Bringing the Drama

So I’ve been on Twitter, and I follow a few sports writers. My friend Aaron also follows a couple of the same sportswriters, and we’ve been keeping unrecorded score of who gets responses from the sportswriters. I think unofficially I’m in the lead because I notched Peter King, but everything is unrecorded. Monday the heavily twittering duo of ESPN (Mortensen and Schefter) were concluding their training camp bus tour with the Saints. My grand plan involved somehow meeting them and persuading them to tweet to my friend Aaron. It didn’t matter what it was really, just that he got it. In my scheming mind it would be a photo of me with one of them with “wish you were here @am_mgmt” or something.

Since I was going to training camp, I took along my copies of the books from Sean Payton and Drew Brees that I just received last week. Players and coaches sign autographs after practice, and even though I’m not a big autograph guy, it would be cool to have them sign their books. I figured if for some reason they signed after practice, I’d give it a shot. I got there about 20 minutes after practice started and snapped a few photos. After practice was over, I stood over where the players were signing autographs. Other players like Reggie Bush signed, but no Brees or Payton. I waited around, but no results, so I started walking back to my car.

The ESPN buses were parked outside of the practice fields on the way to my car. Since I had shown up later, I had to park in a Zephyr Field lot. It wasn’t a big deal, it was better than parking across Airline Hwy. I saw there were about 15 people waiting at the buses, so I figured maybe Mort and Schefter would come out and talk to people. Here was my chance! People were walking around the buses, taking pictures, holding the ESPN mic that had been left on one of the chairs, etc. Then some sheriff’s deputies showed up and shooed us back away from the buses. Good thing I had already taken a few pictures.

It was cool seeing the stickers and what people had signed in person after seeing it on TV and reading about it.

So I’m in this group of people who have been herded a safe distance away from the broadcasting equipment, when all of a sudden Drew Brees comes walking out of the Saints office building with some PR people. He comes right over to the group of people, but I didn’t have my book or Sharpie ready. By the time I had my book ready he was on a bus to film an interview. Then, Sean Payton gets off a bus, and walks across the parking lot. Luckily I was standing with people who are REALLY into autographs, so they were the ones yelling “Coach! HEY COACH, could we get an autograph, there’s only a few of us over here!” Sure enough, my buddy Sean came over and signed autographs. I figured, I was standing there, I might as well get my book signed. Someone had brought a gold Sharpie to get his poster or something signed, so then that pen ended up being used for all 8 or 10 things, including my book, so I have my book signed by Sean Payton in gold Sharpie. What up.

So back to the waiting. A lot of the people left, and there were only three other guys and me waiting. I still figured Brees would come off the bus, and the ESPN guys would be available to shoot the breeze (HA!). I stood under a tree in the shade while the others stood in the middle of the parking lot. All of a sudden, Brees exits the bus and walks over to the few people left. I had my book ready and he signed it. We all thanked him. I figured, NOW is the time, but no. After Brees left the bus, then Saints owner Tom Benson and a couple of other people got on to do interviews or something. ‘That’s it!’, I thought, and I walked back to my car. On my way back to my car, I called Aaron and left a VM telling him what all happened. I genuinely went over to the buses to talk to the ESPN guys, but walked away with two autographed books. It ended up being a pretty incredible Monday morning.

So I told you I would be watching the US/England game in Denver, right? I ended up watching the game with a couple of thousand other people in the middle of a blocked off street in the light rain. It was awesome.

Since my friend Jacob ended up not being able to come to Denver, I was determined to show up two hours before kickoff to watch the game at an Irish pub near Coors Field. I walked out of the Hyatt with my American flag bandana on, because of all days to wear my patriotic bandana in public, June 12th would be a day. The Irish pub plans changed after I showed up and saw no empty seats and the viewing angles for the possible areas to stand pretty much sucked. I ended up at this place called the British Bulldog. My mom had actually found out about it in a magazine or something and told me about it. After a phone call and a google search, I had the location and started walking.

