Reports from the Final Four

[JTG]

Leaving Thurs. afternoon for San Antonio. Will be filing reports on the Final Four. From dealing with scalpers, always a colorful group, to airport snafus, cheap beers, seeing coaches and celebs, I'll report each day. Usually see Tark, Dickie V, Digger, The Big O, and many CBS tv people.

Talk to you folks Thursday.

[pizza delivery]

you picked a damn good one to go to! I look forward to the update!

[JTG]

Pizza,
I'd like a report from your avatar

[pizza delivery]

http://www.gotomycodes.com/userpics/layouts/thumbnail/i339213F33.jpg

This may be a little off topic, so for further reports see: Anna Semenovich

[JTG]

Leaving this afternoon. Man it will be nice to wear shorts. Supposed to be 90 in SA this weekend. I'm sick of Indiana winter. Hope to catch Duncan at the All Star game tomorrow. I have to work at Hoop City, but should be able to catch pregame and the first half.

[JTG]

Flew to San Antonio with one of Purdue's asst. coaches. He said that they are hot on the trail of Colt Ryan from Batesville, In., also an XU target.
Saw the Big O at the River walk. Food and drinks are very cheap here. Had an order of Chicken Nachos Supreme and 2 16 oz. beers for $10, and sales tax is only 4%.
The hotel I'm at is the HQ for Stub hub, I may have to interview them tomorrow morning. Saw some of the sleazeball scalpers on the Riverwalk tonite. They should be out in force tomorrow am, as that is when the coaches pick up their tickets at the convention center. Scalpers buy tickets from asst. coaches and resell them for 4 times as much.
Well it's late and I'm tired, I'll report to you folks tomorrow.

[JTG]

Just got back from practice. Looked like a Kansas guy wrecked his leg.. His name is Stewart, they brought out a stretcher to take him off the floor. Saw John Thompson II and Dave Odom , Jay Wright, Lute Olson and Tim Brando at the convention center. Not many Memphis fans around or UCLA fans, but they are probably jetting in tomorrow. Lots of Kansas fans. Alamodome has lots of good seats, even the cheap seats look decent, except for distant view seats.
Lots of giveaways, I have numerous backpacks and t shirts.
Well it's off to more beer and food on the Riverwalk.
PS. Lots of Ho's on the Riverwalk, either that or there are some skanky women in SA.

[KC4X]

Ouch! Looks like Rodrick Stewart (Sr. guard) has not played much in the tourney. I hope he's OK.

[xsteve1]

JTG are you a journalist? Try and stay away from Linda Bruno while your down there. Saw her after the X-SJU game in Atlantic City. She's a train wreck.

[JTG]

Not a journalist just a fan. I haven't seen Linda Bruno but I have seen some big ugly women.
Talked to a Marquette fan tonight. He was bunmmed that Miller turned then down but he said he had a phone call from a buddy that said Brian Gregory was on campus for an interview. I told him "You don't want Gregory" Plus I would hate for Gregory to leave Dayton, he can't even recruit his own city.
The price of beer went up tonight. This city is a zoo right now.
Can't wait to see what it is like tomorrow .

[JTG]

Just back from the games. Had an eventful day. Saw the Game Day crew up close, they were telecasting from the Riverwalk. Then went to where ESPN radio was broadcasting, and Sean was there. Talked to him for a few minutes after he was finished. Said thye had a very good season. I asked if he heard anything about Gregory and Marquette, he said no, and asked if I knew anything. Just told him that a guy from Marq. told me Friday, that a friend of his said BG was on campus at Marq. Sean said and I quote, "Let Dayton get someone else, we'll beat them all the time too". Wished him luck and told him my AFO check was in the mail. He said thanks and left, he was off to a pregame party somewhere. Also went to Radio row, and saw the Jerry Tarkanian Show, and the Thompsons--John JohnII and Ronnie all three doing a radio show.
Dealing with scalpers was a real adventure. Talked to a cop who showed me two fakes, that a guy had just paid $2000 for. They were almost perfect, right down to the hologram, except the real tickets have the ncaa logo embedded in the hologram. Then saw another cop arrest a guy from Carolina near the Riverwalk for selling his ticket--took the ticket and the money--what a prick. Here are all these slimeballs all over, and he picks on some kid who was just trying to sell two extras to pay for his trip. Then this really hot girl comes by with 4 floor level tickets, and wants $5000. Something just seemed fishy and no one took her up on it, but she was pleasing to the eyes. Had various other guys try to sell me tics. for double and triple, saying I'd never get anything for face. Well, about 30 minutes before the game I ran into a student from Carolina who sold me a ticket for face value.
More about the games tomorrow.

[StanleyOwnsYou]

Sounds like your having a great time down there man. I always love hearing coaches talk with regular guys, just makes the college game so special. Keep us updated and One of these years in the near future we'll be heading there or some other city, hopefully one as fun as SA, for a couple X games.

:D

[Snipe]

I want to know one thing.

What is the cheapest ticket you can get to get into the arena? Had we gone I would have wanted that ticket. The $1250 floor seats would not be my first option.

[JTG]

I paid $200 for an all session ticket,Sat & Mon. upstairs row 13 in the corner. I waited until 30 minutes before the game, but still had plenty of time to get in. Everything up to an hour before the game was $300 for distant view , and that was just for Sat. There is always someone with a ticket to get rid of that is not a scalper.
Went to church this morning, saw Bobby Crimmins, Bill Raftery and Phil Martelli. I wanted to say hi to Martelli and Raftery but they snuck out after communion. I saw Mike Lupica and Gary Williams, and that prick Jim Gray in the mall and saw Eric Cricillius of espn radio at Hoop City. The Final Four is a four day festival of Collge Basketball. Even if you miss the game it is worth just hanging out talking to coaches and media guys
More adventures tomorrow.

