Month: March 2008

Piccinich Madness

Posted on by Gentlemanly Productions

Like any good blog on this here interwebs, March means one thing. COMPLETELY RANDOM BRACKETS WHICH MEAN NOTHING! Covering the Spread is teaming up with the Glass Case of Emotion to bring you the first sext-annual Piccinich Madness bracket. The bracket consists of people and events that have crossed our paths over the past six years. After an extremely scientific Selection Friday process at Buffalo Wild Wings, the field was cut to 68 participants, so that means, four play-in games!

As the days progress, we will whittle down the participants until we reach the ultimate champion. Each match up will be voted on by you, and like Korean Rummy, multiple votes and cheating will be allowed and encouraged. Let the games begin.

First up, the four play-in games. Once these winners are determined, the full brackets will be revealed.

Updated with the winners!

Triple Crown Region
The winner of the first play-in game will go on to take on the number one seed in the Triple Crown Region, Chevy Chase.

Waffle House v. Papa John’s Stadium

Waffle House:Our first trip to the Waffle House was after the 2004 Kentucky Derby. We specifically picked the Best Western in East Bumblefuck because it was next to a waffle house. Ever since that first trip to this fine southern restaurant, it has become a routine stop on any southern swing. Other Waffle House highlights include:
– The female cook with a hairnet and eye patch
– Anfron going to another table and eating discarded their discarded food
– Ostrowe passing out in the car outside, then waking up to female titties on the window
– Anfron ordering “a friggin steak” and to drink “a friggin beer”

Papa John’s Stadium:
After going through a pink light in Louisville during the aforementioned Kentucky Derby trip, we set up camp for the night in the parking lot of Papa John’s Stadium. Dmo, Ostrowe, and Rick tried to sleep in one car, as Chubbs, Poppers, and Jurgen slept in the other. Highlights:
– Poppers and Jurgen being able to fit in the same car as Chubbs
– Crappy band in crappy bar across the street playing until four in the morning
– Sleeping with the windows open only to be woken up by a rainstorm which left us soaked
– Rick washing his hands in a puddle only to find out that Ostrowe had just peed in it.

Commentary:
Ostrowe: This is a very tough match up
Rick: Foodwise you have to give the edge to the Waffle House
O: Waffle House also has the creepy cook with an eye patch advantage
R: Papa John’s Stadium is one of kind though
O: We did manage to spend the entire night in a parking lot in a major city and the only bad thing that happened was that the cleaning crew tried to run us over.

Testudo Region
The winner of this play-in game will go on to take on the number one seed in the Testudo Region, Mullets Over Miami.

Parsippany v. Buffalo Wild Wings Opening Day

Parsippany:
Parsippany was the culmination of a long day of drinking at Bailey’s, after which Jim$ decided that we should all go to a party his friends were having in Parsippany. Jim$ Ostrowe and Ole Mel were in one car, followed by Rick and Lindsay, who left without ever setting foot in the party, which featured an escalating game of “I Never” between Jim$ and Ostrowe, kegs of green beer, and a classic Ole Mel drunken freak out.

Buffalo Wild Wings Opening Day:
The BWW opening was the subject of a yet to be typed up running diary, and consisted of Dmo getting to the mall at 7am in order to be the first in line for free wings for a year. He was joined by Ostrowe and Sars, and later, Moro Rick and Tara. The BWW staff was woefully under prepared for the demands of a busy football Sunday, and Ostrowe nearly had an aneurysm trying to get them to put the Carolina game on. Later when Moro ordered mild wings, he was brought wild. He didn’t figure it out until after his first bite. This quickly became a Moroism. It also featured Sars hitting on the insanely hot bartender in Polish, and Moro throwing down a group of singles less than his share of the bill and walking out before anyone could count (aka Pulling a Moro).

Commentary:
O: Both involve long days of drinking
R: But only one has a drunk Jim$ which adds another dimension
O: Don’t forget the drunk and crying Melissa, but BWW does have Moro and his cheeky shenanigans
R: BWW is also the Godfather of other tournament participants (Tiki Barber)


Dart Board Region
The winner of this play-in game will go on to take on the number one seed in the Dart Board Region, Fitzys.

