Saturday, November 12, 2016

Back in the Saddle - Tampa Bay Eve

So we are back in the saddle again.   After a disastrous couple of games in Texas with an even worse game at home sandwiched between the coach and I were about ready to throw in the towel.  But an ok game against the lions followed by a reasonable game in Indianapolis and a win back at home against the Vikings have rejuvenated our adventuring spirit and given hope that perhaps our Bears will play well enough to be worth watching again.   So after a long bye week  spent trying to find some magic at either Disney World or Universal’s Harry Potter place we find ourselves in Tampa Florida awaiting yet another of our road games.

Tampa will make the 20th stadium that we have visited (21 if you include Soldier Field) and after next week at the Giants we will have seen the Bears play 21 of the 31 opponents.   Actually if you include seeing them in London I will be able to claim seeing them play opponents in 23 stadiums.

We went out tonight in search of the Tampa signature dish, which depending on who you talk to is either the Cuban sandwich, just about any seafood dish, or smoked mullet.  We settled for just about every seafood dish.  Tomorrow I hope to get the smoked mullet.   We went to a Peruvian seafood restaurant and I think everyone had a good time.   After the meal we did our traditional pre-game trip to the stadium to get the lay of the land.

For this trip we have along with the Coach, my brother and a couple of nephews as well as some friends.  Tomorrow we will represent the true and loyal Bears fans and shout as loudly as possible.  Tomorrow we shall have victory!!!  Well to be honest I would settle for a really good game. 

A couple of side notes. 

1.  For those of you who are Harry Potter fans and have not had the opportunity to visit Universal’s Diagon Alley you are missing a fantastic experience.   I was far less enchanted with Hogsmead at Island of Adventure, but Diagon Alley is an experience not to be missed.

2. Epcot holds an annual International Food and Wine festival.   If you love long lines, fairly pretentious people and long lines, I strongly recommend you attend.  If on the other hand these do not have the appeal to you that apparently they did to the people attending the festival, stay away!!

3. If you ever get the chance to camp next door to a Lion Safari park I strongly recommend you take it.  There is something surreal about sitting at your camp and listening to a Lion roar.  It was quite the experience and I am glad the Coach and I were able to do so while on our sojourn to Tampa.

Not to turn this to politics - never gonna happen, but I did happen to see an incredibly funny post today.  

BREAKING NEWS:  Chicago Cubs are being forced to give up their World Series Title.

Cleveland Indians fans have rioted across the country in protest of the 2016 World Series.  Despite knowing the rules of the game prior to playing, they were unhappy they lost and demanded the outcome to be changed.  They could be heard chanting #NotOurWorldSeriesChampion all across America.

Even though the Cubs won 4 games and the Indians only won 3,  since both teams scored 27 total runs throughout all 7 games, they are being declared co-world champions.

When questioned, Commissioner Manfred stated, “We felt as though it was the right thing to do for the nation.  What kind of example would Major League Baseball be setting if we expected the adults who play this game, and their fans, to Gracefully accept defeat?  Instead of creating a bigger divide between the Cubs and the Indians, MLB is confident that the Cubs will gladly share their victory with the Indians”.

I hope you got as big a laugh out of that as I did.

Tomorrow is game.  The Bears are favored by most of the analysts so we have to cross our fingers and hope they have not been given the kiss of death.  Most of the team is back healthy(ish) and with luck we will see some calculated and precise passing from Jay and some outstanding defense.  I will report in tomorrow night with our impressions of the stadium and any interesting tidbits that turn up.

In the meantime – GO BEARS!!

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