of it.

1:11 AM: All night diner turned into beers at the hotel bar with Gabe. It’s getting late, and I feel less funny now. Maybe tomorrow will be funnier.
Token
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i agree, go to sleep
AgentZero
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[This message has been edited by AgentZero (edited 2/7/2012 11:03am).]
T Durden
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did you just say at 7:00 that the flight attendants are so good looking? then soon after while grabbing peanuts and other assorted snacks say that "the man (flight attendant) with the perfectly coiffed hair let you have all the nuts you wanted?"

[This message has been edited by T Durden (edited 3/19/2009 8:47a).]
PJYoung
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The guys are always good looking too. Duh.
Rex Racer
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quote:
Maybe we could auction something like that off one day on the site. A night on the town with Looch! Not in a weird way or anything, just a trip to the Tap or something.
Auction? Just pick any random night of the week and your odds of winning this "prize" are pretty good.
wessimo
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so are you sleeping in or what? I hope you wake up in time, game is in an hour.
T Durden
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probably has a morning session with bag o nuts flight attendant dude. give him some time to finish...
Aston04
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quote:
Side note: how are all flight attendants so good looking? Not like 10�s, but solid 6.5�s and up. I don�t fly all that much, but what little time I do spend in the air is spent with good looking attendants. Don�t get me wrong, I enjoy it, just odd that the airlines have cornered the market for good looking people in this way.

7:00 PM: Peanuts finally, and other assorted snacks. When did they start this? When did you get offered more than one choice? And when I went to grab more than one snack selection my hand wasn�t slapped by the man with perfectly coiffed hair.


Wow, this section is wrong on so many levels.

To sum up where wrong:
-Airline food has been consistently getting worse.
-Flight attendants are getting worse looking by the year, with more dudes than ever.
-Asks why all flight attendants are good looking, but yet notes one of his flight attendants is a dude.

I'm going to go ahead and guess this guy is not a road warrior. Just a shot in the dark.
AndrewstheMAN
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7:15 AM: I woke up and was able to convince myself to go to the gym. Nice place with a few dbags around working out. Pretty much par for the course at any gym, not sure why I expected Philly to be any different.

8:05 AM: After what Gabe and I considered to be one of the best hotel showers ever, we go to breakfast at a good diner downtown, Midtown Diner. I wanted to try the scrapple, but when it was descriebed as various pork products I stayed away. I’ve heard stories about some sort of breakfast loaf, but I’ve yet to find it. Maybe when I do find it I’ll try it and put up a review.

10:28 AM Got to the stadium and after a huge screw up job by the NCAA I’ve got internet access and I’m ready to start going. Getting some pics ready for you guys, since I know you’ll like seeing what we’re seeing from here. I’ve talked with a BYU photographer and we’ll switch at halftime so the shots will always have the Aggies scoring at their goal (This is a good thing!).

12:10 PM: I just sat down to write this running blog. I’m pretty geeked with energy this morning, and I’m getting nervous about the game so far. Check out my shoot around pics. The Aggie contingent looks strong, but like always the home crowd has to be behind you if you want a chance at winning.

Quick thought on Eagles fans, they are everywhere. I’m afraid to talk football with anyone. The Eagles stadium is sweet! Probably one of the nicest stadiums I’ve seen from the outside at least. This area where all of the arena’s are at is cool. One big parking lot feeds to all of the different venues. This place has some rich sports heritage, but not Kyle Field rich!

12:15 PM: I'm not gay, despite what it might look like in some of the above entries. Let's just chalk that up to the altitude, or something like that.
BCSGrubber
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quote:
After what Gabe and I considered to be one of the best hotel showers ever


quote:
I'm not gay, despite what it might look like in some of the above entries.


At least you covered yourself...keep up the good work.
T Durden
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thanks for the updates. later on you can tell us more about that great shower with Gabe. or not.

i'll chalk it up to city of brotherly love

Gig em Aggies! game time.
FarmerJohn
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Here's the problem with flight attendants:

Decades ago you had to be ridiculously hot to be a flight attendant. It was actually part of the interview process. So flight attendants were hired young, but had a short shelf life. Then they unionized and the older members decided that they shouldn't lose their jobs just because they couldn't compete physically with the younger ones. Nevermind that is how they got the job in the first place. Anyway, so once they were in place, they made seniority the way to advance, get the plumb routes, and hotness went away.