I arrived about 11:15 or so, a little over an hour before kickoff. There was a pickup soccer game in the street, and the beer line wasn’t long. They had what looked to be Carlsberg on tap at the truck outside, but I did see someone with a can of PBR. I never went and investigated where the red, white, and blue cans were though. Adriene and Brandy were going to meet me there later in the day, so I got a spot under an awning and started to wait. There were a ton of people there already, but as the kickoff neared, the crowd swelled. I’m not sure how the Irish pub ended up, but this place to watch the game was WAY BETTER. The beer line grew to half a block. I had chosen not to start drinking until closer to the game, but with that long line I just abstained.

The crowd was pretty electric considering we were outside in the light rain. I moved out into the street just before the game started. When Gerrard scored, the smattering of English fans cheered while everyone else stewed. We had been so amped up and it all came crashing down just a few minutes in. It did not help that it began to rain harder too. Dempsey’s goal shot new life into the crowd. It’s one thing to celebrate with some friends, but with a couple of thousand other people it was great.

Adriene and Brandy showed up just before halftime, and the rain stopped. Things were looking up. Everyone collectively was up and down during the 2nd half. No goals were scored, but there were some close calls. It was nice to have the same reaction as other people like when Altidore struck the post. When Rooney missed on a header in the 2nd half, I yelled out something about how he was going to be eating beans in a trailer. I’m not sure how many people got that I was referencing the Nike commercial, but at least Adriene laughed.

Since the game ended in a draw, nobody really went home disappointed. Well, except maybe the English fans. I was kind of hoping for a miracle win or something, but I could live with a draw. It was cool walking away from that place with people wearing flags and face painting with people driving by and honking. It was definitely a game we were proud of, and I got to watch it in the middle of a blocked off street with a couple of thousand fellow crazed fans for free. Can’t beat that.

BTW, that’s my unemployment beard. I stole the idea from Coco.

If you missed the game here’s a 4 min highlight reel.

I first took up golf in high school after a PE class where we were made to chip wiffle balls into a target area. I remember holding the club open (twisted away from me) to hit the balls because I had never played before and doing that seemed to work. I did reasonably well, and figured maybe I should give golf a shot. Fast forward to 2010, and after hurting my shoulder over a year ago, I had not played since the summer of 2008 (I think, it could have been longer). I had missed playing, but after having not played in a while, and not really having anyone to spur me on, I did not really do anything about it.

Then my g/f signs me up for this tournament being sponsored by her school’s athletic booster club. She had talked to me about playing, and I told her I had not played in a while. I told her to sign me up only if they needed players, and I would make it work. She called me a couple of days after that conversation and told me I was signed up.

I was determined not to show up and suck at this tournament. It did not matter if I did not know any of the players, I know how I feel when I’m playing in a best ball tournament and I have a guy on my team that is really terrible. Last weekend after having my family over to my house for Mothers’ Day, I went and hit range balls at the golf course near my house. It was like I had never left. I hit some shots that made me think I did not have that far to go. I also hit some shots that made me think I had some work to do. I was encouraged by the results though, and knew if I practiced more that week, I would at least be able to contribute a little bit.

I went and played nine holes on Wednesday. I had noticed when I went to the course that not many people were playing, so I figured I could sneak on one afternoon and play alone. I like to play alone. Unless I’m playing with someone I know, I’d rather just play by myself. I warmed up on the range and then hit the course. (BTW, some dude was on the range with a driver that sounded like an aluminum bat when he hit the ball. I thought that was stupid. Maybe I’m too old fashioned. If you’re driver head is bigger than your hand, you probably should not be using it.)

After not playing in almost two years, I shot a 46, finishing with the same ball I teed off with. I could not believe it. I finished in near darkness where it was really hard to see, so luckily I was still hitting the ball straight. It felt great to walk the course and play like that. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing. The feeling of hitting a monster drive, watching your iron shot go high in the air and come down on the green, getting out of trouble, making a long putt, etc. I felt ready for this tournament.

I showed up yesterday and I was greeted with “You’re our ringer, right?” Uh oh. I quickly found out I was our team’s best player. It was not really a bad thing, but I wish I could have been more consistent with my shots and helped the team more. We shot a 74, which in best ball is not that good, but we did not finish last and we had a good time. It rained off and on, but there was free food and free beer, so it ended up being a good time. I lost twelve balls. TWELVE! I got 6 free though, so really my net loss was nine.

