Denver. It sounded semi-exotic, a mile high and all those mountains and what not. Who was more excited about the free trip for the first round of the NCAA tournament, the men's basketball team or me, is debatable. People told me Denver is like Vegas crossed with Provo, and I don't even know what that means exactly. Whatever the city was like, I had a press pass and a free trip to a big-time college sporting event. I knew there were perks to this stuff.
Wednesday
I left Princeton on Wednesday morning at 6:30 after a trio of alarms worked together to get me up and off to the airport to catch my flight. The weekend started a little ominously when I met my broadcast partner, Andy, and discovered we were wearing the same blue vertical-striped dress shirts. I couldn't decide if this was a compliment to him or an insult to me.
I hadn't been west of Minnesota in 12 years, so it was something of a shock when I landed in the mountain time zone. It felt like Germany. After about eight hours of traveling, I was looking forward to a good rest at the hotel before the team press conferences that night. Sadly, an English-challenged cab driver got in the way.
"Marriott City Center," Andy said to him as we got in the SUV-cab.
An hour later we were wandering around somewhere that was quite obviously not downtown Denver.
"Sir, is this the City Center?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"City Center?," the driver shot back, confused. "You said 'Tech Center.'"
I have at least two problems with that. One: we had said three words up to that point — Marriott, city, and center. Last time I checked, 'city' and 'tech' do not sound alike. Two: we didn't even know there was a tech center in Denver. I mean, that's great that they're up with the times, but . . .
So we got back on the road with Idiot Cab Boy as he chatted on his cell phone with someone who theoretically actually knew the city. Usually you want your cab drivers to be familiar with the city's roads, but I guess in Denver just putting the car in drive is sufficient. Eventually we came to a fork in the road that said "I-225 South: Denver; I-225 North: Colorado Springs" at which he went north. I don't know either. After a long, stop-and-go trip on local roads (the SUV-cab had to stop for gas 13 times) we ended up at the correct Marriott at about 4:30 mountain time (it's fun to say 'mountain').
We regrouped and made it to the gorgeous Pepsi Center in time for the Texas/Princeton press conferences and open practices. Our first celebrity sighting was Woody Paige from the Denver Post and ESPN's Around the Horn. He was wearing a sport coat and some type of hemp pants. Kudos to you, Woody.
At the Texas press conference I decided to go all out and ask a question to Longhorn guards Brandon Mouton and Royal Ivey.
"What concerns you guys most about Princeton?" I said.
I was hoping they would say something like, "They smart," but got a more official response instead.
Thursday
This was the big day — four games, all eight teams in action, sellout crowd. CBS' top broadcasting crew of Jim Nantz, Billy Packer, and Bonnie Bernstein showed up for the festivities, and with good cause. We media folk lucked out with the Denver site, clearly the best of the first and second round locales. The last two national champions (Syracuse and Maryland) were there, one of the most storied franchises in collegiate sports (North Carolina) was there, a Final Four team from last year (Texas) was there, and three Final Four coaches from last season (Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Texas' Rick Barnes, and North Carolina's Roy Williams) were all there.
Maryland played Texas-El Paso to kick things off. We were sitting in front of the UTEP fans, and the Miners put up a good fight, losing by three after missing the final shot of the game. Afterwards, we saw more celebrities. Mike Wilbon from the Washington Post and ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, Mike Tirico from ESPN, and Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly were all spotted in the media room between games. For us sports media geeks, this is the equivalent of a normal person being in the same room with Brad Pitt or the President or something. You'll just have to trust me.
Syracuse and BYU were next, with Orangeman sophomore guard Gerry McNamara going off for 43 points and nine three-pointers. I scurried into the press room to catch the conference after 'Cuse held off the Cougars, 80-75, drooling over McNamara's monster performance, then realized that McNamara is younger than I am and started to feel a little awkward, like I'm not allowed to revere these guys anymore.
The next game on the slate was Texas/Princeton. There was an extended break in between, and we ran across the street to a local bar and grill along with Prince senior writer David Baumgarten and photo guru Xochiquetzal Martinez to mooch off a Princeton alumni luncheon. Baumgarten was complaining of altitude headaches and the long day he had already endured, having left his room at 3:15 a.m. Eastern to get to LaGuardia for his 6:00 a.m. flight that day just to head back early Friday morning. So optimistic the Prince is.