On a releated note, this is why flying foreign carriers rule.
ShawnTxAg
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Good stuff Andrew, i can't wait to hear about the post game festivities. I say yall take the leptop to the bar and post every so often so we can b oth read and see how your sobriety is declining over time.
Tom Hagen
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Be sure to check out the Reading Terminal Market.

http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/

You can find your scrapple there.
AndrewstheMAN
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Since I didn’t keep this up during the actual game, times would be off if I were to make them up, so I’ll just give you some thoughts and things that happened on the sidelines during the game. Hopefully it wont sound too gay, since that’s what I’m turning into in your eyes and all.

- The Aggie crowd here was fantastic. Lots of fans and very loud. I was worried that BYU was gonna have more of a presence in the arena but the Aggie faithful came through in the end and brought the noise for sure.

- Band and Dance Team did a very good job. I had more than one photographer tell me while they were playing/singing that they were some of the best he’s ever seen (and he shoots forUNC/Duke/Wake/NC State pretty regularly.


- At the beginning of the 2nd half Hartsock came out of bounds to inbound a pass, looked at the ref and said, “Whew, I’m so tired. You?” The ref looked at him with a look that said you’re an idiot, and I feel sorry for you all at the same time. It was sweet.

- I took a ton of photos during this game. Probably the most I’ve ever taken during a basketball game. I got one of Davis throwing it down on an olly oop pass, it’s pretty freakin sweet. Check back in a while to see that pic for sure.

- The BYU cheerleaders looked to be about 28 years old. The girls were cute. I still like the fact though that we don’t have cheerleaders, but just keep it old school with the yell leaders.

- The Ags have now not only made it to the tournament 4 years in a row, but they have also won a game in the tournament 4 years in a row. How many teams have a streak like that going right now? 4, 5 maybe? This team is special, and I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to follow them around the country to watch it happen.

I did take some shots of the dance team. They aren't phenomenal, but that's just because i was grabbing a snack when they went out there and i had to hurry up and get a shot or two.

The pics will be up in the gallery later on this afternoon. I'd give a timeline but i honestly don't know. Preview Pic:


Agsportsfan08
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Don't expect a blog tonight. Andrew was the man at chickies and pete's tonight. Maybe in the morning?
AndrewstheMAN
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no worries agsportsfan! how was the subway?

Tonight’s been a good one. Hanging out in Philadelphia is certainly different from what you get anywhere in Texas. Really anywhere else I’ve hung out before. The people say things like ‘yous guys’, and use the f-word in a way that only Hunter Goodwin could top. But for the most part they’re wonderful people.

Nova fans LOVE the Aggies right now, and that begs the question, who doesn’t love a good upset story? It really works out well for the Cats fans in the arena on Saturday, get to see a game featuring the #1 seed after watching their team play. I think we just need to hope that the Cats come out with a victory and we have a massive cheering section that afternoon.

9:15 PM: I catch the ‘Taxi Crab’ from the restaurant I drank a few beers at, read 3.

The shuttle bus driver is a nice enough guy. Going on and on about how Nova is throwing this game away even though from what I can tell on the terrible TV screen in the shuttle, the Cats have the lead. Then I bring it up. I tell him I’m a Cowboys fan and am curious what he thinks of the Eagles, specifically McNabb. He says that liking McNabb is like cheering for a ‘paranoid puppy.’ What in the hell does that even mean? These people are great.

I tell him I want to punch Brad Lidge in the face and jump out of the shuttle. He screams something back at me, and I’m off to catch the UCLA/VCU game.

9:27 PM: American just didn’t have it in them did they? Rough to see something so close just not happen.

9:30 PM: Media guys are dorks. I’m just going to say it. They are some of the dorkiest people you’ll ever meet. Not dorky in a World of Warcraft kinda way, but in a: ‘I know so much more about this than you do, it’s not even funny’ kinda way.

Have you ever watched PTI on ESPN in the afternoon and wondered if Kornheiser was actually as nerdy as he seems on screen? The answer, yes. I’ve never met the guy, but based on the time I’ve spent in various media rooms they are all the same. Balding, grey hair, mixing neutral colored blazers with netral color pants. And strangely exclusive. They have their packs in the media room. AP sits together, ESPN sits around each other, and then you have the random web guys just sprinkled around being more non-chalant, and less media-bourgeoisie.

