A Bloody Mary Morning
Peter walked in and ordered a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. It wasn’t 7 AM yet! Most everyone else was already having Bloody Marys. The bar was running out of horseradish and Tabasco to spice the drinks. You knew this was going to be a different kind of morning! …………… Only in China!
There’s nothing quite like getting up early in the morning to go to a game. Sure I always loved heading out to Wolfpack football early on a Saturday morning to tailgate with the gang! But getting up at 6 AM to go watch a game in a bar was a new experience. This had to be the Super Bowl! Why else would a bunch of Americans be up at this hour in China?
I arrived at the pub – One for the Road – about 6:45 AM. The street was deserted. No one was outside, but you could hear some kind of football stuff on the outdoor speakers. So I figured I wasn’t dreaming or had the wrong day. But having seen no one yet on this morning, I did think I would be the only one dumb enough to be this early. ……Surprise, there was a pretty good crowd already inside. I was late. I had to sit in the rear!
The sun wasn’t even breaking through the windows behind the big screen TV. Fans were scattered about the room for the game and the few waitresses and Jason were scurrying about to try to get things organized. You could tell they weren’t used to doing this kind of thing this early in the morning either.
By the time the first couple of tables had made it through the breakfast buffet before the kickoff, there was very little of anything left. And the toaster was blowing fuse after fuse. I waited till a latter round.
The game was great! Okay, who won? I didn’t really care! My spot on the big lottery board kept coming up a winner! I won the first two quarters! And the third was empty…….. so that just increased my split! And think about it…… I won the first quarter with a missed extra point. And the other guys were salivating and determining the winner of the second quarter as it was ending,……….. but wait………… Vinateri missed a field goal! That made the scoring 10-0 Indianapolis in the second…. And that was the same ending digits on the board! I 
won again!!
The most disappointing thing about the game was not getting the new commercials! NOOOO..... instead of the new Budweiser dog, or Dorito special commercials, we got ESPN International commercials. Most were just advertisements for upcoming sporting events, like Mongolian wrestling and soccer! Whoopee!! Who wants to see that?
Great game anyway!
Okay, I enjoyed the Wolfpack game on the previous day more, but I sure liked my winnings.
I even won the final “small” board in the Pub!
It was time to play golf. I was having too good a day! And it didn’t stop either. I birdied two from off the green on the front nine!
What a great day! I don’t mind getting up early for football after all!
(More photos available from link in right column.)
won again!!