After all of this happening, I’m determined not to let my game lapse like that again. I have said this before, but hopefully this time I will be able to stick with it. People have told me that if I could play more, I could be really good. I’ll have to see about that.

In 2007, a couple of friends and I went to the 1st and 2nd round NCAA games at the Arena. There are four games on Thursday. Two in the afternoon, and then two at night, with a 2 hour break in between. In 2007, we left our car parked near the Arena and wandered down to the Warehouse district where we ate an early dinner. Last Thursday, I thought the same plan would work again. I was with different people this year, but the overall goal would be the same; leave the car parked and walk to the WH district to eat.

After the 2nd game ended on Thursday, we left the Arena and walked down Girod St. I suggested Lucy’s to have the people with me see the place where Drew Brees led people in the pregame chant after the SUPER BOWL VICTORY PARADE. We walked and got to Lucy’s, and got our table. Our service was AWFUL. Our first waitress took our drink orders, then a few minutes later another waitress came and told us she was now going to be our waitress, and needed our drink orders. We basically had 10 minutes of our time wasted by this ridiculous waitress handoff. Why not go put the drink orders in at the bar, THEN hand off? So the new waitress takes our drink orders, then our food orders. A few minutes later, the same waitress comes back and says she lost our order and she needs it again. She had no idea what we had ordered just a few minutes earlier. Then the appetizer we ordered was still not at the table after 20 minutes, to which our waitress said “it’s not an appetizer, it’s a meal.” What? We talked about splitting it as an appetizer, she was there for the conversation. Everything happening caused tensions to run high at the table.

In the midst of this, I spotted who I thought was Mickey Loomis check out the tables in the dining area, then walk back to the bar. I did not get a really good look, so I couldn’t confirm. Then a few minutes later, Sean Payton, some other guys, and then Mickey Loomis walk past our table and sit down at a table in the back of the room. SEAN “I just coached the Saints to a Super Bowl Victory and am completely awesome” PAYTON! I was able to manage a feeble “Hey Coach” as he walked past, but I don’t think he heard me.

Sitting there was one of those moral dilemmas. I did not want to go bother them as they enjoyed their afternoon, but on the other hand, how many times do you get to have your picture taken with someone that awesome? The service disaster ended up having our entire table’s meals and drinks comp’d (first time that has ever happened for me). We learned this right when the actual food arrived, and I could hardly eat. All the waitress drama and we’re also in the room with Loomis and Payton. It may have helped that I had already had a bloody mary.

People were going over to the table with the famous dudes and getting their pictures taken, or saying “thank you” or whatever. I even saw some people bring their baby over. I didn’t see if they got Payton to kiss it or anything. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to have it happen more natural than that. I didn’t want to disturb them, I mean, they’re just there to drink some beer and talk. We were making plans to leave, but I wanted to finish my High Life before I left. I was kind of delaying leaving, so that maybe by some chance I had an opening to get a picture. If not, I thought I’d cross that bridge when I came to it, which probably meant interrupting them. As I’m staring at my beer having two or three swallows left, I hear Payton tell the other guys at the table he was having to go. I got my camera set, and as he came back by our table, I said “Coach, can I get a quick picture?” He replied “yeah, real quick”. BOOM!

I’ve been told I was blushing, and I probably was. I don’t remember if I shook his hand, or if he knew when I said “thanks” it was for more than the picture. I would have loved to have recounted how I felt when Tracy Porter made the game clinching INT, or how I appreciated him calling for the onsides kick in the SB, or how he let people touch the Lombardi. All I remember is I got my picture taken with Sean Payton, and it was awesome. WHO DAT!

(BTW, I don’t want to make Lucy’s out to be this horribly serviced place, it’s not. We just had some really bad waitresses. That was not my first time eating there, and won’t be my last.)

Sunday morning I woke up with a lot of nervous energy. The Saints playing in the Super Bowl was finally going to happen later in the day. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I watched some soccer, the SB pregame, and I played around on the internet. I had taken care of some grad school stuff on Saturday, so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting anything done Sunday morning. Things were moving so slowly, much like the last two weeks since Garrett Hartley’s kick split the uprights to beat the Vikings.

