On April 1st, pretty much a whim, I took Sam to Indianapolis for the weekend during his Spring Break. My intention was to simply do some sightseeing, and enjoy some time in a hotel. As usual we booked it through Hotwire, and scored the Hyatt. Before we left, I found out that NCAA Women's Final Four was to be over that same weekend in Indy. I didn't quite know what to think...since the women are not nearly the draw like the men. I was even surprised we found a room at a host hotel.
When we arrived, we found out soon enough that a very significant event was in town. It seemed like the entire city was ga-ga over this...pure overkill. Well done overkill, but overkill nonetheless. As we checked in we found out we were staying at the host hotel for the Connecticut women's team. This UConn squad was the same that won the previous two championships...and was favored again. However, the men were playing in their Final Four too...which took a lot of steam away from their fan base.
We found out that there was a mountain of activity going on the next day (Saturday). The largest event was called "Tourney Town" at the Indiana Convention Center. This was a mighty impressive spread - basketball courts, games, pop-a-shots, games, more courts, and a big stage for musical events. Needless to say we ended up there most of the day instead of a planned visit to the State Museum. By late afternoon, we found out that the teams were practicing at Conseco Fieldhouse for free viewing, so we took some time and checked that out.
As night approached, I began to put into action an idea I had from when I planned the trip - to see the Butler Bulldogs play their Final Four game...on their campus. Surely they would have some sort of viewing party...and sure enough they did...right at Hinkle Fieldhouse...their home court. We arrived with about an hour to spare, and the line was HUGE already. When we finally shuffled in, we were impressed with not one, or two...but FOUR huge screens set up on the floor. There was even a DJ. As we made our way up the stairs, I heard my name being called...it was my friend Angelo from Crown Point. His daughter attended Butler...so there he was...and even had two seats open. Nice.
As the game tipped off the atmosphere was simply electric. THIS is where I love to hang out - where the energy is! (In 2005, when my beloved White Sox won the World Series, there I was in their Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport.) It was a pretty tight game from the start, but in the end Butler pulled it off, and in turn set off a rowdy campus-wide celebration that Sam wasn't old enough to enjoy. We did take a nice stroll on their football field though. Off we went back to our hotel, took a late dip in their stainless steel pool...and off to slumberland.
On Sunday, our main game plan was to get to Conseco, and get Sam signed up in what was dubbed "Circle City Dribble". This was simply over-the-top. The idea was to gather as many kids as possible downtown, fit them with shirts, give them a ball...and have them dribble from the Fieldhouse to Tourney Town. This meant a LOT of shirts...and a LOT of balls...all FREE! Remember when I mentioned "overkill?" Well we got there in plenty of time, and Sam proceeded to dribble with thousands of others down the street. It was quite the scene. We all arrived and overran Tourney Town in the process. There was a nice battle of the bands going on...so we stuck around to check it out.
After this Sam started to REALLY press me about attending the first two games that night. I had no intention of doing this, but then again, I'm all about "making memories." After some haggling, I found a ticket broker and got a great deal...and off we went to the game. Once inside we found ourselves WAY up in the nosebleeds for the first game - which was a duel between Texas A&M and Stanford. Texas ended up winning this...and afterwards we made our way to the floor level for the featured matchup between Notre Dame and UConn. That was an amazing contest with ND pulling away for the upset. Two days later, Texas A&M completed the unscripted weekend with another upset of the Irish.
What was to be a simple getaway became a treasure trove of memories for the both of us...and Sam will never see a women's game the same way again (neither will I!).
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