Winded v. Piccinich Madness Bracket

Winded:
Nobody embodies the state of being winded as well as Mar does. Just the other day Mar had a dream that he was sleeping because he was fatigued. No one can be sure of when this started or how, but it is quite contagious. Now we are all winded, or fatigued, or exhausted. Back in 2006, June 18, 2008 was set as the over/under for when Mar would no longer be winded. As of right now, the over is almost guaranteed to win.

Piccinich Madness Bracket:
The most surprising entry in the bracket, is the bracket itself. It embodies the past six years of our life and has the potential to to cause a tear in the fabric of existence. Just think about it.

Commentary:
O: Piccinich Madness is the stupidest thing we have ever done
R: Personally I’ve spent 8 of the past 24 hours doing this for this god damn thing
O: Clearly the most amount of effort any of us has ever put into a joke that will have little to no longevity
R: What is the over/under for how long this actually last? Will we make it to the end?
O: I think people will stop voting after the second day.
R: They are going to be too winded

Jameson Region
The winner of this play-in game will go on to take on the number one seed in the Jameson Region, Terry.

Pats King of Steaks v. Eddie O’s Basement

Pats King of Steaks:
Starting with Dmo and Ostrowe’s trip to Mar State on Masters weekend to visit Mar at college, Pat’s King of Steaks has been a staple of every trip to and around the Philadelphia area. Any Piccinich traveling to the area is given a list of orders to place so that gentlemen not participating in the trip can enjoy Pat’s greasy deliciousness.

Eddie O’s Basement:
Eddie O’s basement has housed several gentlemen prior to the various Belmont’s we have attended, in addition to housing his hot mom and Coach O’Shea, it has the unique feature that can only exist in a world without sunlight. Though there is a window, no matter what time of day it is, the window is always black as the darkest night. This caused great confusion for Dmo and Ostrowe during a midsummer visit for a keg party, when they repeatedly went back to sleep, thinking it was still night.

Commentary:
R: I hold the record for the most cheese steaks bought at one time (eight)
O: That is because you are a gentleman. I could go for a cheese steak right now. I could also go for a nap in Eddie O’s basement
R: I habitually talk in my sleep in Eddie O’s basement
O: Coach O’Shea habitually bangs Eddie O’s mom
R: mmmmmmm Cheese Steaks
O: mmmmmmm Eddie O’s Mom

Voting Starts now.
Vote Early, Vote Often, Vote Piccinich

Retro Post: Perfect Situation

Posted on by Gentlemanly Productions

In an effort to get all the post from the old site onto the blog, we bring you this oldie, but goodie.

This Post is about one random night at Fitzys. January 7, 2006. This was before I even started hanging out with Tara. For another take on these events, check out Ostrowe’s POV.

Fitzy’s is a place like no other. As the official bar of the Piccinichs, it possesses an Anchorman like back story. As recently as two years ago, Ostrowe, Mar and myself dreaded hearing that we were going to Fitzy’s, then one day (I’m still not sure what day that was) we all joined The Boss in believing that Fitzy’s was the best bar in Rockland. Since that day it has been the sight of many epic evenings; the night The Boss claimed I was his attorney and sued everyone for not being fun, the 10-hour poker fest, which included not only a Joe Rutko sighting but also a sighting of my neighbor’s dad boozing at 8 am, and of course more recently the Best of Seven home/away Piccinich World Series of Darts.

However, the night of January 7, 2006 may rank above them all, except of course the World Series of Darts.

So after watching the Redskins win their playoff game, I was in a pretty good mood. Sara was in town so I gave her a call, but I never heard back from her. I got a call from Moro at 9:30 and he wanted to go out. The next morning I was due at The Rock at 9:45, so my plan was to call it a night before midnight so I could get some much needed sleep. Before I left my house I sent Ostrowe a message to see if he would like to join.

