Xavier Game Watching - Goolsbys

[Ardmore Mug]

Like my friend Kirby coined:
Major Goolsby's----Locally Owned, Warrior Staffed ! ! ! 

[Goose]

Kirby remains a MKE treasure.

[Mu8891]

Goolsbys ...

Keep up the good work!  The MECCA can pound sand as far as I am concerned

[Newsdreams]

Goolsbys ...

Keep up the good work!  The MECCA can pound sand as far as I am concerned

Please the new MECCA, I had some of my best at the MECCA watching the Warriors

[Goose]

Let's do it again on Saturday!!!

[Galway Eagle]

If it's happening on Saturday I'll show up. I'm going to a belated Christmas/Hanukkah in Waukesha so my wife and I are already looking for a spot to watch the game.

[Goose]

Galway

Watch party or not, it looks we will have a crew at Goolsby's for the game.

[Galway Eagle]

Galway

Watch party or not, it looks we will have a crew at Goolsby's for the game.

Sounds good, I'll suggest it to my wife.

[Goose]

Galway

I know you had a nice turnout in Chicago and enjoyed it and Goolsby's was a ton of fun. I'm texting my buddy to see if they can text out getting MU fans there on Saturday.

[Goose]

Last Sunday was great, keep up the good work and the watch parties!!

[Galway Eagle]

So what's the word is this happening again? If not I'm b-lining it to points east when I get to mke

[Goose]

Galway

No watch party today.

[Galway Eagle]

Galway

No watch party today.

Gotcha, catch you all for another game I'm up here

[benztagrams]

I'm going to Goolsby's on Saturday with a couple of friends and I hope to see folks there again!

[GoFastAndWin]

Met a buddy at Goolsbys to pre-game last night.

I am partial to the place because my late cousin worked there tending bar during the Glen Rivers era. He became friends with Doc.

The place is warm and inviting. The service was outstanding. Really good food. Inexpensive too. Plenty of high-def TVs, all of which featured the Providence @ Xavier game.

The acoustics are great as well. Place was packed about a half hour before MU game time, and the noise level was just right.

Once inside Fiserv, yes it was a bit disconcerting to see the $16 price for a decent beer. Had a couple 1st Half Busch Lites at $5 each, but they ran out of them before the half even ended.

Parked underneath the Courthouse for $20 and it was a nice walk to Goolsbys and then back from FF.

The game atmosphere was fine. I do feel that it was a bit quiet at first. Marquette fans tend to underestimate unranked opponents. It's not from a lack of basketball knowledge. I would put our fan base up against anyone's. It's more  from just generally not having a coach's mentality. 

I was proud at how mid second-half our crowd awakened and really got loud during defensive sets. It was deafening for at least five possessions on D. We need to bring it for the entire game. I do feel Xavier beats us in that regard.  Overall, I love the fan support of our program.

Great night watching our Warrior Eagles gut out a scrappy win that will help them later! A night that started at a winning joint for MU 🏀.

[Goose]

GoFast

Great recap. Sounds like it was great night.

[GoFastAndWin]

GoFast

Great recap. Sounds like it was great night.

Goose,
Yes, it was particularly nice since I've been a bit "cooped up" as the caregiver for my cancer-stricken friend here at Skokie CC in Glencoe IL.

I used to get to about 4or 5 home games a year, plus the occasional game @ DePaul. Now it's usually just a game or two.

Love the visuals at Fiserv, as there's really not a bad seat in the house. We were sitting in 119 on an aisle, and Steve Novak walked by twice. It's cool how everyone recognized him and smiled, yet didn't bug him for pics.

The in-house entertainment at stoppages in play is a bit contrived, but that just goes with the territory of playing in a state-of-the-art laser and light show NBA arena.

Marquette basketball games still feel history-laden, exciting, and special. Each coach puts his own stamp on the program, but even in the down times you sensed that everything has always been in place to succeed wildly here.

I truly feel that Marquette under Shaka is going to reach Al McGuire levels of success. Our fans have always been loyal, but there is room to energize those on the fringes. Like Al, Shaka is also the kind of coach who can bring in fans with no prior affiliation with Marquette.

I'm 52 now, so anything can happen. If the Lord blesses me with a few more years, it's going to be a helluva ride with MU hoops!

[burger]

$16 for a beer.

I need a raise.

[Goose]

GoFast

We are going to have a great run of MU basketball. Next time you are up for a game let's grab a beer.

[GoFastAndWin]

GoFast

We are going to have a great run of MU basketball. Next time you are up for a game let's grab a beer.

Goose, gonna be a great time playing golf with you this Spring.

I have never met Shaka, but I swear he was talking to me via his show with Jen Lada tonight at D & B's. He was trying to make a point about "should" being the most dangerous term in sports and life.

