Jazz Really Isn't All That Cool

We head out for New Orleans in eight hours! Stay tuned for a TON of pictures. I'll be starting a separate blog for all of the Bourbon St. Boobie pictures I may or may not get. We return Monday, so Tuesday expect this blog to return in full force! Happy New Year!

Marc Stanton Was a Good Man

I don't typically read the obituaries. Last Thursday I read them and saw that a friend's father had died. Monday morning I read them again, and saw this. The internet is amazing. More than six years ago, I used to visit the Charlotte.com message boards for information about the Panthers. Eventually, the site grew into much more than a Panthers board and This Board Rocks was born. It's weird. I've many good friends that I've made from that site. People from as far away as New Zealand and Fresno, CA have come to Charlotte for "TBR" gatherings. People have met on the site and eventually married. Others have met on the site and have become friends for life. I'll be honest. It's a little creepy, but I've met some great people. On the Panthers message board, an original member was Marc Stanton. He's a hell of a Panther's fan. Possibly the best. He started his own website, Pantherfanz.net. It was and is largely devoted to tailgating.
This is just one example of his legendary tailgates. The Browns game this year was full of pregame rain, but his group still had a ton of people out there. They set up in a big lot over on Cedar St. to the west of the stadium. Marc sat in the front row, wore a tight offensive lineman style jersey along with a crazy hat and bullhorn. He was friends with all of the cheerleaders. Every Monday he'd come on TBR, post about the game complete with about twenty ass shots of the cheerleaders. God bless Marc.
Marc also traveled to many away games. He made friends with other team's fans before rolling out of town and met up with them for some power tailgating. Back in 2003 when the Panthers didn't suck, we played a nail biter in Tampa in week 3. The game was over unless we blocked an extra point. Well, Kris Jenkins blocked it and Panther fans went crazy. Here's an old AP photo with Marc just to the right of Tom Tupa's(#9) head going nuts in the midst of stunned Buccaneer fans. Marc had balls. He didn't talk the game, he actually was the game. During the 2003 NFC championship in Philadelphia, he actually braved the crazy eagle fans. He sat twenty rows deep, had batteries thrown at him and who knows that else. I thought I was brave standing on the field shooting the game while silently pulling for my team. Marc always had great road stories to tell. Enough to inspire me to take some Panther road trips. We're headed to New Orleans next weekend. I didn't know Marc. I only met him one time. I dropped in on his tailgate before a Monday night game a couple of years ago. He said hello and offered me a beer. He didn't need to say much else. He's a fan we should all aspire to be like. I don't care who your team is.

The Professor on TBR made this picture of Marc during the weekend. I bet Marc was watching the game with Sam Mills yesterday.

My Blog Sucks, Not Unlike the Panthers

Much like my ass, I've lost my muse!! If you happen to see it, do me a favor and let me know where it is. I'm really trying to get back into it. I promise. Sunday was the last home game of the year for the Panthers. We suck and we were all pretty sure we were gonna get beat down by the Steelers, so we decided to make the game secondary and push the pregame festivites to the front.

I cracked my first Miller High Life Light at 10:15, about 15 minutes later than I had planned. The Lady and I were first to arrive and tuned the Sirius radio to the top 40 channel. Some Justin Timberlake was blaring and we danced in front of nobody on Carson Blvd. About two minutes later The Lady received a call from here mom saying,

"We just drove by Carson Blvd. and saw you dancing and Adam drinking."

I guess somebody is always watching. We had a bigger crowd this week thanks to some of Jennifer's friends from Wilmington. Kelly and her husband Bob drove in for the game to root on the Steelers. Also backing Pittsburgh was Kris Cook and his Panther fan wife Danielle. Danielle brought some whip ass potato salad and Paula Deen cookies. The Lady made some macaroons and Buckeye's for dessert. I borrowed my sister Anna's grill and we grilled up some fine Bratwurst and Sausages. Good eating Sunday.

