My former Burge dormitory roommate Blats planned out a return to Iowa City for Rutgers at Hawkeyes (you know, that legendary Big Ten rivalry).  The Scarlet Knights shocked Iowa, blowing the ranked Hawks out at home on the day they honored senior Nicolas Baer.  Note: Fran McCaffery was suspended for calling a referee a motherfucker last week.  The team plays differently without its volatile head coach.  Hoops legend Luke Recker appeared at Carver-Hawkeye to participate in a three-point shootout for charity:

Recker made 7 threes in 30 seconds and still had solid form.

We shook off the frustrating loss and headed over to Bo James to re-start our buzz.  Earlier we pregamed at The Airliner with pizza and beer.

Good as I remembered.

No alcohol at Carver-Hawkeye + a boring, lifeless performance from the Hawkeyes = we needed drinks.  So we hit Bo James then Ubered over to Big Grove Brewery to meet some friends.  Cool off-campus spot for craft beers. We returned to witness the college mayhem at Fieldhouse, Brothers & finally a nightcap at Donnelly’s.

A night in Iowa City isn’t complete without George’s Gyros from the cart in the Ped Mall.  Brought mine back up into the Graduate Hotel and went to town.  Our buddy, Liftoff, who joined us despite being a Marquette grad and a Marquette Gyros fan, gave George’s Gyros high marks.

Slept in late on Sunday, then wandered over to Quintons for their popular TAC (turkey/avocado/cream cheese) sandwich.  In a bold move, I added bacon to the TAC.  It made something wonderful even better.  Blats and Liftoff got breakfast burgers, which made them happy.

From there it was the long, dull 3+ hour drive back to Downers Grove, where Blats lives.  I retrieved my car from the garage and headed back to Bucktown.  I reflected on our drive up Burlington Street in Iowa City where we spotted the Harold’s Chicken that definitely wasn’t there back in our day.  It piqued my hunger, so I drove over to Harold’s #36 on Milwaukee in Wicker Park.  Got the 1/2 Mix chicken dinner with mild sauce on the side.  Harold’s mild is an out-of-this-world sauce.

No better way to return home on a Sunday.  What a blessing that Iowa City has a Harold’s.  Lucky kids.  It may have been there longer than I presume, but what an addition to the college food scene.

Oh, dudes, I didn’t even tell you about the strange Friday night I had in Streeterville at an Irish bar which poured a great beer, served an delectable chicken pot pie, yet still found a way to turn me off after I stuck around to watch that stunning 4OT Bulls win in Atlanta. I shared the story with Matt on the latest Matt & Brendan podcast on the ChiPOD.  I also learned that Matty D is giving up meat!  Click here and give it a listen: https://chipod.libsyn.com/website/matts-giving-up-meat