Live from Philadelphia

[cto]

First, full disclosure. I am not a fanatic lacrosse fan. In fact, I had not been to a game since the 2009 Final Four. I don't dislike lacrosse, I just don't follow it the way I follow basketball. That being said, there is nothing quite like the Lacrosse Final Four...so I left cold, rainy Connecticut Saturday morning on a train to Philly where it was only windy

Hooked up at about 2 pm at a series of tailgates with Cuseguy, Su Barney, Bill Orange, Sutomcat, and a bunch of friends who are posters here. It was Tomcat's first Lax FF, but he had heard so much about them, he decided he had to attend one so he drove down that morning from Syracuse. I was very lucky he was there. The wind was blowing so hard that it was blowing my hair into my mouth whenever I tried to eat or drink something; Tom gave me an SU cap he had ..which served to keep my hair out of my face and mouth. After about.three hours of feasting on great food prepared by Cuseguy and Barney (those guys are great chefs), we went into the stadium to catch the end of the Cornell/Duke game. There we ate and drank for another three hours as we watched SU do nothing for 59 minutes ...before coming from behind for our first lead of the day ...and another improbable victory

Then it was back to the parking lot for more tailgating. -- this time with the players and their parents (as is traditional after these games). At some point during the celebration, I decided I wanted a glass of red wine (which is not exactly a common beverage of choice during lacrosse tailgates), so I started to wander among the rows of cars, looking for a folding table where the spread included red wine. Finally found one, and I sheepishly asked the friendy looking man wearing a 24 jersey whether I might Have some. He said "of course," and we introduced ourselves to each other. Turned out he was Pete Ianzito, father of Steve Ianzito. At that point Steve himself showed up ...not limping and with no tape on his ankle. He said it was thoroughly iced after the game ... And said he was good to.go on Monday. Pete and Steve are both delightful. I am so happy that my quest for red wine caused me to meet them

I never saw Tomcat after the game to return his hat. I hope he is there tomorrow so that I can give it back to him!

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

First, full disclosure. I am not a fanatic lacrosse fan. In fact, I had not been to a game since the 2009 Final Four. I don't dislike lacrosse, I just don't follow it the way I follow basketball. That being said, there is nothing quite like the Lacrosse Final Four...so I left cold, rainy Connecticut Saturday morning on a train to Philly where it was only windy

Hooked up at about 2 pm at a series of tailgates with Cuseguy, Su Barney, Bill Orange, Sutomcat, and a bunch of friends who are posters here. It was Tomcat's first Lax FF, but he had heard so much about them, he decided he had to attend one so he drove down that morning from Syracuse. I was very lucky he was there. The wind was blowing so hard that it was blowing my hair into my mouth whenever I tried to eat or drink something; Tom gave me an SU cap he had ..which served to keep my hair out of my face and mouth. After about.three hours of feasting on great food prepared by Cuseguy and Barney (those guys are great chefs), we went into the stadium to catch the end of the Cornell/Duke game. There we ate and drank for another three hours as we watched SU do nothing for 59 minutes ...before coming from behind for our first lead of the day ...and another improbable victory

Then it was back to the parking lot for more tailgating. -- this time with the players and their parents (as is traditional after these games). At some point during the celebration, I decided I wanted a glass of red wine (which is not exactly a common beverage of choice during lacrosse tailgates), so I started to wander among the rows of cars, looking for a folding table where the spread included red wine. Finally found one, and I sheepishly asked the friendy looking man wearing a 24 jersey whether I might Have some. He said "of course," and we introduced ourselves to each other. Turned out he was Pete Ianzito, father of Steve Ianzito. At that point Steve himself showed up ...not limping and with tape on his ankle. He said it was thoroughly iced after the game ... And said he was good to.go on Monday. Pete and Steve are both delightful. I am so happy that my quest for red wine caused me to meet them

I never saw Tomcat after the game to return his hat. I hope he is there tomorrow so that I can give it back to him!

All who wander are not lost, Joyce

Sent from my SCH-I200 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Fjoinkay]

Great game. Sounds like a great time all round. Go Cuse!

 

[sutomcat]

First, full disclosure. I am not a fanatic lacrosse fan. In fact, I had not been to a game since the 2009 Final Four. I don't dislike lacrosse, I just don't follow it the way I follow basketball. That being said, there is nothing quite like the Lacrosse Final Four...so I left cold, rainy Connecticut Saturday morning on a train to Philly where it was only windy

Hooked up at about 2 pm at a series of tailgates with Cuseguy, Su Barney, Bill Orange, Sutomcat, and a bunch of friends who are posters here. It was Tomcat's first Lax FF, but he had heard so much about them, he decided he had to attend one so he drove down that morning from Syracuse. I was very lucky he was there. The wind was blowing so hard that it was blowing my hair into my mouth whenever I tried to eat or drink something; Tom gave me an SU cap he had ..which served to keep my hair out of my face and mouth. After about.three hours of feasting on great food prepared by Cuseguy and Barney (those guys are great chefs), we went into the stadium to catch the end of the Cornell/Duke game. There we ate and drank for another three hours as we watched SU do nothing for 59 minutes ...before coming from behind for our first lead of the day ...and another improbable victory

Then it was back to the parking lot for more tailgating. -- this time with the players and their parents (as is traditional after these games). At some point during the celebration, I decided I wanted a glass of red wine (which is not exactly a common beverage of choice during lacrosse tailgates), so I started to wander among the rows of cars, looking for a folding table where the spread included red wine. Finally found one, and I sheepishly asked the friendy looking man wearing a 24 jersey whether I might Have some. He said "of course," and we introduced ourselves to each other. Turned out he was Pete Ianzito, father of Steve Ianzito. At that point Steve himself showed up ...not limping and with tape on his ankle. He said it was thoroughly iced after the game ... And said he was good to.go on Monday. Pete and Steve are both delightful. I am so happy that my quest for red wine caused me to meet them

I never saw Tomcat after the game to return his hat. I hope he is there tomorrow so that I can give it back to him!

Nice report Cto...

After the game ended, my party ran to my car and took off immediately in an attempt to avoid getting stuck in traffic from the big crowd leaving the stadium. Really wanted to get home, long day, wanted to get back to Syracuse and get as decent a night of sleep as possible. We left the parking lot at precisely 8 PM and arrived in Eastwood at 11:45 PM. Pretty good time. I suspect we were the first people who attended the game to get back to Syracuse. Could be wrong on that though.

Thanks to SUBarney and Cuseguy for holding on to the table I brought (left it at the tailgate when I left it early to watch the 1st game of the doubleheader. I will be back tomorrow, hope to see everyone again then. There is room in the car for a couple more board members, drop me an EZ Inbox message if interested.

If you like lacrosse, good times and maybe drink alcohol, you will like the Final Four atmosphere. Really nice setup. As others have noted, it is pretty cool to have the players you just watched come to the tailgate and eat with you as you congratulate them. Has to be awesome for kids. Anyway, get your butt down to the game tomorrow. Tickets are available, it is a great event, and it is only 4 hours away. You will not regret it.

 

[llandz]

Joyce, glad the men won, so you had company in Philly and something to do Saturday night. My favorite line of your summary "and we watched SU do nothing for 59 minutes..." I thought that summed it up pretty well. That is about how we all felt at the sports bar. My mom, grad 1948, played bridge on Saturday. She got back to her apartment and watched the final 2 minutes. I told her tonight that she pretty much watched the whole game!!