Philadelphia, PA (Wachovia Center)
March 19th & 21st. 1st and 2nd rounds
What can I say, this trip had been hyped up and posted about for several months. The tourney trip is a big deal in the fact that the season leads up to it. We don’t take this lightly.
I (Rhett) flew into Philly out of Vegas on the 20th to secure lodging and check out some shoot around at the Wachovia Center that is free to the public the day before the tourney starts. I was able to catch UCLA, VCU and American for the better part of two hours while I walked around the concourse, devoured my program and chilled out. The rest of the crew was a few hours behind me, driving from Detroit. They would soon arrive as we met back up for a late rob roy in the hotel room and some sleep before the slew of games ahead of us.
#8 BYU vs #9 Texas A&M – You do not have to read this site often to know I cannot stand BYU. Obviously my MWC prowess could not lead me to root for the cougars. I also like Texas A&M and got to know some of the players when I had a man crush on Acie Law the third a few years ago. BYU was just not fast enough to keep up with A&M. The yell squad and cheer team did end up showing up (2 mins before tip), contrary to my in game post during the game. Was never really a game with Texas A&M posting 4 players in double figures and one player with 8 points / 10 rebounds. I don’t think they missed a shot during the first five minutes. BYU tried to keep it interesting with Jimmer Fredette grinding out 18 points (7 from the FT line) and senior Lee Cummard posting 17 in his final game for BYU. I’d expect to see him on an NBA bench next season. Final Score: Texas A&M 79, BYU 66.
#1 Connecticut vs #16 Chattanooga – The Mocs led 6-4 after 4 mins. After that, UConn put the game away in the 1st half. AJ Price, perhaps wanting to erase the memory of his injury in the tourney last year, was amazing, getting any shot he wanted, and making a fair share of them. UConn was focused, even though Jim Calhoun was in the hospital somewhere, sending away the soup. Stanley Robinson had 24, Hasheem Thabeet had 20 and 13, and the Huskies rolled like they were supposed to, ending the small hope of seeing a #16 defeat a #1 for the first time. There is always next year. Final Score: UConn 103, Chattanooga 47.
From here we had a two and a half hour break between sessions. The Wachovia Center is part of a sports complex that houses Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles), Citizens Park (Phillies) and the Spectrum, previously home to the 76ers and Flyers (which have moved to the aforementioned Wachovia Center). You would think this would be a mecca of pubs, restaurants, hot dog and cheese steak stands, memorabilia shops and bus stops. Instead, it is a barren wasteland filled with nothing but views of a stupid park and no food in site. When you ask people where they can get a beer, people shit down your throat. There is some crappy bar called Chikies & Pete’s which is famous for their crab fries (not very good) and club music (seriously, club music in a “sports bar”?). So we walk over to this supposedly awesome sports bar to find the line out the door. We continue our walk to find a sandwich stand serving cheese steaks in front of a Citgo and a chop shop. The sandwich was enough to get us back to the second session, but hardly expected in this great “top 5 sports city”.
#3 Villanova vs #14 American – Recently finishing reading The Last Amateurs, I was 100% behind American in this one. It was made easier when Villanova was provided a home game at the Wachovia Center, where they played several “home” games this year. Obviously this term is used loosely by the pod system, rooting for the sell outs and not the true neutral site which often lends its attendees fans to the lower seeds. On paper, Villanova outclasses American’s squad all over the court. The Eagles boasted a starting back court of 5′11″ Garrison Carr and 5′6′ Derrick Mercer. This did not stop either of them from going flip mode on the entire Wachovia Center. Carr put up 22 points hitting 6 three pointers, bringing back memories of Stephen Curry in Detroit last year. Mercer dropped 17 points, only hitting 1 three pointer. ONE single FT attempt between either player, both of them throwing their bodies at the hoop like this was the last game they would ever play. Chances are, it probably was. Villanova was blessed with 29 FT attempts during their “amazing” comeback, as American’s gritty play realized a double digit lead at halftime. Perhaps a coaching error on American’s part, leaving the horses in when foul trouble became an issue seems not to have been a great idea in hindsight. On the other hand, these two were obviously the motor of the team, and they were damned if they left them in, damned if they sat out. Either way, Villanova’s athletic prowess and towering size took control of the game late as American watched their 10 point lead slip away to a 13 point loss. Final Score: Villanova 80, American 67.
