Name Our Book

Are You Ready For Some (sort of) Football?

2008-04-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

This group of fanatics was psyched to watch their Rampage clash with the Los Angeles Avengers on a lazy Sunday in Grand Rapids, MI.

The crowd was a little bit, um, sparser, inside.

But the crowd got into it as their Rampage jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first 8 seconds or so. I mean, it was real quick. By halftime, I was bored of touchdowns.

Despite the sparse crowd, the small field, and the whole "the NFL season is months away, this should hold you over" attitude, Arena Ball is an intimate fan experience. Fans in the front row heckle opposing players who come near the wall. Loren's friends in that picture use the Rampage to get their fix now that they're done with college. There is plenty of fun to be had.

And then at halftime they have the team's web designer stand in the middle of the field with a helmet with a bell on it and have fans try to throw footballs at his head. And when the fans miss, they move them closer so as not to disappoint the crowd. And the poor web designer takes a few footballs to the spinal column for good measure.

The highlight of the second half was watching a video of the Rampage QB reading the weather report. And another video of him showing fans around his house a la MTV Cribs. "This is my fridge. I got...bacon, and some Rampage water, I took it from the facility."

Final Score: Rampage 84, Avengers 59. That's 20 touchdowns. (yawn)

--david

Beautiful Day for a Ballgame

2008-04-02T19:45:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah, the weather sucks in Chicago in late March. But 4o degree temperatures and pouring rain wouldn't stop hordes of eternally optimistic Cubs fans from piling into Wrigley field to watch their perennially disappointing team begin their 100th try at another World Championship.

Before any baseball could be played, we had to witness what I call "the dance of the grounds crew."

Here they come!

Now, everyone grab on:
Ok, 1...2...3...CHARGE!
KEEP RUNNING!

Hey guys, you spilled it all over the infield! I can get it off...with my foot...

I think I need some help here:

Oh yeah, we have these broom things...ok everyone get a broom thing and push the water toward the drains!

There we go, good work boys. Ok, now let's go roll it up.

Everybody 1...2...3...PUSH!

And finally they play:

The Cubs newest import, Kosuke Fukudome makes an immediate impact, whacking the first pitch he sees to the centerfield wall for a Double.

And then it started raining again.

So we took a picture: And drank hot chocolate:

(Benetti note: Nothing in America that costs two dollars is what it says it is. The contents of that white styrofoam container were neither hot nor chocolate.)

Eventually it stopped raining and they played again. The Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers traded bullpen implosions. Fukudome added to his stellar debut with a game-tying three run homer in the bottom of the ninth. Then the Brewers scored in the tenth and spoiled opening day for the Cubs and their water-logged fans.

Or as we learned, they really didn't spoil anything. Most of the fans seemed less interested in the game than they were in drinking beer, eating sausage and texting their friends on their blackberrys to brag about skipping work to go to Opening Day.

Insert cheesy sentimental line about the trip coming to an end here.

We have more to blog about, and a book to write. Thanks for joining us so far. Stay with us; you won't be disappointed.

--david

I-80-sixed

2008-04-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hello from Denver International Airport, home of lots of tents and a red-eyed bronco.

You're saying to yourself, "Where'd the rest of the trip go?" It's here. It's just that we spent the last two days in a car. Cars do not provide internet. Therefore, we have not told you about Grand Rapids, Michigan or Chicago, Illinois. We will do that shortly.

Briefly, Grand Rapids has a diner which prints a menu for the express purpose of confusing its customers and Chicago is a great place to develop an energy-drink business plan.....as long as you're wearing a poncho.

Talk soon,

-Benetti and Spiegel at a table near a fountain

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

2008-03-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

If you think boxing is a dying sport, 512 degenerate gamblers in Mount Pleasant, Michigan will tell you otherwise. Last night was world (loose meaning) fight night at the Soaring Eagle Casino, and it marked the first boxing experience for either Benetti or myself (except for that one time we roughed the Jets up).

Briefly, let us note that casino and boxing is fantastic synergy. Sorta like a toothpick display at a banjo convention.

Chairs were set up in seminar form and with a constant stream of people flowing in and out of their seats to drink and smoke, visibility was challenging. I was able to use my sneakiness (don't under-estimate it) to take a couple good pictures.At a boxing match, the need for information is enormous. But, sadly, there are no scoreboards to provide you with what you need to know. No scoreboards without legs, that is.
What's going on, by the way, is a constant parade of call girls.

5 of the 7 fights went to the scorecards (one of them a bout between females). The other two matchups were classic confrontations of David and Goliath. Until Goliath beat the crap out of David. The second of these two massacres would have landed a guy in the electric chair if he weren't between the ropes. The night culminated with the Main Event (see, we're learning). It started with a girl named Minx singing the National Anthem. At first I thought she was taking liberties with the song, but by the time it was over I realized she didn't know the tune. The fight was a ten-rounder between Raul Marquez and a guy named Bronco. Who do you think won?During his post game interview, Marquez declared his win another launching point in his career. "I hope to move on to ESPN and HBO." The interview aired on Fox Sports Net. Ouch. Pretty neat that the ringside reporter was Danny DeVito's portrayal of the Penguin.

Arena football and Wrigley field to wrap things up,

-LBK and Benetti

Mystery Day

2008-03-29T21:24:00.001-07:00

No internet made posting unavailable Friday (but thanks to the Horowitz's for giving us a bed).

Four Words: Smuckers Stars On Ice

2008-03-27T21:37:00.001-07:00

There are some games on this road trip that some sports fans would pay a lot of money to see. The Sweet 16. Opening day at Wrigley field. Blackhawks vs. Blue Jackets. And then there was Thursday.

This trip's been in the works for a while, and we always knew Thursday would be the wild card. We needed Northern Ohio. We needed an event. We couldn't find anything. But we're not 90 percent of NBA players during 80 percent of the season. We don't take an off night. So we ended up at the Q in Cleveland to find out...some fans are willing to pay a lot of money to see this as well.

It took a lot for David and I to sit next to each other at an event like this. The looks were piercing. Even 5 year olds thought we were gay.

Thankfully, there were very few other men there to make fun of us. Girls under ten was the main demographic, and to their credit, they were very big skating fans. 7 year old Lydia was very disappointed that we were not clapping after each song. So we started clapping. She was satisfied, and decided to share her jelly beans.

Here is the line for the women's bathroom at the intermission. I used my limited knowledge of supply and demand to start scalping tickets to the men's room.

While in the bathroom, the men were united in empathy for each other. I turned to one and said "We're half way there." He said "We can only hope. What if they tragically gave us another intermission?" The horror. The horror. We did conclude that any man who came to the event, put on a good face, and checked NCAA tournament scores (tough to do with Xavier and West Virginia in overtime) as little as possible was in line for some "way to be a good sport" action from his wife/girlfriend when the night came to an end.

Here's heartthrob Michael Weiss giving some girl his shirt:
We asked four security guards if this was their worst night of the year. Only one gave us an affirmative. Security guard #2 said that one week later, he's still trying to figure out The Blue Man Group (what's there to figure out?). Another told us to thank our lucky stars we weren't attending the two day "Women of Power" rally. I am woman, hear me roar!

This is Sasha Cohen, the star of the show. She fell 3 times. Looks like she's ready for another Olympics.

-LBK

All in the first 30 minutes

2008-03-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

Incest, misogyny and lesbians. I spent my night watching the Beverly Hillbillies.....gone wild.

Actually, I saw The Color Purple at the Palace Theater in Cleveland. It is billed as a musical of hope. As in, I hope all of these things don't happen at once. But they do.

The clientele at the theater was positively un-hockeyish. By that, I mean minorities were represented.

Tolerance was also at a midwest maximum. The woman next to me (white) turned to the man next to her (black) before the show and spoke something very similar to "This is the most blacks I've seen at this theater......and the most kids." She then said she really enjoyed the episode of Diff'rent Strokes when Arnold gets caught with liquor and pulled a 8 1/2 by 11 of W.E.B. DuBois out of her wallet. Just kidding, there.

Great voice on the lead, by the way.

-Benetti

NameOurBook at the Half

2008-03-27T06:08:00.001-07:00

We're halfway through...here are the halftime stats:

States visited: 7
Miles Driven: 1,614.6
Drive Time: 25 Hours 23 minutes
Time Benetti's spent sleeping in the car: approx. 20 hours, 12 minutes
Gallons of Gas: 47.026

Best Hotel: Holiday Inn Express, Nashville, TN - flat screen TV, hot breakfast bar, comfortable beds, AND it made us all smarter!
Worst Hotel: Hawthorn Suites, Columbus, OH - only one bed plus pull-out sofa, speakers on the TV blown out and it's impossible to find this place.

Best Meal: Central BBQ, Memphis, TN - perhaps because it followed....
Worst Meal: Blues City Cafe, Memphis, TN - not so bad, as long as you don't expect to eat the food you ordered.

Off to Cleveland for Half #2.
--david

Bad Teams Playing Hockey In Late March

2008-03-26T21:08:00.001-07:00

They're going to see the Blue Jackets on back to back nights? In different cities? They're following them home? What the bonk is a Blue Jacket?*

If you read our itinerary in advance, one or all of these questions may have popped in your mind. Completely acceptable. What you don't know is...nothing screams hockey more than an 8 year old team with zero post-season experience in the midst of a mascot identity crisis. Trust us.

We rejoin our heroes during the first intermission of tonight's Chicago Blackhawks vs Columbus Blue Jackets game. 12th Place in the West is on the line! It's another year of flirting with the cellar, but a near capacity crowd doesn't seem to mind. The CBJ's are in a scoreless streak that's now hit 100 minutes (Benetti a first hand observer for 60 of them). I asked the fan behind me "when's the last time your team actually scored a goal?" He took no time retorting "Sunday." (It was actually Saturday night, beginning of the 3rd Period against the Red Wings).

At the 4:49 mark of the second period, Joakim Lindstrom found the back of the net for a Blue Jackets power play goal. There was a Nationwide eruption with a cannon shot that could be heard all around Columbus. Benetti and I pretended to hurry to take a picture in front of the not-so-stagnant anymore scoreboard, but we knew there would likely be another 100 minutes before such an occruance happened again.
Amazingly enough, the CBJ's scored 3 more times, but my 3 stars of the game go to....

3) This Sign. I love puns that transition so seamlessly from the original word. 2) CBJ goalie Freddie Norrena. He came into the game with something to prove. The previous night, all of Nashville spent its time taunting the puck-stopper with jeers of "it's all your fault." See blog post: "Country Music, eh?" With a chip on his shoulder, Norrena stopped all 19 shots he faced. Nothing was his fault, and he posted his 2nd shutout of the year. It has now been concluded that goalies perform at their highest level the game after facing the Predators in Nashville.1) The "grounds crew," featuring 3 tall blonde girls wearing black sweatpants and the green top featured above. During every TV timeout, they came out and "swept" the ice. These scantily clad zambonies are key forces in keeping momentum on Columbus's side.

The game concluded with Benetti and I sitting on the glass. We figured out how the ritual of clapping was invented. It's a story you don't want to miss.

-LBK

*A Blue Jacket is...?

1) A bug.

2) A nickname for a "blue collar" Ohio worker.

3) A Celebration of Patriotism stemming back to the Civil War.

Answer in the comment section.

I aint afraid of no ghosts...or so I thought

2008-03-26T06:22:00.001-07:00

For my OMO (odd man out) assignment, I chose to partake in a ghost hunt through downtown Nashville. I don't believe in ghosts, and figured that spending an evening around people trying to convince me they're real would be loaded with Christopher Guest "mocumentary" type comedy. The plan backfired. Excluding our tour guide, I spent the night as the 5th wheel to two newlywed couples.

While there was some humor in watching Katie (on the left) tell the group how many people she'd leave Brian for (Tim McGraw topping the laundry list), the majority of jokes were pointed in my direction.

As far as the hunt goes, I did return with plenty of material. But to my surprise, I started buying a little of what the ghost hunt was selling. Now I don't know what to think. I've got some creepy pictures and stories to share, but those will have to wait for the book.

The night concluded with three cab drivers fighting over me like I was a piece of bread in a duck pond. For you visual learners out there, I'm sorry, there is no picture to document this hilarity.

-LBK

Oh wait, here it is

Day 5: Country Music, eh?

2008-03-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Nashville. Home of the Predators.

In almost every way, Nashville trumps Memphis. Even if you don't like country music. And as Benetti will attest, the enthusiasm they have for their NHL team far surpasses the fervor Memphis expresses toward their Grizzlies.

As one fan we met put it: "My cat likes to watch the Grizzlies at home, and we make fun of him for it." That fan is a Preds regular who says I look ike Vince Gill, one of the team's celebrity faithful.

That's him celebrating a goal, which is a lengthly process here. First, they watch the puck go into the net. Then a horn blares, rendering the crowd temporarily deaf. Next we hear a customized version of Tim McGraw's "I Like it, I Love it" with the line "Don't know what it is 'bout those Predators' scoring" tossed in in place of the original lyric. Finally, "Rock n' Roll Part 2" (the "hey" song) blares and the crowd shouts "you suck!" and "we're gonna beat the hell out of you!"

By now, play has resumed for about 2 minutes and nobody has noticed.

They love their chants here, though. Most of them include the word "suck", but our favorite came with one minute remaining in each period. The PA announcer says "one minute remaining," and the crowd responds with a "thanks, Paul." It was great.

(Benetti note--in a very close second place was a jeer levied at the opposing goalie. It went like this:

Noreena! Noreena! You suck. You suck. It's all your fault. It's all your fault.

Poor Frederik Noreena, whose shoelaces will be hidden for the next week.)

Other things that happened - multiple knock-down fights (real crowd-pleasers):

A player fired a puck at one of the boards so hard the glass shattered. There were more than four minutes remaining in the 2nd period when it happened. They took the intermission then, replaced the glass, and came back to play the remaining 24 minutes and change of the game all at once:

The Predators won the game, 3-0.

Fat lady on the scoreboard at end of game seems so easy. It's not done nearly enough.

(It could easily be overdone, though. Don't get any ideas, hordes of teams reading this for ideas.)

Benetti took this picture of me with one of the Predator cheerleaders:
I know, weird right? Cheerleaders at a hockey game? They don't really do anything, but after the picture I'm warming to the idea.

Oh, and the Columbus Blue Jackets? Not very good, but we'll follow them home anyway, just to make sure.

-david (with a hint of Benetti)

Day 4 preview

2008-03-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

We'll be leaving the hotel soon to celebrate Elvis and barbecue pits. Then it's off to the land of banjos and predators.

We're going from Memphis to the Neverland ranch.

-Benetti

Stuff that happened away from the Forum

2008-03-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

Even on a slow Monday night in late March, there is music on Beale Street, and the smell of barbecue is pervasive and unmistakable. I set off in search of decent company and live music .

My solo "it's not sad, it's research" bar crawl began at the King's Palace Cafe, where I met the "Mayor of Beale Street," Randy Williams:
Here he is entertaining a young tourist...
...who clearly wasn't interested and wanted to step inside.

One note about Memphis - bring spare change and a few dollar bills. These songs out on the street aren't free. Neither is taking pictures of these people, like the Mayor.

The bartender inside the King's Palace tells me that Memphis gets really crazy in May for the International Music Festival, then the Memphis BBQ Fest. But "it's starting to pick up even now."

The next stop is Club 152, where the fine people of Fogelman Management are rockin' out to the After Dark Band. There are a lot of corporate functions in this city and after hours they wind their way to Beale Street to cull embarrassing stories for the return to the office and scream wildly at "Play that Funky Music White Boy" and "Sweet Home Alabama." I got out of that place quickly.

Next Stop: Silky O'Sullivans, home of the Diver -a gallon bucket full of beer, gin, and juice for $18. "You'd be surprised how many people order it. We got a whole palette of buckets downstairs," says the bartender. I did not indulge. Also home to a piano player who makes jokes like this one:

"A toast to women's underwear. Not the best thing in the world, but it's right next to it."
And finally to the Rum Boogie Cafe, where I found this band:

exactly what I was looking for. Great musicians, playing great blues. With a tip bucket on top of a woman's lower half.

That's it from Memphis. Except for this:

Insert Elliot Spitzer joke here.

-david

Day 3: Nothing Happened on the Way to the Forum

2008-03-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

This is a fairly good representation of the ratio of people to seats at Monday night's Nuggets-Grizzlies game in Memphis:
Lone Nuggets fan or lone fan?

This is an accurate depiction of how the others in the building seemed to feel:
"He keeps taking me to Grizzlies games, Doc."