Pittsburgh whipped our ass. 37-3. It was really, really bad. Late in the game this Steelers fan let the Bud Light get to him. He decided to take a nap next to Kris Cook who didn't mind the company. Not that he needed the company. The stadium was dominated by Steelers fans. They were everywhere, making more noise then the home crowd. It was disgusting.
As usual, our fans left early. It really pisses me off when people leave early. I think of all the fans around the Carolinas who would LOVE to go to a game that wouldn't leave early. It makes our team look bad, and it makes our fans look like assholes. I think we have some of the worst fans in the National Football League. We really suck. If it rains, nobody shows up. If we're losing, a ton of fans leave. If we're winning, a ton of fans leave. We do the wave on offense whilst playing on national television. It's damned embarrassing. I hope someday we have more good fans than bad ones. We've got some work to do.

More later, I've got a story about a great Panthers fans who died unexpectedly Friday, and it was the extended family Christmas Saturday in Lincolnton.

Stay tuned.

Shorts in November

It had been a month since I'd been in Watauga County, so I figured it was about time to head back up the mountain. Lucky for me, Appalachian State grads Jeff Crum, television's own Kris Cook, and Crum's pal Greg Elmore invited me along for a 1st round Division 1-AA playoff game in Boone. The Mountaineers were hosting upstart Coastal Carolina. Coastal's mascot is the Chanticleers. Evidently a Chanticleer is a rooster or a gamecock. I think a rooster would have served as a better name for a mascot, but I went to a school that didn't even have a football team so what the hell do I know?
We got to Boone early, parked, and moved along to Boone Drug for a Parson's special. We then retreated to the parking lot for pregame festivities that consisted of tossing the football and drinking beer. Before the game we noticed Chancellor Kenneth Peacock walking around the parking lot with an excited look on his face and the National Championship trophy in his arms. We stopped him and he gladly took a picture with Elmore and Cook even giving Greg the championship ring. Chancellor Peacock appeared to be half cocked like the rest of us and was ready for a good time. He would eventually lead the band in the fight song and do some cheers on the sidelines.
Kickoff temperatures were more than 60 degrees which meant we could wear shorts. Not that the temp really made a difference, but we got fewer weird looks than we typically do. Former co-worker Steve White hooked us up with some sweet tickets around the rich folks. That was weird since we aren't rich folks and we were trying to sneak mini-bottles of Crown into our Cokes. I don't think anyone saw us. I don't normally drink liquor, and I don't plan to drinking it again anytime real soon, but I enjoyed the medicine Saturday.
The Happy Appies dominated the first half and tried to let the Chanticleers back in it in the second half but went on to win and will host Montana St. this coming Saturday in Round 2. Kidd Brewer Stadium is a fine place to watch a football game. I hadn't been there since 1995 when Marshall came down the mountain and got whipped, so it was nice to be back.
Following the game we found a nekkid lady statue. Kris Cook was pretty happy about it. Thanks to Elmore's no less than 90 mph yet safe driving style, we were back in Chateau de Crum in Huntersville by eleven. Saturday didn't suck. I'm glad three Mountaineers didn't mind a college dropout like myself join in a day of good times.

You can take the Radio Guy out of Radio Station, but you can't take the Radio Station out of the Radio Guy

Many of you know my pal John Homa. You may also know my pals Captain Jim Slade, Big Jim Slade, Greg Worth, John Carter, and John Collins. They are all the same person, just names John uses on multiple radio and television stations giving traffic and sports reports. He came in Friday to fill in for our vacationing traffic reporter. John's been in radio since he was in college and is pretty old school despite his young age. He does have to do television on occasion, but I don't think he really enjoys it as much as radio because you have to change cameras and maps and stuff instead of just giving the traffic and reading a spot.
John said he didn't feel comfortable just clipping a microphone on for every report so he decided to make himself feel more at home today. He took your classic television lavalier microphone and turned it into a radio station style boom mic courtesy of an ink pen. That's bad ass.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Was getting a cup of coffee at the Dilworth Coffee House this morning on my way to Lincolnton for Thanksgiving festivities and saw this bumper sticker. I couldn't agree more.

It's Not August

It's cold outside. You'd be a real asshole if you played golf today, so naturally Scott G and myself made good on our 8:30 tee time at Firethorne Country Club this morning. Scott is doing some work for them on his new website so we got to go play a nice private course for free whilst recording commentary on each hole. I didn't play well. It's hard to play well when you suck. It's really hard to play well when you suck and it's 38 degrees with thirty mph gusts of wind. It really was brutal. On #14 it started sleeting. Sleet was actually accumulating on the greens. We pressed on and finished despite the nasty conditions as it started to rain like hell. I'm glad we finished.

