Big Easy...Meet Little Easy

Hurricanes and Hand Grenades

New Orleans is all about survival. Want to pace yourself? You can't. The fervor of thousands of people that are more drunk than you will instinctively cause you to catch up. Want to relax and hang out in your Bourbon Street hotel room? You can't. The crowd noise from outside the window will call you to the street.

The drink of choice is the hurricane, made of equal parts liquor and sugar with a hint of fruit juice, they only come in one size, extra-large. Knock down a couple of these thirty-two ounce demons, and you won't be able to fend off the barrage of two-dollar-shot-girls, which are scantily-clad dressed waitresses armed with the ultimate selling pitch: getting a shot from them is akin to getting a quick and clothed lap-dance.

The four UMTailgaters survived the temptations, the alcohol, and became creatures of the night. Oh ya, I almost forgot, there were games too! Syracuse defeated Kansas 81-78 as the final game came to an end on Monday night, starting an evening of street-wide celebration by the raucous and often rude Orange faithfull. Even Carmelo Anthony hit Bourbon Street, with an entourage that ran behind him as if he were the pied-piper.

All in all the trip was a success, even though it was capped off by a longer than expected all night road trip back to Ann Arbor. We're all back, and we should reach normal equilibrium sometime before football season starts.

The Winners Are...

Congratulations to Randy Wallace, Roger Trim, and Vik Bhatia for taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place respectively in the 2003 UMTailgate.com Tournament challenge. Prizes are en route. Thanks again to all that participated...especially to those that paid.