I Was There

Let me say, it was pretty cool to see Tyler Hansbrough bury the game-winner today. The entire game I'd been pulling for Virginia Tech, but damn it if this wasn't cool: (Not my video)



It was a hell of a game and if you think you can get that kind of commentary from someone who just watched on television then you're crazy.
Clemson will meet North Carolina tomorrow afternoon while I'm driving home. That means I'll miss seeing UNC beat C-L-E-M-S-O-*pauses/waives arm*-N. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to fall asleep on a pullout so I can get up at 6am and head back to New York. Vacation baby!

Trip To The ACC Tournamnet - Driving From Virginia to North Carolina

We drove from Albany, New York to Winchester, Virginia yesterday. I started to write about it, but fell asleep. For now, enjoy the progress we made driving from Winchester to Charlotte. The picture makes sense.

We were on the road at 7am this morning. I was asleep again by 7:15am. When I woke up at 9, my mother handed me 50 bucks. It’s always nice to wake up and immediately have someone hand you cash. That must be how a hooker feels.

Virginia took forever to drive through. We finally hit North Carolina around noon. Going through Virginia’s beautiful Blue Ridgeparkway my father was both impressed by the overall blueness as well as the vast number of runaway truck ramps. He also explained how vehicles travel faster going downhill while I was driving. The life lessons never stop.

He also pointed to the bottom of a hill and explained that that was where Daniel Boone lived before he moved to Tennessee. Wikipedia doesn’t have shit on my father.

As I was typing this I received a phone call regarding a drug test I had to take earlier this week for a new job. Apparently I didn’t submit enough of a sample despite the fact that I filled the cup past where the woman instructed me. See, I like to always give 110%. That’s why I peed just a little bit more than I was required.

Amazingly, “more than required” wasn’t enough. The fact that this makes no sense is quite impressive I think. Jackasses. How do you fuck that up? Honestly. I mean, I don’t do drugs. I’m not around drugs. I hadn’t even had a drink in days. How much piss do you need? Perhaps they poured some on a pregnancy test just to make sure. Perhaps when I handed the cup of urine to the lab piss technician she could have looked at the clear plastic cup and said, “This is not as much urine as is required to perform the vast battery of tests that will determine whether or not you have smoked weed, snorted a line of cocine or shot a vile of heroin into an especially annoying vein in the last few days.” Rest assured the next cup I fill will be overflowing. Idiots.

Back to the road – are there no Sbarros in the South? Does North Carolina not enjoy a slice of New York’s best pizza joint? Pizza bigots.

The radio has been awful the entire trip. Since Jersey it’s been nothing but country stations, a religious station or two and the occasional shitty “hits of the 80’s, 90’s and today” station. I’ve heard 3 Doors Down more this morning than I have in the last 3 years. My iPod is useless when I’m in the driver’s seat because my parents have a CD player and no tape deck to adapt my awesome musical tastes to the Rendezvous’ sound system. My brother on the other hand hunts and wears a camouflage hat so he’s more than content with the diversity of the radio stations.

The speed limits down here are annoying as hell. In New York we get 65MPH on our major highways. Easy enough. No further explanation needed. Past Jersey we’ve seen 65 ,55, 70 and my own personal favorite: 60.

A 60MPH speed limit reeks of indecisiveness. 55 is too slow, but 65 is just outrageous. Thank God for good old North Carolina – 70 all the way, baby! Of course the fact that they put disclaimers on their speed limit signs kind of takes away from their awesomeness. “SPEED LIMIT REMAINS THE SAME UNLESS OTHERWISE POSTED” No shit? So we should use the posted speed limit unless another sign comes along that says another speed. I think I’ve got it, but I’m not sure. Isn’t that how all speed limits work?

Did they have to add this to signs because people were getting out of speeding tickets from arguing that they were using different signs? “I’m sorry your honor, but there was a sign that said I could go 70. How was I supposed to know that when I got off the highway and drove through the Raleigh campus that still didn’t apply to me? The signs really should be more specific.” I for one embrace being able to pick and choose the speed limits you follow.

Tonight we’ll be seeing Duke – Georgia Tech and Clemson – Boston College. When we were planning for this trip my brother vowed not to go if we were going to see Boston College. He goes to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and apparently has a strong opinion of BC’s overall suckitude. I don’t have much of an opinion on any of the teams except Duke. I’m not a Duke hater by any means. When it comes to the Duke-UNC rivalry I’m fairly neutral. If held at gun point I’d lean towards North Carolina. Hell, I’m just excited to boo Greg Paulus in person.

I'll be back with an update later tonight or tomorrow after seeing the games and all that.

I'm Going To See Some Actual Sports

Original Title: I'm On The Midnight Train Buick Rendezvous To Georgia North Carolina

If you need me, I'll be in Charlotte for the next few days. If you're wondering why the hell I would be in North Carolina - I'm going to the ACC Tournament. I'm evening taking my father, mother and brother.

That's right - I'm being a good son and allowing my parents to pay for gas, hotel and tickets in exchange for my wonderful company. Today - Thursday - is a travel day. The drive is somewhere in the area of 12 hours without stops. I don't know what exactly the schedule is, but I assume it includes various stops for food and drink.

Tomorrow - Friday - we'll be attending one of the sessions and will have the ultimate honor of watching either North Carolina or Duke play. I don't know if we're going to the afternoon or evening session yet, but I'll be sure to drop that knowledge as soon as it becomes available.

Saturday we're going back to see the semifinals. Then, in the greatest of ironies, we'll miss the Tournament Finale on Sunday while we're in the car driving north.

I'll probably be checking in with anything overly interesting over at The Big Lead where I've been allowed to come out during the week. Thus far I've taken that opportunity to opine on Dwyane Wade's season-ending injury and the Iditarod. Tomorrow: Something else you don't care about!

Oh, Griz, I'll miss you most of all...