Taking the Crazy Train to "Lob Angeles"

A (more or less) accurate chronology of a roadtrip with friends today.

6:07 am - I am arising at this ungodly hour on a Saturday because today a group of us are going to Los Angeles for the Spurs-Clippers game at Staples Center. The game is at 12:30 but we are catching the 8:40 MetroLink train, which means arriving to the station in Oceanside by 8:00, which means picking up LoLo and Jakey in La Jolla by 7:45, which means Shawn and Mark will be at my place at 7. Thus the 6am wake-up time. I am kind of hating life.

7:57 am - We pull into a La Jolla parking lot where Jacob and Logan are going to leave their cars. Randomly we see San Diego mayoral candidate Bob Filner getting out of a car. I am officially convinced the man never sleeps.

8:20 am - There is a long line at the MetroLink station in Oceanside and the portly ticketing guy tells us we can always get on the train and pay at a future stop. Half of our crew hasn't even arrived yet. I am nervous. But I'm also hungry. So I give Mark ten bucks for fries and a drink at the nearby Burger King kiosk.

8:35 am - Those of us taking the train - Marky, Dubois, LoLo, Rossi, Double J, Ark, Em, Rob, and J-Lo and myself - are present. So is the train. But we see no pathway to the door. Suddenly an older gentleman says, "You need to go down the ramp, across to the other side, underneath the station, and board there." Which means one thing: run!!!!!!!

8:37 am - We are running. Specifically, my friends are running and I am walking as fast as I can. I feel like LMFAO just Shuffling furiously but really going nowhere. Emily pierces the cool morning air by yelling, "What about A-Mooooooo?"

8:39 am - The crew has run down and underneath the station, as the old man instructed, and there are fries, french toast sticks, and splashes of soda everywhere. Joslin shouts from the platform, "I'm gonna hold the door but don't worry - if the train starts to leave, I'll just drive us up! Do NOT fall!"  He's a good man, that Double J, a kind soul.

8:40 am - With my heart beating like a Rihanna bass line, I jump aboard the train. We collectively scramble to find an empty car and locate one with two tables. We sit and exhale. We made it. It was like reaching The Finish Line - available on TatePublishing.com and bookstores this summer. Boom.

9:49 am - We are on the train, laughing, eating, cajoling, Checking In, relaxing, when a conductor barrels her way through. With great sass she barks, "Feet off of the seats, please, feet off of all seats!" Oh I'm sorry, I thought I paid to be on here.

11:00 am - Hello, Los Angeles. We depart the train, enter Union Station, and somehow took a maze of blue lines, red lines, frickin' yellow lines, and wind up at our destination - in the heart of L.A. Live, the bustling entertainment district across from Staples Center.

11:03 am - We are joined by one Phil Lorenzo, the man who's almost as famous in Miami as Pitbull, who drove from beautiful San Diego. I relay to Phil and Jake how the last time I was at Staples was when my homey Colleen McDonald surprised me with the incredible Christmas gift of tickets to the Jay-Z/Kanye concert. That ish cray.

11:47 am - We settle onto the outdoor patio of ESPN Zone, amid quite a few fans rocking Kawhi Leonard jerseys from San Antonio or San Diego State. I shout out, "Aw yeah, Kawhi Leonard, Aztecs, baby!  619!" I make new friends.

11:57 am - The remainder of our crew is now here, Golden, KRB, Sancheezy, Hazel, Hazel's friend that looks like the singer Adele, and J-Lo's friend Rocio (how YOU doin'?). I propose a toast: To great friends and great times...in Lob Angeles.  Hollaaaaaaaaa!!! <Clank, clank, clank.>

12:10 pm - I realize I am a lifelong Lakers fan, who jumped on the Bulls bandwagon because of MJ when I was in school in the Midwest, and still like them but shifted back to the Lakers when I moved back to Cali, and I love the Fighting Irish and Aztecs...and none of them are playing here today. Dang.

12:27 pm - It's almost tip-off and some of our crew have begun drifting for the gates, so I challenge Rocio to a chugging contest. We both have straws. I lose.

12:30 pm - Rossi, Soltren, and I take a picture in front of the statue of one of my heroes, Magic Johnson. So cool.

12:35 pm - Metal detectors hate me.

12:40 pm - I am earnestly impressed how many rabid Clippers fans there are. There are jerseys here and there reppin' Lakers, or Spurs, or the hockey Kings but "Clipper Nation" is pretty strong. Lob City and The Poster Child are a sports marketer's dream.

12:48 pm - Mark, Jacob, and Nick are getting food on an outdoor food court so I yell, "Hey, is that Jeremy Lin?", and walk away.  Everybody turns around.

1:30 pm - There's a McDonald's here!

1:42 pm - Spotted: actor Rainn Wilson.

3:05 pm - I hear the Aztecs have lost 58-56 amid 16 turnovers at Air Force. I am really starting to worry about those boys.

3:17 pm - I notice Tim Duncan doesn't really run anymore. Which makes it funny when he raises his hand to signify I'M OPEN. Well, yeah.

3:20 pm - Blake Griffin has 22 points and 20 rebounds. He's just ridiculous.

3:27 pm - Clad in their retro ABA uni's, the Clippers lose a gut-wrenching game in overtime, 103-100. It was an amazing game.

3:59 pm - A t-shirt salesman on the street is hawking, um, unofficial Clippers gear. But My Man is also peddling Whitney Houston tees. Really? Come On, Man!!

4:40 pm - We are back on the MetroLink and I realize I always have fun in L.A.

4:57 pm - The sassy conductor is back. "I said, get your feet off the seats! And yes, I do work all day here. If people on Monday are wearing white pants, guess what happens when they reach the seat your feet are on?"  Jacob looks at me like Who wears white pants to work?

5:01 pm - I am asleep amid a pile of Lay's potato chips and crumbs from a Subway sandwich. Straight SLOB Angeles.

7:07 pm - Back in Oceanside, we all hug and mostly part ways. Man I love these friends.  

8:45 pm - I am back at my crib, watching the overtime frame of Notre Dame's 74-70 victory at Villanova, their eighth straight 'W'. I am yelling, kinda, 'cause as Nick noted as we left Staples, I totally lost my voice. That's how much fun we had. Taking the train was the right call. Seeing this NBA matchup was a great decision. Having these friends, this crew, is a tremendous blessing. I am pretty much loving life right now.