Friday, March 18, 2011

Good games are here

VCU is looking for an upset. Up on GTown at the half.

Washington and Georgia are tied at the half.

Gonna be a good finish after all.

UNLV/Illinois is ugly

VCU/GTown is good right now. We are switching the biggest TV to that game.

Marty is sleeping in his car

Looks like two years in a row without a mascot mashup.

A Quick Story

Per Request (by my son), I will tell a quick story before the Syracuse/ISU game gets under way.

Commandment 9: Thou Shall Know Thy Mascots

This also plays to rooting for the underdog.

In our first year here (2005), Marty and I had both been following Vermont throughout the America East conference tourney. We both liked the players and the coach. We both liked their chances to upset Syracuse in the first round. We couldn't wait for that game.

About 10 minutes before the game starts, some strange guy walks into our corner and asks me which screen we are going to put the Syracuse game on. The exchange went something like this:

Dude with mullet: Which TV is the Syracuse game gonna be on?
Me: We're watching the Vermont game on that TV right there.
Dude with mullet: Why would you call it the Vermont game?
Me: Because we're going to root for Vermont.
Dude with mullet: Why would you do that?
Me: Because this is March. You always root for the underdog. You always root for upsets.
Dude with mullet: Not if you're a Syracuse alumni, you don't.
Me. Well, good thing I'm not a Syracuse alumni then.

As the game went on, and it became clear that Vermont was going to take it down to the wire, we got louder and louder in our support of Vermont. Marty even developed a Catamount impression. It is a quite impressive growl that might actually scare off some predators in the wild. We would make him do it every time Vermont would hit a big bucket.

Vermont hit a three to send it into overtime and after a big three to take the lead with about 5 second to go the dude with the mullet stormed out of the bar...never to be seen again. Keep in mind that his team still had a chance to win the game at the time he left.

Since then, we have made Marty do an impression of every lower seeded mascot that wins on Thursday and Friday. Although, sometimes he doesn't quite make it until late on Friday night. We look forward to the Friday night montage.

Good seeding?

Currently, 9 seed Illinois leads 8 seed UNLV...9 to 8.

It has to get better than this..

Late games under way. We need some good games. This place is dead. Plus, we have only had one upset today...and that was only a 10 over a 7.

No Whammies, No Whammies......STOP...on a 14 over a 3!



+ a free spin?

This is no good

All the games stink right now. The closest game is 10 points. We are not having fun. Especially Gimpy.

Not gonna lie...

Our corner just busted into a Bonnie Tyler sing-a-long.

...and we also are singing the NAPA know how commercial everytime we see it too.

Third set of games

In OUR corner...it's called the St. Peter's game

Brennan is here.

Zach attack is out. So is Murray. Gonna be a good night. We told Ben that the bar was full but we had handicap seating. Is that wrong?

Thou Shalt NOT Covet Our Corner (or our couches)

We have a fat guy who keeps trying to move our couch. If he would ask once, we would gladly move it a little, but he keeps whining and trying to be sneaky about it. So we keep moving it back.

It might get loud.

Southstreet

Smokehouse is on the way.

Memphis/Zona had a good finish.  Hoping A&M can pull closer. Doesn't look good.

Did I mention they love us here?

What bar lets you order food from somewhere else and bring it in? We are ordering Southstreet Smokehouse for dinner. Very happy about this. It's OK since the managers are as excited about their orders as we are about ours.

Love us some Gus

If you didn't hear Gus Johnson's call of the Nova/Mason game, we all feel so bad for you.

Here we are huddled around a sound dog at the bar trying to get a better listen. Do we look happy enough?

that was turd-able!!!!

i am not going to explain this one....

Gus is heating up..

Nova/Mason is getting good. Gus is getting better.

Buck UP! Pt. 2

This round went much better. Butters won enough to pay me back from last night.

And we got all of Denny's money. Are you reading this T? We stole your husband's money. That is why he is out of singles, no matter what it looks like.

HUNDO

Hundo is in the house...

Hide your daughters.

Pure Comfort

Pier One, Crate & Barrell, Pottery Barn....

