Last Night In Vegas: Georgia v. Georgia Tech, A Study In Contrasts

On the penultimate night in Vegas, Saturday, both Swindle and Kanu managed to get in a massive 2 hours sleep, with each going to bed at 6 am and rising at 8 am, Swindle to work, Kanu to catch a cab to Crown & Anchor to witness the end of Arsenal's 2008 EPL title challenge.

After another long day of sportsbooks, drinks, and dangerously low oxygen levels in the brain, both were pretty knackered and both had flights out of McCarran between 8 and 9 the next morning. A wakeup call was arranged for 5.45 a.m.

The man with the Masters degree from Georgia Tech went to bed at 8 p.m., intending to wake up at 4 a.m. thereby not only giving him a full night sleep but also proactively re-acclimating to Eastern Standard Time, where said sleep was the equivalent of a normal 11 pm - 7 am night's sleep. The Georgia Tech grad was smart, calculating, and responsible.


Swindle checks out of the IP, somewhat rested and
refreshed after a full night dreaming of Reggie Nelson

The man with the Masters degree from Georgia went to dinner to catch up with a friend who lives in Las Vegas, then at 11 p.m. decided that he wanted 1 final gambling session, so out into the night he went. A beer pong garden, a walk to Caesars sports book to see if he could get down on some Sweet 16 action, and several gaming sessions later, including a final 3 hour journey to Surrealsville flanked by wasted Irish girls at a single deck blackjack table at O'Sheas, the Georgia grad looked up at a TV and the bottom right hand corner of ESPNNews informed him that it was in fact 5.42 a.m. and that his wakeup call back at the IP was in 3 minutes. The Georgia grad was impulsive, carefree, and irresponsible, especially when you consider that upon landing at SFO on Monday morning he had to go straight to work for a full day at the office.

At approximately 6 am the Georgia grad rolls back to the room beyond both loopy and exhausted, where the Georgia Tech grad is up, looks relatively fresh, and is already packing his bags and preparing to iron his shirt. The door opens, the Georgia grad wearily smiles, and the Georgia Tech grad laughs out loud.


7 hours sleep in 3 nights; has to be at work in another city in 5 hours

Epilogue
The Georgia grad wins $400+ in gaming on the weekend, whereas the Georgia Tech grad loses approximately the same amount, completing the UGA/GT metaphor whereby the dumb, impulsive, raging partier defeats the smarter more responsible and rational planner.

But in the final completion of the metaphor, I fully acknowledge that one day I most certainly will work for Swindle Industries*.

*side note: yes it really does say "Swindle Industries" on his credit card, as personally witnessed at the conclusion of a good but massively overpriced breakfast {to give you an idea: bowl of Lucky Charms, $4.59} at the diner in the Hard Rock Casino at 5.30 a.m. Sunday.