Upon arriving, I found Heim playing darts with these two chicks who I assumed were acquaintances of his. They all went outside for a smoke and by the time they got back Moro had joined me by the dartboard. It was about this time that I found out that in fact Heim had also just met these chicks. Heim declined to stay on the board for the next game even though he had won the previous one, so I teamed up with Ms. X, a fairly attractive brunette with glasses who lived in the city selling pharmaceuticals, and Moro teamed up with Ms. Y, a short, blonde, art teacher/stoner who was carrying about 20 pounds too many.

Now this is miraculous in the first place, me, the socially retarded Piccinich that I am, talking to chicks in a bar. During the game Moro was his regular self, making smart ass/rude comments to people he just met (and also pointing at people…including himself). I took it upon myself to defend the ladies who were nice enough to hang out with us for so long by telling them they didn’t have to listen to a word he said because he listens to Enya. This became a fairly popular joke throughout the night. Ms. X and I somehow wound up losing the game just as Ostrowe walked in. He had called me earlier to say that he too would be leaving before midnight because he wanted some sleep.

Once Ostrowe got there, we proceeded to fall into our normal routine, making stupid jokes and quoting obscure things. Ms. X had made her way to the bar soon after the game was over; however, Ms. Y humored us for about 10 or 15 minutes until she had enough of our immature antics. By this point, it was already 11 or so and I was ready to call it a night, a pretty good one at that. Not only did we play darts, but we also talked to a couple of chicks for about an hour. It was at least a step in the right direction. Usually the only chicks you see at Fitzy’s used to be dudes and when there is one that is an actual woman, we never talk to her at all. We just sit back and say how hot she is over and over again (case in point: Frankie’s Italian Bistro). So with midnight quickly approaching Ostrowe and I began to play Trivia with Moro so we could finish the night on a good note.

Then things took an unexpected turn. Ostrowe headed to the bathroom, and Moro went to talk to some other people at the bar, so I decided to kill some time by playing darts against the computer. It was at this point that Ms. X walked by me on her way to the bathroom and kissed me on the cheek saying: “Now that you have my kiss, you’re definitely going to win.” As she walked away I stood there dumbfounded and in a trance until Ostrowe came back from the bathroom at which point we resumed our game of trivia. After a few more wins by Buddy C, it was time to head out.

Just before we were about to leave I told Ostrowe what happened while he was in the bathroom and some how we actually made the same decision that most non-retarded people would have made. We walked over to the girls and made some more conversation. Before I go any further I would like to thank Ostrowe for entering this brave new world with me as my wingman.

I don’t remember everything that we said, and in fact only one snippet stands out, I believe it started when Moro walked over and everyone again pointed out how much he loves Enya:

Ms. X: I love Peter Gabriel, and I love blow jobs
Ms. Y: Oh my god, now all these guys are going to think about are blow jobs
Rick: Hey we’re guys, we think about blow jobs all the time
Ostrowe: Yea, I woke up this morning thinking about blow jobs
Ms. X: I love giving blow jobs
Rick: (In the words of Dick Enberg) Oh My
Ms. Y: I can’t believe you just told these guys that you love giving blow jobs, now they both think they are going to get one
Ms. X: I don’t want to give both of them blow jobs, just him (points to Rick)

Now this is a “Perfect Situation” if I ever saw one. After this exchange I pretty much just started thinking of all the ways I was going to screw this up. While I stood there soaking this in, Ostrowe made a futile attempt to switch wingman duties with Moro, but Moro did a good job of pretending he didn’t know what was going on and stayed away. On second thought maybe he wasn’t pretending. However, when he came to the bar to get another drink he did manage to challenge Ms. Y to a one-on-one game of darts.

We all shifted positions back to the dartboard so we could watch Moro get his butt kicked and talk about how much he loved Enya. After ten minutes the songs I picked on the jukebox two and a half hours earlier started playing beginning with the aforementioned Weezer song. All Ostrowe and I could do was laugh at the IRONY. Ms. X and I spent most of the time in the vertical spooning position and she kept giving my crotch the formal Ric Flair Chop.

