My worst
I was covering a NFL game across the country. There was no reason for me to be at the game. We had a columnist, two beat writers, and I was one of two guys sent to write sidebars. We had to fly out early on the 23rd because we didn't want to worry about weather on the 24th so we fly out and couldn't even spend Christmas Eve at home.
Our flight is delayed and we don't get there at 11 p.m. and the columnist (a big-time partier) drives us straight to where the nightlife was. It was freezing and the other four of us all wanted to go to our hotel. We figured, we'd get there, call a cab and have it take us back to the hotel. We couldn't really let the columnist know that we were about to ditch him. We left our suitcases in his car and only brought our computer bags.
Well, the weather got worse and we couldn't get a cab. We didn't have a cell phone and the cab places we called told us it would be an hour.
Our columnist ran off and we had no idea where he went. Only one of the four of us had a jacket and the rest of us were freezing our asses off. We end up hanging out until the bars closed at 2 with the hope that then we could either find the columnist or a cab back to our hotel, which was on the other side of town. At about 2:30 we went to the car and just stood there. At 3, our drunken columnist shows up.
We get to the hotel at 4. Columnist checks in and goes to his room. It turns out our columnist had called to make sure they held his room for him since he knew he would be getting in late. The rest of us did not and they gave our rooms away. To be fair, if we had gone there straight from the airport, this probably would have been the case anyway.
They had one room available, with one bed, and all four of us go there. I slept on the floor while the other three fought over the bed. It came very close to coming to blows since we were all so tired and pissed. Our beat writer then announces that he's going to go stay with the columnist.
As soon as he left, we locked it from the inside so there was no way he was getting back in. Since I hadn't been involved in the scuffle over the bed, I figured I would not be blamed if he came back and couldn't get in, so I went to sleep as did the other two, who were sharing the bed.
The beat writer comes back and starts pounding on the door. One of the guys in the bed said, "The phone is already unplugged. If you answer that door, I will ****ing kill you."
The pounding goes on for about a half hour. The beat writer comes back with hotel security and finally the door is opened. I'm on the floor while the two beat writers nearly kill each other.
At this point, it's light out and I've slept about 10 minutes and the only clothes I have with me are the sweats I wore on the flight.
The front desk tells us our rooms will be ready at noon. so I went to get breakfast to kill time until my room is ready. After sitting in the restaurant by myself for 90 minutes the waiter tells me I have to go. Nevermind that I've eaten and paid for my breakfast and that nobody is waiting for a table.
I buy a paper and a magazine and read both while I'm waiting. My room that was supposed to be ready at noon, is ready at 1:30. I go there and pass out.
I wake up at 8 p.m. and call our columnist so I can get my clothes out of the car. He's gone. Nobody has talked to him and nobody knows where he is.
At 3 a.m. the phone in my room rings. "If you want your stuff, you have to get it now."
I go and get it and we decide to meet in the lobby at 10 to go to the game. We cover the game which is a blowout.
We have a flight out that night. We get on the plane without incident. At this point, I'm figuring that I'll get home late, sleep all day on the 26th, and then fly out on the 27th to cover a bowl game.
Because of weather, our flight has to land at a small airport about 100 miles from our final destination and they would bus us the rest of the way.
By the time we get back, it's daylight on the 26th. I walked into my apartment and passed out. I slept 16 hours straight and woke up three hours before my next flight. I threw clothes in a bag and headed back to the airport.
Merry Christmas.
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