This was one of about two easy holes on this course. The first to guess which direction this particular tee shot went wins the free bowl of soup I got for wearing a black windvest on top of a navy shirt.

This Blog Definitely Sucks

I must sincerely apologize to all four fans of This Blog May or May Not Suck. For whatever reason, I've not really felt inspired to write about much. Even my daily work shenanigans, Monday Night Football, or even the red carpet at the BET Hip-Hop Awards. There's certainly not a lack of content. I reckon I just looked back at some old posts and realized the blog is pretty selfish. It's just a big, ''Look at me! Here's what I'm doing!!" I know that's what all blogs are, but it struck me in a weird way. I've really enjoyed these first few months of the blog, and I honestly think I'll enjoy several more. Just not right this second. It may be a week or two or three. Maybe even tomorrow.

Things are well. They honestly don't suck. We didn't go to the Panthers game yesterday. Anna and I threw a party for my parent's 30th anniversary. It's nice to see them so happy after so long. They've been through two kids, one of which damn near died at birth(Anna.) They've been through Dad's two heart attacks, Mom's multiple sclerosis, and ton of happy times, too in thirty years. It was a good party.

And a big thanks to Mark Smith for Always thinking of the blog. Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane was at the station last week promoting something. She didn't quite catch on to the thumbs up thing.

Ireland Doesn't Suck

Jim Travers went to Ireland for two weeks. He went to a wedding that lasted for three days that consisted of nothing but beer drinking. He also traversed much of the country including a lovely town called Muff. That's right, there is Muff in Ireland.
Jim also hung out with Kathy for a few days. Kathy lived right here in Charlotte USA for a while until the laws forced her to return to her native Dublin. She's a loyal reader of This Blog May or May Not Suck, likely the only overseas reader. She's been trying to make her way onto the site and figured out a great way to do it. She and Jim drove two hours to the Smithwick's Brewery. It was a great idea except for it's only open for tours during the summer. Nothing cool about that, but Kathy whips ass and should find an American quickly and marry them so she can move back.
Jim did bring back two cans for tailgating Sunday, and they were spectacular. Thanks to Jim for keeping the blog in mind whilst in his homeland.

In the Minority

My friend Avani married her sweetie Ajay earlier this year in India. She then married him again Saturday afternoon. They then recreated another ceremony Saturday night for friends. At least, that's how I think it went down. I'm not sure, but I do know that I attended something Saturday night that resembled a wedding.

I've known Avani since high school when we were in chorus. She went to DC for college and we didn't keep in touch very often. She then took off for India and worked with orphans for two separate stints. Whilst helping children in Gujarat, she met Ajay in Ahmedabad. I'm pretty sure that's where she was volunteering and where she met him. I may have them switched around or completely wrong, but I think it's close. Avani came back home to Charlotte shortly after she met Ajay and said she met this guy who she'll likely marry and she did when she got back over there.
Way back in the day I went to Avani's parent's wedding anniversary party where they reaffirmed their vows and stuff. I remember being one of about six white people out of a couple hundred people. It was great. I remember the food being terrible, and sneaking out to the parking lot to smoke cigarettes. Oh, the memories. I also thought it was weird because they rented out a church building. So it made a lot of sense that Saturday's wedding took place at the Levine Jewish Senior Center! Anyway, it was beautiful. They had a non-denominational minister doing the ceremony which consisted of seven different steps. Kind of like seven different vows. It was cool.
I don't know much about Ajay except for he's one hell of a yoga instructor and artist. In fact, he and Avani did all of the decorations for the wedding. This is what you saw when you walked in the front door. There were decorations on every table, they even did the place mats. After the wedding was a big Indian buffet. Just to the right of the buffet was a table with spaghetti and meat sauce. I was tempted, but stayed on the Indian side and actually enjoyed all of the food. That's what spending the majority of the last four years with a vegetarian does to you.

It's great to see Avani happy. She's working for the North Carolina Minority Support Center in Durham where Ajay's in teaching yoga.
The first person I saw when I walked in was Sonia. I've known her since the 4th grade. She whipped my ass in the Spelling Bee one year. She's now a doctor, and I'm a news photographer. The summer after freshman year in college, Sonia and I hung out every night. We had a lot in common then. We both hated being back home, and were both smoked a LOT of cigarettes and were trying to hide it from our parents. So we'd go on walks or go get ice cream so we could smoke cigarettes. That was a good summer. She's finishing her residency in Birmingham and who knows where she'll go after that. It was good to see old friends Saturday. There's been a lot of good weddings this year.