He offered up a great horse racing analogy by way of a Billy Donovan story. The gist of it was that horse owner Billy once made a point to his team about expectations and the dangers of being better "on paper." About how past performances, jockeys, trainers, equine purchase prices etc... they all can figure in. Billy then showed his team video of a horse race 🏇🏽. They had all the info and stats you could possibly want. Who SHOULD win means nothing. What matters in the end is only one thing. WHO RUNS THE FASTEST RACE TODAY?!

I think people here on Scoop probably make fun of my username, without having any clue what it means. I am not referring to an uptempo style of basketball, although it fits our style of play perfectly. It is a quote from the horse racing classic movie LET IT RIDE.

Ask any equine handicapper, as most of us are all caught up in speed figures, pace analysis, track variants, jockey/trainer stats, breeding/ bloodstock analysis, etc. Well, Richard Dreyfus plays a "broken down horseplayer" (legendary Chicago SunTimes turf writer Dave Feldman coined that term) who is privy to a hot tip he heard from a couple seedy looking characters affiliated with a racing stable. The day of the big race presents a huge wagering opportunity for Dreyfus as the degenerate gambler "Trotter". He's so excited upon overhearing a whisper of instructions from the trainer to jockey. He leans in and hears the most simplistic, but factually accurate advice:
"GO FAST AND WIN"!

No specific instructions like "break him mid-pack, settle to the outside of horses, watch for a  developing pace duel, and then angle in for run on the rail." NO. Instead, simply "GO FAST AND WIN!" To any horse bettor hearing this line, it's at once hilarious, ridiculously simplistic, and utterly 100% TRUE!

I'm a golfer in addition to my horse racing degeneracy. Golf is similar in that the game is beautifully simple, yet we golfers often make it so hard by getting bogged down in swing theory, positional analysis, and biomechanics. Same with racing, basketball, and life in general. Keep it simple. Focus on TODAY and then run your race. GO FAST AND WIN!
🏇🏽 ⛳️  🏀

[DoctorV]

Good stuff Go Fast and Win.

Shaka seems to always have a pulse on reality, and it's extremely refreshing.

Lest we forget that his last two rodeos in the big dance he lost to Abilene Christian, in a game he and his team SHOULD have won very easily, and got blown out of the gym in a game he and his team SHOULD have been competitive in.

That's not a knock on coach. Believe me, he knows better than any of us the pressure involved in getting that recent monkey off his back and Marquette's back.
When you come from as much early career success, fame, and notoriety at a young age like he had, it can be a big fall from grace when you experience those hardships.

In the new age of data points, computer numbers, expected spreads for every game and nearly every event within that game, it's easy to often times get lost in the hoopla of what is to be expected and what SHOULD happen.
So much so that when it doesn't happen the way the computers think it should, we start throwing the quick "luck/horseshoe up their ass" label (ahem Providence).

It's not a knock on anyone, as all the data is great to have for sports junkies like us, it's just the reality of the mind.
Sometimes we forget that crap happens, and when it does we act like it's preposterously insane that it happened when in reality, it's sports.

It then offshoots to the point where suggesting a potential pitfall or possible loss on the schedule as being a "downer" or being "negative" or being swayed one way or another and not seeing things clearly.

Just last night we saw a game where computers told us Marquette wins fairly easy, the final result suggested they were right, but the honest reality is that it wasn't the case.
It was a pitfall game, especially if Kam didn't suit up, and Marquette battled through it like great teams often do, and they are now on pace to win a conference title.

There will be other pitfall games. Shaka knows it, and he wants his guys to know it. Every game is a battle, and that's why the 20 game gauntlet is so special.

Anyhow I digress.
Back to the important stuff.
A bit of a personal question that you shouldn't answer if you aren't comfortable to- as a self proclaimed "horse racing degenerate" how profitable, or devastating, would you say the venture has been? If nothing else I'm sure you've gone fast and won some!

[GoFastAndWin]

DoctorV
You are spot-on.

I once hit a KY Derby day pick 4 on a $16 ticket (cost of a beer now at FF) that paid $16,000. 2012: aptly named horse "I'll Have Another."

I also hit a 50 cent pick 5 at DelMar in 2021 on a $12 ticket. It paid $38,000. I singled three horses. Not 3/5 favorites, but horses at 8-1, 12-1 and 10-1 on the morning line. All three got great trips and won easily.

All this being said, I'm a longshot player, so I could go multiple days without picking a winner.

I have looked like a genius many years and a complete fool many others.

The years I have done well, it should come as no surprise that I had extraordinary discipline, out of necessity. The years I have done poorly were when I wagered too much over too many races.

Gambling is no doubt a vice. Hope springs eternal, until it doesn't. (Tap City, to use a McGuirism) I do believe, however, as Al once juxtaposed, that there is something pure and ironically wholesome about a place where you can have a beer, make a  horse wager or two and see a few short skirts.

[Goose]

Go Fast

Love the last line of your post. Hard to argue that point, but it is likely someone will be offended on here.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Was in post game Nova.  They were deciding on an early opening time for tomorrow.

[mubb3434]

Was in post game Nova.  They were deciding on an early opening time for tomorrow.

Let me know what you hear on opening time.