Family, Steak, & Eric Gordon Sr.

(picture provided from www.donshula.com)

So this past Friday, I was treated to a steak dinner at Shula's Steakhouse by my sister and her husband. Let me say, Shula's Steakhouse is well worth the bill. The steak was outstanding, the environment was 'man' classy, and they offer a great Winterfest menu. My wife enjoyed a glass of J Lohr Riesling with her steak. It offered a sweet taste and flavorful aromas.

The whole dinner was a great event. I was able to catch up with Holly & Tom. I learned some great things. First, Tibbett's are prone to head injuries and emergency room stitches. Here's a few pictures of Daytona's latest run in with a chair. Second, if Buffalo Wild Wings were the Mafia, Tom would rank as West Lafayette's king pin.

Finally, I get to bring this whole discussion together. While dinner was fun, the craziness started following the check. After consuming about 7 glasses of water and a pint of Guinness, my eye's were floating. Being chivalrous, Tom and I let the ladies attend to the restroom first while we enjoyed the photographs displayed outside the restaurant. When they returned, we were in an engrossing conversation about Indiana Basketball History. This conversation continued into the restroom. While I was performing my manly duty, I made the profound statement, "Eric Gordon should not be playing college basketball." With all self-glorification aside, this statement was in no way derogatory to Eric Gordon. In context to the conversation, I was merely pointing out that IU's increased defense intensity led by EJ and his unstoppable abilities to penetrate and shoot, would have made him an asset on most NBA teams this season. Also, let me mention that this comment was obviously spoken prior to EJ's performance against Connecticut, but I feel that these words still holds true regardless of how one may debate this slight step back. Following my comment, and amid my 'manly' performance, a third party joins our conversation stating, "You know that's my son you're talking about."

At this point, an individual with self-confidence and poise would have congratulated the man on raising such a talented young man, or shown intelligence by quoting an obscure Indiana basketball statistics, or even opened the discussion to drive into more qualitative knowledge such as EJ's bench press numbers or cumulative GPA. Needless to say, I was silent. Wordless. Speaking in broken English, I was able to mutter "Illinois, bad" and "Thanks". Yes, I thanked the man. For what, I'm not quite sure. Maybe for talking to me while I was relieving myself, for having such a talented basketball player as a son, or maybe a thanks was given to show my appreciation for allowing EJ Jr. to choose IU over that second rate 'Orange' university. Either way, my conversation skills at that point faded from Dale Carnegie to more of a Captain Caveman approach.

Overall, the dinner was outstanding and made for some great memories.