The reason I bring this up is to bring up the turf wars that happen in the media room. Choosing a place to sit in the media room can be tricky. Close to the snacks is preferable, but not too close as to point out the fact that you’re overweight and that you don’t plan on changing anytime soon. Not too close to the door, because the traffic can be distracting. Finding a balance is tough. If you ever find yourself being questioned to move from your seat, just do it. Avoid the hassle and just move along. These guys don’t know when to quit. Its funny really, nerds arguing about the best place to sit in the nerd room. Sweet.

10:06 PM: VCU’s band just came out onto the court. The band director is hilarious. He’s wearing a robe with bright gold feathery trim, and on the back it says something like ‘The Total Package’. Hilarious.

The girl next to me is with the VCU radio station and I asked her what the deal with this guy is. She said that he’s an ex stripper turned band director and that in games at VCU it’s not uncommon to see him take all of his suit off and direct the band wearing nothing more than athletic shorts and a wife beater. At the moment he’s showing off some of his old stripper moves. This is weird.

10:17 PM: UCLA Cheerleaders. What more is there to say? They are the perfect college cheerleaders. They come out onto the floor and everyone sits and stares in awe. While the rest of the stadium lurks with jealousy the UCLA fans just sit there with a smug confidence which says, ‘Yep, this is what we get to see every freaking game. Be jealous, it wont help.’

America sits and watches with jealousy.

10:24 PM I want a cheesesteak from Pat’s or Geno’s tomorrow. I’ve yet to have one and I feel like if I leave Philadelphia without eating one my trip will have been a colossal waste. Goal 1 for Friday: cheesesteak.

10:28 PM UCLA is an athletic team for sure. They don’t have the swagger of the last few years, that is obvious, but still having been to consecutive final fours will allow you a certain air.

Ben Howland is wearing a broad pin-striped suit, a suit that probably shouldn’t be worn by a man of his age.

10:29 PM: Gabe just had to remind me that sitting on press row means you’re not really allowed to cheer. VCU just had a nasty block, followed up by a near miss on their end of the court and I let out a quick clap/cheer. Sucks when you can’t enjoy sports to their fullest.

10:33 PM: VCU just hit a 3 to bring the score to 22-21 UCLA. This crowd is great. Screw UCLA.

10:35 PM: FREAKING MICHAEL WILBON just came and sat in front of Gabe and I. He looks old in person. Holy crap, he just sprayed nasal spray into his nose while on press row. Doesn’t he know that he’s on press row. Geeze, some people.

He wears a Bluetooth when he’s clearly not talking on the phone. This begs the question: is Wilbon a tool?

10:43 PM: VCU male cheerleader just dropped one of the girls as he was holding her up. Maybe he was enjoying the view too much? I don’t know. It was funny though.

10:53 PM: UCLA cheerleaders just finished their halftime routine. You guys would have loved it. Sucks you can’t be here. hahaha


[This message has been edited by AndrewstheMAN (edited 3/20/2009 12:06p).]
They Call me Stacey
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10:17 PM: UCLA Cheerleaders. What more is there to say? They are the perfect college cheerleaders. They come out onto the floor and everyone sits and stares in awe. While the rest of the stadium lurks with jealousy the UCLA fans just sit there with a smug confidence which says, ‘Yep, this is what we get to see every freaking game. Be jealous, it wont help.


PICSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!11!1!
tunefx
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Great trip report here. Just bought tickets for Saturday and I'm headed up to Philly from DC. Is there a site, info, anything about an Ag pre-game/post-game meeting spot? Thx! Sorry for the hijack--just a last minute thing.
Bajan
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I think Andrews was trying to convince us he isnt gay with that last post there.
Lobster Twins
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quote:
10:29 PM: Gabe just had to remind me that...

You seem to be getting a lot of 'tips' from Gabe on this trip.
ShawnTxAg
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running blog my ars, what happened. We need stories and good ones, we need info and lots of it, we need to experience the atmosphere in philly through yall. Give me Philly or give me death!!
La Fours
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Andrew, you are violating TexAgs rule #1. Pics or GTFO.
woodland_hunter07
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Nice try, Andrew. Posting a single pic of an Aggie dancer does nothing to convince us of your heterosexuality.

[This message has been edited by woodland_hunter07 (edited 3/20/2009 7:55p).]
AndrewstheMAN
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Last night and this morning have been lots of fun! Starting out with eating my first Philly Cheese Steak in Philadelphia, and then getting to run the Rocky steps this morning, it has been a fun 24 hours.

