I just got home from watching the four games of NCAA men's tournament basketball. The first game started at 11:40 this morning, and the last game finished around 10:30 tonight. Whew! I still hear the ball bouncing and the crowd cheering.
The first game was Pittsburgh vs Wichita State. It was tremendously boring. There were so many fouls called that the first half, which is 20 minutes, lasted around 60 minutes because there was so much time taken with the free throw shooting and time outs. It was a low scoring game, and 8 vs 9 seed match-up, so the two teams were pretty evenly matched. Dullsville. Wichita State won.
The second game was a one seed against a 16 seed: Gonzaga against Southern. I had never heard of Southern University before, but with my beloved iPhone, I learned that Southern University is a Historically Black College in Baton Rouge, LA. It was the Jags (Southern U) vs the Zags (Gonzaga), and this was a great game. Gonzaga is the number one team in the country, but Southern stayed with them the whole game. I thought we might see the first upset of a number one seed by a 16 seed, but Gonzaga held on to win. I want to make a quick note about Southern's cheerleaders and band. They were the best I saw all day. The band was loud and very good. The cheerleaders were excellent tumblers and dancers. They had a male cheerleader who did the most incredible flips all the way across the floor. They were really fun to watch. The crowd here in SLC really got behind Southern and cheered for them loudly. Upsets are fun to watch, although this particular upset didn't work out for Southern, but it was a great game.
When the game was finished, we had to leave the arena for a brief time before the second session of the day started. In the morning when I got to the arena, it was snowing. Fortunately, when we had to leave in between sessions, the sun was shining. It was exactly warm, but it was tolerable. I found a planter box in a sunny spot, sat down and read my book for 20 minutes or so until the lines were a little shorter, then I went back in to the arena.
The third game of the day was Arizona vs Belmont. Belmont is Christian school in Nashville. Belmont was never a threat for Arizona, so the game was boring. Arizona beat Belmont by 16 points, but it wasn't that close ever. I mean, there was never a time in the game when Belmont even acted like they would catch up to Arizona.
The fourth game was New Mexico vs Harvard. New Mexico is a three seed; Harvard is a 14. I totally expected Los Lobos to wipe the floor with the smarty-pants (I actually said that out loud), but I was completely wrong. Harvard upset New Mexico to win for the first time in the round of 64. I saw history! I was so tired about halfway through the third quarter that I actually thought about leaving, but then I was afraid I would miss something cool, so I stayed to the end. I'm glad I did. It's fun to watch the upset. Just like in the Southern/Gonzaga game, the crowd (except for the many, many New Mexico fans who traveled to Salt Lake) really got behind the Crimson.
There are no games in Salt Lake tomorrow, but of course the tournament continues. I'll watch some on TV, but I have to go to work. I'll be back at the arena on Saturday for the match-ups between today's winners. I will see Gonzaga play Wichita State and Arizona will play Harvard.
The NCAA tournament is probably one of the best sporting events in the US. For these teams, it is win or go home, and they play with their whole heart and soul. Sometimes, it works out (Harvard), sometimes it doesn't - Montana was crushed by Syracuse tonight, but I bet Montana really gave it all they had. They just didn't have enough to fight off the Orange.
I am so glad I got to go to the games today! It was tiring, but it was great!
No comments:
Post a Comment