Finally, it was time to leave for my friend Melanie’s house. On the way there, I had a frightening thought the game started an hour earlier than I thought, and we’d miss the teams running onto the field. Thankfully this was not the case. We arrived with our High Life and appetites in plenty of time to see the team introductions, crisis averted. I honestly didn’t know that many people at the party other than the people I came with and the hosts. We all had one thing in common, we were all Who Dats. The setup was having the game projected outside onto a screen hung on the side of the house. Best setup to watch a Super Bowl ever! We all had camping chairs and blankets to keep warm.

Once the game started, it didn’t feel like watching a Super Bowl, it felt like watching a Saints game. That may not make sense, but it was the first time seeing MY team in the Super Bowl, so after the initial shock wore off of the teams running onto the field, and seeing the end zone painted black and gold, it was just like the other 18 games I had watched so far this year. The first half was so nerve-wracking. Peyton Manning seemed to be able to work the ball down the field, and he was making some PERFECT throws. A lot of people I read or saw talk about the game kept building up Manning as this unbeatable Superman of a QB. I knew he was good, but not that much better than Warner or Favre, who the Saints had beaten. The 4th and 1 at the goal line that the Saints did not convert made me really nervous, because the Colts could have come down and made it 13-3 or worse 17-3. Fortunately the defense was able to hold, and the Saints made up for the missed opportunity with another FG. I was encouraged at the half that it was 10-6 Colts, esp considering how sluggish the Saints offense looked, but how they had started to break out of their shell at the end of the first half. Still though, Manning didn’t seem to be too rattled.

After watching the two remaining members of The Who struggle through halftime, the 2nd half was set to begin. Everyone was back in their seats when the onside kick happened. Seriously, an onside kick in the Super Bowl! WHAT?!? The Saints TD that came after made me start thinking “this might actually happen, the Saints might do this.” The rest of the game until the famous INT was a blur. I remember Stover missing the FG (honestly, never thought he was going to make it and wondered why the Colts went for the kick). I was so happy for Jeremy Shockey to get a TD. I follow him on Twitter, and I watched his interview at Media Day. He gets a bum rap IMO, so I was glad he was able to make a big play in the Super Bowl. Lance Moore’s 2 point conversion was good when we watched the replay. I’m glad Sean Payton heard us screaming to challenge it. We also noticed Peyton Manning looking frustrated on the sideline, so maybe the Saints weren’t sacking him or getting INTs, but they were still getting to him in other ways. Advantage Saints!

So here we go, Saints leading by 7 and the Colts have the ball. I thought at worst, they tie the game and we go to OT. What I wanted though was to finally get a turnover and put the game away. I had been yelling for a turnover hoping it would actually happen….and then, it did. Pandemonium ensued when the play happened. I had not been sitting down since the TD to go ahead 24-17, and I started hollering, and I could not yell loud enough. I could not jump around enough. There was so much emotion that I could not express it all. People hugged, cried, and high fived. It was crazy. Fireworks went off in the distance. Two people from a party across the street ended up coming to our party. When the final whistle blew, more fireworks went off, a nearby church was ringing its bells, and the party across the street moved to our party, including their keg. I remember thinking “this moment is perfect.”

I got a phone call from my friend Jim, who I work with. He’s not from NOLA, yet he was excited for everything that had happened. I thought that was cool. I was yelling into the phone. The excitement was just incredible. I talked to my friend Jacob by phone and realized while talking to him, that the Saints, a team I love, a team my family loves, and a team my friends love, won a title. It’s the greatest sporting event ever, in the history of our lives. Nothing could ever top this. I told people it didn’t feel real, like in Back to the Future II, Marty sees that ad for “Cubs Win World Series”. That’s how it felt almost when we saw the headline on the news “Saints Win Super Bowl”.