None of these places sell anything more comfortable than Wade's belly. Allison is one lucky girl.

apostrophe s

when do place an apostrophe after an s? is it only when it is plural? is St. Johns plural or their name?  we need some major help!!!!! english teachers unite and help.

Conversation overheard prior to the start of the Notre Dame/Akron game

"Did you see the Notre Dame score?!?  They're down 15-2!"  Ummm...no, those numbers are the teams' seeding.

Nicklas wins for best comments

My son (10 years old) is in the lead with the two best comments of the tournament so far.

They love us here

They gave us ottomans for the second day.

Bloody Mary add bacon

I'll have the mayo on the side please...

Tip Off

We are under way.

Ron showed up. All is right in the world. We need more upsets today.

Charles Barkley

..is turrr-ble

Fifteen minutes until the first game

Butters is still MIA. We are getting a little worried.

Do we have a gambling problem?

We just bet on the big wheel they spin on The Price is Right.

We're trying to figure out what that part of the show is called. Nobody remembers. We know it's not the Showcase Showdown. That't the last part. Anyone know?

We're Baaaack....

How about that pathetic finish last night? No, not the way UCLA almost choked the game away...us.

The couches are ugly but they are way more comfortable than bar stools. We watched all the games in comfort from our couches. We definitely showed our age.

We will try to do better today.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Last round under way...

We all thought that this would be the best set of games. Can it live up the morning?

At least I'm not Butters...

Ron just lost 20 hands of Buck up. Unprecedented.

Buck UP!

Wade is back. It's time to play Buck UP!

Gimpy is trying to stand up for himself.

They are so cute at this age.

JIMMER!!!

You say it like TIMMY on South Park.

I think we are full...

No posts in a while.

We got our wings right at the end of the Richmond game. There much rejoicing. Both about the Spiders and the wings. The new Thai Curry sauce is very good.

Uh oh, commandment 7 is under attack

Richmond is close to a win & we are staring down 100 wings

The over/under on # of wings left is 18 with 5 active wing consumers....place your bets.

What the hell happened to Leslie Visser?

Anyone?

We have had great games...

...but we need an upset.

Go Spiders!

That Guy!

Commandment number 3 has been broken.

Swifty is officially "That Guy"

I have strong legs

... -.. -.... --- ..-. ..- ---.

Princeton just cut Kentucky's lead to 2

And Ron has just left the bdubs man-cave.

Regarding Ian Hunter

"He's got pretty eyes" - Ron Rowe

And the official commercial of the 2011 NCAA Tournament is....

....N-N-N-N-N-Napa know-how, Napa know-how!

The abuse Gimpy takes...

So far he has taken a couch pillow to the face...while drinking. There was no blood, but we were not sure for a little while. Ron just hit him in the nuts for no reason. Well no reason other than the Kentucky game is closer than Ron is comfortable with.

Could it be?

How long will Princeton hang around?

Wow....

Best early start...EVER?

Seriously...three buzzer games out of four?!?!? Are you serious right now?

If you are at work, we truly feel for you right now.

HAWKER IS IN THE BUILDING

.....nuff said

We're just gettin' warmed up...

What a shot.  Go Morehead.

That was awesome. If it couldn't be a Gus Johnson game...at least it was Raferty!

Swifty just ripped up his bracket...but he was happy about it, so he didn't sin.

We want Morehead

Rooting for the underdog is even more exciting when you are pulling for Morehead.

Contest

Who can tell me what our bracelets stand for. First to comment correctly wins.

It's about to get irrational...

Butters is here. Kentucky is about to start.

Wish us all luck.

what an ending!

only the 2nd of 32 games and we have an amazing finish.  if the tournament is going to be anything like the butler game, then we have our hands full!

Best Game

Clemson almost made it exciting but didn't.

Early on, the ODU/Butler game has been fantastic. I made the early prediction that neither team would ever lead by more than 6 points. Butler had it up to 5 a little while ago, but ODU proptly tied it up again. This one is going to be good.

Four Games

Right ......NOW!

Kenneth Faried

Faried of Morehead State, not only is one of the most dominant players in the tournament, but we agree that he has the coolest hair in the entire bracket.

Yes...we actually talk about this stuff.

