Just Take the Trip

June 25-28. These days, I'll never forget these.

You hear the saying all the time, "Just take the trip" or "Just buy the tickets," and you never really think it's going to apply to you or be that profound. However, it did with the trip that I went on this week.

When it was announced that The Dozen would be hosting a Live Event for the Final Four and Championship in Boston, I knew that I had to find a way to get there any way I could.

For most die-hard sports fans, seeing a game at Fenway Park would be on their bucket lists. This was the case for me, but I had also grown up hearing a great deal about the city of Boston in general. My dad does a lot of business in the Boston area and always tells me so much about the history and its beauty. Boy, did it live up to the hype!

I stayed in St. Louis on Wednesday night for an early morning flight to Boston on Thursday. I hardly got any sleep the night before because of the excitement I had for this trip.

Season 5 was, truthfully, the first time I had been all in on the trivia and had gotten to watch every match and read Coach Day's weekly recaps to make sure that I hadn't missed anything.

When the wheels touched down in Boston, the excitement really started to sink in. After checking in at the hotel, I immediately took an Uber to Fenway and explored that area of Boston.

After getting in plenty of steps, I finally met up with some of the other Breakdown boys (more on that later), and we pre-gamed over at Bleacher Bar before heading over to the House of Blues and getting to see the production crew and the rest of guys at work before the show was a sight. They crushed it, per usual.

The trivia itself was everything you could ask for, with two overtime matches and a match that featured no wrong questions. If you want a more detailed breakdown of that, check out Coach Day's recap here. What a sight it was to see BFW earn that first ring! Fran and PFT came up in big-time situations when needed, the Booze Ponies almost pulled off an incredible run, and team Ziti and Minihane put up solid performances.

More than anything, getting to meet some of the people you watch on a daily was a surreal experience. Shoutout to Brandon Walker, PFT, Will Compton, Feits, Dana Beers, Klemmer, Tommy Smokes, Fran, Oldie, Jeff Lowe, Mr. and Mrs. Portnoy, Doug, and everyone else who took the time to talk and take pictures.

The next day in Boston started off with a tour of Fenway (pictures below), and then a 3-hour walk around the city to explore amazing spots such as Copley Square, Boston Public Library,

the Freedom Trail, the Boston Marathon Memorial, Trinity Church, and many other notable sites that were an experience to take in.

The nightcap ended with a trip back to Fenway to watch the Red Sox take on the Blue Jays, and getting to take in baseball from one of the most historic stadiums in the world was worth the trip in itself.

Growing up in a small town in Missouri, you often lose sight of how amazing big cities can be.

Now for the sappy part.

To say Barstool has changed my life is an understatement. The past 10 months have been some of the most challenging times I have ever faced, and likely will ever face—a lot of eye-opening moments for me. I have been a fan of the company for some time, but when I started to feel alone, and in dark moments, the Stool was what I turned to for happiness, and, man, has it brought me that.

Getting to link up with Kalley, Frankie, Coach Day, Goomba, Goomba's wife, and Midhat before the event made me feel part of the Stoolie Space. Learning about these guys outside of social media was an experience I will never forget. In fact, it was pretty fucking awesome. Coming together and all sharing the love for the same thing.

All in all, you'd never think that a three-day trip to a city and a two-hour live event would have such an impact, but for me, I'll never forget my first Barstool event, getting to meet up with some amazing people and falling in love with a new city (I'm also proclaiming all of Boston sports as my second favorite teams).

As I sit on the plane getting ready for take off back home, I'm realizing life isn't bad when you forget about the opinion of others and just do what you love. In case you're wondering if you should take the trip, just fucking take it because you won't regret it. VIVA forever.