I might have slept 3 hours on Monday night. I stayed up late watching every video I could, then woke up at 4 am and watched more video and Sportscenter over and over. I ventured out to get a paper at 6 am. It’s incredible. It actually happened. I’ll never forget Sunday night. I’ll never forget that feeling I had when Porter made the INT. The flood of emotion in that moment was incredible. The Saints are Super Bowl Champions! WHO DAT!

So I post on Saints Report now, after having finally joined back in December. Recently they had a thread where you could draw a favorite Saints moment using MS Paint. Obviously most of the drawings come out quite crude and like a child did them, but I thought it was awesome. I have since contributed two and I’ll post them here. My readers who are Saints fans will know exactly the moment I have captured so perfectly. For everyone else, the first is Reggie Bush against the Bears in the 2006 playoffs, and the 2nd is from this year’s game against the Redskins. I’ve included links to articles or video so you can get the context. Enjoy.

Back in May I typed about how Minnesota should sign Brett Favre. Now as I sit in a world where New Orleans Saints will host the NFC Championship game against the Vikings, I feel a tinge of regret. Little did I know last spring that Brett Favre would become a direct enemy of my Saints. That he and his team would be standing between the Saints and the Super Bowl.

I have been a Favre fan for as long as I can remember. I always wanted to see him do well in Green Bay. Maybe that admiration was helped by the Saints never playing the Packers in a really meaningful game, but I always thought it was cool that a guy from my general area of the country was one of the greatest QBs of all time.

This past Saturday night, I went to a Mardi Gras ball and had a great time. Someone at our table asked me who I wanted the Saints to play in the NFC title game. I told the lady I wanted Favre because of all the talk this season that has highlighted Favre’s play over Drew Brees. Part of me possibly didn’t want the Saints to play Dallas again, but mostly because I wanted the Saints to take down Brett Favre.

Now the game is upon us. The Saints won’t have to travel to a city up north and face a horribly insulting crowd in the snow. They get to play at home. They get to have their defense back and 91% full strength. They get to have the amazing Reggie Bush back at full strength. They also get Brett Favre, who will take away most of the media hype of this game.

As the game approaches, I am reminded of one of my favorite movie quotes from the film Rushmore for what I think the Saints should do: “Take dead aim on the rich boys, get them in the crosshairs, and take them down”. WHO DAT!

Last night’s Clemson game hurt. I haven’t been that upset after a game since last year’s Bama game. It just hurt to watch GT on the last drive, and it hurt for Clemson to fail on 4th and 1 with 30 seconds remaining. It hurt for CJ Spiller to have such an amazing game and be named MVP, but to lose in the end in excruciatingly painful fashion. Yuck. However, today somewhat made up for it and made me feel a little better.

Tonight was my project team’s final presentation. I caught up on watching class videos before the Saints game this morning, to make sure nothing was talked about in a lecture that would be useful for the presentation, and also to catch up because I was two lecture videos behind. Once the Saints game started, I took a break.

The Saints game didn’t exactly start off that well. The offense was being frustrated by the Redskins D, and the Saints D was not able to get much pressure on Jason Campbell. Weird stuff was happening, like this TD near the end of the first half. Seriously, when have you seen something like that happen? (linky link) A rough transcript of the play from me as the play happened, then as the play was reviewed and confirmed on the field: “oh come on, he didn’t intercept it! It hit the ground! Go Meachem! GO MEACHEM! TOUCHDOWN! No, he did intercept it! He wasn’t down! That is a touchdown!….YES! YES! WHO DAT!”

At halftime I went back to watching video, and had the audio of the game going on in the background. At the beginning of the 4th quarter I went back to watching the game. What happened at the end is still unexplainable to me. The Redskins were driving up 30-23, and got inside the 10 yard line. They went to kick the FG with 2 min to play, and I thought the Saints were dead to rights. The only way they could win now would be to block the FG. I thought this was how it was going to end, and they would have to hope the Vikings would lose tonight to maintain being #1 overall in the NFC. The dream was over. Then it happened. The Redskins missed a 23 yard FG! The Saints took over with no timeouts, and ended up scoring a TD with a little over a minute to play to tie the game at 30. WHAT? They got an INT, then had a chance to win with a 58 yard FG, but missed, and the game went to overtime. The Redskins won the toss, got the ball first, but then there was a fumble and the Saints recovered. They went down and kicked an 18 yard FG and won the game in overtime 33-30. I still cannot believe how it all ended.

