Sunday, March 18, 2007

Weber State, Weber State,...

I just returned from Sacramento where I watched the first and second round games of the NCAA tournament. We had a couple of really good games, but one of the best parts was watching Weber State (even though they got demolished by UCLA). We were decked out in our purple and it's fun to cheer on one of your hometown teams.


One of the best parts of these trips has to be the food. Below is a picture of a 2 x 4 (2 meat patties, 4 slices of cheese) from In-N-Out that I had before the first games. By the third time that we went to In-N-Out on our trip, I had upped the ante to a 3 x 3 burger animal style. Check here for a peek at In-N-Out's "secret menu".
While eating our burgers and waiting for the games to start, we were interviewed by a reporter from the Sacramento Bee. It makes us all sound like drunk slobs, which in reality is what we are on these trips... Here is an excerpt (You can download the full article here).

Revelers flock to Arco
NCAA men's basketball tournament
By Blair Anthony Robertson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, March 16, 2007

On Thursday morning, the place to be was the massive parking lot at Arco Arena.
The sky was clear, the sun halfway up in the sky and there was not a hint of a breeze, a perfect time to wake up -- and warm up -- to a full day of sold-out NCAA basketball.

It was also a perfect time for folding chairs and hanging out with friends or making friends, a perfect time for chips and salsa and sausage on the hibachi. Oh, and it was a perfect time for a beer or two before heading inside for the first of four one-and-done tournament games.

NCAA playoff basketball is for all kinds of people, but many men insisted Thursday it was a time to just be a guy again. Out go the manners, in comes the beer, the belching and the overeating. They'll play by the rules again next week.

In the adjacent section of the parking lot, four guys who flew in from Utah sat on a patch of grass and devoured In-N-Out burgers and french fries. Hitting the tournament -- and digging into the food -- has become an annual tradition.

"I love being with the guys. Leave the wife and kids and sister at home, do guy things like pig out and watch guy movies, clog the toilets at the hotels, whatever happens," said Tyler Squire, 25, who, for the record, was talking with his mouth full while eating a 2x4 burger with the works.

Squire was attending the tournament with his brother, Jordan, 21, brother-in-law Jeff Whitesides, 31, and father, Kim Squire. They planned to attend all four games Thursday before heading off for their own private hot dog eating contest, which has become another tradition. The record is held by Scott Reese, Kin Squire's brother-in-law in Sacramento, who ate 16 hot dogs at Wienerschnitzel when the NCAA first round was in Tucson a couple of years ago.

Not all the fans were there for the beer and the food. Some seemed absolutely refined as they made the stroll from their cars to the Arco turnstiles.

Yes, we are slobs, yes, Scott really did eat 16 hot dogs (and buns) in one sitting (I'll post on that later), and yes, somebody (also allegedly Scott) did clog the toilet at one of our hotels. Doesn't this sound like fun?

We also spent most of Friday in San Francisco. I'll post a little bit on that once I've got some pictures. For now, I'll try and work off some of my new fat...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the article and your awesome quote. Maybe someday if you need another brother-in-law to round out the bunch (and when I don't have anything to do ... and money) I can go. I was rooting for Weber too (for the record). I think if they would have pulled the upset then I wouldn't be so upset about UCLA dismantling KU.

Writer said...

It sounds like fun to me , and I'm a woman. hehe.