About half way through the game, I officially became “That Guy” that I always make fun of when Ms. X turned around and proceeded to make out with me. This is one of those times where I wish I could see my life from the 3rd Person POV for a brief moment, because this must have ranked pretty high on the unintentional comedy scale. First off, it was Fitzy’s. Second, this is me we’re talking about. Last summer I literally had a girl ask me, “So when are we going to have sex?”, but I of course fumbled the snap. In my defense I still blame the fact that she wasn’t attractive, and I would have to be dry for at least 5 years before I considered a girl like her. Third, I don’t know where I was headed with this train of thought. I stopped writing for a bit because that entire night still makes me laugh.

After the first kiss, I had an unfortunate image flash through my head. I remembered that we were at Fitzy’s and that last time I had gone there with Sara we had a close encounter of the transvestite kind. I felt like I should have had check for the absence of the twig and berries, but I am too classy of a guy and that would have been crossing the proverbial line. I was playing a dangerous game of chance.

So anyway after a few minutes we decided to take our show outside and away from the masses. We stayed outside making out as long as the frigid weather would allow us but we were forced back inside 10 minutes later just in time to see Moro lose to Ms. Y.

Ostrowe, Ms. Y, Ms. X, and I spent the rest of the night at the bar. Most of this time was spent not paying attention to Ostrowe and Ms. Y so you will have to check out Ostrowe’s recap of the night to find out what else happened. I’ll just detail the bar scene in the following manner:
A) I was groped, and it was awesome
B) There were a lot of flattering remarks thrown my way, to which I responded with my own flattering remarks being the classy guy that I am
C) She also managed to drop the verb form of the F bomb in the same sentence as the transitive verb meaning to desire
D) Did I mention this chick was 28?

So at 2 in the morning Ms. X and Ms. Y departed thus ending our night…..and only two hours after our scheduled time of departure. At least for once I had a girl’s phone number to show for it. We’ll see what happens when I call her. One can only hope that I don’t pull a Mikey.

Actual conversation from the next day:
Boss: What did you wind up doing last night?
Rick: I went to Fitzy’s for a bit to play some darts and trivia
Boss: Did you see the chick Heim was talking to in the beginning of the night? He said she was pretty hot.
Rick: Her name was Ms. X right?
Boss: Yea
Rick: Yea, I saw her. And I spent the better part of two hours making out with her.
Boss: (Speechless)

Later that night…………………….
Boss: So how about that chick you played darts with at Fitzy’s
Heim: She was pretty hot
Boss: Oh yea, well Rick spent the better part of the night hooking up with her
Heim: WTF that could have been me if I didn’t leave early…………………… and Casey of course

Tuesday night, Rick calls Ms. X.
Call Failed, I leave a message on her voicemail.
SHE CALLS BACK (!) 2 Hours later claiming she was at the gym. We make small talk, and we all know that’s my specialty, and we agree to call each other if we are ever in the same neighborhood.
I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know that I’m 22.

Game of the Century Date Announced!

Posted on by Gentlemanly Productions

Judgement days draws near.

CONGERS – The Game of the Century will be played on April 19, 2008 in Dana Gymnasium on the campus of Springfield College. In a joint announcement, Team Winded and Team Rhody refused to reveal the time of the actual contest in order to prevent a mob scene in the area.

The Game of the Century features two very unique teams. One on side we have McCarthy and Lynchy: Team Rhody. This terrible twosome features SIX Rhode Island State Basketball Championship rings, one Division II National Champion, one Division II MVP, one Rookie of the Year, 8 Player of the Year Awards, 82 Player of the Week Awards, four boobs, a three-point champion, a dominant inside threat and both fine young ladies are among the top five scorers in history. On the other side we have The Rick and Ostrowe: Team Winded. They…uh….have zero years of competitive basketball experience…combined.

