Phoenix Recap (Go Bruins!)

Sometimes last-minute trips just come together in all the right ways. The hotel was decent. It was two blocks from the arena. We got an early check-in no problem, I hooked up with the guy who had the tickets I was buying and they were just as advertised, and we headed out to get some lunch and try to find some pregame festivities.

We checked out one place that I had been to for a Cubs game but it was empty and they were serving very limited food. So we wandered down to the corner and Laureen said, "it looks like there is a bar down that way" and Lexie said, "they have UCLA banners up!" So we headed over there, and sure enough they were set up for the official pre-game "Bruin Bash." While pricey ($50/adult, $20/kid), this turned out to be a great find, as the entire place ended up being filled with Bruins and they had an all you could eat buffet and open bar. The band showed up along with the cheerleaders. It was a great atmosphere and we had a blast.

As for the game, the seats were pretty good, the atmosphere was great, and the Bruins played a pretty dominating game, methodically building a lead that they never relinquished, ending up winning by 19 points. We got to wander down courtside and watch them cut down the nets and hoist the Western Regional trophy, and now they are off to San Antonio for the Final Four.

After the game we headed back to the same restaurant/bar, but we were exhausted and quickly finished up our dinner and headed back to the hotel, where we basically collapsed after a very, very long day. We got up around 6am on Sunday and headed for home so that we could enjoy most of our Sunday and I could play the Sunday major online poker tournaments (which turned out being a good thing as I won my first WSOP Main Event package of the year, hopefully many more to come, and had a 4th place in another tournament for a decent payday).

It was a great, great trip. Downtown Phoenix was really nice, and we look forward to getting back out there soon, hopefully for a Cubs series.

Some pictures:

In Phoenix for Bruins

We are about 30 minutes outside of Phoenix on our way to see the Bruins play Xavier today for the West Regional Championship with the winner heading to the Final Four. I have friends often ask when I work as I'm always seem to be doing "fun" things, well for the last three hours Laureen has been driving and I have been on my laptop working, thanks to my cell phone's broadband internet access. Modern technology, gotta love it.

Anyway, long drive (5 hours) but hopefully worth it when we watch the Bruins cut down the nets late this afternoon. Game time 3:4o pm Pacific time. GO BRUINS! Will take and post pictures.

Vegas Recap

Had a great 2-night trip out to Vegas. Basically I played a few hours of semi-serious poker in the late mornings into the early afternoon at Bellagio, then headed over to MGM to play copmletely "for fun" and enjoy some beers. Got to play a little poker with my old high school friend, and enjoyed a couple poolside beers, and went out to a very good Mexican-food dinner where we drank way too much in the way of margaritas. I ended up winning a nice chunk of money and having a very good time, and now am scrambling the rest of this week to catch up with work. We might head out to see UCLA in Phoenix on Saturday, we'll see.

Vegas for fun?

Heading out to Vegas this Easter morning, writing from the airport right now. Heading up to meet up with an old friend from high school. Originally it was supposed to be a long weekend with Laureen and Lexie but Lexie's run to the basketball championship made that impossible.

Still, it is nice to be going for fun instead of "work" in the sense that most of my live poker playing consists of playing very high stakes tournaments that are very demanding. This trip I'll be playing some low-stakes cash no-limit games, drinking some beers, watching some March Madness today, hanging out with my old friend I haven't seen but twice in the last 20 years or so, etc. Coming home on Tuesday morning.

By the way, how about that Bruin game last night? I may get an eviction noticed from my neighborhood for all the screaming and yelling I was doing. Hopefully that was the ONE game they had to go through that every championship team has to have. Anyway. on to the Sweet Sixteen, and GO BRUINS!

Another Championship for Lexie

Lexie's 5th/6th Grade basketball team won the league championship today. So during this school year she has won a soccer championship and a basketball championship. Pretty cool. Here's a couple pictures:

Coach Wooden

Hopefully everyone is enjoying March Madness, probably my favorite sporting event. As you do, also enjoy this treasure on Coach Wooden, who teaches so much beyond basketball or sports.