We did encounter some nice women in section 232. Bridgett (wearing blue) is a huge Allen Iverson fan. Her friend Marselle told us that Allen "could play on the moon" and Bridgett would watch.
Disappointingly for the people of Memphis, there were not six thousand people at the FedEx Forum. This is what one of the concourses looked like at halftime (strategic bathroom planning to avoid lines totally unnecessary).

Other crowd-not-so-pleasers included:

-Two fireworks blasting from the scoreboard during the starting lineups to sparse applause. They did a much better job inducing minor heart attacks.

-Ushers that would not allow upper-level ticket holders to move to lower-level seats. Think Joaquin Phoenix guarding Rome in Gladiator. It actually took us 10 tries to get downstairs, a heavy blow to our "sneaky confidence."

-An on-court announcer wearing jeans, a Rudy Gay jersey and a poor disposition. He did not want his picture to be taken (something about it ending up on the internet). His wish was not granted.That ball in his hand might have well been a block of muenster. Man this guy was cheesy.

In a related story, this man was peddling fishing equipment pre-game.

He was positioned on a stage in a small annex off of the main arena called the "green room." 100 years ago he'd have been selling bromo seltzer or inviting us to see the fire-eating midget.

Nice Joey Fatone microphone, too.

It does not say much for the crowd at the game or the basketball itself that his act may not have been the most boring. That said, a number of the players were very impressive (see Kenyon Martin blocked shot that sailed to Namibia). The circumstances and atmosphere were not.

-Benetti & LBK

Day 3 preview

2008-03-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

It is morning in the capital of Arkansas. I have recently showered in our hotel room. Because of this, I now smell like an item off of a dessert menu.

The shampoo provided by the hotel is a concoction of coconut and lime. If hotel restaurants do not serve ONLY Denver omelettes for breakfast and hotel bars do not pour ONLY vermouth on the rocks, the ONLY shampoo available in a hotel shower should not be tropical in nature.

We are driving to Memphis to see the NBA. We'll talk then.

Your favorite personified Coke twist commercial,

Benetti

Day 2: Woo Pig Sooey

2008-03-23T18:26:00.001-07:00

"They'll monitor your credit..."

With a 5am wake up call and a jingle in heads, we headed south from the big arch to the little rock. Along the way, we came upon a gas station in Southern Missouri called Boomland. Now if you've ever wanted to start a "little somethin" in SoMo, Boomland is the place to do it. Its doors very clearly state a gun-free interior.

This same interior gave us our favorite food display of the trip to date. Hope you didn't leave your insulin in the car.

A pack of donuts in the "diabetic section" contained 26 grams of sugar per donut. Boomland, if you're reading...please, click here...preferably sooner than later.

Soon enough we were in Little Rock. A sign declared the population to be 167, 342. Clearly "Little Rock population sign updater" is the worst job in the land.

Benetti drove to the arena and dropped us off in the lap of a "BBQ Truck." A smoked turkey leg and basket of fried catfish (both delicious) later, we headed inside to catch the two games.It didn't take long for us to realize that Arkansans don't like their neighbors to the west too much. Everybody who's not rooting for Texas against Miami was adamantly booing the Longhorns. Unfortunately for them, UT had 3 key factors working for them in the game.

1) After Stanford head coach Trent Johnson's first half ejection from Saturday's 2nd round game against Marquette, Texas head coach Rick Barnes was no longer the last coach to be tossed from a tournament game.

2) A.J. Abrams was the only player on either team with an elbow sleeve. His game high 26 points was another example that you play better basketball when your elbow is warm.
3) The Texas Cheerleaders brought their "A' Game. They even changed their outfits at halftime to keep the Longhorn momentum going. Miami failed to follow suit (literally), and it proved disastrous for the 'Canes. See above for 1st Half outfit. See below for Half #2X) As if the 3 factors weren't enough, the Longhorns had the only acceptable mascot of the remaining four teams. Memphis's tiger spent half the time feigning blindness (we can only guess this ploy relates to the "eye of the tiger"). Mississippi State's Bulldog doesn't fit into his own bulldog shirt...implying that the actual suit has put on weight. And Sebastian the Ibis (?) reminded us of an evil Donald Duck. Must be the pants.

Congratulations Bevo The Steer, your team is in the Sweet 16.

