If you read my previous blog entry you already know that I woke up at "farmer o'clock" to go and watch the one sporting event that I intentionally attend two mornings ago at the annual Super Bowl extravaganza here in Da Nang, Vietnam.
I am a Kansas City fan by proxy because of family members that live in Kansas but truth be told, I am not really a fan of KC, the NFL, American Football, or even sports really. I'm more of a book-reading nerd who likes video games and chilling out at quiet places with a few friends. Regardless, I find it is kind of important to throw some support towards the biggest sporting event that takes place in America every year.
We woke up at the crack of dawn and pre-gamed at a local pub and it is the one that I had told you previously is a "rough and tumble", Roadhouse sort of place where fights regularly break out. We had tickets to some other larger venue and based on the people that were at the rough place already at 5am, we determined then and there that we would not be returning to this place for any of the game. Some of the usual suspects that are always starting trouble were already there, and a guy was passed out on the curb outside already. These were bad omens.
an Eagles fan, I'm guessing
This was kind of an easy call to make and we were only there because it is in my neighborhood and was a good place to meet up before walking to the real venue that we had already purchased tickets for. It was only about a 10 minute walk and we were fine with that. It was nice and cool at that time of day and we got there right at 6am, which is when the staff informed us that the doors would open for the event. Things weren't looking good when we noticed that all the primo bar seats were already taken and we were informed by the staff that some of those people were already waiting at the door as early as 4:30 AM. We had to sit a row back and I could tell before the game even started that this was going to be a bit problematic.
Keep in mind that I was standing and holding the phone above my head to get this shot. Had I taken it at head level, you would see that the people directly in front of me on the plastic stools, everyone that walks past the bar to the buffet, and the people standing at the bar would routinely be blocking your vision of the game. I am a considerate person and would never stand right in front of people who are also watching something, but I guess not everyone is polite. There were several instances of near violence when irritated seated patrons would warn someone time and time again to get the frick out or the way because they are blocking everyone's view. If you look over to the far left of this picture you can see a giant projection screen that for some damn reason, the bar didn't even use.
The rude customers that were standing in the circled area had to be told by the staff repeatedly to not stand there as it was blocking everyone behind them
Well it wouldn't really matter because this was a very dominant game on the part of the Eagles. I wasn't pissed off that "my team" wasn't doing well because honestly, I don't really care, but I would have preferred if the game had been a bit more competitive. I don't find it very interesting when one team is absolutely destroying the other. There isn't any tension when it ends up like this but because of the over-selling of tickets to the event this place was almost unbearable to be at. Had we been in the United States the fire marshal would have definitely cited this place for a violation of fire code. BTW, the first picture is not representative of how busy it got, by the time we left there was almost zero standing room and it simply wasn't a fun place to be, especially for my smoker friend who had to beat his way through a crowd to get outside.
So at halftime we went to another bar that a friend of mine owns that isn't even a sports bar and there was a grand total of 8 people there, including the 3 that were in my crew. Oh and Nadi was delighted because I picked her up on the way.
There was little cause for celebration for my doggo and her red shirt that I almost never make her wear, but it was already on and I'm not ashamed of who I am supporting just because they aren't winning.
So here comes the meat and potatoes of what this story is all about: In years past I have gone absolutely ape-shit with the drinking at these things and completely ruined the rest of my day and had a massive hangover that lasted at least a day afterwards. This year, after the Super Bowl was over, I went home and drank a bunch of electrolytes and ordered a burger from a place that my friend owns that saw me with my Chiefs jersey on at the game. I thought it was a nice touch for him to put a personalized message in the bag that was delivered to my condo.
Then, for the rest of the day I didn't drink anything and even went for a 5k run still wearing my Chief's jersey. A couple of people called me out for that but I couldn't hear what they said because I had my sound cancelling headphones in. I'm certain it was something rude that was meant to hurt my feelings but joke's on them, I don't really care.
The rest of the day was spent drinking water and watching TV and of course, cooking something in my much-beloved air-fryer. Then on Tuesday I woke up early feeling right as rain.
Next Super Bowl I will repeat this sensible method because I'm at an age where even though I don't have anywhere that I need to be I really do not like having a hangover for an entire day.