Then I had to come down off the high of seeing such a miraculous finish and concentrate on my team’s final presentation. We had met as a team on Wednesday last week to do a rehearsal, and I tripped over my words. It was crazy and very embarrassing. This evening before the meeting, I wrote out what I would say for each slide I was supposed to talk, so I wouldn’t mess anything up. We all logged in for the meeting and the professor joined in shortly after. We did our thing and everything came out great. I was really happy with everything. I had asked our mentor a couple of weeks ago to be really picky with our presentation, because I wanted to make sure we’d be prepared for any questions our professor could think of. I think his questions prepared us for tonight, and we were able to answer our prof’s questions with flying colors. All that is left for me in that class is the final and then I’ll be done, and based on how well I did on the midterm, I feel good about that.

I woke up this morning excited to watch the Clemson-south carolina game. Even though Clemson has looked great the past 6 games, I told someone last week, I keep waiting for the fall. I’ve been accustomed to some kind of bad game just when you think everything is going well. Last week they won the division, but this week was the rivalry game. I HATE south carolina. My freshman year they won at Clemson and I vividly remember standing on the hill watching the team jump up and down on the Tiger Paw. How dare they! Clemson doesn’t lose that often to south carolina, so to most people it’s not that big of a rivalry, but I know better.

Today I wasn’t that nervous about the game, but I wasn’t as confident as I was last week. CJ Spiller returned the opening kickoff for a TD, and it was great! However, all that joy faded quickly as I watched the offense sputter and the defense not capitalize on fumbles by south carolina. I didn’t give up hope until the onside kick when it was 27-17 ended up giving the ball to south carolina at the 6 or something. ARGH!

I tried explaining the rivalry last night. When south carolina wins, it’s like a punch in the gut. Sure, they don’t win that often, but it still sucks when they do. I guess in the big picture it shouldn’t be that big of a deal since Clemson’s playing in the ACC title game next week, but I was still bummed this afternoon. I went for a run and felt a little better. They still finished 8-4, all is not lost.

I immediately started looking ahead to the Saints/Pats game on MNF. They must have had 1000 promos for the game during the Clemson game today, one time with the wrong team logos. Since I’m on the Saints season ticket waiting list, I get emails from them every so often about the upcoming game. For the MNF game this week, the email talked about how they want fans to arrive as early as possible and be in their seats with plenty of time. To encourage this, they are opening a few of the parking lots at 6 am. SIX IN THE MORNING! I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to concentrate at work on Monday. It’s going to be like those commercials, I’ll have to deal with characters like BO Guy and KCOG, but I’ll keep telling myself “Don’t worry about all these guys. Tonight’s just for me!”

Today I went against karma and challenged fate. I went over to watch the Saints game at a friend’s house. I have watched every regular season game except the Giants game by myself for one reason or another. I was invited over after plans to hang out Friday fell through, and I made the fate challenging clear when the plans were reconfigured for today. Jacob agreed that we were flying in the face of superstition.

Yesterday I had gotten a text from his wife about today that I didn’t know I had until my phone had hit the floor. It had vibrated itself right off the counter in the kitchen. When I went to reply, I realized buttons were not working. When the damage was fully realized, the 3, 7, and 9 were out of commission. I had to make phone calls instead of texting. OMG! Then after my 2nd phone call, magically everything was back to normal. AMAZING PHONE LIVES ON!

So back to the game, I wore my Fujita jersey and brought over some left over High Life from Halloween. The camo cans are hard to pass up. We watched the game together and everything went fine. The Saints are 10-0 for the first time in their history. Things are looking good to watch games together later in the season. It’s a good thing the challenging of fate was when they were playing the 1-8 Bucs and not next week against the Patriots. Next week I’ll be watching alone, just like I watched the last MNF game.

Incidentally, the games I’ve worn my Fujita jersey for earlier in the season where I’d watch by myself, I felt like I was in an NFL commercial. Who wears a jersey at their house when they’re watching a game by themselves? Apparently me.