Game #2 featured "Memphis West" cheering on its Tigers, elementary school free-throw shooting, and a flurry of props bets between me and the fan directly behind me. More on this in your chapter of "name our book."

We hit the professional hardwood tomorrow. Huge playoff implications for the 9th place Nuggets in Memphis.

-LBK

Woo, Clinton museum?

2008-03-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Legacy Suites on this corner of Little Rock.....

Let's explain something here. Only two people are going to each sporting event that's on our schedule. The other will be dispatched to not do anything sports-related while the others are watching whatever it is they're watching.

I now know by experience that Little Rock on Easter is like that La Quinta Inn you always pass on the way to work: vacant. The only open buildings were fast food restaurants and sports bars. Even the River Market (see also Inner Harbor, Riverwalk and Navy Pier) was closed.

Thus, I assume that the people in need of external sustenance on this holiest of days (debatable) are simply the poor and the sports fan. The Venn diagram for these groups (figure not displayed) will show some overlap.

This got me thinking about welfare reform. And there's no better place to learn about such a thing in Little Rock than at the Clinton Presidential Library. Assign the compliment wherever you'd like.Oddly shaped building, eh? Here's curator Cindy Reyes

I swoon at the thought of Commanders in Chief, too.

Mr. Clinton had his boxcar--er, museum--built on a former warehouse district that was rather unsavory, evidently. His library has helped invigorate a small thoroughfare named.....President Clinton Avenue. How selfless.

In trying to avoid sports, I failed almost immediately. I told one of the guides, a kindly gray-haired women named Joy, that I live in North Carolina. Her response: "We're playing you today." She is a point guard for the Razorbacks and I am a small forward for the Tar Heels, clearly.

The library had a small exhibit inside of it detailing each American president until 1965 and how he helped or hindered the African-American cause. It was superb but, sadly, not well-attended.

Items you can impress your friends with:

-Bill met Hillary in the Yale law library. She said to him as she approached, "You've been staring at me for this long. We should at least know each others' names." If that doesn't make you tingly......

-Bill was the youngest ex-governor in the history of the United States.

-The bowling ball was invented in 1862.

-North Little Rock wanted the library, but Little Rock was granted the structure. This is a point of frustration for some North Little Rockers.

That is all. Other than this picture of Socks the cat playing the saxophone.

Memphis tomorrow.

-Benetti

Day 2 Preview

2008-03-23T03:35:00.000-07:00

Morning.....

We're going to Little Rock soon from St. Louis. Yes, we were in Indianapolis. But we slept in St. Louis. Is that OK with you? Good.

Loren's got the freecreditreport.com jingle stuck in his head. The one with the guy working at the theme restaurant. This bodes well for none of us.

Thanks to the Weintraub family for housing us. Also, many thanks to their shower with fantastic water pressure strong enough to rip Marv Albert's toupee off of his head.

I don't know if I should have blogged that last line, although the Marv Albert reference should go well, I think. The water pressure in the shower is so strong that it's a crime. No, it's really not a legal shower. The pressure's too high for standard pressure regulations in St. Louis.

For more information, click here

Away we go to the home of Evanescence and Helen Gurley Brown.

F-r-e-e, that spells free,

Benetti

Day 1: Indianapolis

2008-03-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

One thing David learned on this first day is that JetBlue has no concept of time. An hour plus stay on the runway at O'Hare airport kept our trip from getting off on schedule.

An additional time zone SNAFU (Indiana, all of Indiana, is in the eastern time zone, apparently.) meant a very late arrival at our first event - the Indiana High School Basketball Championships at Conseco Fieldhouse.

We rolled up with 3 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of the Class 2A Final between Fort Wayne Bishop Luers High School and Winchester High School. It was three minutes well worth the trip.

Loren conquered considerable security obstacles to take in the waning moments. In celebration of his victory, Loren's hand began twitching uncontrollably on the top of David's camera. You get to reap the benefits here:

Here are some of the Winchester faithful:

and the Luers crowd:

In the end, Luers pulled out a stunning 69-67 win for the championship:

Basketball is king in Indiana. As one fan put it, "if you're from Indiana and you don't like basketball, you're crazy." The afternoon session was packed and the crowd was spirited. We met scalpers on the street looking to cash in on the sold-out night session. Scalpers! At a High School Basketball game! But to the people of Indiana, this is one of the hottest tickets of the year.