After a year of deliberations, a date was finally confirmed after a heated discussion taking place in an AIM chat room. “It seemed like this deal was never going to get done.” Ostrowe tells us “I had all but given up on it, but as a Team we decided to put their neck on the grindstone.” The Rick added “Our nationwide smear campaign which made Team Rhody look like cowards really helped make this happen.”

The Game of the Century will be held as part of “Drink your face off week,” an annual tradition at Springfield College. “I feel I will have a distinct advantage,” The Rick said, “as a non-drinker, I plan on using peer pressure to get Team Rhody inebriated enough to swing the balance of power in favor of Team Winded.” The Rick then admitted that his teammate, Ostrowe, has the propensity to get drunker than both Team Rhody members combined, so it evens out.

In a phone interview, Tara McCarthy revealed that deep down she may not be as confident as her facade would lead you to believe. “Pictures” she said, “can be deceiving. They don’t reveal just how much machismo is emanating from Team Winded.” In a scientific study conducted by this very blog, we learned that Team Winded has 47 CCs of machismo per every 10 cubic pounds of body mass. This is nearly double the amount of machismo found on the average football field (unless of course Tom Brady is playing. He is practically made of machismo)

“The key to victory for us” Ostrowe revealed, “is that we need to score more points than Team Rhody.” The Rick continued, “When we take the court at one o’clock, we are going to be ready to play and I guarantee you that we will win…oh crap, I wasn’t supposed to say what time we were playing was I…can we strike that from the record…no…damn..I’m retarded.” In a informal study conducted by this very blog, we learned that he indeed is retarded.

Expert handicapper, Chris Moro, was called in to give his opinion of the matchup. “There is only one place you have to look for a game like this” he said, “go to your local Captain Bar and see where they are putting their money. My Captain, Terry Galligan is heavily wagering on Team Rhody. He bet nearly all his tins of dip on them. So in my expert opinion I would have to say Team Rhody 27 – Team Winded 9. Now if they were named Team Terry! that would be a different story, because Terry can achieve the impossible.”

Terry’s beard will be giving Team Winded a pep talk before the game.

####

Springfield College is the birthplace of basketball and the tiger lounge. Once Mar tried to climb the aggrocrag, but was denied. He has yet to return to the scene of the crime.

Team Winded is a non-profit organization that is very winded. Whether or not they will ever have energy has yet to be determined.

Team Rhody will probably win the game, but you will never hear anyone admit it. This will no doubt will be emasculating.

Eli’d

Posted on by Gentlemanly Productions

Horse shit. (Ed. Note: I am in no way in the right state of mind to write this)
I was going to keep a running diary of the goddamn Syracuse game tonight, but I figured I did one last year and their season ended. So I sat by as they built a nice 22 point lead, then the shit hit the proverbial fan. UMass chipped away and at the 3:31 mark I commented that Syracuse only had a little bit longer to hold on…….
(The Following is the actual rant Tara was forced to read)
WE SCORED ONE F-ING POINT IN THE LAST 331!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME
THAT WAS SO DEPRESSING
I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT
I JUST HAD TO GO ON ESPN.COM TO CHECK
AND THAT JUST MADE ME MORE DEPRESSED
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
If Greg (Tara’s friend who goes to UMass) ever mentions this before I die I am not responsible for what happens
I AM BESIDES MYSELF
I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY
I AM GOING TO BED EARLY TONIGHT

Somehow that was the most depressing Syracuse game I have seen in a long time. Fuck. Goddamn. Really.

Sorry about the language Mom.

Fuck.

Think of better times. Think of better times. Think of better times. Think of better times. Think of better times. Think of better times. Think of better times. Think of better times. Think of better times.

Quick Outs: HOF 2

Posted on by Gentlemanly Productions

These posts don’t always have the longest shelf life due to the volatile nature of YouTube, but it doesn’t hurt to make the post. Here are a few of the best YouTube videos I have seen in the past months along with some Piccinich words of wisdom

First up, the epitome of a video game soccer goal. Normal people aren’t able to do this, and if I tried nothing good would come of it.

