My Epic Atlantis Experience (long)

[iommi]

That is NBA legend John Lucas. He and Danny Ainge were scouting at the games.

 

[iommi]

Thanks to CuseTroop for helping me figure out how to post these pics. I actually did know how but had a major brain fart.

 

[tee1222]

I don't get that. It says, "image" and then wants me to type an image URL. I'm clicking on the thing to the right of the smiley face above where I post. tee could probably help me. He's great with this stuff.

Looks like I got here just in time! Great pics and stories fellas. I have done the leap of faith once or twice, but the pics with staff and players, I can't relate.
Either way, salud!

 

[iommi]

Looks like I got here just in time! Great pics and stories fellas. I have done the leap of faith once or twice, but the pics with staff and players, I can't relate.
Either way, salud!

My leap of faith was made scarier by the fact that I didn't even cross my legs. My wife was terrified.

 

[nycfan]

I was not sure what direction I should take with this post, since I could have taken it in so many different ways. Instead of doing a poor imitation of Tomcat's event or game recaps, I decided to give some color on what made my trip somewhat unique from a lot of people that went to watch Syracuse play in the Battle For Atlantis. As far as the basketball insights and analysis, The General and others covered that brilliantly too, so again, I'm not going to go down that path here.
---------------
First off, a big reason why my experience was so special was in large part due to Joyce aka cto, our esteemed administrator. Obviously cto's generosity has been well-documented and this time I was fortunate enough to benefit from her connections to the program.

We booked our trip through Dan Knowles Tours (and SU). Everything went off without a hitch as far as transportation, accommodations, etc. Upon our arrival, I knew Syracuse had some mojo working when the entire front desk staff at the Coral Tower of Atlantis was clad in bright orange. We checked in on the 24th and went to grab a casual bite to eat on the marina, where a large group of very large yachts were docked. We wound up eating outside, directly across from a yacht based out of Jupiter,FL with an SU banner proudly waving outside. Little did I know I'd be back on that yacht that very evening for a night I'll never forget.

Before I get to my yacht story, another cool thing is that later that afternoon, Donna Ditota approached me in the lobby, asking me if I'd pose for a picture for the Post-Standard and syracuse.com. I agreed but told her I'd get my wife and daughter to be in the pic, who are much more telegenic. We put our 5-year olddaughter in her Syracuse cheerleader outfit and met Donna again. We posed in front of a festive looking tree in front of our hotel and the pic wound up on the front page of the Post-Standard I think on Wednesday or Thursday. (I found the pic on-line but if someone who lives in Syracuse could send me a copy of that front page of the actual paper, please send me a PM.)

Later that evening I called cto, hoping to make plans with her to maybe grab a drink and finally meet her in person. Well, cto being cto, she put Coach Hopkins on the phone with me and then invited me on the yacht. She asked me if I packed a nice pair of pants and a shirt. I did, but even if I hadn't I would've gone out to a store and bought a suitable outfit. No way was I going to blow this opportunity.

I made my way to the marina (which was right outside my hotel!) and got to the SU yacht. I saw Joyce right away and then the rest of the night was a blur. I met and got pics with JB, Coach Red Autry, Kaleb Joseph and Tyler Lydon (cto intro'd me to just about everyone, including JB). JB was talking to someone while sitting on a couch. Joyce waited until an opportune time to bug JB and she took a couple pics of us with my phone. JB was very nice, considering meeting goofballs like I am is probably not his favorite leisure time activity. He was also, as far as I could tell, the only guest on the yacht who didn't take his footwear off before getting on the boat (he was wearing sneakers). Well, I guess when you're a Hall of Famer, they make an exception. edit: How could I forget Joyce had special sneakers on due to her foot issue. JB also gave a big smile in the pics.