Vacation is Good

Getting out of town is always good. The Lady and I left around noon Wednesday and hit up the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few miles before heading to Valle Crucis. For some reason I hadn't been on the Parkway in several years. I'd forgotten how cool it is. Click on the picture above for a big assed shot of some beautiful scenery.
We stayed at The Baird House. It was my first time staying at a Bed & Breakfast(a B&B if you are cool.) It was great. Almost like staying with relatives, except they are strangers.
The Watauga River runs across the street. Weather was beautiful the first two days. Made it nice for a stroll down by the riverbank.
Tom and Deede Hinson are the innkeepers. I felt at home as soon as I got in the door. Deede whips up breakfast every morning. Our favorites were the pumpkin pancakes, hashbrown casserole, and dill eggs. Here's how our days went. Fall asleep before eleven, wake up at 8:50. Walk over for a huge breakfast. Go back to bed until noon. Take showers, drive around and to mountain stuff until dark. Find a nice restaurant for dinner. Eat, start over again. It's a great way to spend a few days. We had a great time. Oh yeah, we also killed a bottle of wine Friday night. I don't typically drink wine, and I don't know that I'll be doing it again soon, but it was fun.
Oh, and after we saw this picture, The Lady and I decided to quit television and be professional models.

Ireland, Parkways, Weddings, and a Horrible Football Game

I've got a ton of stuff to write about. Vacation was great, Jim Travers took the blog on the road for a couple of weeks, another old friend tied the knot, and the Cowboys whipped our ass again. Stories and pics coming shortly.

Heading West

The Lady(who got her hair did yesterday and is showing it off above. Pardon the overexposure, I'm still getting used to my new camera.) and I will be rolling up Hwy. 321 in the morning. We'll be in Valle Crucis for a few days traversing the Great Smoky mountains looking at leaves and not working. It will also be my first time at a Bed and Breakfast. I've heard good things. I can promise a lot of pictures when we come down the mountain. We get back Saturday and head to my friend Avani's wedding reception. It's a big Indian party so I doubt very seriously it will suck. Sunday the Panther host Dallas on NBC at 8:00, which means a full afternoon of tailgating. Stay tuned.

Balls of Hair!!!!

The Lady's dog, Carmen, has had an upset stomach over the last week or so. We're not exactly sure why, but it could be the new toy she's had that gets hair stuck on it, then she accidentally probably eats that hair, then throws it up. It started last week when The Lady picked Carmen up and placed her on my chest. She then started those dog burps that proceed vomit. Luckily The Lady picked her up and got her to the bathroom. The pictured occasion was a couple of days later. It's funny how happy dogs are after they puke.

I Continue to Suck

The blog has suffered over the last few days. I just haven't had a ton to write about for whatever reason. The Lady and I had a Family Fun Weekend. Saturday evening her folks had us over for dinner. This is pretty much how it went. I sat out on the patio with her dad and talked about golf whilst The Lady and her mom finished up dinner. We ate. Then I sat downstairs with her dad and watched football whilst the ladies were upstairs trying to fix an ipod. Then we all ate dessert. It was a good night. Sunday we drove to Lincolnton, went to church and had lunch with my parents and grandparents. Other than the Panthers losing, it was a good weekend.

Back For a Week from Texass

Many of you know my friend Sherrie. We both worked our first television jobs together starting back in 1999. Wow, I'm old. She also used to buy beer for me when I was underage and is basically the big sister I never had. I've always tried to help her through different relationships, and she always tried to hook me up with other girls. She even let me go out with her sister a couple of times. Sherrie moved to Houston a few months ago to work for Disney juggernaut KTRK. She's back in town this week to see her family and old friends. We ended up at Mac's speed shop last night for a beverage. Mac's is always a good place to go. They have good food and generally cheap beer. There was a huge crowd last night, but a really horrible band. They were ruining legendary country music songs for hours.
The Lady, Brian, and Mark also joined the festivities. They were a lot cooler than us since they actually rolled up to the motorcycle bar on motorcycles. That random womern there between Sherrie and Mark was there with her boyfriend and 13 month old child. She was also falling down drunk. Evidently her boyfriend was sober, so I suppose the baby made it home alright. I hope so.

