Like I said, I had agreed to host the Suns-Jazz basketball game in place of another host... so I had to drive into the office at E&A to pick up the tickets and paperwork then get over to the meeting place. We were meeting at a Park & Ride at Gateway Community College and riding the light rail to the game... (passes for the light rail were included with the tickets). This was my first ride on he light rail so of course I compared it to the NYC subway system... (cleaner but with the same messed up intercom-you couldn't understand what they were saying but the next stop was flashed on an lcd screen and there were maps everywhere). It reminded me more of the airport inter-terminal trains than a subway or regular train, but it was quick and it beat paying 12-20 bucks for downtown parking. I sent one group ahead while I waited for stragglers and then called all the people on my list. Some were at the game already and the rest I left their tickets at will call... (what a wonderful place-you show ID and they give you your tickets). We then went in and were treated to a great game. Exciting and the Suns won! Then we got on the light rail back (after wandering around to find the eastbound train--not in the same spot). Got home around 11:30 and crashed because I had to a 12 hour shift coming up...
Saturday morning and work was only 5 miles away... (really like having these jobs in town). Downtown Chandler was the setting for the first annual BBQ Throwdown. Competition teams from all over the state and southwest were there competing in a BBQ contest in pork, chicken, ribs and brisket. I had no idea what I'd be doing but I saw Tiffany there and she requested that we roam together and that's what we did. We walked around the festival and made sure gates were secure and people were behaving... (but with all the food available the place was crawling with Chandler police--the station was a block away) The smells were incredible and of course we were not allowed to partake although I think I gained a few pounds just from the aroma... They had 3 live bands scheduled and we controlled the access gate for the bands... (once they were in or out we zip tied the fence to keep people from sneaking in. Around noon the first band kicked in and we noticed an old guy get up and start dancing by himself. We tied the fence and went patrolling and when we came back at the end of their set, he was still dancing. He danced during the second band's set and the third...(a total of about 7 1/2 hours!). We found out from the crowd that he's done this before and he goes by Crazy Pete (66 yrs. young) and you can see him in action (although I couldn't find him on UTube he supposedly had done this all over the state). Because it was the first annual there were the usual problems... they expected 5,000 and over 8,300 showed up so they ran out of food around 4:00pm. They didn't have enough garbage cans and porta-johns...(luckily they didn't overflow--I was just glad inspecting them was not one of my job requirements). The crowd thinned out and after the awards were given out... (in more categories than I can name) the crowd disappeared almost entirely (all that was left were the vendors who were all packing up and the families of the third band and Crazy Pete). Crazy Pete disappeared into the night during a break in the last set... (how he was able to walk was a shock to me). The last band finished with a great rendition of Freebird and then we kicked everybody out and the vendors were able to go. We left around 8 pm (a solid 10 1/2 hour day) and let me tell you, I had a craving for some BBQ (now how did that happen?). Instead I settled for some stuffed crust pizza (thanks, Steve) and gatorade and some well deserved sleep...
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