My first Philly cheese steak didn’t come from the famous Pat’s or Geno’s. No, I went with the unanimous local choice, Jim’s. Off of South street at the intersection with 4th this area is probably the hippest part of Philly we’ve seen so far. Nice boutique shops, and hipster hangouts abound, but the biggest attraction we saw was the steak place known as Jims. I went with provolone and onions, and we sat in the restaurant and ate at the bar. The guys in there were pretty cool, and the sandwich was phenomenal. If that’s the only steak I leave Philly having eaten, I will have considered by trip a success.

The rest of the night was spent experiencing a bit of Philadelphia’s night life. The Milkman, and agsportsfan08 and I went to a couple of cool places and saw where some of the locals hang. I tried a great beer from the area called Walt Wit. It’s an unfiltered white ale. Delicious taste, and very smooth. Good recommendation from a friend of mine, Kevin, who spent some time in Philly over the summer. Thanks for the beer Kevin.

The night ended with a trip to get a slice a block or two away from the hotel, the pizza was alright, but the crowds on the street were hilarious. I’m pretty sure a man dressed as a woman barked at TheMilkman and agsportsfan08. They were staring, so they deserved it.

Onto the morning!

8:00 AM: The wake up call came early this morning. Being away from home always makes me more tired when it’s time to wake up. Strange.

9:10 AM: We head to Dunkin Donuts. Why in the world don’t we have more of these in Texas? The donuts are delicious, and the coffee is something to write home about. Gabe has been talking about ‘stopping down’ (a Bockism if there ever was one) at Dunkin Donuts all week long, and he finally got his wish. Needless to say I was also impressed.

IDEA: You know what would be a great idea? Donut shop on campus! I’m not talking crappy donuts that the university makes on it’s own. No. I’m talking either Dunkin, Shipley’s, or Krispy Kreme. My preference would be Krispy Kreme, but I’d settle for any of them. Seriously, someone do this. I wont even be mad that you’re stealing my idea. I don’t have the capital to make it happen. You’ll make money I promise.



9:45 AM: We start the walk towards the Rocky steps, also known as the Philadelphia Museum of Art. These are as iconic as the Liberty bell or Independence Hall. Now don’t take that as me saying they are as important, but come on, who takes a trip to Philly and doesn’t stop down at the rocky steps?



10:20 AM(ish): This statue is great. Why isn’t Rocky at the top of the steps? We’re all pretty disappointed about the fact that Rocky is off to the side and not reigning on his throne at the top of the steps.





10:34 AM: We’re about to start taking pics with the Rock, and this tv camera man comes up and asks us if he can film us taking pics with the Rock. Then him and Gabe start talking a bit, only to have the tv dude ask Gabe to give him a clip on camera! This is great. You want to know what hanging out with Count Bocula is like? He is always finding the story. It’s like walking around in the midst of a newspaper article. The camera man told us the video will be on their site next Sunday, and you better believe that Jones and I are gonna do our best to get a copy of the video and put it up on TexAgs. Watch out for that.







10:46 AM: Gabe finally finished his grand TV appearance, and we made our way to the steps. Gabe had talked about running these things for quite a while heading up to the moment. I had a bet that JR could be him up, but Gabe showed some championship form and beat JR up the steps. I took the role of photo journalist pretty seriously, so I didn’t race them up (even though I could have taken them both down—my legs are quite a bit longer than there, and 2 steps at a time wouldn’t have been an issue at all).







Well then, at this point we’re headed back over to the hotel to get ready to go up to the stadium and catch some, if not all of the Nova vs. UCLA game, and then start getting stuff up from the Ags vs. UCONN. Let’s do this Aggies. It’s game day, bring the noise!
AndrewstheMAN
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Post UCONN Game: That was rough. I’m not sure how else to put. The Aggies faced a buzzsaw that wasn’t just running on normal mode. I think we could have hung with a buzzsaw on normal mode. No the UCONN Huskies were like a buzzsaw on ultra-finger-cutting-no-remorse-for-your-nerves sort of mode. They were good. If they can play like that every night, they are my new pic to win the title. I had UNC picked, but UCONN is my new choice. Can you do that? I don’t care. I just did.

