2014 NCAA Tournament

Back in 2006 I attended the NCAA tournament games at what was then called Cox Arena on the San Diego State campus. We had fun, so when it was announced that they would be having the tournament again at what is not called Vejas Arena on the San Diego State campus I was all in. There were to be four games on Friday for the round 2 of the top 64, and then four games on Sunday for the top 32.

 On Friday the first game was at 11:30, so we had to to meet up and have breakfast at the same restaurant as we did in 2006 - The Original Pancake House. Funny thing is, it was the people who did not go with us in 2006 that made that decision. So the tradition was kept alive, except now that we are older we did pound a few beer before going out to breakfast.

The person driving worked at SDSU so he had a free parking pass and knew where to park that was close and not crowded. We got parked quickly and set up our tailgating. We weren't sure if tailgating was allowed, but no on stopped. Since there is no alcohol sales at these NCAA events, we had a few drinks before heading in.

 The day had two session of two games each. Between each session everyone had to leave the arena and then re-enter, at least for those who had tickets to both sessions, which we did. Our seats were way better than last time when we were stuck in bench seating. Also, ticket prices had at least doubled. The first game was Arizona at Weber St. I had never heard of Weber St. It is somewhere in Utah. Arizona was expected to win, and they did, but it took them five minutes into the game to score their first points.

 The second game was Gonzaga at Oklahoma State. This was probably the most boring of the games, mostly because the officials called so many fouls in the second half. Gonzaga ended up winning.

After we cleared out, we gathered up two more friends who were there for the second session and went back to the car for some more drinks.

The third game was VCU and Stephen F.Austin, another unknown college, and this ended up being the best game of the day. VCU was winning most of the game, but SFA somehow made some big shots at the end of the game, and with four seconds remaining and down by four points, they made a three point basket AND were fouled. The player made the free throw and the game was tied! The crowd, not really caring about either team, suddenly became SFA fans and were cheering them on. They ended up winning and got a standing ovation. Also, sitting near us, was a young man who was the biggest SFA fan there. Near the end of the game he ran down the stairs, and sure enough he tried to run onto the court, where he was bear hugged and stopped by a large man. We all thought he was going to get kicked out, but somehow he, and his friend, got back to their seats. Later during the last game this kid was able to get the team to sign his shirt, so he was happy.

 The final game of the night, and it had already been a long day, was Tulsa at UCLA. I had my UCLA shirt on since I go to their football games. There was a lot of blue in the arena and UCLA defiantly had a home field court advantage. They won, but the game wasn't too exciting. By the time we left we had been there for almost 12 hours. It was so late we opted to skip dinner and just go home.

So I had Saturday to rest - except I didn't I had a BBQ to attend, where I had more beer and lots of good food with friends. After getting home I stayed up until past midnight and slept in to almost noon. Luckily our meeting time was 1:30 since the first game on Sunday was 4:00 PM. My friend and I rode down with another friend had his daughter. We directed them to the same parking garage, but had to pay  to park this time.

We walked to the 4.0 Deli on campus and got some food and beer before heading into the arena. The deli was packed, as there only a few places near the campus that sell beer and food.

My friend and his daughter were Arizona fans, and this time I wore my Aztecs shirt and was happy that they had won on Saturday. The first game was Stephen F. Austin at UCLA, and SFA didn't do so good this time, and UCLA won, but the crowd still have the player of SFA a loud cheer as they walked off the court.

Finally it was the sixth and last game, Gonzaga and Arizona. Arizona dominated the game and the fans started to leave before the game ended, including us, as we all had to work the next day.

I have to say, I and my fill of college basketball for a few years. Six games in one weekend is a lot, but I had fun and would do it again.