#6 UCLA vs #11 VCU – I was pumped for this game. Everybody remembers Eric Maynor and his buzzer beating shot vs Duke from a few years back. Now he was a senior and back on the big stage with a seemingly favorable matchup to lead his team to a victory over a team that had been to the Final Four the past three years. What happened was a sloppy game on both ends, neither team wanting to take control. Both teams struggled to shoot above 40% for the game. Eric Maynor missed 10 of his 15 shots, but managed to keep his team in the game by getting to the line late. Larry Sanders, the Ram’s tall forward, put up a double double, but was largely garbage. In the end, Maynor had a chance to win the game, with the ball, down one, but failed to draw iron (or give up the ball to open team mates) and VCU dropped the contest. Note should be made to VCU’s fans and band director, who flamboyantly lead the band and fan section in several chants. Definitely what this tourney is about. It’s understood that VCU is closer than UCLA, but that doesn’t matter. VCU rolls hard and the Trip tips its top hat to the bandies in bikinis and king robes. Final Score: UCLA 65, VCU 64.
That was it for the first day. BYU loses, a blow out and two decent games that did not go the way the Trip would have wished. We staggered out into the bar-less night back to our hotel to grab some sleep before we would find our way to the city the next day.
Our off day plans included several options. Palestra. Rocky steps. Cheesesteak. Liberty Bell. Never an option, always a necessity, was to find a bar to hold it down for a while and catch games while having a few pops. We caught a train into the inner part of the city and the Liberty bell where we snapped a few pictures before giving up the sight seeing and focusing on finding a bar and food / beers. What we were surprised to find was that even the inner city did not have bars hanging out of its ass. There was nothing. We were not able to find a place to hold up until a local who was giving some jerk in a Jeep the business overheard our conversation and pointed us in the direction of a bar a few blocks from where we were. We walked in and found comfortable accommodations and grub for a few hours to watch some Friday 1st round games. We then gave up our spot to head back to the hotel and regroup to find a place to catch the Michigan State game, since it was not locally televised. Chickie’s and Pete’s, the sports bar we found previously did have the package, and we ended up there for the evening games. This place is a mecca to Philly residences, but is crap to everybody else. No volume for games, only loud thumping club music. Crab fries everywhere. Sam had some good mussels, and I had a lobster cheese steak. We also had a giant tower of beer, which is a good idea for the most part. Another positive about the place was that they actually sold beer. This was heaven sent, as our hotel room had been void of cases of beer since we arrived. You can’t buy alcohol in Philly unless you know of the secret underground bunker where it’s sold. We picked up a case and head back to the hotel for jokes about lot lizards, skells and several mini 8 ounce beers (that’s what they had). More games loomed the following day.
#3 Villanova vs #6 UCLA – Packed house, good job pod system. My heart was behind UCLA because their dancers were hot and their fans were outnumbered 50 to 1. My head knew Villanova would steamroll them, and thats what happened. Villanova fans everywhere, and they all knew their players by 1st name, but in a bad way. I understand that homers think their teams players are infallible. This was beyond that. V for Victory is great, it was hard to stomach sitting in the heart of the beast. UCLA had a flat effort, and that’s all that can be said. Villanova posts 6 double figure scoring players, including Dante Cunningham’s 22/10 double double. Dude is a beast. Final Score: Villanova 89, UCLA 69.
#1 Connecticut vs #9 Texas A&M – This game was bound to be a joke from the start. Jim Calhoun was back. He could have taken a few extra days for himself. AJ Price goes flipmode again with 27 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Thabeet was largely a non factor as he only played 20 mins. Jeff Adrian held it down with 23 points, most of them coming in the paint. The Aggies were way out classed in every aspect of the game. UConn is focused, watch out Glendale and probably Detroit. Final Score: Connecticut 92, Texas A&M 66.