Gabe and I hung out in the press room for quite a while finishing uploading stuff from the post game. Finally we caught a ride back to the hotel with Zwernemann. I hadn’t ever had a conversation with Brent. Nice guy. I was super hungry, but Gabe being the worker that he is needed to get a few more things up and running so I hung out for a bit whilst he finished writing. Then it was off to the Hard Rock.

Why did we pick the Hard Rock in a city known for decent food? I don’t know. It was the easy choice being right across the street from the hotel. I knew the food would be alright, and I knew the bar over there would have the NCAA games on TV. Which they did. Texas lost, that made me feel good. If we lose they might as well lose too. Nice.

I was in bed shortly thereafter. Flying out the next day I had high hopes of cramming in a few more things from Philly before we left, but it was gonna be tough to get up at a respectable time.

Sunday Morning: We tried to get some info on flying standby back to Austin on a 12:00 PM flight, a good 5 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave. After doing some investigating it was determined that doing the standby thing just wasn’t gonna be a good plan. Sightseeing here I come!

Breakfast was an easy choice. Dunkin Donuts are all over the place and they hadn’t disappointed the day before so that’s where we went for the second day in a row. A rough looking guy tried to sit next to us, but Gabe shot that down. Gabe’s a jerk. Haha just kidding. Some guy was cleaning the window behind him though and sprayed window cleaner all over Gabe and his food. Needless to say he was less than pleased with that little incident.

Having not gone on the Independence Hall tour on Friday morning we decided to give that tour another shot. We were able to get tickets to see both Congressional Hall, and Independence Hall before lunchtime. These are two of the coolest things I saw on the trip for sure. They are dripping with character and the information was astounding. The tour guides were really able to drop in a few nice pieces of information along with their little humor jabs. Gabe and I counted 5 good one liners.

Some kid though was challenging me for smartest guy on the tour. You know the type. Always has to be the first one to answer the question. Kind of awkward looking. And by that I mean compared to other awkward looking ten year olds, this kid is still the weird one. That’s who I was dealing with. The worst part was that he thought he was Bobby Fischer. I tried to knock him down a peg and answer the park ranger’s question first, but the punk blurted out, “STAMP ACT!” in such a loud voice that I couldn’t be heard, by a crowd that needed a leader. I was ready to be that leader, instead they got wannabe savant kid. I chose to give it a rest and let the kid have his moment.

Lunch Time: After stopping down in the hotel lobby to do some much needed internetting I left Gabe to cry over the state of the baseball team, while I headed back over to Reading Terminal Market to grab some lunch. I wanted to find the non-Amish girl working at the Amish place. I walked back to their corner to find all of the Amish shops closed. Normally I would have been bummed to figure this out, but I’m glad that even though most of the market was open on a Sunday, that the Amish still choose to observer the Sabbath and be with their families. Chalk one up for the Amish.

I got a turkey sandwich and a couple of cookies that were phenomenal (one was dipped in milk chocolate… healthy? No. Good? Very much so.) I found Gabe right where I had left him, we picked up our luggage and took off for the airport. Let’s get home, I’m ready.

Ride to the Airport: We’re in the shuttle back to the Airport and headed down some roads that even though we don’t know the city very well, we know that these aren’t getting us any closer to the plane we need to catch. Only after about 15 one way streets do we stop at another hotel to pick up a couple of older BYU fans. I love this, we get to ask them if they went to the games, and we get to brag that our team beat the crap out of theirs.

The conversation goes about how you’d expect. I ask if they were Cougar fans, they confirm, and I commence with trying to make them think I respect their team. I don’t, but I feign interest in what they have to say. Only after a few minutes does the old lady hint at something interesting. She says, “yes our son used to play basketball at U of H, so we know Texas well.” The first thing that came to my mind was, “Phi Slamma Jamma?” She confirmed, and we figured out quite quickly that it was in fact Dave Rose’s parents. Wow! This is cool. We’re in a van driving to the airport talking BYU basketball with the coach’s parents, and getting to know what being around Hakeem and Clyde was like back in the day. They were nice enough. Old, but nice.

At the Airport: Southwest has this curbside check in thing down to an art. They are really pros. I dogged them on the first day, but at this point this airline has done nothing other than deliver the goods.

