Hoops Highlights – Day 3
I love this weekend! There were some absolutely phenomenal games today. More overtime games today than any other single day in the history of the NCAA tournament. That’s how good it was. That’s what makes this weekend so amazing every year.
Memories from today:
* Yesterday (I forgot to post this on the Day 2 highlight) I swear I heard Billy Packer say a player “needs to expose himself.” He was talking about a player from UNLV right after Creighton took the lead (or tied it…I can’t remember). I know he was trying to say that he needed to get open and create opportunities. But expose himself? Idiot (Grandpa would be so proud of me, wouldn’t he?).
* Now everyone knows why Ohio State is scared to play Xavier every year. Xavier is just that good. I figured the game would be a blowout, so didn’t object when Christy suggested we take the kids cosmic bowling. Of course, I had the people at the snack bar change the TV from the Weather Channel to the game – just so I could keep tabs. I’ve lived here through seven NCAA tournaments and it still amazes me how little the public pays attention to the games. I remember teachers rolling in TVs during class and watching the games in the cafeteria at school in Indiana. I’ve just taken it for granted that if a TV is on during March Madness, it’s going to be turned to the game. That’s not always the case here. That’s still very foreign to me. Anyway, at this bowling alley, there are TVs between the scoreboards above the lanes. With about five minutes to go in the OSU/Xavier game, they turned those units to the game, too. I was torn during the game. I’m a Big Ten kind of guy. I have Ohio State going to the championship game in my brackets. I have a soft spot for the Musketeers, though. It’s kind of the same reasons I pull for Butler whenever they’re not playing IU. I was excited to see that Xavier had the lead. It was my turn to bowl when OSU had the ball during the final seconds of regulation. No one was bowling. The place was rather quiet. All of a sudden, the entire bowling alley yelled, “OH!!” as the Buckeye knocked down the three-pointer to tie the game. It was a great game!
* Vandy beat Wazzu in double-overtime. Wow! That’s all I can say.
* Did I mention Billy Packer’s an idiot?
* Today’s St. Patrick’s Day. That means that the sports bar I watched the IU/Gonzaga game at was hosting a huge St. Patrick’s Day party. Crowded. Nowhere to sit. Too smoky. I left. None of the other places were showing the game. I listened to it on the radio until the UNC/MSU game was over. I love listening to games on the radio, even when it’s not Don Fisher and Todd Leary. Watched the end of the game at home.
* 13 points and an 11 minute scoring drought in the first half. Great show, Hoosiers! Sounds like a leftover from the Davis era. Hopefully Sampson will knock that out of them in time for next year.
* Aiden stayed up to watch the rest of the game with me. He got almost as excited as I did – especially when the Hoosiers tied it up. I started jumping up and down. He gave me a high-five. Then he stood right by me and mimicked my body language. Woah – that was scary. Cool, but scary.
* Of course I’m disappointed that IU lost, but they weren’t supposed to win anyway. I think the most frustrating thing is that they had the victory in their grasp and they panicked.
There’s more I want to post, but this entry is becoming entirely too long and it’s entirely too late. I’m sure I’ll write more tomorrow. It’s days like today that make this – say it with me – the most wonderful time of the year!
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