Attending an NCAA tournament game in a pandemic
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Stub hub is interesting. Watched prices decline slightly over last two days until last night it was enticing. My college roomie also lives here in the Chicago area so we decided to splurge with our stimulus money. Of course I kept checking the prices after I purchased and by game time they were only 35 bucks! Tip for Monday (workday, might not be that pricey) and even next weekend provided we make it there of course.
When we arrived there were 2 EWU fans there. That’s it. I brought a big KU flag that hangs on my house and here came three buses with the KU entourage and team. So I took off with my flag which was on the pole and ran towards the buses and ran along them as they slowed down. Anyone see any footage like that on Social Media it’s me! I’ve looked a little saw nothing.
Entered an hour early with no problem. No temp check.
Our seats were crappyish. One row from top behind the basket. But it’s a small arena so they weren’t that bad, but I looked at Stubhub which showed seats that hadn’t been sold yet and we simply found still available seats in the front row of the top level. So we actually had great seats.
There was a Missouri guy nearby. Quite a few fans of other schools there actually taking advantage of low game time prices. His friend, a KU guy told us the guy tried to get into KU but was denied admission.
An interesting thing about a gym like that is you can be heard. I have a good loud voice and at one point I yelled at Harris to steal it, and he did. Then I reminded the refs they can call travels on that red team and then they did. If I hadn’t upgraded our seats we might have lost.
The EWU fan we met outside yelled up at us at halftime “Looks like we got your number”. I just thought it was funny because they had made every shot and we were missing every shot.
The Jayhawks played poorly so it was a bit frustrating to be there and seeing our team getting embarrassed again it seemed in a big tournament.
The Eagles on the other hand were really enjoying it. Their fans were loud and surprising how many there were. Spokane is a long ways away.
I thought one key to the game was, (I assume, the equipment manager who’s probably hitchhiking back to Spokane ( forgot to pack the cute little stools the teams today have for timeouts. So their guys just had to stand there during timeouts. Meanwhile our guys rested.
Garrett had 3 fouls in the first half. We’re depressed. It’s bad enough to lose when you’re watching on TV, but to pay too much money (when you could have spent less) well, it’s just beyond anything for me. But we psyched ourselves up for a comeback.
Dave fueled the comeback with some strong inside play but we still weren’t stopping the Eagles. We hustled for loose balls, started making shots, defended a little stronger and soon we were on our way.
Then the refs took over, at least according to the EWU fans. Several of them didn’t accept congrats from me after the game about how well they played, instead muttering how the refs helped us win.
Dave was indispensable because I noticed Mitch come out of the locker room with a couple minutes left in the game. It was only then I realized he wasn’t on the bench the entire 2nd half. Not sure.
Speaking of the locker room our manager sprinted across the court during a TO, I cheered him on as he sprinted back to the team with a towel. MVP type stuff right there, plus he packed the stools.
I’m pretty sure I started the Rock Chalk Chant at an appropriate time trying not to jinx the team.
Refs seemed ok to me from the stands but one disadvantage of being there is you have no clue of what is going on. Dave scores, then it’s called off, still our ball. No clue. Then clock troubles galore I guess, again we’re just sitting there scratching our heads. Then Ochai throws one down, and another long delay.
Dueling fan section chants. No real crowd noise. Just a mainly empty gym. Really glad we got to go. First game with my college roomie since 1987 when he graduated. Only my third KU game since 1988. Hopefully empty nesting means some more time and I can get back to AFH. But this was fun.
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@wissox so many clock issues! So when Mitch came out did he look ok? Walking ok? Wonder if it was after his dive?
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Thanks for the info. Glad you could make it there. And at bargain prices no less !
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@wissox So my takeaway from that is how low was Missouri’s admission standards at the time that guy got in there but rejected from KU because KU isn’t that hard to get into?
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@Crimsonorblue22 He looked ok, couldn’t remember what you meant in the chat by after the dive. I just watched the whole game, saw the table thing and wondered if that was why he didn’t play anymore. He wasn’t limping or anything like that.
@Texas-Hawk-10 I think he was just joking!
@nwhawkfan unfortunately I didn’t get in at the bargain price. I was patient enough and saved about 50 bucks over the original price but would have saved another 40 or so had I waited longer!
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@wissox https://twitter.com/morgynseigfried/status/1373300911238483976?s=21
Gotta be you. I love it!
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@Crimsonorblue22 hey great find!!!
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@wissox was crazy to see it!
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Thats awesome!
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@wissox And we were told the cheerleaders weren’t going to Indy!
Going to 2nd round, or are the tix single game? If you do, you need pom poms this time!
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@mayjay no the downside of my day yesterday was a backed up sewer pipe about which my wife called me when I was a mile from the field house. Gonna cost us a bit plus a 8:40!tip time on a game 3 hours from home on a work night means no attending the next game. Maybe next weekend.
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@wissox Those blasted pipes! Good luck!
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The tickets early on for tomorrow night are looking relatively affordable on stub hub, but of course a Monday night game at 8:40 has got to be a reason for that.
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@wissox once or maybe it’s a twice in a lifetime chance.
