1. Big Series on Tap

Another weekend, another big time series in college baseball as No. 3 North Carolina meets No. 9 Duke at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Well known for their rivalry on the gridiron and hardwood, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils will face each other in a pivotal three-game set ahead of the 2018 ACC Baseball Championship. It should be good!

2. Idol Tour Not Coming to North Carolina

After a three-year hiatus, the American Idol LIVE Tour is returning this summer. I was stoked to hear the news of its return – at first. As you‘ve probably inferred from the title, I looked at the list of tour dates and there was not a single one in North Carolina. Heck, not even South Carolina or most of the Southeast United States. The “closest” options are either Nashville, Tenn. or Washington D.C. Factor in tickets, transportation, hotel, food, etc. and you’re looking at anywhere from $500-1000+ to attend a show.

North Carolina has hosted many of the Idol Tours in years past. As you may know, I’ve been to many of these tours, dating as far back as the second one with Clay Aiken, to more recent ones with Scotty McCreery (2010) and Candice Glover (2013). Even the last Idol Tour, which was held at Durham Performing Arts Center in 2015. The lack of care for fans of the show in this area has been astonishing – and quite ridiculous – in my opinion. Needless to say I’ll be spending my money elsewhere.

3. My Experience at Silverspot

Today was an off day for me, so I decided to see the film Lean on Pete at Silverspot Theater in Chapel Hill. I’ve been wanting to see the film for a while and Silverspot was one of only a few theaters in the area showing it. All in all, my experience was fine at the dine-in theater.

I chose to order everything on Silverspot’s app as opposed to in-person at the theater. That was the first kind of “HUH?” part of my experience. After you place your order, you receive a QR code that can be scanned upon entry into the theater and, in turn, sends your food order to the kitchen when you arrive. Problem is, an usher needs to scan the QR code and there was not one present when I visited. That means my food order wouldn’t be sent until the previews started. Not a huge deal but it could be an inconvenience to some. My food arrived before the film itself began, but it was a rather long wait for just some pretzel bites and a root beer. Perhaps, it was because the Silverspot folks make everything fresh? Honestly, with that snafu, a server in the theater and a walk-up concession stand, the app just seemed tedious and unneeded. Once my food arrived, it was excellent. Everything is packed in disposable containers, so you simply throw it all away after the film. Another (pretty huge) knock I have to give Silverspot is the amount of ads/previews shown before the film. A typical theater will show about 15 minutes worth of previews. Silverspot? Almost double that, showing a combination of ads, Silverspot-specific previews, and regular previews. One final observation is about the auditorium itself. It was rather small (maybe 20 seats?) which forced me to have to look straight up at the screen for the duration of the film. I wasn’t a big fan of that.

It was a nice experience overall for me. But for $30? Just not really what I’d hoped. I’ll stick to either AMC Dine-In or a traditional theater.

4. Simpson Matches Course Record

Raleigh’s own, Webb Simpson, shot a superb round on Friday at the 2018 Players Championship. Simpson came really close to breaking the course record, but finished with a record-tying 63. That, combined with his 66 on Thursday, is good for a total of -15 and the sole lead heading into the weekend. Go Webb!

5. ICYMI

In case you missed it, I wrote about my awesome experience at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte last week. I watched outstanding golf and met some of my favorite golfers. Check it out! 

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