I had a really fun day yesterday at the first session and then enjoying some beverage at local establishment with the array of fans to watch the later games on TV.
I went to support UNI (scored tix through the University from family). They had a fairly minimal ticket allocation and purple-clad numbers on hand reflected as much. The UNI section was packed but pretty sparse around the arena outside of that. Most of the fans seemed very close to the program and/or were family members (and all fans we saw and interacted with seemed really nice). Segue into the link I attached about the Panther's players and their long time ties together. You can really tell the family atmosphere that this team has watching them play seamlessly and I was able to witness it during the following game as everyone interacted with each other in the stands. This may be similar for these kind of games for many teams, but I think there is a special bond there. I was talking to a UNI fan that was staying at the team hotel, and he said that Jacobson was very chill before the game. In the lobby he asked the players "hey, what time do you think we should head over there? (to arena) and let them make the call." Pretty interesting given the very disciplined play on the court. They were very pretty to behold through most of the game working their offense and defense. Jacobson subbed like CRAZY, wearing Wyoming down. 23 subs in the first half i read - one every 52 seconds (it was a loooooong first half!
) It was dizzying just to watch them switch back and forth to the bench, but the team rarely seemed to miss a beat.
Some other day tidbits:
*Pitino is much more active on the sidelines then I could have even imagined.
*We left very confused as to what happened the last 5 seconds of L'ville/UCI and how there were no fouls called (it was right in front of us). Not sure how it would have panned out from there, but all in all the last minute the better coaching won.
*Ndiaye (7'6 UC Irvine Center) was a real treat to watch and a major crowd favorite. I thought overall it was a super entertaining game, even if there was some bad BBall and reffing involved.
*Louisville cheerleaders = wow
*UCI Anteater mascot and male cheerleader/dancer = awesome
*Wyoming cheerleader outfits = approved (overall I was pretty impressed with the Cowboy coeds! )
*Wyoming had a huge following there and the crowd (including Louisville of course) got crazy when then make a 2nd half run.
*Tons of Zags fans around town obviously. I saw very few Hawkeye fans, so my weekend goal of just keeping them out of sight/out of mind must be working!
Go Cyclones... and for a couple more weeks Go Panthers!
Uni Roots run deep with Barnstormers
I went to support UNI (scored tix through the University from family). They had a fairly minimal ticket allocation and purple-clad numbers on hand reflected as much. The UNI section was packed but pretty sparse around the arena outside of that. Most of the fans seemed very close to the program and/or were family members (and all fans we saw and interacted with seemed really nice). Segue into the link I attached about the Panther's players and their long time ties together. You can really tell the family atmosphere that this team has watching them play seamlessly and I was able to witness it during the following game as everyone interacted with each other in the stands. This may be similar for these kind of games for many teams, but I think there is a special bond there. I was talking to a UNI fan that was staying at the team hotel, and he said that Jacobson was very chill before the game. In the lobby he asked the players "hey, what time do you think we should head over there? (to arena) and let them make the call." Pretty interesting given the very disciplined play on the court. They were very pretty to behold through most of the game working their offense and defense. Jacobson subbed like CRAZY, wearing Wyoming down. 23 subs in the first half i read - one every 52 seconds (it was a loooooong first half!
) It was dizzying just to watch them switch back and forth to the bench, but the team rarely seemed to miss a beat.Some other day tidbits:
*Pitino is much more active on the sidelines then I could have even imagined.
*We left very confused as to what happened the last 5 seconds of L'ville/UCI and how there were no fouls called (it was right in front of us). Not sure how it would have panned out from there, but all in all the last minute the better coaching won.
*Ndiaye (7'6 UC Irvine Center) was a real treat to watch and a major crowd favorite. I thought overall it was a super entertaining game, even if there was some bad BBall and reffing involved.
*Louisville cheerleaders = wow
*UCI Anteater mascot and male cheerleader/dancer = awesome
*Wyoming cheerleader outfits = approved (overall I was pretty impressed with the Cowboy coeds!
) *Wyoming had a huge following there and the crowd (including Louisville of course) got crazy when then make a 2nd half run.
*Tons of Zags fans around town obviously. I saw very few Hawkeye fans, so my weekend goal of just keeping them out of sight/out of mind must be working!
Go Cyclones... and for a couple more weeks Go Panthers!
Uni Roots run deep with Barnstormers
