In Eckleburg's Eyes - 12/4/2008

On Wednesday night, MPW, RAW, and I attended the Tennessee basketball game at Thompson-Boling Arena. As always, the boys were running late. When we finally got to our seats, 11:28 remained in the first half and Tennessee held a slim 14-10 edge over UNC-Asheville.

Tennessee would win the game 87-69. There was drama at the buzzer as Tanner Wild’s three-point attempt buzzer clinked out. Had he made the shot, Tennessee would have totaled 90 points and all in attendance would have been entitled to a free chicken sandwich from Chick fil-A. You would be amazed at what an incentive that is for fans to stay and cheer long after the game has been decided.

It was an historic night as Bruce Pearl won his 400th game and Tyler Smith recorded the first triple-double in school history, posting 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in just 26 minutes. He also committed no turnovers. It is amazing that in 100 years of basketball at the school, no one had ever done that before. I am still not sure that I wouldn’t have preferred the chicken sandwich.

My friends were aghast that the coach's son, Steven Pearl, played extensively in the game. They were convinced that he significantly contributed to our lack of complimentary poultry. RAW noted that since Bruce Pearl divorced his wife, he should not worry about what she thinks about not playing their son. He then asked me if chicken was kosher as Pearl as Jewish. (For the record, kosher chicken can be prepared though it takes significantly longer than normal.) One way or the other, we are convinced that Bruce Pearl did not want us to get our sandwich. As you can tell from this discussion, the chicken was very important to us.

By the way, does anyone know where walk-on Rick Daniels-Mulholland is?

After the game, we helped KLTW’s classmate MP transport his new television set from the Best Buy in Turkey Creek to his apartment complex located off of Sutherland Avenue. If you are familiar with the area, you know that we drove from campus to the farthest western point of Knoxville and back across town to the apartment complex. MP had bought the 42" plasma on Black Friday and was eager to have it installed. KLTW had been bugging RAW to do this since Friday and being able to empathize with living with a nagging woman, I agreed to lend my Xterra to the cause. On the plus side, I got to see KJW for the second day in a row as we met MP, KLTW, and KJW at the store.

Unfortunately, my cell phone died at the game. Hence, there are no photos and this post is cluttered with logos. My phone became hot to the touch and then powered itself down. I am no expert but I do not think that is good. Thankfully, after recharging at the house, it did not seem to be suffering any long-term ill effects.

After picking up the television, we ate at the Applebees in Bearden as RAW and MPW had yet to eat. I felt like I was cheating on a girlfriend as this was not my Applebees. If it is any consolation to the Cedar Bluff branch, the experience was horrible. The service was atrocious and the bill was notably higher as this franchise required that I order a beverage with each appetizer to accrue the half price rate. Fortunately, I was able to deflect the cost increase by ordering one of the appetizers for KJW as there is a limit of one per customer. She did eat some of my wings. She did great the entire night despite the late hour. It was her mother who conked out.

In other Wednesday news, Fleenor Security Systems installed an alarm system at my house. This was my parents highly romantic Christmas gift to each other. There have been a rash of break-ins in the neighborhood as people struggle for funds in our present economic crisis. In fact, we learned that our dear friends, the Days, had been burglarized on Tuesday. KRD was especially disappointed that her jewelry box was invaded. In response to this situation a guy name Chuck was at the house all day continually saying “10-4" on his radio. That instilled s a great deal of confidence. I type this all to foil your pending plans of breaking into my house.

Finally, on Wednesday I submitted my term paper on Jack Mezirow’s concept of transformative learning to RGB. I hope to apply Mezirow’s theory to Christian education. The more immediate impact of this paper being completed is that I now have the luxury of reading what I want to for the first time in months.