I got the chance to speak to Coach Red at length. He was very nice, easy going and engaging. I told him I was from New Jersey and had seen some of our players and recruits play. Red is a great guy and has a beautiful family. You can tell immediately why he's a dynamic recruiter. I saw Coach Hop but didn't have an opportunity to speak to him on the yacht. I did get a great pic with Kaleb, who was also very nice. I spoke to him briefly as well and he seemed very upbeat, despite his lack of playing time this season. Tyler Lydon was very nice and kept calling me, "sir," which led to Brad Pike's son, Ryan, busting Tyler's chops for being so polite.

I met so many people connected to SU and the program, I was dizzy (yes, I had a few Stella's but my dizziness had nothing to do with alcohol). Mark Coyle's wife, Krystan, was very sweet and kept explaining and apologizing to people why her husband wasn't there (I guess he's been kind of busy, right?).

Joyce was great company. She really can spin a yarn and her stories got better the more white wine she drank. She managed to get around very well, despite the bum ankle. She apologized a few times that I couldn't bring my wife and daughter on board (obviously more than understandable considering this wasn't exactly a kid-friendly event). My wife was more than happy to relax after a long day and live vicariously through me. My beautiful wife is awesome, by the way, and a big SU hoops fan.

cto's partner in crime for this trip was Barbara Boeheim and I have to say: BB made quite the impression. She was very funny and busted my chops pretty much the whole night. It's obvious that Barbara and Jim share a similar sense of humor and the resemblance was uncanny. I ran into Barbara (and, by extension, cto) throughout the trip (usually at the Coral Tower lobby bar, which was the pre-game haunt for dozens of Orange fans) and she never stopped making me laugh (and squirm a little with her biting wit). We also wore the exact same blue (SU) LOYALTY shirts for the championship game by sheer happenstance.
------==
I met so many SU people on this trip, I don't want to name too many people in fear of forgetting some people but I shared some great times with CuseTroop, OrangeTown, ssbriefcase and like I said, countless others. I also brought up Syracusefan.com quite a bit and was surprised how many diehard fans have not heard of our community. I'm hoping a few lurkers or people who have never heard of this site become posters. The games were obviously great and my daughter got some major airtime during the Charlotte and UConn games. I lost my voice using my daughter's toy megaphone and started a good dose of LGO chants. I can't wait to watch the games on dvr and/or the WatchESPN app.

As far as the rest of the trip, Atlantis was amazing. My family had a wonderful time, and I give Atlantis my highest recommendation. Yes, it is very expensive but it was worth every penny IMO. The staff is generally very courteous, patient and friendly and there is so much to do for the young and young-at-heart. My most memorable highlights included the Leap of Faith water slide (did that twice), which is a devilish structure with a 7-story drop, the Rapid River--a tube ride that snakes around the water park and is extremely fun, Thanksgiving buffet at Mosaic (wow, Tomcat would have a field day writing about how great that feast was), and lobster with chilli sauce at Chopsticks (Yum!!). My daughter had breakfast with Santa one morning and her ear-to-ear grin as she came out was amazing. We also did the shallow water dolphins interaction and that was fantastic as well. I also ran into the basketball team's equipment manager and got a pic with the Battle for Atlantis championship trophy. I have to say, watching Christian White and some of the other walk-ons play blackjack was fun too. They are all great guys. Our players and coaches all were very appreciative of the Orange turnout and generous with their time. JB really trusts his players to handle themselves well outside the lines and obviously the players took care of business on the court.

The night we beat Texas A & M was fantastic because all of the SU players were in the casino to celebrate our victory and Tyler Roberson's birthday. I also ran into Coach Hop and he couldn't be nicer. We talked about this year and next year too. I ran a possible lineup by him for 2015-2016 of Tyus Battle, Malachi Richardson, Lydon, Roberson and Paschal Chukwu and he thought that would work pretty well. He was also quick to mention other guys coming back, including Dajuan Coleman and others. The buzz for Lydon leaving early was all over the place. I got a better pic with Lydon that night in the casino (the one on the boat was too dark) and he again called me, "sir." That kid is raised right. He also had a bevy of beauties all over him in the casino, so I hope he stays grounded. There will be plenty of temptations out there. I hope he remembers what Mickey Goldmill says, "women weaken legs."