Lexie: Another Championship?

Lexie's basketball team won two playoff games this weekend, sending them to the championship game next Saturday. The games were pretty amazing, particularly Sunday when they came back from 5 down going into the 4th quarter and scored two very late baskets, including one with just a few seconds left, to win the game. I am extremely proud of Lexie's play and contributions to the team.

Her soccer team also won a championship this year. Pretty cool if she can be part of two championship teams in the same year!

Poker Trip

Heading up to San Jose tonight for the WPT Bay 101 $10k buyin. I will have daily updates on my poker blog at http://uclabruinz.blogspot.com.

Lexie's Report Card

Funny quote from Lexie yesterday after she showed us her near-perfect report card: "Do colleges look at 5th grade report cards?"

They grade on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the max. She got all 4's except one 3. She also maxed out on effort and behavior grades except one "M" for "Meets Expectations" in performing arts. I asked her what that's all about, and she said "that's because I hate square dancing!" Can't blame her for that. How absurd is it that 5th graders are forced to square dance with each other?

Anyway, just felt I had to brag about my kid once again. I wish we could take credit for being great parents, but she's just one of those kids who does it almost all on her own. We are very fortunate.

Go Bruins!

Even Marley's getting into the spirit of March Madness! GO BRUINS!

Cubs Spring Training

I am on a very quick trip to Tucson to see my Dad and take in a Cubs spring training game. I flew in yesterday morning around 11am, took in the Cubs game with my Dad at 1pm, went out to dinner with some family, and then played a little family poker. Quite a fun day. The Cubs lost because their "scrub" players couldn't hold a 4-1 lead, but the players who will be on the roster played well and it was fun seeing Carlos Zambrano pitch well, and he hit a home run as he is apt to do from time to time. Today we're going to play a little golf this morning and then I'm catching a flight home at 7pm tonight. Quick, fun trip. Here's a picture of my Dad and me at the game yesterday.

Foo Fighters - Epic Night

Laureen and I have had our floor tickets for the Foo Fighters for awhile, but last week we decided to take the plunge and take Lexie with us, her first major hard rock concert on a general admission floor. The plan was not to try to hard to get up front and kind of always have a route to a "safe" area of the floor where it wasn't jam packed. Well, plans change.

We headed down near the arena for dinner and drinks, but we didn't hit traffic so got there early, finished earlier then expected, parked at the arena relatively easily, and found ourselves about 50 deep in the line to get in. Once they let us in, we were able to easily stake out a spot right in the front, on the rail, that would be directly in front of the lead guitarist. The plan was for Laureen and Lexie to be on the rail, and me to stand behind them and "hold off" the crowd. It worked, but was quite an effort.

We made it through two opening acts with no problem. The people around us seemed relatively cool and that always helps. I even made it out to hit the bathroom and grab a brew and back for the 2nd opening act. Once the Foo Fighters hit the stage, though, it was clear we were at a major concert with a pretty crazy floor. Our plan worked, but not without a lot of effort by me holding off the crowd and a few real jerkish young guys doing anything they could to try to weasle their way onto the rail. There was quite a bit of "crowd surfing" going on around us which was pretty funny. Security was outstanding. They gave Lexie a bottle of water, and kept an eye on her throughout the concert.

The concert was absolutely amazing. There is nothing like being right up front for a concert. Lexie had an incredible time. When considering taking her, we thought it might be an experience she would never forget, and based on her comments during and afterward, I'm pretty sure we accomplished that. She never waivered or showed signs of fatigue. It helped she knew very well almost ever song the Foo played. She also did a pretty good job with the camera. Here's a couple of videos she took with our digital camera:


And here are a few pics we took:

Foo Fighters

We're headed to the Foo Fighters concert tonight with floor tickets in hand. Will post pics and thoughts tomorrow. Looking forward to this: