March 17, 2007

Men's Basketball NCAA TournamentBarca Blog - Sacramento Entry 2

March 17, 2007

Visit our NCAA Tournament Central Site – click here

BARCA BLOG – LIFE ON THE ROAD – SACRAMENTO 2
MEN’S BASKETBALL NCAA TOURNAMENT
THURSDAY (3/15) & FRIDAY (3/16)

Fans, Crazy Eddie here…. today I’m gonna give you a special 2-for-1 bargain… that’s right, I am combining two blogs in one! This offer will only last for the next day or two, so hurry up and make your order. And if you act now, I’ll throw in an official game day program.

Back to reality…. I’ll be honest, it has been so hectic covering everything on VUcommodores.com the last few days between Nashville and Sacramento that the only time I can give my behind-the-scenes look here in California is by writing about it in the middle of the night. So here we go…. we’re gonna start with Thursday’s opening day of the NCAA Tourney, and then morph into Friday’s off-day…. How exciting! But please bear with me, it could be a bumpy ride.

On Thursday, I arrived at ARCO arena first thing in the morning to catch a feel for the beginning of March Madness. I don’t know if there’s a better time of year (actually, there isn’t … especially when your team is still alive). I contemplated camping out the previous night to be the first one in the building, but I was working on my algebra homework and got sidetracked.

When the doors opened, fans we’re already crowded around the monitors in the concourse to catch a glimpse of some of the early action around the country. I firmly believe that the first two days of the tournament should be national holidays. Who do I need to talk to so it can be official… Schwarzenegger? Maybe I shouldn’t have blown off our lunch meeting the other day. Regrets indeed.

Here’s a backstage view as I walk to the media work room…. notice all the blue drapes? It wouldn’t be an NCAA event without it looking like Smurf-ville. Quick- what was the name of the villain in the Smurfs? If you don’t know, google it!

All the team media guides a fan like me could need. These will be cut in half by the end of the day. Poor trees.

Eight bucks for a program…. something to prove to everyone else that I was actually at that event. Why buy that guide when I’ll throw one in for free* with Crazy Eddie’s two-for-one special. *While Supplies Last

Here are some of the NCAA tourney t-shirts… can’t go home without one of these. I’ll just put it on my business credit card. I can’t get my work done without one of these, right? Or maybe I can write it off?

As you may already know, one of the things I love about college sports is the willingness of fans to dress up and be a part of the game day atmosphere. These Washington State fans are just another example of school spirit. Not sure why they are going for the look from Ancient Greece, but it works for me. Have to love it.

And another one. This guy is making my top 5 all-tournament fan team… of course, it’s the coaches selection and not the AP. The guy with the “big hair wig” was the top dog in the AP vote. Tough call – basket head or big wig as fan of the year… I’ll let you debate.

I’ve made a lot of new friends in Sacramento… this group decided to host me for the next week just as long as I finish my algebra homework. Not going so well right now.

This is why I love college sports. Period. This guy!

Went to go look at the court. This is a reality. It’s March Madness and yes, we all have dreams of making the Final Four. I don’t even care that Vanderbilt is the second game of the day behind Washington State and Oral Roberts… I just wanna watch some b-ball.

When the NCAA runs an event, you can expect a lot of attention to detail. It took the intern three hours to align these bench towels in a straight line. Seriously. These are the things that are not usually seen by fans, but I personally appreciate the heck out of it! Promote him/her to upper management, pronto!

First mascot sighting.. alert the press. The name of this cat – Butch T. Cougar…. read more about it here

It’s almost time to get it started. Notice the fist bump… do they decide before the game whether to go with the fist bump here or the hand shake.. or maybe they blow up the fist bump? I need to know these things.

Oral Roberts is ready. Somehow I think OR plays a strong first half to make fans think their upset special was a good call, even though OR eventually folds in the second half to crush your March Madness mid-major bracket dreams. Just a hunch though.

Washington State coach Tony Bennett has uplifted a once dormant Cougar program and has WSU fans buzzing about their remarkable turnaround. I loved his unplugged album from a couple years ago…. seems like he has rejuvenated his career on multiple occasions. Can I request “I left my heart in Sacramento?” Okay, that was bad. I know.

WSU fans, help me out… What is it with the green leaves (maybe I am an idiot)? I asked a few of your fans, and couldn’t get a direct answer. Please email me so I can educate myself.. I am intrigued. Did you take them off of the Stanford tree? (great mascot by the way)

Speaking of mascots, the expression on the Oral Roberts mascot’s face pretty much says it all. This cinderella’s ball is over. First round final: [3] Washington State 70 [14] Oral Roberts 54.

You’re on the Barca Blog. It’s not that bad, is it?

Washington State brought a big crowd to Sacramento. In fact, it’s their first NCAA appearance since 1994… and first tourney win since 1983. You think they aren’t pumped to advance to the second round? Our ‘Dores will have their hands full if we get past George Washington…… stay tuned to see it all unfold (the suspense is killing me).

Are you Red-y?

Not sure if this was a clear sign that it was going to be a good day for the ‘Dores, but the GW Band belted out Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” just prior to tip-off. If these Queen lyrics weren’t a signal of the bad things to come for GW, I don’t know what is…

Is this the real life-
Is this just fantasy-
Caught in a landslide-
No escape from reality-
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see-
Im just a poor boy,i need no sympathy-
Because Im easy come,easy go,
A little high,little low,
Anyway the wind blows,doesnt really matter to me,
To me

Okay, this fan not only made the coaches SEC first team, he was also named to the All-American squad. Love the shirt. Plus bonus points for the tie and no collar. Awesome.

It’s about that time…

Check out this Dasani cup… I mentioned earlier how the NCAA runs the show… actually, it’s pretty much their way or the highway at these post-season events (there’s a logical explanation for it, just not worth writing about at this time). Anyway, if you have a drink from the press area (located under the Arena), you must make sure you don’t bring the orginal container/can of the drink onto the court without first pouring the substance into a blue Dasani cup. No lie. There is a reason though. It’s done to make sure another sponsor’s logo doesn’t show up in public view in case that company isn’t an actual tournament supporter… this is one of the things that you really don’t think about at an event (this decision was probably debated in a meeting that lasted three hours too long).

The ‘Dores gave George Washington coach Karl Hobbs all the trouble he could handle in the first half. No defensive scheme by the Colonials seemed to work… much to my delight.

Not sure what to think about this mascot. Doesn’t fall into my two categories of a mascot.. must either be (a) cute/goofy/lovable or (b) fierce and strong. Notice the mascot is not smiling to keep fans from noticing its wooden teeth.

That’s right… half time score- Vanderbilt 45 George Washington 20. Couldn’t have scripted it better.

Glad to see Shan rebound with an impressive performance against GW. Shows you the strength of this team to block out the past and operate on a short memory. Probably why VU was the only SEC team to not lose consecutive conference games during the regular season.

The great thing about the first round win was that everyone played a role.

These super fans played a role. I am guessing that they are still waiting for their call back.

Now, I have to give credit where credit is due. The George Washington cheerleaders were still enthusiastic even after their team was down by more than thirty points in the second half. That my friends is school spirit! Kudos to them for not giving up hope. I would have started packing my bags at half time and called it a day. But not these professionals.

The Closers. Rodriguez and Hammond send the crowd into a frenzy when they entered the ball game in the second half. Was glad to see the walk-on play in his second game as a Commodore and score his first career point on a late free throw.

The rest of the guys are loving every minute of it, and so am I. What a performance by Vanderbilt. This just in…. first round final score: Vanderbilt 77 GW 44. Just another great day to be Commodore.

After catching the post-game press conferences, I ran into this Weber State super fan while cleaning my stuff off of press row. I think every fan group has to have at least one crazy wig guy.

Well, that does it for Wednesday.. time to put a wrap on it. Saturday’s showdown with the Cougars is not far away. By the way, wasn’t able to grab a picture, but Michael Wilbon of ESPN’s PTI was in the post-game press conference covering GW for the Washington Post. Read his post-game recap here.

In the article, George Washington Coach Karl Hobbs stated, “Vanderbilt was very prepared as soon as the ball went up. And I’m not so sure we were ready to play at the start.”

Seems like I have heard similar quotes time and time again when listening to other coaches talk about our staff and players.

Alright, let’s move onto Friday’s off day.

Can’t put my thumb on who Robbie Cowgill looks like. If you can think of it, let me know. It’s killing me.

Washington State’s Tony Bennett received coach of the year accolades from the Pac-10 Conference this year. Incedible season for his bunch.

When speaking about WSU to the press on Friday, senior swingman Derrick Byars had this to say: They’re strong at every position. There are no glaring weaknesses, and they’re as good a defensive team as we’ve seen all season. They pack it in, and it’s hard to get off good shots against them inside.

Coach Stallings has talked several times in the last two days about his connection to the Bennett family. Legendary head coach Dick Bennett is the father of current WSU coach Tony Bennett. Stallings seeked advice from the elder Bennett and his staff when he was first entering the coaching profession years ago. Nothing but complimentary things said by all parties involved. Coach even said that “A lot of things Vanderbilt does defensively comes from things I tried to steal from Coach (Dick) Bennett.” You can listen to the rest of the Vanderbilt press conference for free by clicking here