All the meat was already gone by the time we got there, though, prompting a quick exit and return to the Pepsi Center (where oddly enough, the media was given Coke products) for the media luncheon there. I downed my fourth-straight cup full of Sprite, then hurried to the bathroom before the broadcast began where I ended up....relieving myself next to Wilbon.
"Pardon the interruption," I said.
Okay, that's a lie. But it took all my common sense not to say it.
At 5:20 p.m. mountain the game started. The Tigers actually managed to suck the Longhorns into their style of play, keeping the score closer to sea level than many thought possible, and actually winning 25-22 at halftime. It seemed tenuous, though. Texas was just missing shots, and it just felt like all Barnes would have to say in the locker room is "Dude, what the hell?" and his guys would be like, "Dude, I know." Baumgarten was downing water to combat the headache and was in conniptions at the end of the press table.
Sure enough, Princeton got spanked in half number two, dashing my hopes of a vacation to Atlanta next weekend. The bright spot for me, though, was when I got a picture with Paige during a commercial break toward the end of the break. I congratulated him on the show and he made a vulgar comment about Britney Spears which I cannot repeat.
It got better after the game when I met Wilbon and he asked us some questions about men's hoops head coach John Thompson and his career and actually took notes. It remains doubtful that I will actually get on PTI.
North Carolina and Air Force were next. The Falcons scared the Tar Heels a bit, winning at halftime but ultimately wilting. I stayed around a bit afterward for the press conferences and Andy went back to the hotel. When I finally left, the woman driving the media shuttle struck up a conversation.
"So how do you like Denver?"
"Oh, it's beautiful," I said, half-serious. It's not that Denver is ugly, it's just not the mythical land of plenty I imagined it to be. "It's been a great vacation."
"Yeah, but it's a working vacation."
Funny. Work never entered my mind. Somewhere in Denver, Baumgarten went to sleep after hallucinating he was some sort of lizard creature.
Friday
Besides a sorry attempt to do homework while watching basketball, nothing much happened on the day off, so I'll use this space to address the most pressing question of the weekend: the Starbucks phenomenon.
Now, I'm not going to claim that Denver has more Starbucks locations than New York, but per capita, the Mile High City just may have our northern neighbor beat. It was unreal. There was a Starbucks in the lobby, there was a Starbucks across the street, and there was a Starbucks on the next block. In fact, in the total foursquare block radius of downtown that we explored, we counted eight. It should not under any circumstances be easier to find a Starbucks than a restroom. I'm starting to hate Moby Dick because of this.
Saturday
Even though Princeton was out of it, we stuck around for the marquee games Saturday — Syracuse vs. Maryland and North Carolina vs. Texas. Fairly good games. Syracuse's zone baffled the Terrapins and induced another sweat-a-thon from Maryland coach Gary Williams, who must need to drink Powerade by the barrell to rehydrate himself after games. The Terps, though, mounted a comeback and had a chance to tie at the buzzer when D.J. Strawberry (yes, Darryl's son) decided he didn't need teammates and missed the final shot.
Carolina also had to come from behind, losing when Rashad McCants McCouldn't make a two-pointer at the buzzer. Oh, yeah — they needed a three to tie. Plenty of good math classes still available in Chapel Hill.
Today we were sitting in front of the North Carolina fans, an experience made interesting particularly by an annoying woman who was very proud of all her players.
"Good try, Rashad! Good try, Sean May!"
Good grief. It was like a little league game where everybody wins. I couldn't decide which was worse — that lady or the UNC students who apparently thought it was a law that fouls had to be even for both teams at all times.
"It's still six to three on fouls! Get your head in the game, ref!"
Six to three! Goodness, call in the FBI. It's a conspiracy.
Sunday
I had never gotten up at three in the morning for any reason in my life until yesterday. We had a 6:00 a.m. mountain flight and had to catch a ride to the airport at 3:45 a.m. mountain. It was hard to leave. Saturday night I stayed until Roy Williams said his very last word at the press conference, collected every souvenir I could, and hung out in the empty arena for awhile before finally dragging myself away from the awesome sporting experience. Guys like Wilbon and Reilly, they do this every week. For me, it was just a Spring Break treat 1761 miles away and 5280 feet up in the wild wild west.
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