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Subject: A Tale of 4 Gurupies Posted by: Ender - [13443221] Thu, Mar 15, 00:38 Here's the Mastercard Ad version of our trip to the Bulls/Sixers game: Tickets $14 each Parking $12 Beverages $5 each Pretzel $2.75 Quality of basketball: Worthless :) A good time was had by all (Allhair, Cub Basher, Mark L, and myself). We were dismayed by the Brand injury and Artest pine time, in awe of Mutombo's dominance in the 1st quarter, and cheered enthusiastically for Hoiberg. We knew we werer in for trouble when Crawford was announced as a starter. It was a pathetic basketball display as garbage time started in the 2nd quarter, but we enjoyed the comraderie :) | ||||||
| 1 | CanEHdian Pride ID: 426351415 Thu, Mar 15, 00:44 |
$5 each for beverages??? I figured with Allhair "The BrewGuru" Allstars, he would have tipped the average a bit. I guess they didn't serve any imports! ;) | |||||
| 2 | Ender ID: 13443221 Thu, Mar 15, 00:57 |
You don't even want to know the import prices! Even Allhair was drinking domestic (for which I most definitely gave him a hard time :) | |||||
| 3 | Mike D ID: 34213157 Thu, Mar 15, 07:21 | Ender, I watched it on the tube. Sixers played great D early, especially Mutombo. Then again, the Bulls lineup was a tad weak. They are calling Brand's injury tendonitis from what I've seen. Strange. Good to hear you guys had fun (not that there was any doubt). ;) | |||||
| 4 | Ender ID: 52438315 Thu, Mar 15, 07:50 | No doubt about that Mike D, there defense was stellar and Mutombo had 3 blocks in the first 5 minutes. Your point about the weak lineup was well made, they were stopping a Bulls lineup that was without Brand, Artest, and Drew. | |||||
| 5 | Mike D ID: 2020315 Thu, Mar 15, 08:18 | You should have brought your gear, Ender. ;) | |||||
| 6 | Ender ID: 52438315 Thu, Mar 15, 08:29 |
We did joke at half time that my middles school teams play 6 minute quarters. This is the same amount of game time it took the Bulls to post 28 pts at half time, but my teams (boys in particular) averaged significantly more than that in the same 24 minutes of game time! As for myself, I am expecting a 10 day contract offer any day now... ;) | |||||
| 7 | Cub Basher ID: 532421412 Thu, Mar 15, 09:57 |
Mike D, Why did you watch the game?!:) Everytime the agony was prolonged by a time-out all we could wonder is why run commercials when no one's watching anymore? It was cool to see everyone. | |||||
| 8 | Mike D ID: 2020315 Thu, Mar 15, 10:13 | Cub Basher----because I'm a Sixer fan, of course! I must admit I switched to the Minn/SA game for the bulk of the time. It had a "little" more excitement. ;) | |||||
| 9 | allhair allstars ID: 240253011 Thu, Mar 15, 10:17 |
Pardon the length of this post. If you think my standings threads are dull... For those of you Gurupies that have been around longer then a few weeks, I'm sure you're like me when you associate soda with jedman. And so I'd like to go ahead and thank him for providing a few midwesterner Gurupies with the impetus to come together for one woeful evening in Chicago. Ender and I had met twice before - once at a bar, and once at a bar, and I thought, "wouldn't it be nice if we actually went to a sports-related event?" Right around this time the Chicago Bulls were running a promotion on Pepsi cans for 1/2 price tickets to select games on their schedule, one of which included the Philly 76ers. It struck me as simultaneously being a humorous and disturbing sign of the state of affairs in the Bulls organization (It's all in the organization, right Jerry?), but I figured - how could you lose? Gurupies? 76ers? Half-price tickets? Forget about it. Very soon thereafter Ender, Mark L, and Cub Basher were signed up. As game day approached I know at least a couple of us had to live through every horrible internet dating joke ever told. (I remember a particularily terrible one involving 2 cows, a farmer's daughter, and an AOL service representative.) It's hard to explain this type of event without getting some grief... Anyway, we were heartened when Mutumbo moved to Philly but we were disturbed by Elton's elbow trouble. We wept when Iverson bruised his hip and sat, but still we were optimistic he would play. We were quietly overjoyed that El-Amin, Drew and Mercer were ailing for it meant more PT for Hoiberg and Artest. Well, I was quietly overjoyed, at any rate. Gameday: A late volley of emails to solidify plans. Tickets at the will call window. Cub Basher might be late. Mark L will be wearing a rose in his lapel and a Cat in the Hat hat. Ender is having trouble convincing the Gut to come to the game. (That was the first sign. Should have picked up on that one right away...) Still no news on Iverson. Ender and I buy Artest the night before. Mark L picks up Mutombo. Cub Basher has Brad Miller. Right before I leave for the game I check the RotoGuru.com and see that Iverson is DNP. Crap. We won't see him tonight, but at least he's not on my team. We arrive more or less on time at our predetermined site - MJ's statute. We meet, greet, and marvel at the nice 3-ring binder I've brought along which holds all my team stuff, schedule, etc.; my "war chest". Actually, they don't marvel, they make fun of. Listen, it's a very thin 3-ring binder! As we get the tickets from the will call window I prep everyone by reminding them that we bought 1/2 price tickets off of jedman's pop can. Don't expect too much. We get into the house that Michael built, go to our seats, and pass a guy selling compressed oxygen cannisters. Don't get me wrong. These weren't the worst seats in the house, but they were awful close. And the three screaming junior high girl's basketball teams sitting 4 rows above us hadn't even shown up yet. To add insult to injury, our stellar seats placed us directly across from the Jumbotron, which conveniently blocked our view of other NBA scores for the evening. The game starts - Philly starting Snow, so at least we'd get a chance to check him out... They announce that Jamal Crawford at point, and Mercer is at 2. Whoops, where is Hoiberg? Where is Artest? Turns out Hoiberg starts at small forward. Ender and I breath a sigh of relief, but Artest, our newest acquisition, is no where to be found. I hate to belabor this point, but HOLY COW!!!!! We just bought the damn guy!!! Mutombo comes out rocking! 