Here's a couple Loren met who've been coming to the IHSAA Basketball Championships since the 1950s:
Ohio State Men's Basketball coach Thad Matta was there, too. One of Luers' players is a future Buckeye, and Matta was there cheering him on. That is, until Loren sidled up to Matta who then was compelled to feign happiness for three seconds.

We also met IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress, who in addition to being in charge of Indiana High School athletics, told us his first Championship game was the one that inspired the movie "Hoosiers", which inspired our stop in Indy. Which inspires you, clearly.

We walked and talked with Mr. Ress, and we will have that interview posted here soon. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, enjoy some more images of the road. We caught this perplexing meal deal in Paris, Illinois:

Speaking of Easter, welcome to Effingham, Illinois:
Tomorrow: Little Rock, for second round action from the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. We'll see #1 Memphis take on #8 Mississippi State, and #2 Texas vs #7 Miami.

And We're Off

2008-03-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

According to weather.com, it will be 57 degrees with scattered showers in Little Rock, Arkansas on Sunday. We'll let you know if they're right.

Yes, with an open heart and an empty head (or something) we three embark on our journey of Midwest sports miscellany that will eventually become [name our book] by David, Jason and Loren.

The odyssey begins Saturday, March 22, around 8:30am Central Daylight Time in Chicago, IL. And it will end at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Monday, March 31 at 1 pm CDT, as we usher in the 2008 Baseball season.

In between, we'll take copious notes, take endless megabytes worth of digital photographs, record hours of audio, and Benetti no doubt will eat his weight in things smothered with gravy. And we will blog.

Stay tuned to name our book to follow us on our journey. We'll post thoughts, photos, and sound bites from the road. Read, look, listen, enjoy. Then feel free to click on that shiny yellow button on the top right and become a part of our journey.

Our Itinerary:
March 22: Indianapolis, IN
Indiana High School Basketball Championships

March 23: Little Rock, AR
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Round 2

March 24: Memphis, TN
NBA: Nuggets @ Grizzlies

March 25: Nashville, TN
NHL: Blue Jackets @ Predators

March 26: Columbus, OH
NHL: Blackhawks @ Blue Jackets

March 27: Cleveland, OH
Smuckers Stars on Ice

March 28: Detroit, MI
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Sweet 16

March 29: Ann Arbor, MI
NCAA Baseball and Gymnastics
Mt Pleasant, MI
Boxing

March 30: Grand Rapids, MI
AFL: Avengers @ Rampage

March 31: Chicago, IL
MLB: Brewers @ Cubs

Welcome

2008-02-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

And now a chance to have YOUR NAME permanently engraved in literary history...or at least that open book up there.

In March, we'll be traveling from Little Rock to Chicago for a week to explore sports and write about what they do for (to?) us. The end result will be the most hilarious book that's ever been written about sports (between March 23rd and 31st of 2008).

-Aaron Boone hits a home run to win game 7 and a Red Sox fan smacks a can of furniture polish so hard against the wall, it explodes.

-A Bills fan can't bear the world after the Music City Miracle and spends the next 36 hours sleeping.

-A California surfer has his leg bitten off by a shark yet still has season tickets to his favorite hockey team in San Jose.

-A man can remember each game of the 1954 world series, but can't recall his wife's birthday, which coincidentally took place while the Giants were sweeping the Indians.

Why? For What? Our journey is to find the answer to these questions. Whether we fail or succeed, we'll have a heck of a story to tell and many nachos to digest.

But, we have moderate to extreme difficulty naming chapters. So, we're going to call them by your names. As long as you're willing to fund our project. The 15 largest donors will be given chapter titles. Everyone else will be mentioned later.*

Also, the first donor over 300 dollars will have his/her name included in the book's title. How often do you have the chance to be the eponym for a section of a book? If your answer is more than twice per year, we are no longer friends.

So, send your donations to:
Nameourbook
2559B Owen Dr.
Winston-Salem, NC 27106

Or pay via PayPal by clicking on the shiny yellow button to your right.

Help us fill the space above. It's so empty.

-Jason, Loren, and David

* If interested in donating anonymously, please see "Curb your Enthusiasm," season 6, episode 2. That should kill any inclination to not be recognized