All in all, I could type forever about this trip. My wife and I both agreed we'd make as many as these SU "destination" tourneys/ trips as possible.

A big thanks again to Joyce aka cto for her invite to the yacht and for introducing me to JB, Coach Red, Barbara Boeheim and everyone else I'm forgetting about right now. Thanks, cto... and LGO!!!!!

PS: Before someone gives me a, "pics or it didn't happen" post, bear with me and I'll try to get to that eventually.

Iommi -- fantastic write-up and great pictures! Great yacht story and detail on that whole experience. And loved the Lydon mentions---sounds like a great kid.

it, work can wait!

My goodness. It took me 3 days to recover from that week.
Left Alaska on Thursday night. Spent the day in LA. Rented a car, checked out long beach and the UC Irvine campus. What a cool campus. 80% of those kids had cars worth more than my house lol. Had my first In N Out burger, and my first Chi-fil-a sandwich. WHO IN THE HELL PUTS PICKLES ON A CHICKEN SANDWICH?! Jumped on a flight to JFK around 9pm, then JFK to the Bahamas.

Landed Saturday morning around 9. Room wasent ready at the RIU but they gave us our wrist bands and took our luggage for us. Was at the pool for 15 seconds before I heard my first "Let's Go Orange!" I look, dude in the pool with a Cuse hat. He goes.. "Man, I didn't think I'd see many Cuse fans down here" I laugh and said, "yea, only about a thousand" He looked confused, so I was like "You're here for the games right?" Nope. He had no clue. He was here for his birthday. Was leaving on Tuesday. He gave his wife the worst glare I've ever seen lol. Not a happy dude. Spent the rest of my day laying by the ocean waiting for my brother and his girl to arrive. Due to a snow storm in the midwest, he didnt make it in until Sunday afternoon. Headed to Harborside to check out my room there (turned out to be the only time I'd step foot in that room), meet up with my friends from home, and we hit the casino. Danced the night away at the Dragon Lounge. Didn't run into anyone from here that night. Got pretty lit, and we headed back to the room.

Sunday, Laid by the pool, drinking margaritas and finally met up with my brother. Shot CTO a text to tell her I had arrived (more on that later). Had dinner, and headed back to the Dragon lounge for some more dancing and drinking. Ahh, My brother hung a SU banner off his balcony as soon as he arrived. Hard to see tho. Was walking through the Beach Tower lot, and I helped a couple find the elevator. I'm walking away, and I'm like.. I know that dude, we are facebook friends. Sure enough, it was Consigliere!

Monday- We picked up our week long Atlantis passes that I got through my room, and checked out the water park. Hit some wild slides, the rapid river was insane. Wish we would have spent another day there. Went to Anthonys for the bills game. Met Todd and Bridget from Texas. Todd is a lurker here (Todd, post more) and saw that I had posted that we would be there for the game. Let me tell you.. If you ever get the chance to meet Todd and Bridget, RUN! lol. Such an awesome couple, we spent the rest of the week with them. I believe we went to the Dragon that night as well. Oh yea, we did lol. Monday was the first night they were checking for Atlantis wrist bands to get into the Dragon. Todd and Bridget didnt have them, so the bouncer was going to charge them $20 a pop to get in. They said that. I was sad. 20 minutes later, I see them walk through some door from the outside, walk up some stairs, and they were in lol. No clue how they found that door. Text CTO for a second time (again, more on that later, but at this point was starting to get sad that she didn't love me anymore ) Jekelish sends me a message on facebook, with a picture of the SU yacht. "your mission is to get on that yacht" Challenge accepted. I met up with Fairfax and his wife at the too for a quick $27 vodka redbull lol.

