Author Archives: brent

Peyton to Denver

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday, Chris Mortensen reported that Peyton Manning had given his agent permission to start negotiating with the Denver Broncos, thus signaling the start of the end of one of the most publicized and media-obsessed free agent signings in the history of sports. I admit I followed the saga every single step of the way with interest. However, I would be lying if I said I did not start to tire of the constant coverage in the waning days.

Call me no fun, but when Peyton Manning and John Elway were the lead story for numerous sports broadcasts and sports radio programs last week over the NCAA Tournament, I knew that enough was enough. I desperately wanted Manning to make a decision. I would never blame Peyton himself for basking in the spotlight for too long though because anyone with a brain knows that was never his intention. All that he wanted to do was make the absolute best decision for himself…he earned that right.

This was not a Brett Favre type deal here. Peyton Manning handled the rejection from his beloved franchise with class. He stated all along that he wanted to continue to play football. He didn’t retire and come back, he didn’t send out ambiguous text messages, he didn’t go back to some rural area and throw passes to high school students, he didn’t need the Denver Broncos team to go out and kidnap him and fly him in a private jet to Colorado. He did not play games. Rather, he went about his business and listened to a few potential teams that he had an interest in playing for and made a decision. Simple as that.

I laughed yesterday and today at the media and others who said Peyton did not make the best decision in his choice of who to play for. How can anyone say that? First off, how can anyone say they know what is better for someone than that actual person? Secondly, how can anyone second guess the decision making of Peyton Manning? This guy has made millions and millions of dollars off of his decision making skills, both on the field with his play and off the field with his lucrative endorsement deals. Peyton Manning is legendary for his intelligence and reasoning. Also, none of these people questioning his decision sat down at the meetings with the various teams who Peyton talked to. They had no idea what was discussed and what Manning learned for himself through the talks. In my mind, I see him at these meetings acting like some sly police interrogator, picking the brain of each team executive with calculated and tough questions, knowing when to jump in with the follow up and knowing when to just keep quiet and make the execs elaborate. I have no doubt that Peyton came out of this process with all of his questions answered and with a 100% personal conviction on where he wanted to go.

Peyton Manning knows what he has in front of him in Denver. There is no doubt he is feeling the pressure. I mean when you sign a $96 million dollar contract how can’t you? He also knows the expectations. Surely if an unqualified, unorthodox, step child quarterback can lead your new team into the second round of the playoffs the year before you got there than winning the Super Bowl in your first go-around must be more than attainable, right? See what I mean? I think that is the main reason why Manning did not go to San Francisco, he knew it was Super Bowl or bust as the 49ers had already gone to the NFC Championship game this past season. Anything the same or less than that would be a disappointment. But again, I don’t know if the expectations are going to be much different in Denver.

I am more than excited to see Peyton Manning in a new uniform in a totally different environment. I admit, I am still having trouble truly grasping the sight of him in Bronco blue (the ESPN shots of players in their future/prospective team uniforms are bogus and corny…they look so altered) but I will get used to it. I am really intrigued to see how he will manage with new players, new coaches, and a new system. I think also what people have to realize is that Peyton has been out of the league for a full year. How is he going to come back from that? Rusty? Same as old? What if his injury has not fully healed? What if he is just not the same Peyton Manning? It will be very interesting to see these scenarios unfold. Make no mistake about it, John Elway is taking a gamble here. Remember, just because you make a good bet does not that it will always pay off…it is still a gamble.

Of course the secondary story in all of this is Tim Tebow. If you have read any of my past posts on Tebow, you know I will be rooting for him. One day this guy is going to have a movie done on him and some studio is going to pay billions of dollars for the rights to make it. What he has overcome is nothing short of amazing and for something like this to come up now just makes you feel for the guy. The Broncos did nothing wrong in acquiring Peyton Manning, they did everything that any fan that is worth a damn would want their organization to do. But under the major victory and triumph that this signing means for the Denver Broncos there is the cruel irony and rotten luck that has fallen on Tebow. Can the guy get a break? I really hope the media cuts him a little bit of slack. If the past couple of days are any indication though, they won’t. Tebow bashing amongst the media is as prevalent as it was at the beginning of the NFL season. Please, just give it a rest and treat the guy fairly.

I am happy for Peyton Manning that after the Colts cut him loose he went about his search and did it on his own terms. I am also happy that he got a fat pay day. The guy is a winner and I am a fan of his. I do hope though that now that he has selected his team and has signed the contract that everything dies down a little bit. Let’s concentrate on the Sweet Sixteen and all the other sports that are actually in-season right now.  However…Denver Broncos fans…..you have my permission to party like crazy all the way throughout the offseason. Don’t Blink.

Bye Bye O’Sheas, You Will Be Missed

Posted on by
Reply

NOTE: I know O’Sheas does not close until April 30. However, since I will not make it back to Vegas until after that date, I will refer to O’Sheas in the past tense.

A couple weeks ago my brother informed me that one of my favorite places to go in Las Vegas was shutting down at the end of April and then getting bulldozed to the ground. Many of you know that I am a big Vegas guy. Since turning twenty-one a little over four years ago, I have made a couple trips each year to Sin City. After about my second time going to Las Vegas, I made a conscientious effort each time thereafter to stay at a hotel as close as possible to this very special place. To hear that it will be no more the next time I return to Vegas saddened me.