Another Day, Another Sony

My new camera arrived yesterday and it's first assignment was a big rally to bring baseball uptown. As soon as I parked, this gentleman walked up to me with his dog and asked if it could be on television. I politely declined his request but told him I'd take his picture instead.
A bunch of people were at this rally. I'd say a few hundred. It will be touted as a success because so many people showed up, but if you have a rally at Wachovia Plaza where thousands of bankers work and give away free popcorn and cracker jack, chances are you'll have a good crowd. The Knights will eventually get a stadium uptown courtesy of the taxpayers and that's unfortunate. However, it will whip a lot of ass when it happens. I look forward to leaving work and walking to a ballgame someday.
Homer the Dragon supports baseball in uptown. Kate Barker has no opinion since she's a journalist. Homer is possibly the best mascot in professional sports.

I Wasn't Going to Post This

I went to Lowes Foods the other day to do some shopping for mom. She's doing much better, but still has some trouble if she's on her feet for extended periods of time. Anyway, it was triple coupons this week which means you get stupid discounts. In some cases, you actually get money back for items. Weird. Anyway, I spent more than an hour in the store going all over the place trying to find items that matched the coupons. I kept going past this couple who I would have guessed was homeless at first glance. Lowes is almost a yuppy grocery store with a ton of organic products and stuff. It was obvious this was the first time these folks had been there. These folks didn't look good, didn't smell good, and were terribly nice. We kept running into each other on random aisles looking for stuff and always joked around every time one of our carts was blocking the other. I watched the man closely inspect prices and it hit me that they really, really, really needed the discount these triple coupons provided. You could see it in their eyes. I was running around having a big ole time saving money and these folks were probably saving every penny because they absolutely had to. Of course, they may be millionaires and just don't look like it. Either way, it forced me to realize how fortunate I am and how small my problems are.

I wasn't going to post this, but I was looking at my old pal Ross Taylor's website. He's a still photographer and has some amazing pictures from all over the world. Many of those show how bad poverty is in some countries and it made me think.

We got new phones at work yesterday and boy are they fancy. It's the LG VX-8300. It's got a camera and an mp3 player, the latter of which is extremely necessary. Except for not really.
The camera actually take some good pictures. Here's a shot of uptown this morning from the CMPD headquarters. I'm working my third Saturday in as many weekends. It's really not too bad. I also did some oversleeping this morning. I haven't overslept for work in a really long time. I was due in at five. My plan was to get up at five, call the assignment desk and see what the plan was, then roll in around six. I remember waking up specifically to turn off my alarm because it was hindering my sleep. Luckily ole' KC gave me a holler at 6 and told me to wake up. I got in at 6:30 and made the 7 am live shot with no problem. Oops.

I finally broke down and bought another camera yesterday. After weeks of very intense research and pricing, I decided on the Sony DSC-S600. I'm such a Sony whore. I use Sony exclusively at work and feel quite loyal. I looked at several Canons and even a Casio or three, but I kept coming back to Sony. This model is bigger than my previous camera which should keep me from losing it. It's a little cheaper and according to several website reviews also takes much better pictures. I got it from NewEgg.com and it should be here Monday. Since it's a bigger camera, I shouldn't lose it.

Pride

I was in the drive-thru at the Albemarle Rd. Dunkin' Donuts this morning on my way to work this morning and was behind this young lady in a BMW. Well, I think it was a young lady. I never got a good look at her. It's nice to see some shameless self promotion on a cloudy Friday.

Jeff Gordon Is Really Tall

I've never been a diehard fan of NASCAR, but I do enjoy it. Growing up here I followed it every week, but never really had a favorite driver or anything. When I worked in Mooresville, I got into it a little more since I was covering it every week and spending most of my time in the same town as every driver and crew member. I was certain of one thing, though. I hated Jeff Gordon. He won every week, talked like a big dork, and everyone always thought he was gay. A couple of years ago the ex-lady and good friend Tara started working for him. He was always pretty nice to her and she got a ton of free stuff for working there. Plus, the Christmas parties were always nice and full of free beer. He always had a different model chic who was three to six inches taller than him at all times. I eventually figured he wasn't that bad of a guy. It's race week here in Charlotte, USA which means daily appearance made by drivers for charity or sponsored stuff. Mike Solarte and I ran into #24 yesterday over at the Victory Lane Go-Kart place. Before we interviewed him, Gordon and I had an awkward exchange.