Tuesday - 2 words - Booze Cruise. Snorkeled, got tanked, danced. Had a blast. On the shuttle back, I had a hunch that we needed to get off at the Coral tower stop. "Babe, we might run into someone I know!" she reluctantly came. Not 3 steps into the lobby, theres Iommi and his amazing wife and beautiful daughter. (Iommi's daughter stole the show, the whole weekend. I think she was on TV more than CTO). Talked to Iommi for a few, and Orangetown comes running up. I knew stopping there was worth it. We made plans for later, and headed out (It was yacht sneaking on time) Went to the room, changed clothes, time to find the yacht. Walking through Atlantis, I walk by a couple decked out in orange.. We high five, and I'm like hooooold up... Obie? It was the great Obie and his wife Headmaster! I said Hey guys! I'm going to sneak onto the yacht, wanna come? They looked at eachother for a second, and said, helllll yeaaaaa. And off we were. Bumped into Donna Diota, who took our picture, and it was off to the Yacht. Sneaking on? We pretty much just walked on. First person I see, Fairfax and his wife. Was getting a drink and Boom, there she was. The great CTO! After a big hug she says "You've been ignoring me, I've been texting you since we got here!" I said "I've been texting you!" sure enough, she shows me her phone, and all the times she text me to meet up. I deleted our text convo, sent a text, and we were good to go from there. She was with Iommi, who had a grin from ear to ear. Ran into Barb talked to her for a while. (side story, my friend Laurie and her boyfriend got invites for the yacht. they were on the booze cruise with me, and Laurie was hammered. I left her with Barb. Barb, I'm so sorry! lol) Got pictures with the team, Gmac, and Hop. Had a blast on the yacht. My girl reminded me that I hadn't fed her dinner yet, so we had to leave early for that. Heard later that they partied well into the morning. Should have went back! After dinner, it was back to the Dragon for once again, more dancing and drinking.

Wednesday - Freaking game day. Iommi and I made plans to meet up at the Coral Lobby. We got there, place was dead. we had a few drinks and were going to head to the sports book. Ran into Fairfax and a group on the way, and decided just to stick around the Lobby bar. We owned the Coral bar. 100% orange. The rest of the week we made that our spot. I met soooooo many people, way to many to list. ssbriefcase gave me the ol "hey, cusetroop?" yep. Met him and his wife. That dude knows how to party... I turned down a shot later that night with him ( I was already tanked, I owe ya one dude). We had a solid pregame, and headed to the arena. Chanting the whole way. My seats were immaculate. Between the end of the SU bench, and mid court. My girl had a seat a row back, more mid court. But the seats next to me were empty, so I flagged her down, and she was able to sit with me the whole game. I won't touch on the games, because everyone else has, and I'm supposed to be catching up on work. Post game drinks, dinner, and back to the dragon bar. Spent the rest of Wednesday night in the room, My girl was flying out Thursday morning, so we just hung out with my brother and his girl. First time they've all met, so we listed to my brother tell his crazy stories all night.. Towards the end of the night my girl starts giving me the whole "I'm leaving you unsupervised, you need to be good" speech. I was like, babe, I got this.. I've been good all week. She pulls a video out of her phone, me dancing on the dance floor with some chick, dropped it low, and when I came back up my head was under her dress... she says "thats not being good!" lol. My girl knows how I get when I drink, I come to freaking dance. (FYI, i was on my best behavior, female wise the rest of the trip).

Thursday-friday was pretty much a repeat of Wednesday. Beating UCONN was amazing. That jerk UCONN fan post game was kind of a bummer. I was telling my brother.. If SU had lost, we still would be in this lobby bar, partying, and congratulating Uconn fans... See where the UCONN fans are? Either in their rooms, or out here being jerks. It was sad to see.

The party after the championship game seemed to never end. Friday was my favorite day of the trip. My hand was throbbing from high fives. I hugged everyone. I tried to propose to a girl. Epic. We all ended up in the casino.

