Nurse the Hate: Tournament Day 3

I am in this hipster hotel that seemed to be a "good deal" when I booked it.  I generally like to stay at boutique hotels, and especially in San Francisco as the competition usually forces the standards up.  I would also like to note that if Expedia has something as "four star", it is usually quite civilized.  I entered into this stay with good faith.  This has proven to be an error.

The hotel is one of those joints that has taken a building from the early 1900s and gave it the hipster makeover.  For example,  the hard wood floors of this room are beautiful but they purposely didn't refinish the baseboard trim which is dinged up and repainted to show "character".  It really just seems like they ran out of money or maybe if I had been the one doing the job I had just said "Eh, fuck it.  That's good enough."  Either way, I can deal with that.  What I am having an issue with is the choice they made with the window.  If I can figure out how to post a picture of the window, I will.

Look, I appreciate the effort to be "gritty" and "real".  The problem is that the window doesn't close.  It is so "gritty" that it serves no purpose.  It's basically an open hole to the outside world.  This means the room is about 51 degrees.  I'm shivering under the thin bed coverings like a goddam refugee.  I also had a full night of Arab guys yelling at each other in the alley.  At first I thought they were yelling about Jihad, but on reflection I think they were just arguing about who got more heroin.  I would go down and complain, but I don't want to look bourgeoise.  That Asian guy at the front desk with the $700 haircut will roll his eyes.  It's 607 am on a Saturday.  I can't deal with that right now.  So instead I'm trying to fold my legs up underneath me for heat and scanning college basketball gambling websites.  This isn't what travel brochures display about San Francisco by the way.

The good news is I went four for four yesterday.  That means I should be able to pay for this room and the resulting health care crisis that results.  I'm going to keep swinging today.  Each ensuing round of this tournament gets tougher and tougher to bet.  I will keep going until disaster strikes.  With luck I can make enough to move over to the Hyatt tomorrow.  That lobby even looks warm.  I bet you can't even open a window over there.

So I am sticking with Xavier.  Florida State is probably a team with bigger and better players on paper, but those Xavier guys are only here for basketball.  I don't really know or care if they are going to win.  I just think they can keep it within 7.  I hope I can see some guy I've never heard of hit an otherwise meaningless jumper at the buzzer to allow them to lose by five.  It's what happened yesterday with Oklahoma State and I almost wept with joy.  It was the best moment of college basketball 2017 and made me hungry for more.  Xavier+6.5

Arizona goes into the tournament every year as one of the can't miss, sure thing, they might go all the way, Final Four locks.  Then they lose to someone you've never heard of in an early round.  Strangely, the gambling public forgets about this by the time the tournament rolls around again next year.  I didn't forget though.  I'm taking St. Mary's +5.  I look forward to seeing dismayed Arizona players wander off the court in the video package ESPN will show in the Hyatt lounge TV.