A Clockwork Orange
2022 Cali Winner (Overall Record)
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- Aug 14, 2011
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There are few things better to do in life then spend a week at the Garden for the Big East Tournament (and hopefully the ACC tournament in a few years). The anticipation leading up to the game, the carnival/giddy atmosphere of the fans, and finally the Garden itself.
Arrived at the Blarney Rock at about 11 am yesterday only to walk back out. It was packed to the gills with Syracuse fans. One sidelight of this year's tourney is no UConn fans, so SU fans greatly outnumber every other fanbase here this year.
In a running tally I saw:
2 Notre Dame fans
2 St. Johns fans
2 Georgetown fans
17 Cincy fans
0 Providence fans
5816 Syracuse fans
After failing miserable at the Blarney, we slid over to Stout. Nice place, a little more high class then I like, with an interesting mix of suits and Syracuse fans co-habitating the bar warily with one another. They had Newcastle though, so I was happy. They also had better than average wings, which is a good thing as well. Since moving south to Virginia, I haven't had a good buffalo chicken wing. They think boiling a wing, and pouring tabasco sauce on it is the equivalent. It is not. My theory is the further away from Buffalo you get the worse the wing becomes. I lived in London for a couple of years. Their chicken wings were the worst I've ever had.
Okay, back on topic Clockwork. In any case, we met some great people at Stout. A former student came up and chatted with my wife and I, and then we met a great father/son duo. The son went to UConn but stayed a diehard SU fan. Good family there. The father had his 1991 BET t-shirt on, and I must admit I was totally and completely jealous over it. He said yesterday was the first time he ever wore it. I can't think of a better reason to put it on, than at an Irish funeral like the BET is this year.
The best thing about the BET is the coming together of so many SU fans. We had a conversation with three generations of the same family at one point. They all came from B-Ville, this is their first time at the tourney, and grandma couldn't be happier. She had her sons and daughter, and her grandkids their with her. It does make you sad to think this is ending, because there is that generational tradition thing that happens each year in NYC.
My wife has never attended a game at the Garden and was astounded by how fantastic the sightlines and the lighting was. We sat next to a Georgetown and St. Johns fan. They were nice dudes, and rooting for a good game, and not against the 'Cuse. As we sat down in our seats, SU came out to do their lay up line. Brandon promptly airballed his first lay up. I didn't even know that was possible, and decided it was a harbinger of bad things to come. Thankfully I was wrong.
The guy behind me was an SU fan, and after James missed his first three (he had gone 2-2 previously) he yelled that he was a "big stiff!" We grinned, and then James went on a GMac like tear in the first half. We all laughed that he needed to continue calling the players "stiffs" for mojo and what not. He said the same thing about Baye, and sure enough, he ended up making some big plays.
Day one was a great party, and everyone is looking forward to Pitt and then potentially Georgetown. We headed over to Lucy's Cantina after the game and sat out on the rooftop deck with a bunch of rowdy SU fans. A douchey G'Town fan was also there and asked us snidely how we'd like playing in the ACC. I explained to him we'd love making 20 million a year for our sports teams, and that unlike his school we play more than just basketball and cricket. I told him to have fun playing Xavier and DePaul each year. He rolled his eyes and walked back to his hole.
Unfortunately he decided to start shouting down SU fans who were trying to start a 'LGO' chant. That was a mistake on his part as all of the collective SU fans started getting on him. My wife actually yelled at him "your mother's a Hoya!" She's not great at trash talking okay? HE meekly said "my mom died last week." Not sure if he was joking or not, but turns out my wife is the best trash talker of all time. That was harsh. In any case, he didn't say another word the rest of the time we were there.
In any case, looking forward to the game today, and hoping that we can stretch things out another day. That's another great thing about the BET. Each extra day feels like a gift, and the juice begins to build after every win. If we win this game, the next one will be a frenzied atmosphere. I'll miss the BET, but like JB said, the ACC will be a great, new challenge for all of us.
Arrived at the Blarney Rock at about 11 am yesterday only to walk back out. It was packed to the gills with Syracuse fans. One sidelight of this year's tourney is no UConn fans, so SU fans greatly outnumber every other fanbase here this year.
In a running tally I saw:
2 Notre Dame fans
2 St. Johns fans
2 Georgetown fans
17 Cincy fans
0 Providence fans
5816 Syracuse fans
After failing miserable at the Blarney, we slid over to Stout. Nice place, a little more high class then I like, with an interesting mix of suits and Syracuse fans co-habitating the bar warily with one another. They had Newcastle though, so I was happy. They also had better than average wings, which is a good thing as well. Since moving south to Virginia, I haven't had a good buffalo chicken wing. They think boiling a wing, and pouring tabasco sauce on it is the equivalent. It is not. My theory is the further away from Buffalo you get the worse the wing becomes. I lived in London for a couple of years. Their chicken wings were the worst I've ever had.
Okay, back on topic Clockwork. In any case, we met some great people at Stout. A former student came up and chatted with my wife and I, and then we met a great father/son duo. The son went to UConn but stayed a diehard SU fan. Good family there. The father had his 1991 BET t-shirt on, and I must admit I was totally and completely jealous over it. He said yesterday was the first time he ever wore it. I can't think of a better reason to put it on, than at an Irish funeral like the BET is this year.
The best thing about the BET is the coming together of so many SU fans. We had a conversation with three generations of the same family at one point. They all came from B-Ville, this is their first time at the tourney, and grandma couldn't be happier. She had her sons and daughter, and her grandkids their with her. It does make you sad to think this is ending, because there is that generational tradition thing that happens each year in NYC.
My wife has never attended a game at the Garden and was astounded by how fantastic the sightlines and the lighting was. We sat next to a Georgetown and St. Johns fan. They were nice dudes, and rooting for a good game, and not against the 'Cuse. As we sat down in our seats, SU came out to do their lay up line. Brandon promptly airballed his first lay up. I didn't even know that was possible, and decided it was a harbinger of bad things to come. Thankfully I was wrong.
The guy behind me was an SU fan, and after James missed his first three (he had gone 2-2 previously) he yelled that he was a "big stiff!" We grinned, and then James went on a GMac like tear in the first half. We all laughed that he needed to continue calling the players "stiffs" for mojo and what not. He said the same thing about Baye, and sure enough, he ended up making some big plays.
Day one was a great party, and everyone is looking forward to Pitt and then potentially Georgetown. We headed over to Lucy's Cantina after the game and sat out on the rooftop deck with a bunch of rowdy SU fans. A douchey G'Town fan was also there and asked us snidely how we'd like playing in the ACC. I explained to him we'd love making 20 million a year for our sports teams, and that unlike his school we play more than just basketball and cricket. I told him to have fun playing Xavier and DePaul each year. He rolled his eyes and walked back to his hole.
Unfortunately he decided to start shouting down SU fans who were trying to start a 'LGO' chant. That was a mistake on his part as all of the collective SU fans started getting on him. My wife actually yelled at him "your mother's a Hoya!" She's not great at trash talking okay? HE meekly said "my mom died last week." Not sure if he was joking or not, but turns out my wife is the best trash talker of all time. That was harsh. In any case, he didn't say another word the rest of the time we were there.
In any case, looking forward to the game today, and hoping that we can stretch things out another day. That's another great thing about the BET. Each extra day feels like a gift, and the juice begins to build after every win. If we win this game, the next one will be a frenzied atmosphere. I'll miss the BET, but like JB said, the ACC will be a great, new challenge for all of us.