[MADXSTER]

On behalf of all us who are not there....We hate you, dispise you and are seriously jealous. LOL. Thanks for all of your feedback. We are living vicariously through you at this point. Keep up the good work.

[JTG]

The fans were wacky. UNC all yuppies, they all wear kakhi pants and blue button down shirts. The KU fans are normal folk. Memphis are kooky. Dress like Elvis, even even one husband and wife dou with sequined jumpsuits. The UCLA fans are Hollywood, or asian or older guys with long gray hair, and the obligatory hot chicks.
No beer at the Finalk Four so the bars do big business before the game. Heineken had a tent giving out free beer outside the game but you could only have one. Lots of freebies, backpacks tshirts, including one from Lee jeans that said "Have a party in our pants in San Antonio"
That's all for today.

[xubrew]

sounds like san antonio is a much better set up than atlanta. now i'm kind of wishing i would have gone. i just thought it would be too expensive and too much trouble getting myself down there, but it probably wouldn't have been bad at all. sometimes the final four can be a headache, but it sounds like san antonio does an outstanding job. never been there. always wanted to go. maybe next time, i guess. had davidson, louisville or xavier won i would have been able to get tickets pretty easily, and probably would have gone. all things considered, i just decided the hell with it, but now i'm wishing i hadn't.

i feel bad about the kid from north carolina getting arrested. that's the kind of thing that would happen to me. i'm convinced that i'm among the most unlucky people on the planet. if i'm at a baseball game, and a homerun goes into the parking lot and smashes the windshield of a car, then chances are it would be my car. last year in atlanta i parked at a grocery store that was closed for business so we could go to a bar across the street. the city of atlanta was kind enough to move my car about fifteen miles away and charge me $105 to get it out. they towed the whole lot, and about 95% of the people there were in town for the final four. it was kind of funny being at the in-pound lot the next morning and seeing everyone there trying to get their cars out. it's harder to get your car out of in-pound in the city of atlanta than it is to gain access to fort knox. they want all kinds of information that isn't readily available, and that some people didn't have. one group was literally freaking out because their tickets were in the car, and the lot wouldn't let them out. i've never parked illegally since then.

glad you're having a good time. i'll probably be in detroit next year. it can't be nearly as much fun as being in san antonio, but the final four is always a fun experience.

[ballyhoohoo]

Flew to San Antonio with one of Purdue's asst. coaches. He said that they are hot on the trail of Colt Ryan from Batesville, In., also an XU target.
.

I had heard rumors most Big Ten schools and XU had backed off him. I know hsi production is down, but that is due to playing with a D1 recruit one grade up who developed late. Grimsley is getting some looks and will probably be an Indiana All-Star.

Colt is good, and Indiana has always been good to XU

[JTG]

Well Monday at the Final Four is a long day waiting for the games. Went to Rivercenter and watched the ESPN radio shows for awhile then went over to Sportscenter. It was fun to watch how they set up. Lots of wires looked up to each reporter. No makeup though, except for Andy Katz, he carries a bag with blush and a brush and fixes his face before he goes on. They were all sweating like pigs because it was so hot. Everyone was in a suit except Gottlieb, he had a shirt and tie and coat, but shorts and sandals.
Saw 2 ladies in their 70's from Memphis who had drove in yesterday. They were dealing with a couple sleazeball scalpers so I pulled them aside and told them I'd help them out. We found some guys who were reasonable, $120 a ticket, and they were on their way. Hope they didn't pass out in the heat.
Lots of partying before the game, but not as much as Saturday. Half of Kansas must have been in San Antonio. My section was about half and half, but people were friendly. Not like Sat. where there was lots of animosity betwqeen KU and UNC fans. Surprisingly many UNC fans came back, and were cheering for Memphis. Great game, back and forth and then the X/OSU reminder. After seeing it on replay a few times they did try to foul, but it wasn't called.
It was funny you could see the NCAA people bringing out the Championship boxes of shirts and hats and they were getting ready to open the Memphis stuff, then KU hit the 3 and they stopped.
Left after the game and was able to get back to the hotel before "One shining moment". It was only 2 blocks.
If you get a chance, go to the final four, it is a great time, and great fun with fans from all over the country.

[gladdenguy]

Thanks for all the info. I will go, but only when Xavier makes it.
Hopefully, it's in the next couple years.

[JTG]

AIRPORT HELL... Got to the san Antonio airport @ 4:00 for my 5:30 flight, only to find out American had grounded all flights. Stood in line for 2 hours to be told I could fly to Dallas later Tues. evening, then fly to Clev. Wed. am, and Indy Wed. afternoon via Continental. But they couldn't get me a hotel room in Dallas because they had already filled up all the hotels in Dallas that they are contracted with, but if I found a hotel, they will reimbursh me. Got to dallas at 11pm, in hotel, hadf to get up at 4:30 for flight to Clev. @ 6:30. Got to airport to find a line a mile long. Even though I was registered, I had to check in with Continental because I was an American Airlines customer. Needless to say, I missed the plane, the next option was to fly to New York @noon. Noon became 1:45 due to delays, got to NY @6pm. Now flight to Indy is delayed til 7:30. 7:30 becomes 8:30, and then we are #30 in line to take off. Oh, I forgot to mention my luggage went ahead without me on Tues., so I have been in the same clothes since 3pm Tues.
We finally took off @ 9:40 and I got to Indy @ 11:30pm. 28 hours in airports from San Antonio to Dallas to NY to Indy. F*ck you American Airlines.
Landed to find out through a text from my brother we had signed a recruit away from IU. That is particularly sweet when you live in Indy.
Still plan to attend more Final Fours, but I won't fly American for awhile.
Go XU