The Philly airport has the most blatant propaganda videos I’ve ever seen. There was a part in the video I’ll recreate for you:

Woman in TSA Uniform: “There are a lot of questions about why we do so many things at the security checkpoints before we get on the plane. The problem that most people have is why do I have to take off my shoes? Well there’s an easy answer for that. Explosives can be hidden in shoes rather easily, and our expert XRAY technicians can tell more easily if a shoe has been tampered with in the XRAY than on your body. But don’t worry, top scientists are working on developing shoe scanners that will be in airports in the near future.”

Top scientists? Who says that? Are we in the middle of a soviet propaganda video? This Is nuts.

Made it through security unscathed. I’ve never had a problem going through security. Never been wanded or strip searched. I take this as a good thing. Not looking like a threat to large groups of people is one of my life goals.

We stop in a restaurant and find a table to watch a bit of the games that are on before our flight is scheduled to leave. A quick “hello” to what I take as ‘random Aggie family’ sitting next to us, and they say hello back. We talk for a minute about the game but that’s really it. Then my boy Count Bocula comes up and says hello, he then recognizes them as Nathan Walkup’s parents. Wow! This just got interesting. We spend the next 30 minutes talking shop with the Walkups. Sell them on a subscription, and I promise to send Mrs. Walkup all of the pictures of Nathan I’ve taken over the year. They were very nice, and you could tell how proud they were that their son Nathan was wearing the maroon & white. Good to see families that love not only watching their son play ball, but also love the school and fans that he plays for. I loved this part of the trip.

We get on the plane, and it’s off to Nashville for a short layover.

Nashville: Why does Nashville get it’s own section? Because even though our flight was meant to leave at 7:45 PM we get on the plane (my SWA wings I’m sporting thanks to the cutie flight attendant Bethany on the last flight get no less than 5 positive comments by the way) to find that our co-pilot has a burst eardrum and has to bail on us. They’re working on getting another pilot but it’s gonna take some time.

This brings up an interesting point about who I am as a person. I love being around groups of people. I feel like I can befriend a group at the drop of a hat, especially with a wing man like the Bocula running some point. (Don’t believe me? Sit next to me at any sporting event and within 10 minutes I’ll know everyone around us, and have them all cracking up. It’s just what I do.) I start talking to the guys around me, two Buckeye fans, a cute girl that went to Duke and is now doing her grad work at t.u. in front of us, and some lady who keeps telling us how much the Aggies suck. She’s a t-shirt fan though, so she doesn’t get more than a second or two of my time. Gabe’s sitting next to her, sucks for him. I have the whole plane talking about Snuggies and Slankets about 10 minutes in, and then have the rest of the guys begging the flight attendants for free drinks after takeoff. Which the wonderful SWA crew comes through with by the way. Free Heineken is never a bad thing.

The flight takes off about an hour and fifteen minutes after it’s meant to leave, but who cares, this trip has taken on a mind of its own by this point, and I’m just along for the ride. Steinbeck wrote in Travels with Charley, that a trip becomes something that is in fact alive. You don’t control what happens on a trip, the trip will take care of that for you. I love that. It says that you just have to go with the flow, and take whatever comes your way. Be it a win in the first round followed by a second round blowout, or trannys barking at you in the wee morning hours after grabbing a slice of pizza. This trip has been good. I had my first chance to take pictures at an NCAA tournament (I would LOVE to get the chance to do this again), I literally walked where our founding fathers once walked, and even though some of you now think I’m gay, I think you gained a bit of insight into what it is to be AndrewstheMAN. I’ll do this again. Thanks for the line.
nactownag
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AG
Andrew/Gabe...I bet you can't go into a McDonalds and get a free ice cream cone. No coupons. Just straight up...straight face...go into a McDonalds and ask them for a free ice cream cone.

If you do accomplish this feat I will buy you one (1) happy meal.

[This message has been edited by nactownag (edited 3/23/2009 2:09a).]
nactownag
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Also...what would it take for me to be able to go to the next Tournament and tag along with you guys? Is that even a possibility? Or are you guys way too cool for that?
old ag 2003
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Thanks for the write-ups Andrew. Sounds like a great trip.
PJYoung
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Thanks for the effort Andrew. It was a great read. Oh and if you do this again please include less pictures of Gabe.
PJYoung
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AG
And that Bethany guy sounds like a keeper.
AndrewstheMAN
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AG
pj, i would have included more pics of myself, but it's hard to photograph yourself with a large d300. and bethany was a lady, her and duke girl were into me for sure.
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