My first year out of High School, I had an opportunity to go to school in England. I spent six months living and learning at Capernwray Hall. Capernwray is an international Bible School, so there were students from more than 20 countries around the world.
As you may or may not be aware, the English are not known for their delicious food, so in order to supplement our diet the Korean students set up a sort of black market. They began taking orders for noodles. There was a variety to choose from but the highest in demand were the Shin Ramyun noodles that came in a red package. Presumably the red packaging was meant to warn the victim that the contents were hot, which was good because it turns out that it is always cold and damp in an 18th century castle (this will come around to basketball soon, I promise).
Delivery day came and it was quite a site. Apparently college students, no matter where they are from in the world, like noodles. There were probably 60 boxes of noodles that were delivered each box containing two dozen bags of noodles. For the next two months we would come back from lunch and scarf down a bag of noodles just to tide us over.
When I got home, I went through a sort of noodle with drawl. My guess is that it was more to do with the drastic drop in sodium intake rather than the noodles themselves. But I did manage to track down the same noodles and made a tradition of eating them. For the first day of the NCAA Tournament, I would head over to Superstore and pick up two packages of Shin Ramyun and a box of grape Koolaid. Games start at 10:30 so I would prepare my noodles and pitcher of Koolaid and sit and watch basketball all day.
I kept up the tradition for a number of years but it fizzled out after a while (mostly because I don't think it would be right to plop down at the office and gorge myself on noodles and purple juice), but every once and a while, when Lindsay is away with the kids, I'll head over to Superstore and pick up the red package for a taste of the past.
I don't know what made me think of that...
Anyway, four rounds are now in the books and it has been an eventful week!
At the beginning of the week it looked like the favorites would be cruising through to the Final Four but in the end there were a few surprises. Of course Kentucky pulled through with wins over Indiana and Baylor, but the other perennial power house, North Carolina, stumbled into the elite eight and then made and exit from the tournament thanks to the Jayhawks.
Florida, who came into the tournament ranked 7th in the West, managed to blow by Marquette before losing to Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals. I'm not sure if you heard the announcers mention that Billy Donovan (Florida Head Coach) played for Providence College. In his first year as head Coach, Rick Pitino, led the Providence College Friars on an unexpected run to the Final Four.
Syracuse, who came into the tournament surrounded by scandal (google Fab Melo for full details). managed to pull themselves through the first three rounds before running into Ohio State. The Buckeyes, ranked #2 in the East, pulled away in the final 68 seconds, aided by going 13 for 14 from the free throw line, to move on to the Final Four.
As an aside, 13-14 from the free throw line in the final 68 seconds! 7 fouls in a little over a minute...I didn't watch it but that final minute probably took about 20 minutes to play!
As you may or may not be aware, the English are not known for their delicious food, so in order to supplement our diet the Korean students set up a sort of black market. They began taking orders for noodles. There was a variety to choose from but the highest in demand were the Shin Ramyun noodles that came in a red package. Presumably the red packaging was meant to warn the victim that the contents were hot, which was good because it turns out that it is always cold and damp in an 18th century castle (this will come around to basketball soon, I promise).
Delivery day came and it was quite a site. Apparently college students, no matter where they are from in the world, like noodles. There were probably 60 boxes of noodles that were delivered each box containing two dozen bags of noodles. For the next two months we would come back from lunch and scarf down a bag of noodles just to tide us over.
When I got home, I went through a sort of noodle with drawl. My guess is that it was more to do with the drastic drop in sodium intake rather than the noodles themselves. But I did manage to track down the same noodles and made a tradition of eating them. For the first day of the NCAA Tournament, I would head over to Superstore and pick up two packages of Shin Ramyun and a box of grape Koolaid. Games start at 10:30 so I would prepare my noodles and pitcher of Koolaid and sit and watch basketball all day.
I kept up the tradition for a number of years but it fizzled out after a while (mostly because I don't think it would be right to plop down at the office and gorge myself on noodles and purple juice), but every once and a while, when Lindsay is away with the kids, I'll head over to Superstore and pick up the red package for a taste of the past.
I don't know what made me think of that...
Anyway, four rounds are now in the books and it has been an eventful week!
At the beginning of the week it looked like the favorites would be cruising through to the Final Four but in the end there were a few surprises. Of course Kentucky pulled through with wins over Indiana and Baylor, but the other perennial power house, North Carolina, stumbled into the elite eight and then made and exit from the tournament thanks to the Jayhawks.
Florida, who came into the tournament ranked 7th in the West, managed to blow by Marquette before losing to Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals. I'm not sure if you heard the announcers mention that Billy Donovan (Florida Head Coach) played for Providence College. In his first year as head Coach, Rick Pitino, led the Providence College Friars on an unexpected run to the Final Four.
Syracuse, who came into the tournament surrounded by scandal (google Fab Melo for full details). managed to pull themselves through the first three rounds before running into Ohio State. The Buckeyes, ranked #2 in the East, pulled away in the final 68 seconds, aided by going 13 for 14 from the free throw line, to move on to the Final Four.
As an aside, 13-14 from the free throw line in the final 68 seconds! 7 fouls in a little over a minute...I didn't watch it but that final minute probably took about 20 minutes to play!
Typically leading into the final weekend our finishing order is secure and our champion is decided. Typically, but not this year. The standing can change slightly with a chance for players to move up or down a spot or two, and the winner of the bracket is still up for grabs.
0 comments:
Post a Comment