7 points, 7 boards, 3 blocks in the first, and Mark L is having the time of his life! He graciously provides us with a running total of his player's SWPs as we go. He's like a ticker tape. Cub Basher is fine since at least his player is in the game! End of the first and the game has all the smells of a stinker. Ender thinks he saw Brand walk off with ice on his leg, and I finally spot Artest - at the end of the bench in his civvies. Groan. At the end of the half, the Bulls have scored 28 freakin' points. It dawns on us that the only reason this game is worth watching is if the Bulls break the record for lowest points scored in a game. Otherwise it's just another crappy game. Crappier than most, of course... So we start rooting for the Sixers' defense - desperately trying to salvage the event. Another 15 in the 3rd and we're optimistic, but the Bulls explode for 24 in the 4th and our hopes are dashed. Through the debacle, we kept our spirits up with miscellaneous Gurupie chatter. Talked about fantasy sports, RotoGuru.com, past trading blunders, Phantasy Stars, and an idea for a new division idea brought up by Ender. (I'll let him bring that up if he wants...) Speaking strictly for myself, I had a great time. The game was the worst ever, but the chance to hang out and shoot the breeze made it all worthwhile. And the night wasn't a total loss any way you look at it... Ender won a doughnut! | |||||
| 10 | Mark L ID: 4444938 Thu, Mar 15, 11:14 |
Well, I have to dissent a bit from the overly negative tone about this game. What about the thrill of paying $2.25 for the stuff that goes on a "Chicago hot dog"? (Not for the hot dog, mind you, the relish etc. alone.) What about the goofballs running up and down the court in the inflatable Benny the Bull suits, falling on their faces, barely able to get back up? What about the kiddie-car race when the one who was about 18 months old kept taking shortcuts and STILL finished last? (Loser punk.) And those junior high basketball teams who screamed for the entire second half -- well, my daughter insists that I take her to see N'Sync this summer, and now I know exactly what that will be like. This was all great stuff -- and we nevertheless were laughing harder during the game than during the sideshows. I caught tremendous grief for being the only member of our group who had surplus trades sufficient to have gone Baby O -> Mutombo; I then shamelessly lorded it over everyone when Dikembe went off in the first for about 28 SWP. Over the next 12 minutes of play, my genius slowly dissipated until Mut. finished the half without adding to his total. It got really thrilling when the Bulls scored two points in the first four minutes of the third quarter; we all thought that we would be witnesses to history. Alas, it was not to be. We were left only with the memory of watching Brad Miller isolated on the wing against Geiger, doing these ridiculous slow-motion ball fakes before draining a J. I swear, he looked like he was made from an Erector Set, with Tim Floyd sitting on the bench, frantically manipulating the joystick for a radio-control toy. ("Arms up! Arms left! Now right! Where's the 'shoot' button? Dammit, Jerry, you gotta buy me some new batteries!") Got home at about midnight, and my girlfriend was extremely relieved this morning to learn that I had not been dismembered by a bunch of freaks who used the Internet to lure me to my doom. Thanks to Allhair, Cub Basher and Ender for a great time. Next installment of the Upper Midwestern Gurupie Adventures: March 25, Hawks at the (currently) Central Division-leading Milwaukee Bucks. I can't wait. | |||||
| 12 | allhair allstars ID: 240253011 Thu, Mar 15, 11:29 |
Mark L, Definitely a ton of laughs! Great fun, and I'm looking forward to more in Milwaukee. Forgot about the inflatible Bennys race! Thanks all for a great time! jedman, hope you don't mind me dropping your name a few times... ;) EH, When in Rome... ;) | |||||
| 13 | VIDevilRays ID: 0502611 Thu, Mar 15, 11:31 | Great story guys. Good to see Gurupie outings all over the place! | |||||
| 14 | DR Stars ID: 4211161321 Thu, Mar 15, 12:18 | Will any of you be interested in going to a baseball game on may 8th, I think the cubs won't be playing but the ChiSox are, I've never been to one, and I'd love some gurupie company. I'l pay for the beer... (at least the first round) | |||||
| 15 | Species ID: 3149311 Thu, Mar 15, 12:48 |
Great job, allhair! I very much enjoyed your descriptive, comedic accounts of the game. Sadly the comedy of it all was about the only thing to write about! I'm glad you guys got together....I love stuff like this. Oh yeah, nice job too, Ender. ;-) | |||||
| 16 | jedman ID: 2702357 Thu, Mar 15, 16:29 |
Great stories, had me in stitches, especially Mark L. and the robot controls. Gurupies get togethers are wonderful. Mark L. - I have been to an N'Sync concert with my daughter and you will have a blast. They put on a very good show. Go buy some earplugs, or else your hearing will be shot for at least 2 days. Allhair - Glad to have my name associated with soda and Gurupies having fun. | |||||
| 17 | asd ID: 3410422622 Tue, Nov 26, 2002, 23:46 | ad | |||||
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