Sunday, November 1, 2009

Molly Cools rules and so does Brandon Jennings

Bucks home opener tonight. I expected to take my oldest son with for the game, but his Saturday morning attrocious behavior and smart mouth cost him a trip to the BC. That meant finding a last-minute sitter, and going with the Mrs. (Gopher Bandanna Gal). It also meant the evening was wide open for some pre-game adult beverages!

We got downtown a little after 6:30pm and had an hour to kill. Molly Cools, an oyster bar/'seafood tavern' was staring us in the face on the walk over, and I had heard good things from a few friends. After settling down in the bar and checking out the menu, the happy hour specials were looking real good, but it was now past 6pm. No worries, it was happy hour all night on Halloween. That meant I was getting 44 fluid ounces of Bells 2-hearted IPA on tap for $5.50, while the wife took on the same quantity of Miller Light for $4. Sweet. With just a little over 30 minutes to go before tip-off, we downed the brews (ok, the Mrs. got about 30 oz down, admirable for her though), while chowing down some delicious coconut shrimp, and establishing a nice numbing contact buzz. In and out in 30 minutes, and strangely enough meeting former Golden Gopher DE Keith Lipka's sister (the hostess, wearing an authentic #99 Gopher football jersey for Halloween). Being a half-season ticket holder for this season, I believe I may just make 'Cools' my pre-game joint of choice, particularly since I love seafood and IPA on tap.

On to the game. After a lackluster showing in the first half, the Bucks turned it on in the 3rd quarter, outscoring the Pistons 36-14. Rookie Brandon Jennings got hot at just the right time and took the quarter over, draining a couple 3's and slashing to the basket on a sweet lay-in (this despite being called 'Brad Jennings' by the guest player intros, and 'Greg Jennings' by the female game MC). The Pistons made a charge back in the 4th, but the Bucks held them off, keyed by a backcourt steal by Jennings with about a minute to go. Good stuff. The Bucks may only win 35 games this year, but this kid is going to be fun to watch all season.

Other home opener observations:
-Disappointingly small crowd, no announced attendance, so you know it wasn't good. The upper deck looked to be about 20% full. I'd guess about 11,000. Ugh.
-Hakim Warrick plays HARD, and works hard to get the ball inside and draw fouls.
-Gadzuric appeared to have outplayed Bogut in all facets of the game (yes, including offense)

Random Jersey Watch:
-Colt McCoy U of Texas alternate black and burnt orange jersey (paired with an alternate color red & black Brewers hat)
-Eddie Royal Broncos jersey

As I'm hitting up half the home games this year, I'll keep spotting bizzare sports attire choices at the BC and sharing them.

3 comments:

  1. Although I am not a fan of the Bucks or the NBA I am a fan of trips to the BC. Great recap. Shouldn't the Colt McCoy fan been home watching his beloved longhorns on ESPn2? Whatever. I did catch the intros on TV, What was that? I did like the cop and amry guy getting a nice applause from the crowd. Their not doing that all season are they?

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  2. I give Colt McCoy fan a break, for not watching his squad live on TV, as I was doing the same, missing my Gophers Halloween Eve game for the attendance of a live sporting event.

    Don't know if they are going to do guest player announcements all-year, but I kinda doubt it, it got a little long and drawn out. Though don't be surprised to see the Bucks promotions dept pull all kinds of weird stuff this year in order to put more butts in the seats.

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  3. Didn't see any of Saturday's game, but I liked the way Jennings played on Friday. Several times he was bringing the ball up and just took off and went to the hoop. Great speed. His D is not the greatest. Due to his size, he gets bumped way off on picks. However, I am going to really enjoy the Jennings era.

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