What a Monday

Opening Day and the NCAA Championship on the same Monday. And it was great! My "job" Monday was to help cover Reds Opening Day for WLWT. As usual, it was a blast and I felt our parade and fan coverage was excellent. The game left a little to be desired, but at least the Reds showed an ability to put some runs on the board. But for the true sports junkie, there was a chance to make this a rare daily-double. So I went for it. My co-worker Andy Pierce and I figured if we could get off work around 7 p.m., we could make tip off in Indianapolis for the Butler-Duke game at 9:21 p.m. We scored some great tickets over the weekend, paid $20 to park, and watched a great championship basketball game live at Lucas Oil Stadium. I know I've said this before, and HDTV has made sporting events on big-screen televisions a great option, but there is nothing better than being there. I'm not sure I would have had the same goosebumps at home that I had watching this game live. I had no dog in this fight, I just wanted to be there for a championship game and a championship atmosphere. Mission accomplished. The Final Four returns to Indianapolis in 2015. I'm already making plans!

(Butler's last huddle with 13.6 to play)






(Coach K with his net)




BTW, with 70-thousand paying good money to see these games, we were very lucky to be sitting in a seat where you could see the action, and see it well. I can't imagine how far away some of those seats had to be. I'm not sure I would want to watch the game through a pair of binoculars, but if it came to that, maybe so. They used to put the court in the corner of a dome and have 40-thousand or so seats for the game. Now, (at least at Lucas Oil) they plop the court in the middle of the football field, and fill in seats around it. And the seats very, very gradually rise to meet the football seats. Just imagine dropping a basketball court in the middle of Paul Brown Stadium. That's how the NCAA plays their championship games now. I get the money part of it, but I can't believe those are ideal conditions for the players. No way.