Wednesday, April 6, 2005

So as I said, I had this bright idea to go watch the game downtown Monday night. I realized that I'd been taking stupid pills when I arrived on Franklin Street around 7:30 and saw the block-long lines outside of every place that had both beer and TVs. I had insanely thought that since I wasn't traveling with a posse that I might be able to grab a corner of a bar somewhere - I can only plead overwork and underplanning for that bit of idiocy. Upon seeing the masses of light blue-clad humanity swarming the sidewalks, I immediately turned my wheels towards the West End and tied up outside of Carolina Brewery, only to find out that the reason they didn't have a huge line was that they had been selling tickets for the evening all weekend and no, I couldn't squeeze up to the bar. I decided to head down to the Cave for a beer while trying to decide what to do next before realizing that I had neglected to stop at the bank and that I only had enough money to cover the cost of the Corona that Mr. Howie had just graciously slid in front of me and a decent tip. I chugged said brew and headed back out to the bike, thinking that I'd ride over to Carrboro to a) hit the ATM at NCNB NationsBank Bank of America and b) see if Tyler's or any of the other bars had room. Task a) was successful after a long wait, but task b) seemed almost as hopeless as the original task of finding empty barstools on East Franklin Street. One more attempt - the bar at the Carolina Inn - proved just as fruitless as all the rest. So the decision before me seemed to be to ride down to the beerless Dean Dome or head home to the 6-pack of Harp's and miss the post-game festivities. You probably have already thought of what only then dawned on me - why the hell not go try the Cave again? Which, from the photos in the post below, you'll see that I did, finding my traditional spot at the far end of the bar available with at least a view of half of the massive 13" TV screen on the backbar. Heaven of the blue variety! The velvet-toned John Howie was our host for the evening as Mouse was busy checking on stuff - you haven't really been thanked until you've had a baritone "thank you, my friend" from John as you toss your change into the tip jar. (Yeah, okay, I'm a Two Dollar Pistols fan.)

Honestly, I don't remember a lot of the game - after a bunch of beers and yacking with Jack and Kerry and Laird and other members of the Cave regulars, I watched the first half but a lot of it didn't really sink in. I did note Jawad's early 3s with much delight as well as the apparent unstoppableness of young Mr. May. We all kind of shut up and started paying more attention as Illinois started their comeback in the second half, but I'd still like to see the game again! How long 'til ESPN Classic gets the rights? I will say that despite the Illinois comeback, I never got the feeling that it was all slipping away from us - we always seemed to be in control.

I didn't spend too much time out on the street afterwards - just wandered down from the West End to take a few photos at Franklin and Columbia and then beat a hasty retreat back to the Cave for a nightcap. The whole biking-in thing was not a bad idea - I only did one face-plant on the way home and escaped with just a few scrapes and bruises (no traffic on Estes Extension hence my choice of it as the route home and as good a place as any to 'fall down, go boom'). Much better than trying to drive! Next time (and there will be a next time) I won't mess around with trying to get into Woody's Top of the Hill or something - I'm just heading straight for the Cave!

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Half-Life and Times is one year old today. Thanks for reading and for all the comments over the past year!

Pictures now - words later...

What better place to catch the game than the Cave?

John Howie (Two Dollar Pistols) minds the bar - thanks, John!

A picture worth a thousand words...

Not me, but I admire the sentiment!

Franklin and Columbia - the center of the universe! (I actually managed to keep MY shirt on - much to the relief of the crowd)

Monday, April 4, 2005

Jawad struggles and we barely beat Villanova and Wisconsin. Jawad is back in form and we blow out Michigan State. He's the key to the game tonight - I don't think Illinois has enough front court talent to match up against Sean AND Marvin AND Jawad. I said earlier this season that I thought Jawad was this year's George Lynch - the senior leader on a team with a bunch of junior talent. I'm hoping for the same results tonight as Lynch got in 1993. Excellent defense against Michigan State Saturday night - even the first half defense wasn't all bad. Otherwise we'd have been down by a lot more than we were. But the second half showed the kind of defense we're capable of playing and will have to play for 40 minutes tonight.

I notice that a lot of the space in the local papers today is taken up by talk of who'll be back next year. May's already said he'll be back and I hope Marvin Williams' game against MSU showed him that he's still got a lot to learn. Felton and McCants might go if we win but I don't see Felton in all that big a hurry to move on. My guess is that if we win tonight, we'll lose a couple of non-seniors (two of McCants, Felton and M. Williams) but no more than that. If Marvin's going, I think he's going win or lose.

I gave up seeing Less than Jake at the Cat's Cradle last night so that I'd be rested for the game (getting older sometimes sucks). There's no way I'm driving anywhere close to town tonight, so the plan is to ride the bike in and find someplace to watch it. Plenty of choices - Woody's, Top of the Hill, Ham's, etc. If I just can't find anyplace at all by 8:15, I'll bike down to the Smith Center and watch it on the big screen (only drawbacks there are the lack of beer and the distance from Franklin Street and home). It'll be a tough ride home (win or lose) but I've got a low traffic route planned out. Tougher still will be rousing myself for a 7:30am staff call on Tuesday - that may just not happen.

However it ends up (and I think the winner is very much in doubt as it should be), this is the game everybody wanted to see. Even with the eventual large margins in both games Saturday, there's been some incredible basketball games this tourney and I hate to see it end. Mostly I hope we blow them out. I hope we win by 30. Nothing against Illinois - I just don't think my heart can take another close one that's decided by a travel that isn't called or a timeout that didn't exist to be called or a pass to a phantom teammate. I want to establish a lead early, build on it throughout the game and see Jessie Holley and CJ Hooker on the floor at the end of the game.

But I don't expect that.