Guess Who: The Siena/Villanova game is so huge that it may even be more important than the day Terry was born!
Rick: In some circles I suppose
GW: Terry is a circle!!

Following the soccer theme, we have here a random street soccer which may or not be fake. You never know with those Mexicans.

Mar: Being winded is exhausted

This is a long video, but the footage is captivating enough to make you sit there for the whole thing. Napoleon Dynamite wishes he had these skills. Chicks probably dig this guy.

Tara: oooo a Bud Light after-party
Rick: Oh Man we are going to get smashed
Tara: By What?

You’ve probably seen this, but just in case. Ha-Larious

Now a brief message from the KTFO department here at Covering the Spread:

http://embed.break.com/NDY5NTkx
Reporter Owned By Sled – Watch more free videos

Lastly here is a link to a post feature immature humor.

Carpe The Diem. Seize the Carp

Title Track (3.11.08)

Posted on by Gentlemanly Productions

Please welcome Gentlemanly Productions into existence after an overwhelming number of you preferred that name and logo over the now defunct MCs & JsTs.

Speaking of that we know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever be whelmed? (h/t 10 Things)

Recent developments have brought to my attention another absolutely ridiculous name. J’Nathan Bullock. That’s not even clever. I’m speechless. It is worth noting that last time I made a similar statement in this space (See JamesOn Curry), I wound up developing an unhealthy man-crush on said person. Do the fates have a similar plan in store for me this time? Survey says: No.

Ostrowe makes a good point, J’Gaboo Bullock would be a much worse, yet hilarious, name.

I’m not sure if this whole Elliot Spitzer thing is more funny, or more sad. I am sure however, that it is a wonderful example of schadenfreude.

The website promised “university students, runway models, actresses and exotic dancers”, ready to “make your dreams come true”.

The allusions to prostitution are awesome. And the best part, due to the wonder that is the internet within 24 hours tons of hilarious shirts have popped up all over the place. Here is a taste of a few:
– Client 9
– Client 8
– Client 1
– Client 69
– Client $ (May be a figment of my imagination)
– A jersey type shirt with the name Spitzer and number 9
– I’m not only the governor, I’m also a client

In all honesty though, I feel bad for his family. They are going to have to put up with all this shit and it was no fault of their own.

Following the Prostitution Ring theme, why doesn’t anyone investigate Stanley Steamer? First off, have you ever seen one of their commercials? Some lonely housewife is complaining that her carpet needs a good cleaning. Then this “reputable company” sends a gentleman in uniform over, he provides a service, the company gets paid and maybe the employee may receive a little extra from the housewife. Second, there is the obvious Cleveland Bureau connection. I’m not saying, I’m just saying. If you find me face down in a ditch sometime soon, you will know I stumbled across something.

: Pupino was in surprisingly good shape yesterday, likely due to the appearance of his parents and his new girlfriend
: I am having trouble processing that last statement
: As was I until I started talking to her and realized that she is borderline retarded.
: FUNNY!

Recent Chain of Gentleman running joke: _______ still _______
The guy from paddy’s still owes me a wing
Yvonne is still trying to get the taste of Ostrowe’s urine out of her mouth
The Tiger Lounge still smells like shize
the MC still has $100
Vin’s Queso Dip is still delicious
(there are too many good ones to list them all)

Judgment day is tomorrow for Syracuse. If they don’t beat Mar state, they are out. Even if they win, they are not guaranteed entrance. Here’s to Gerry MacNamara and the 2006 Big East Tournament.

Post Script: Syracuse is 2-0 this year when I buy tickets to their games and don’t go. In retrospect I should have sprung for the tickets. What a disaster. That was depressing. The lone highlight of the game was the picture text I got from Mar featuring a piece of paper with “Cuse” written on it, in the toilet, with someone peeing on it.

J’RickOn Signing Off

What Happens in Vegas

Posted on by Gentlemanly Productions

Doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

This story starts on Thursday February 28th. But before I get started, I just want you loyal readers, yes, all 10 of you (Hi Mom & Dad), this is probably going to be a very boring story, so I won’t be mad if you skip ahead to the funny parts, they will be clearly marked. The purpose of this tale is to keep people informed. And to prove I do stuff on these business trips.