Me: Hey Jeff, my ex-girlfriend used to work for you.

JG: Oh yeah, who's that?

Me: Tara, she worked upstairs.

JG: Oh yeah, I remember her. Wow, your ex-girlfriend and my ex-employee. What's that about? Maybe we should interview you.

A big thanks to Jeff Gordon for giving a thumbs up for Lukemia Research.

Not Working Doesn't Suck

I used to be a fatass. Not a huge fatass, but about 215 pounds. I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, and ate as though my dad hadn't had two heart attacks. After his second, I decided to change my lifestyle. He had been attending Cardiac Rehab for several years and seen good results. It's a combination of diet and exercise that helps your heart, lifestyle, and generally makes you a better person. I entered the program myself at 205 pounds and was as skinny as 176. That was probably a bit too skinny.

Anyway, the Cardiac Rehab program was fun. I was 25 amongst heart patients ranging in age from 35-84. It's basically a bunch of old rich guys who've had heart attacks. They all have a good time. Tuesday was the 13th annual Cardiac Rehab golf tournament at the beautiful Fort Mill Golf Club.
Here's our team. Jim McKernan is on the far left. Jim is 82 years old, whipped cancer's ass three times, suffers from heart disease, and could easily pass for 62 years old. Watching the man play golf and walk around a golf course is amazing. Tan Ganatra is on my left. He founded a multi-million dollar telecommunications company. Tan is easily one of my favorite people. He gets up every morning at 2:30 and doesn't go to bed until 10 at night. He's retired, but still works full time giving away millions of dollars at a time to charities around the world. It makes me want to be rich so I can give it all away. Tan whips ass. Phil Harmon literally rounded out our team. This was the third year we'd all played together.

Oh yeah, we actually won! Here's Tan sporting the proverbial green jacket.

The Skies Are Gray

The Lady and I were getting ready for bed Sunday night when she noticed something sticking out of my head. If you click on this picture and focus on her right index finger, you'll notice my first gray hair. I've known this was coming and I don't mind it one bit. I've already decided I'm going to be one of those George Clooney type gray headed dudes. You know, the kind that women all over the world want. Actually, I'll be happy to have hair regardless of what color it is.

Nothing Dry About This Wedding

The wedding season is over, I think. A college friend of The Lady got married in Wilmington Sunday afternoon in the beautiful St. Thomas Preservation Hall. The building was built in the early 1800's and is rather popular for matrimony and rightfully so. I'm by no means a wedding connoisseur, but I've been priveleged to attend two really nice weddings in the last three weeks.

I met Ashley approximately ten seconds before this picture. I asked her to pose for a picture, and she replied, 'Oh, is it for the blog?' Evidently this website is making the rounds amongst strangers on the other side of the state. Who knew? Ashley smiled more in three hours Sunday afternoon than I have in three years, and I smile a lot. She walked in the door to roll down the aisle and she damn near jumped through the roof 40 feet above. I've seen happy brides. Ashley was in a delirious bliss that I'm certain won't end until about March or April. It was neat.
I got to meet a lot of the The Lady's friends from college. It was great to put voices to all of these pictures I've seen over the last six months. We all had two meals together over the weekend and they were great. Good food, drinks, and really good company. I've always opined that your closest friends are a direct reflection of yourself. The Lady's friends in Wilmington are wonderful people.
Two of those people are Roger and Kate. They were kind enough to let us stay at their house for the weekend and drive us around post beverage consumption. Roger and Kate don't suck. In fact, they whip a lot of ass. And if you are looking to adopt a pet, a Boston Terrier is a fine choice.
The Lady won a contest at the wedding. Four married or commited men were surveyed about who had the best boobs. She won unanimously. I tried unsuccessfully to get a real picture of the award winners. I'm sure she was happy to spend a weekend with all of her best friends and see one of them get married, but I very sincerely think this was the highlight of her weekend.
I'm glad she's around to pretty up pictures I happen to be in. We went to the wedding, met friends, made new ones, saw a happy couple, drank free beer, and the Panthers beat the Browns. Sunday didn't suck.