As many of you sports fans know we are smack in the middle of March Madness. It's a term coined to describe the time of year when college basket ball really heats up. The field of 65 in NCAA hoops is widely known for epic comebacks and down to the wire, dramatic games that makes college basketball so special. This season has been no different.
1st of all, I'm sure everyone was as shocked as I was that Duke was knocked out early this year in the 3rd round. I know, I know, how did they not win the National Championship this year. They're only the greatest team to have ever inhabited the planet. And believe me, as Oswego's biggest Duke fan, smack in the middle of Orange country, I was reminded of that numbing defeat to Villanova all day at work by a plethora of over confident SU fans. I manned up though and proudly displayed my Duke gear the day after their sweet 16 loss to the Final Four bound Wildcats.
"You've got a lotta nerve wearing that shirt today" and "What time does Duke play next?" were among the many snide remarks I heard.
It's kind of funny. SU decides to put their tradition of a late season collapse on hold for a year and skip the N.I.T. to play in the Big Dance and all of a sudden the entire city is filled full of over confident, orange toting big mouths. I mean there was so much fresh Syracuse gear in the bar on Friday that I hope everyone remembered to separate their colors from the whites in the wash so all of the brand new T-shirts don't bleed and ruin their wardrobes. I actually got a couple of customers to look at their shirts when I said you forgot to cut the price tag off when you bought that today. But enough venting.
So with Duke out of the tournament, and my brackets completely gone to shit, I still keep an eye on the rest of the field. There's no team left to root for, but there's definitely a few teams to root against. So I watched the games even though there's nothing on the line. However, there are still other games going on in the rest of the sports world.
So Saturday night I tune in to watch my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs take on the rival Boston Bruins. Two of my best friends are Boston fans so there's always the bragging rights on the line, plus a standing $2 bet I have with one of said fans. Toronto has already been eliminated from playoff contention, but I really could use the 2 bucks. All of these cigarettes during lent have put a dent in my bank account (see Jesus Fish blog), but at least I have some yellowing teeth to show for it. And who knows, one day I might be able to pass those teeth off as gold and really cash in! I've heard there might be a market for such a thing.
So here's where the game started to get interesting. The Leafs put on a valiant effort but lost the game 7-5. So as I'm beginning to roll some change to pay off my gambling losses and get another pack of smokes, I'm just waiting for the texts and phone calls from those Bruins fans to start rolling in. Rich made me wait it out. I hadn't heard from him before I went to bed so I assumed he felt sorry and was letting me off the hook. I was wrong however. I got a nice wake up call from him via text message at 3:48 AM! What a dink!
But before his message came my inspiration for this little story.
I feel I must change the name here to protect the idiot.... I mean innocent.
For the purposes of this little anecdote I'll call him "Brandun Layne".
So the whistle blows to end the game and the phone rings immediately.
"Boston scored a touchdown against the Leafs. They got 7 points" he chirps.
Well hardy har har. After getting in a few barbs we chat for a couple of minutes. Just some small talk about his day at work and the such. And then he does something that should be nominated for this years Darwin Awards.
"Dude, I've only been home from work for 5 minutes and I've already misplaced my cell phone."
I'm thinking, what the hell is he talking about. How the hell did he call me, and what is he talking on right now. I've been to his house and know that he doesn't have a land line. Realizing what's going on, I bait him and suggest a few places to search. Possibly look in your car or coat, I offered. Then I decided to turn that little light bulb on resting over his head.
"Why don't you look what's in your hand you DOUCHE BAG!" I bellowed.
I don't know who was laughing harder between the two of us. My guess is it was me. I'm still smiling about it now. I guess the moral of the story here is to 'JUST SAY NO'!
1st of all, I'm sure everyone was as shocked as I was that Duke was knocked out early this year in the 3rd round. I know, I know, how did they not win the National Championship this year. They're only the greatest team to have ever inhabited the planet. And believe me, as Oswego's biggest Duke fan, smack in the middle of Orange country, I was reminded of that numbing defeat to Villanova all day at work by a plethora of over confident SU fans. I manned up though and proudly displayed my Duke gear the day after their sweet 16 loss to the Final Four bound Wildcats.
"You've got a lotta nerve wearing that shirt today" and "What time does Duke play next?" were among the many snide remarks I heard.
It's kind of funny. SU decides to put their tradition of a late season collapse on hold for a year and skip the N.I.T. to play in the Big Dance and all of a sudden the entire city is filled full of over confident, orange toting big mouths. I mean there was so much fresh Syracuse gear in the bar on Friday that I hope everyone remembered to separate their colors from the whites in the wash so all of the brand new T-shirts don't bleed and ruin their wardrobes. I actually got a couple of customers to look at their shirts when I said you forgot to cut the price tag off when you bought that today. But enough venting.
So with Duke out of the tournament, and my brackets completely gone to shit, I still keep an eye on the rest of the field. There's no team left to root for, but there's definitely a few teams to root against. So I watched the games even though there's nothing on the line. However, there are still other games going on in the rest of the sports world.
So Saturday night I tune in to watch my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs take on the rival Boston Bruins. Two of my best friends are Boston fans so there's always the bragging rights on the line, plus a standing $2 bet I have with one of said fans. Toronto has already been eliminated from playoff contention, but I really could use the 2 bucks. All of these cigarettes during lent have put a dent in my bank account (see Jesus Fish blog), but at least I have some yellowing teeth to show for it. And who knows, one day I might be able to pass those teeth off as gold and really cash in! I've heard there might be a market for such a thing.
So here's where the game started to get interesting. The Leafs put on a valiant effort but lost the game 7-5. So as I'm beginning to roll some change to pay off my gambling losses and get another pack of smokes, I'm just waiting for the texts and phone calls from those Bruins fans to start rolling in. Rich made me wait it out. I hadn't heard from him before I went to bed so I assumed he felt sorry and was letting me off the hook. I was wrong however. I got a nice wake up call from him via text message at 3:48 AM! What a dink!
But before his message came my inspiration for this little story.
I feel I must change the name here to protect the idiot.... I mean innocent.
For the purposes of this little anecdote I'll call him "Brandun Layne".
So the whistle blows to end the game and the phone rings immediately.
"Boston scored a touchdown against the Leafs. They got 7 points" he chirps.
Well hardy har har. After getting in a few barbs we chat for a couple of minutes. Just some small talk about his day at work and the such. And then he does something that should be nominated for this years Darwin Awards.
"Dude, I've only been home from work for 5 minutes and I've already misplaced my cell phone."
I'm thinking, what the hell is he talking about. How the hell did he call me, and what is he talking on right now. I've been to his house and know that he doesn't have a land line. Realizing what's going on, I bait him and suggest a few places to search. Possibly look in your car or coat, I offered. Then I decided to turn that little light bulb on resting over his head.
"Why don't you look what's in your hand you DOUCHE BAG!" I bellowed.
I don't know who was laughing harder between the two of us. My guess is it was me. I'm still smiling about it now. I guess the moral of the story here is to 'JUST SAY NO'!