From there it was off to secure a legend of Philadelphia, otherwise known as the Philly Cheesesteak. You read about it. You order it from menu’s across the country. The hype was large. Could this sandwich live up to expectations and be refered to in Tourney Trip lore? There are two spots across the street from eachother, Gynos and Pat’s. We opted for Pat’s due to the faster moving line. Yes, either place has about a 45 min wait once we showed up. We stood in line and practiced our ordering technique. 1. wit. wiz. Sandwiches served up by a sully looking skell with a bandanna opening buns on his shirt and scooping oily greasy meat onto a bun which is then slapped with a ladel full of cheeze wiz. Wrapped up and thrown out the window. Eat it and like it, bitch! I ordered two, as I figured it’d be sooooo good I’d want another. Well, the second sandwich was served up as tip for the cleaning lady the following day, as this sandwich was nothing special at all. You can get this crap at any random sub / sandwich shop around the country. I can get one better down the street, and I don’t have to watch some jerk make it. Probably cheaper too. A total let down. I guess it was bound to be, but whatever.
From there we head back to the room to catch the rest of the evening games on the decently apointed TV in our hotel room. We wrap things up with some decent convo about township organization in the greater Michigan area and whether Jimmy would live in Philly for a year if he had the chance to bone Megan Fox.
Sunday morning we pack it up and head out with Nate, Jimmy, Sam, and Chet on the road in the Lincoln to Michigan, and me catching a flight back to Vegas, which was delayed for two hours as soon as it was boarded. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Johnny Chud, as he began to bitch and moan about how he knew more about the weather than airports, and it could not possibly be windy enough in Vegas to delay a flight in Philadelphia. He then proceeded to interrupt my tunes jamming and nap time mid flight to point out we were passing mountains and he knew their names. He was also able to tell me how high we were flying and other pointless useless and probably false information. Good job spitting this guy out Philly. Probably the product of a lot lizard.
A note is also deserved for the few acutal nice people in Philadelphia. The Trip members originate from the midwest, with midwest upbringings and manners. We are not getting on a high horse. Several times, just simply holding a door open for somebody to enter or exit an establishment would be greeted with a “you’re not from around here, are you?”. Wow. If the cute red head at the bar we found on Friday reads this, please have hope in the fact that there are nicer places to live in this country, and we were not being weird or anything. Thank you for bringing us chicken wings and beers and letting us sit on the nice leather chairs. I hope some chud didn’t fuck up the rest of your day. Also, dude who told us where the bar was, and taught us how to flip people off who don’t respect pedestrians. You could have had a couple free beers if you would have followed us. We are cool dudes who know about basketball. You could have done better for the afternoon, but I doubt you did. It is Philadelphia after all.
Overall, the games were great to see because they are the games and the reason we go. We expected the city to give the Trip an extra ooomph that would have sent this year’s version of the Trip into the stratosphere, and into tourney lore forever. Instead we survived and advanced. Luckily, this year, we will be attending the Final Four in Detroit, MI, and this has the potential to make up for a lackluster trip, and two near miss upsets.
Themocracy
[...] Philadelphia, PA (Wachovia Center) [...]
This is a quality wrap up. We are not arrogant guys and we don’t get on our high horse about most things, but we are serious about sports and making this annual trip to the NCAA tournament. It is not like we have huge expectations for things. We eat junk food, sit in the cheap seats, drink the special, and watch the games. So when we are disappointed in what a city has to offer it means that those modest expectations haven’t been meet. The Wachovia was a dirty joke with a sticky floor at noon on Thursday that we had to deal with for the next 12 hours. It was a constant battle to find a place to eat, drink, and watch games, and it didn’t help that most of the people in the service industry that we came across were rude, incompetent, or just completely disinterested in helping a fellow human being. All of the negative things you hear about Philly are well deserved in my opinion.