Brady. Edelman. Hubbs. Fallon.
It's been a down year for Syracuse athletics so I took it upon myself to try and lift everyone's spirits this past Saturday. I figured bringing my pals Tom, Jimmy, and Jules to the game would be cool for the fans and the community. You know give them something to be excited about? It's the least I could do after what the university gave me in my four years.
Okay here's actually how it went down. No, I don't have the ability to get Brady, Fallon, and Edelman up to Syracuse for a regular season basketball game. There's a miracle worker out there by the name of Adam Weitsman. I wrote this blog about him back in early January.
If you're ever watching a Syracuse game you'll see him sitting next to the Orange bench behind the scorer's table. He's turned that area into a mini-Lakers celebrity row. He's had Gronk, Odell, Melo, etc. at the games as his guest in the past. I finally had enough after hearing his mysterious name during my time there and I wrote that blog about him so others could learn about him as well. Within probably 10 minutes I got a follow back on Instagram and a DM saying that the blog was the nicest most fair thing ever written about him. Sure! I'll take it. He eventually asked me to come to a game as his guest. We're not very good this year but it's always nice to come up for a weekend and relive $3 beers so I picked the late February final home game against North Carolina. He said no problem. Turns out he is the nicest, most generous person in the world. He cares so much about the community and helping out others. Dude is the real dude.
When I picked the UNC game I was under the impression it would only be me going. Around a week out from the game rumors began to swirl of who he was taking. On his Instagram story he hinted that it was his biggest guest yet. That for sure was not about me, so something had to be going on that I didn't know. At halftime Weitsman's good friend and Syracuse basketball legend John Wallace got his jersey retired and hung up in the rafters next to Carmelo Anthony. It also happened to be senior night and one of the final games at the Carrier Dome before massive renovations were to begin. As a result they were expecting 30,000 + fans packing in the place.
Eventually on Friday I got a text asking if I liked football and who my favorite team was. I told Weitsman the Packers. I then got a call saying Tom Brady and Julian Edelman were going with us. I mean what does that even mean? TOM BRADY? The guy who is the most talked about athlete in the world right now? He's going to go to a Syracuse basketball game?
I didn't know whether to believe it or not. My buddies convinced me this was all a giant prank. It sure was not. Weitsman actually got Tom and Jules to go to a Syracuse basketball game. What world are we living in? I assume this was assisted by Gronk but who actually knows. I headed to Orange Crate, the on campus watering hole for students, before the game to throw back a few. As I got there an article came out saying Jimmy Fallon was going too. Apparently Fallon was asked in the morning if he wanted to come and was immediately in.
I got to the game like an hour before tip and Adam was out getting the boys from the airport as they flew in together. Every single person I showed my ticket to had no idea where I was sitting. They looked me down head to toe and assumed I just forged my ticket in someway because who the fuck was I? Blogger extraordinaire? Finally someone from Adam's team found me and brought me to the court. As I walked by the scorer's table I could see four name cards: Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Jimmy Fallon, and Adam Weitsman. Behind them was me. Casual. Just some pals watching a Cuse game together, that's all.
They all walked in together. Tom super tall, walking on air. Magnificent and smooth in everything he did. Jimmy Fallon just the most excited person of all time, so happy to be there. Edelman the coolest person in the room wherever he goes. We met all three and enjoyed the game That was until the opening tip happened and Cole Anthony proceeded to take a good ole dump on our chest.
During the game Fallon couldn't breathe. Every single play he was on the edge of his seat. SCREAMING. He's an actual Syracuse fan so this was him living life. He's also a mad man. He turned to Adam in the middle of the game and said "what if I go into the crowd?" Before Adam could answer Fallon ran out of our area and went to conduct the band.
During the next TV timeout we lost him again. This time he ran on the court to play the shooting game with a fan where he had to make a layup, free throw, and 3 point shot. For some reason he chose to throw the 3 point shot into the stands.
At the end of the game we went into a private area to hang with a few people. Everyone was mobbing Tom and Fallon so Edelman just hung in the back with us like he wasn't a superstar himself. He went up to a few young kids and asked them for a picture with them as if they were the star. Legit the nicest dude in the world, along with being unbelievably good looking, and amazing at catching footballs. Fucking guy. As we took a picture I said, "Go Yanks" for absolutely no reason at all. Edelman was like "what is that possibly going to mean to me? I'm from the Bay Area." Totally fair point. Goddamit. My brain was broken.
Eventually they all left to catch their flight. I grabbed a pic with Brady Weitsman and Edelman as they walked out. As he left Tom shouted to me, "Make sure to tell the Pres what's up!" Company man.
Now I'm down in Tampa with the Short Porch crew doing a bunch of interviews with the Yankees. Thank God for Dave Portnoy for creating this company and giving me this life.