CHARLOTTE/LAS VEGAS—I was in the Charlotte airport today just as I had originally planned. But instead using my first class upgrade on the 5 p.m. flight, I was in the midst of a connection off a red-eye flight from Las Vegas. It was 6:40 a.m. with an hour wait before my flight to Newark.
It was appropriate and funny that I was in Charlotte ready to board the cattle car instead flying first class later in the day. In many ways it was the icing on the cake in the strange week of a sportswriter. For those interested here it is:
I had been planning to cover Mayweather-Mosley in Las Vegas ever since the fight was announced in February. But when Tiger Woods decided to enter the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, my editors decided to pull me off the fight and send me to the golf tournament instead. Tiger making his first appearance at a regular Tour stop offered some intriguing storylines, but giving up Mayweather-Mosley, the biggest welterweight fight since Leonard-Hearns, was difficult.
Making matters worse, I couldn’t find a sports bar-type place in Charlotte that was planning to show the fight. Something the called the Red Room was showing the fight, but the website said something about a crowd of 800 people and security on site. Hmmm.
The Morrison Condominiums on the corner of Sharon and Colony Roads offered their services. The Morrison development has housed PGA golfers in the past and understands sports freaks. It and had a beautiful fully furnished one-bedroom condo available, the perfect place for a short stay, long stay or a fight party.
But then Tiger Woods shoots 74 in the opening round on Thursday and doesn’t look like he’ll make the cut. By Friday morning, Jets newly acquired wide receiver Santonio Holmes had some issues during a plane flight and is reportedly headed to Vegas for the fight. By then my bosses were already asking me to price a ticket from Charlotte to Las Vegas. After telling everyone connected in the fight that I wouldn’t be there, suddenly covering the fight was back in play.
Tiger did his part, shooting a woeful 79 on Friday to miss the cut by a mile. When that happened, the decision was made to get me on the first plane..er connection to Vegas.
Flying from Charlotte to Detroit and then Detroit to Las Vegas, I made to Sin City about 3 p.m. Pacific. Just enough time to unwind for a bit, shower and make my way to the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Soon I was ringside after all for Mayweather-Mosley. Amazing.
I smiled when the red-eye Sunday night out of Vegas had me flying back to Charlotte. It’s funny, but despite the connections. I couldn’t have planned it any better if I’d tried.
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