Friday Five

The Excuse

None needed. W00t!

The Week

Every now and then I find myself somewhere that I’ve never been to before. The rest of the time I find myself in Houston, which is where I was this week. The last couple of times I’ve been out here I really haven’t been able to hook up with anyone, and unfortunately this week was the same. So it was class, dinner, apartment, sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The Restaurant

On the advice of a couple of Yelp reviews I decided to check out Sabine River Cafe, a creole place next door to 713 (my favorite sushi joint). Unfortunately, the reviews were greatly overstated. While the gumbo I had to start was very good, and the green beans side were done to perfection, the chipotle pork chops were dry and flavorless. You win some, you lose some.

The Travel Note

Sometimes it just doesn’t come together for you. I was supposed to fly from ATL > IAH > SAN last Friday. Unfortunately when we got close to Houston (IAH) it was closed. We were diverted to MSY (New Orleans). As it turns out, the equipment I was supposed to fly from IAH > SAN was also diverted…. Was – until they decided to change equipment. By the time I got to Houston my plane had left and I got to spend the night in a flee bag hotel.

However, I will give props to the bartender who took pity on me and let me get a drink after the bar had closed.

The Five

Sarah posted an ode to the fantasy football league that I’ve been in now for the last 15 years. The league is really much more than just a fantasy football league; it’s a collection of good friends. Every year we get together to hold our auction, something that over the years has gone from a living room floor to a hotel conference room. In honor of the impending auction weekend (and in response to Sarah’s blog posting) here are my five favorite memories from the league.

1. First and foremost it has to be my two mug victories. Beyond pride, all we play for in this league is a big engraved mug. I won years 5 and 7, and was the first ever to win two mugs.
2. The auction/draft weekend has for years been a gathering. One particular year there was a group of us hanging out the night before the draft holding (yet another) mock draft. At some point in the night I had proclaimed to (who knows at this point) “Go nuts”. Alas, what was heard was “Grow nuts”. Couple that with the fact that it was the first year we had ever had women in the league and that single phrase has become legend.
3. Brennan. Brennan has been involved with the league for going on his 14th year and one of the league’s most committed owners – he even attended the draft the day after his wedding.. Unfortunately, poor Brennan has been the butt of two of my favorite moments.
   The first was the morning of the draft his first year in the league. He’d just broken up with his gf at the time. Karin, Brennan and I went out for breakfast beforehand. When asking the waitress to split up the check I said that Karin and I were together. The waitress responded by staring right at Brennan, and in a rather condescending tone said, “And you’re alone?” That’s just harsh.
   The second is a late garbage time interception that Steve Young threw that cost Brennan a playoff victory. A playoff victory when he had assembled one of the best teams ever seen in No Name Fantasy Football League history. Steve’s reaction? Laughter. Brennan’s reaction? Well, his shrink tells me the therapy’s going well.
4. Alas, this is something that can never happen again as it was pre 9/11. Skye was flying in from Colorado and a group of us went to go meet him at the airport. We wound up running a little late and by the time we got to the other side of security (remember those days?) we had to run to the gate. We rounded the corner just as Skye walked off the jetway and gave him a huge cheer.
5. The last is the first ever draft we held in 1995. It was in the apartment Karin and I were living in. We were an 8 team league at the time and many of the owners didn’t realize what they were getting themselves into at the time. The one that really stood out was Brian – who’s preparation was a list of players on a scratch sheet of paper from Fingerhut.