Friday, March 23, 2007

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES??

Last night, the patrons of Third and Long were treated to THE biggest comeback in Sweet Sixteen basketball tournament history (according to ESPN). It was simply an awesome game and an awesome feat to witness.

Before getting to the juicy details of "America's Team" and their improbable victory, let's go back to earlier in the evening. I arrived at the bar to find the familiar sight of the windows wide open- which meant that Spring was indeed here for good. The bar was teeming with patrons, enjoying the great weather and happy hour itself. This was a good sign, since the bar had been a bit slow ever since the chaotic St. Patrick's Day weekend.

I was a bit jumpy because I knew I had a big game coming up later in the evening, with the OHIO STATE BUCKEYES facing a very tough TENNESSEE team. I was rather confident on the outside, yet pretty nervous on the inside. So nervous in fact, I chose to pull out my lucky Ohio State jersey and hang it outside the window, to bring the team good karma.



Some of the patrons got a good laugh out of it, and others thought I was nuts, but I didn't care. I boldly predicted victory and I was going to pull out all the stops to make sure I got my prediction.

As the first games began, the bar filled up quickly and fans of various teams were enjoying the games as well as each other's company. I, on the other hand, fidgeted nervously while I waited for MY game to begin.


We also got a visit from former college standout and NBA player, JAY WILLIAMS, who rolled in with some of his buddies from college to watch the games. Pretty nice guy.







Finally, it came time for the main event (also known as MY game). TENNESSEE jumped out to an early lead; the Buckeyes countered early on, then experienced some serious turbulence and Volunteers pretty much hit everything they threw up. Next thing you know, it's halftime and my beloved Buckeyes were down by almost 20 points! The naysayers (also known as vultures) began to circle me like dead carcass and taunt me about how bad and overrated "America's Team" was. It was brutal. Even some of the Buckeye fans in attendance were ready to throw in the towel. I have to be honest, a part of me was thinking "holy shit- we're cooked". But I didn't give up hope. As a matter of fact, I even made a wager with DIRTY SANCHEZ that the Buckeyes would come back and win. In his infinite wisdom, SANCHEZ gave me 10 points, which was ballsy (or plain stupid) on his part.

THEN IT HAPPENED: The Buckeyes must have downed some miracle water at halftime or something but whatever it was, it worked wonders. That team played lights out in the second half and ended up wiping out that huge lead and eeking out a one point victory over the shell-shocked Volunteers of TENNESSEE. By the end of the game, I was dancing around the bar like a high school kid and you know what? I didn't give a rat's ass. OHIO STATE had just pulled out a miraculous and improbable victory and my faith was rewarded. It was friggin' AWESOME!

The moment "America's Team" re-took the lead after being down by 19 points.

The SWANFATHER and BETTY BOOP, true OHIO STATE fans, celebrating victory!

After the game, I was on cloud nine and it felt great. I got my share of congratulations and a few haters gave me the gas-face, but I didn't care. My team somehow found the way to live another day.

After the dust settled, I sat back and brought my focus back to the task at hand. It was then where I noticed that there were still quite a few ladies hanging around. Some locals, some I hadn't seen before. There was this one chick who had on this outfit that seemed to be a bit strange looking for her. She looked like she was about 30, yet her outfit was screaming 20-21. Somehow, I got the sense that she didn't get the memo about an older woman trying to squeeze into a younger woman's outfit. It didn't work for her. As a matter of fact, the jeans looked like "mama" jeans; the kind that you'd see your mom wearing when she went out shopping.

I gotta assume doll baby (above) was trying to pull off this look (below)....

But didn't quite get it done. Hmmm.... Oh well.

At the end of the night, all was well in the neighborhood. The bar had a good night; patrons had a good time and most importantly, my team won a huge game. Now I may sound a wee bit like a homer, but when you have a good team, you support it as much as you can because dammit, it feels good. So sue me.

HAPPY HOUR (4pm-8pm): All Beers, Mixed Well Drinks and House Wines, $4.00. March Madness continues with four more pivotal games:

OREGON vs UNLV
NORTH CAROLINA vs USC
GEORGETOWN vs VANDERBILT
FLORIDA vs BUTLER
(Times TBD).

Weather should be great all weekend, so stop by and catch the games here! Thanks for putting up with my rants and enjoy the day!


nuff said