Thou Shalt NOT Root For Thy Bracket

Thou Shalt Worship the Underdog

Our first two commandments are self-explanitory. Nobody likes a bracket rooter. We all have Kansas going really far. So what if they lose in the first round. Just because you picked them in the championship game doesn't mean you have to root for them. Why do we do this every year? Because first round upsets are the best. If Ohio State loses tomorrow, our of our brackets take a hit. BIG DEAL. In the meantime, we get to watch an upset that we will remember forever. Do you really think your going to win the million dollars on ESPN? Fill out your bracket...and then set it aside and enjoy the basketball.

If you root for your bracket (or feel the need to discuss your bracket and score your bracket after every game) then you are not needed in our corner of the bar.

Good games

One tied at half. The other a two point game. This makes us all very happy.

The official time was1:06 pm

Marty's first catamount impression of the 2011 tourney.  I believe that I speak for everyone when I say that Vermont is sorely missed this year.

Observation concerning Old Dominion's coach

Pretty sure it's Mean Jean Okerland from old school WWF days.

Butler or ODU

Who you got? We're pretty split here

On a side note, glad the WVU/Clemson game is getting closer.

Another March Madness Miracle!!!

Swifty just showed up!

The 2011 T-shirt

The math equation actually does equal 2011

The Sweet Sixteen Comandments

These are hanging in our corner. Some of them are inside jokes, but you get the drift.





We might explain a few later

We must get this RECTIFIED!

Two minutes in and we already have our first lagging feed.....and use of the word "rectified"

Paging Dr. Schulfer!

(Schulf needs to wear a pager)

And there was much rejoicing...

We are live.  West Virginia vs. Clemson

Poor Butters!!

Ron just showed up live and in person!

Too many laptops?

Marty is working on our handicapping game.

I'm working on the blog.

Gimpy is working on our TV preferences.

Cook is putting name tags on the couches.

Almost time for a beer.

Why we love this bar



Does your bar allow you to set up couches and literally move in for two days? Ours does. Thanks to Jon Hodge and Jen.

First Major Snafu

My jump drive just stopped working. Lots of important stuff lost. Some good stuff from March too. We're all a little freaked out.

Check In

Gimpy and I are setting up in our usual corner right now. Marty is working this morning but will join us before the basketball gets under way.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Draft is done

Now we need to get things ready for tomorrow. Sweet Sixteen commandments? We have a skeleton, but are open to suggestions.

Couches?

So we just drove around Marty's neighborhood looking for couches. We have permission from the owner of the bar that we will be hanging out in to take the tables out of the corner we sit in and replace them with couches.

We didn't find any. If you know of one we can use, leave a comment. We WILL pick it up.

Where was that?

Listening to Gus Johnson trying to describe the injury on the court. How do you describe a kick to the groin gently?

About half-way through the draft.

I don't like my team. Not sure how far my players teams are going. I got Jimmer. At least it's fun to say Jimmer.

Hey Look:

Marty said, "Cool, Gus Johnson is doing this game."

Waders said, "Damn...he looks good!"

And with the first pick of the draft....

Waders takes Jared Sullinger of Ohio State.

Madness Eve - AKA: The Draft

In our second year of Madness, we came up with a fantasy game. We each take 16 players. We get one player from each seed and keep track of points, rebounds, assissts, blocks and steals. The challenge is to get players that will put up numbers but will be on teams that will go far. The big debate this year is Jimmer Fredette. He WILL put up numbers but can BYU go very far.

We are setting up at Marty's house now. It's me, Marty, Waders and Cook.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A Brief History of Madness

Meet Marty, Kubatski, and Gimpy. That's us up there. The middle three from left to right. In 2005 we came up with a plan. Let's take off the first two days of the NCAA tournament (Thursday and Friday), go somewhere with lots of TVs and watch every minute of all 32 first round games. Our favorite holiday of the year was born. Several traditions have come from these but they have always been a fantastic time and we look forward to it every year.

In the past, we have kept a running diary at our table for those who only make it part of the time. This year (lucky number 7 if you are counting) we are going to keep a running diary for those of you poor souls who have to work (or in Butters case attend law school). Please feel free to comment, add to the conversation or even make suggestions. And if you are in the area stop by. And buy us a drink.