If you ever get the chance to play blackjack with Iommi.. take it. Dude is a savant. Was calling out what the dealer had, and was right 90% of the time. He had me up $280 in no time. We had a blast. Iommi made me cash out, and we wandered back through the casino. I ran into the team, and had to play roulette with Lydon. He was the nicest kid in the world. After I introduced myself, he called me by name each time we spoke (He must have read 'how to win friends and influence people') I went to cash in my winnings from that, and ran into a cuse fan who was cashing in $1,000 of his craps winnings. Said the table was hot. I've never played craps before, and was hammered, so this seemed like a great idea (Iommi, I know I promised I wouldnt play anymore, but I was hammered, and caught up in the moment. I owe you man.) Well, that dude lost me money instantly. I ended up back at a blackjack table, using the knowledge that Iommi tried to drop on me. About every 20 minutes Tyler would stop by, put his arms on me, and say "Adam, how are the cards going" "Adam, you still up?" That alone was worth the money I lost. At one point in the night, it was an SU photo session in the middle of the casino. JB had the biggest smile on his face. we were taking pictures with everyone, chanting, hugging, it was epic.

Soooo the story you've all been waiting for. I was really trying to make it through the whole trip without getting in trouble... I was soooooooooo close. 4am Saturday morning. I'm walking back to the room. I had to walk through the arena lobby, and there was the ticket table, with a Battle 4 Atlantis table cloth. I asked the janitor if it would be a big deal if I took it home. "Don't take that" he said... I took it. Thing was way heavier than I thought. I hear HEY! Now I'm in a dead sprint towards the beach tower. I hit the beach tower lobby, and walked calm and cool through it (I didnt wanna look like a criminal) heard HEY again, and took off outside, to the street, around some hedges, and into the RIU. Stashed it in a luggage cart, called my brothers room "Open the door, hit the elevator button, police are coming". Then casually walked back outside like nothing happened. 3 security guards and 2 cops were there. Came right up to me Asked if I had just stolen something... I paused a second, then said yeaaaaaaa, that was me. They hassled me for about 20 minutes, I told em I was just drunk, thought it was a good idea, and apologized. Luckly they let me go.. Ughh I'm an idiot. I told you people not to leave me unsupervised!

Guys, greatest trip of my life. I literally rented my house out for the year, and spent two months couch surfing to fund this trip. Would do it all over again. I will 100% be there in 2 years for the next one.

My only regret was not listening to Iommi when he told me to take my winnings and go home. I was just caught in the moment, and didnt want it to end. You'll never pay for a drink when you are with me again.

I know I left out so many people that I met, and so many memories, but man, I was hammered 90% of this trip. I want to go back! lol

CuseTroop---also a great write-up and so jealous I wasn't there with you guys! Glad you didn't end up in the slammer (sounds like you caught a huge break). Btw, you mentioned nearly proposing to a girl (the day after "your girl" left town, lol) -- can you shed any more details on that?

 

[CuseTroop]

Alright, I guess I was hammered when she showed me, it wasent as bad as I thought lol. The girl at the end had challenged me to a dance off. What was I supposed to do?

 

[Cheriehoop]

even on our wakeboarding boat on Keuka lake, and the pontoon boat. Was always shoes off.

Great stories . Boy do I wish...Yeah sand is especially awful to get rid of anywhere.

 

[CuseTroop]

Great stories . Boy do I wish...Yeah sand is especially awful to get rid of anywhere.

my trunks were full of sand when I put them in the wash last night. Not sure if you are supposed to wash sand or not... I'll find out when I pull them out of the dryer later.

 

[Cheriehoop]

my trunks were full of sand when I put them in the wash last night. Not sure if you are supposed to wash sand or not... I'll find out when I pull them out of the dryer later.