So Thursday we had a big NBCSports.com meeting at 30 Rock. I was in charge of assembling and running PowerPoint presentation that would be shown to the 80-some-odd people in attendance, Ebersol included. Going into the day I was somewhere on the bridge spanning the chasm of supremely confident and nervousness. Thankfully I had nothing to fear and the day worked perfectly.

Immediately following the meeting I hopped in a cab and headed to JFK and en un dos por tres, which in Spanish translates to something along the lines of likety split, I was in Vegas. Now the last time I was in Vegas I was about 13, so you can imagine it was a little different this time. I checked into my room and headed over to the National Heads-Up Poker Pairings Party which was held at Pure Nightclub at Caesar’s Palace. The party lasted till 2am (aka 5am et), and somehow I managed to make it through the whole night. For those that don’t know, the NHUPC is a march madness type poker tournament. It is also the most watched poker show in the country.

Friday morning I got to the set at 9:30 and I helped out with the live blog of the event. I created the brackets and helped come up with headlines. Taping ended at 10 so I took a walk down the strip and caught the fountain show at the Bellagio. Bellissima. I was excited for Saturday morning since Syracuse was playing and I could watch them at 9:00AM, but as expected Lucas found me at 8:45 and informed me that he had 2 minutes to explain his job to me because he was going to be doing something else. He prefaced the learning session by saying that this was going to be a tedious, thankless job, which was one of the most important on site. Inspirational. In short, the NHUPC is taped show. There are 25 cameras shooting at a time, recording onto one hour long video tapes. I was in charge of making sure all the cameras had video tapes to record on at all times. This required me to label the tapes (each tape got five stickers, and none of the labels were printed ahead of time), deliver the tapes to the truck, get the tapes that had been used, barcode them, process them into the system, and package the tapes up to be shipped back to NY. Each set of tapes were assigned a group number so that the producer would know what was taped when. I took over when the truck had group 10. So lets see what the first few hours of my day was like:
9:00 – Learn the ropes of tape stock.
9:05 – Lesson over. Left to my own means.
10:30 – Finish labeling group 15 tapes (11-13 were done previously)
10:45 – Taping begins. Start labeling group 16
11:15 – Bring group 11 to truck
11:40 – Finish labeling group 16
11:45 – Tape change
11:48 – Pick-up used tapes. Start barcoding and processing
12:15 – Bring group 12 to truck
12:30 – Finish barcoding. Start labeling group 17
12:45 – Tape change
12:48 – Pick-up used tapes. Start barcoding and processing
1:15 – Bring group 13 to truck
1:30 – Finish barcoding. Finish labeling group 17
1:45 – Tape change

After Saturday was done we had used the group 20 tapes. I was originally going home Sunday morning, but they asked me to stay longer to help with the production. I stayed and it was a pretty good experience. Sunday was much of the same, except for the fact we ran out of tapes halfway through. We started scrounging around the entire city and even took some tape stock from the NASCAR race in town. After two straight 9A-12P days I was exhausted.

****FUNNY PART****
Since I was working with the tape stock Saturday and Sunday I didn’t get to help with the blog much, but after Andy Bloch derailed the Cinderella run of Orel Hershiser (yes, that Orel Hershiser) I came up with the perfect headline, sadly it was rejected:

Bloch Turns Down Orel

****End Funny Part****

The worst part was that I was following the Live Updates of the Syracuse game online while working and the internet went down right in the midst of Syracuse’s epic collapse. F it I don’t even want to talk about it.

Things you should take away from this blog:
1. Watching poker without hole cards sucks.
2. One day I need to go back to Vegas to enjoy it
3. When you don’t know how to end a boring blog make a list of random points to learn the readers
4. Syracuse is NIT bound. Fuckers.
5. The world is a vampire.
6. Greatest site I have discovered in some time: Garfield Minus Garfield