You'll be finding sand in your dryer for a while. Some sand won't come out of the clothes from an initial wash in a washer. Better idea is to dry them, shake them out outdoors and then rinse them before putting them in the washer. (bathtub, small washtub or something).Tougher in Alaska - lol.

If the sand is in the washer already ,use a wet towel to get the sand left in the washer and rinse the towel out in the bathtub before washing ot. If you have a good vacuum with a hose, let the sand dry and you can also vacuum any residual sand in the washer, dryer. Then just remember that your trip was so worth dealing with dumb sand..

 

[CuseTroop]

You'll be finding sand in your dryer for a while. Some sand won't come out of the clothes from an initial wash in a washer. Better idea is to dry them, shake them out outdoors and then rinse them before putting them in the washer. (bathtub, small washtub or something).Tougher in Alaska - lol.

If the sand is in the washer already ,use a wet towel to get the sand left in the washer and rinse the towel out in the bathtub before washing ot. If you have a good vacuum with a hose, let the sand dry and you can also vacuum any residual sand in the washer, dryer. Then just remember that your trip was so worth dealing with dumb sand..

ughhhhhhhh lol

Thanks for the help. I guess this will be my plans for the night lol

 

[CuseTroop]

Edit - Stuff Cusetroop is randomly remembering, that he left out of the main post. Will update.

1 - For the first 3 minutes of the championship game, I was able to sit right behind the bench next to Joyce and Barb. They said "a certain coaches daughter always arrives late, sit here until they get here!" Amazing.

Watched the replay last night. Look what I found!

 

[OrangeTown]

Watched the replay last night. Look what I found!

View attachment 54212

That big white arrow on your TV screen must be annoying as hell.

 

[AirForceOrange]

Iommi getting on the yacht is one of those funny "in the right place at the right time" stories.

Prior to Allantis, he PMed me, saying he hoped to meet me in Atlantis and giving me his cell phone number. Since I considered him an intelligent poster, I gave him my number.

So there I am last Tuesday night, on the boat, when my phone vibrates. I answer it and discover it's iommi, asking whether we can get together later that evening. We chatted a bit, and after I determined he sounded like a good guy, I invited him onto the boat ... with the dress code caveat (khakis and golf shirt). Fortunately, he had both ... and the rest is history.

Good to know...now I don't have to waste time asking this, if I ever have the opportunity in the future to attend something CTO will be at...

 

[Jeremy L.]

Kaleb wasn't in the room.

This made me laugh lol

 

[TexanMark]

Booking my trip now...so jealous

 

[NYCSUGrad]

You have a REALLY tolerant girlfriend Cuse Troop. I've never considered myself the jealous type but if I caught my presumably serious BF with his head up another woman's skirt I think I'd be referring to him as my ex. Especially if the activity happened when I was around. Better hope she doesn't go on this board and read about the subsequent "proposal"!

 

[CuseTroop]

You have a REALLY tolerant girlfriend Cuse Troop. I've never considered myself the jealous type but if I caught my presumably serious BF with his head up another woman's skirt I think I'd be referring to him as my ex. Especially if the activity happened when I was around. Better hope she doesn't go on this board and read about the subsequent "proposal"!

Ahh I told her about the proposal lol. I went back to the film (above) and It wasn't as bad as I thought it was. She's pretty tolerant, that's for sure lol. But she knows I'd never cross any lines. Besides the joke proposal, I was on my best behavior after she left, besides the gambling lol

 

[NYCSUGrad]

Ahh I told her about the proposal lol. I went back to the film (above) and It wasn't as bad as I thought it was. She's pretty tolerant, that's for sure lol. But she knows I'd never cross any lines. Besides the joke proposal, I was on my best behavior after she left, besides the gambling lol

You're a lucky man then.

 

[Dave85]

This made me laugh lol

It was a T'd-up shot that one. Kaleb played a little better in the Wisconsin game.

Anyway, glad you laughed. There's some really funny people on this board. I'm just trying to keep up!