If you are around my age and you have visited Las Vegas, there is little doubt that you spent some of your time at O’Sheas Casino. Located smack in the middle of the Strip, it is hard to miss. Mix in a lot of green with a real life Leprechaun standing outside of the entrance talking into a microphone and there is no way you could simply walk past without checking it out. Well, come April 30 it will be very easy to do so as the current incarnation of O’Sheas will shut down.

I love O’Sheas for so many reasons. Many of my best Vegas memories occurred there. First and foremost, I loved it because of the people. O’Sheas drew a crowd of people who just wanted to have fun. It was a crowd that was relaxed, real, and cool. I met several friends there from all across the country who I still talk to today. It was just a place where you could approach someone and talk to them. In a city that thrives on high priced clubs and exclusivity, O’Sheas snubbed that notion and welcomed everyone.  As I list all the great things about O’Sheas in this post, please keep in mind that it was the awesome people who kept coming to the joint that made everything they offered so wonderful.
My brother Glen at a table in O’Sheas.

Let’s start with the drinks. If you were walking the strip and needed a cold drink, O’Sheas was the place to stop. O’Sheas had a front bar that pretty much extended right onto the Strip. It pretty much begged for you to stop as you walked by. It was fully stocked and always had great specials such as $1 beers and Irish Car Bomb deals. In fact, just last summer my friend took her first car bomb with me at O’Sheas. (Click here for the video). If you didn’t want a car bomb or a $1 beer, everything else they served was more than affordable and downright cheap by Vegas standards. The front bar was fun too! Lucky the Leprechaun would routinely get up on the bar and pour shots in people’s mouths. Everyone would go nuts. There was also a bar in the back that served the pong tables and anyone else who maybe wanted to get away from the craziness of the front bar. It was at O’Sheas back bar that I had my first ever AMF, bought for me by a nice girl from New York. Since then, whenever I have had an AMF, I always think of her and O’Sheas.

Another great part of O’Sheas was their food court! Located in the back of the building, their food catered directly towards people who needed something a little greasy to help their stomach hold. Open 24/7 and diverse, you could not beat it. Although all the restaurants did not always look the most well-kept, you could get whatever high calorie food you wanted. I personally loved the teriyaki place they had in the left-sided area. I would get a bunch of chicken and rice on a plate and have them douse it with Sriracha. I also frequented the pizza place that had a wonderful meat lover’s slice. Of course, you could not go wrong with Subway as I had my fair share of $5 foot longs. The burrito shop was also a go-to place for me. Although I stayed away from it, the place that had the hot dogs, wings, nachos, and soft pretzels looked interesting as well. And let’s not forget about the Burger King, which O’Sheas proudly claimed  was one of the only ones on the Strip. I would guess that about 30% of the food I ate in Vegas came from the O’Sheas food court.
Me eating some of my favorite teriyaki at O’Sheas

The poker game at O’Sheas was superb as well. The cash games were so much fun and with the poker tables also set pretty much right on the Strip next to the front bar,  the atmosphere was awesome. However, my favorite part when it came to poker at O’Sheas was the tournament play. The first time my brother went to Vegas as a twenty-one year old, him and I played the morning tournament every single day. Laid back and affordable, we had a great time. On one occasion, they even gave each of us a t-shirt for buying in. The drink service was the fastest I had ever experienced at a poker table (especially for a tournament) and the game was well-ran and not too drawn out.
My brother Glen and our friend Fran in the food court.

Besides poker, the table games were the best on the Strip. You could always find a $10 table and about 90% of the time there were always $5 tables available as well. But the best part about the table games (besides fellow players)?  The dealers!! They were the most relaxed, cool people I have ever encountered at any casino. One time my brother and I played roulette at a table full of girls from Arizona and we were doing things that would get us kicked out in a heartbeat at any other casino in Las Vegas. We were touching chips, yelling, texting on our phones, and taking pictures. Our new friends were also pretty much sliding back into the pit area with the dealer. It was one of the best gambling experiences I have ever had in my life. When the dealer got off his shift he asked me what we were all doing later that night  because he wanted to hang out with us. When does that ever happen?!  But stories like this were common at O’Sheas. My brother and I met a couple of awesome girls from Tennessee one night who we established an instant bond with. Shenanigans and adventures happened at the table that night. We still talk to one of them regularly to this day. In fact, that same night my brother and Ashleigh (girl who we met from Tennessee) reenacted the “Hangover” and climbed to the roof of Caesar’s Palace. If they had never met at O’Sheas, this epic adventure would have never of happened.
Was not kidding about players going back in the pit area. This is our Arizona friend.

Maybe the one thing that O’Sheas is most famous for are their pong tables. I have many fond memories played through my fair share of games. Cheap and fun, I have always loved how people meet and mesh their rules from different parts of the country together to form one awesome game. It seems like the tables at O’Sheas bring out the best in every player. My friend Cody and I made a trip to Vegas a couple years ago and I got the guts to ask two of the hottest looking girls ever to play with us and they accepted. I took one girl and Cody took the other and we had one heckuva time. The whole place pretty much shut down to  watch us play. The first time my brother and I went to Vegas together we brought the girls I mentioned above from the roulette table to the pong table. Again, good times were had by all. The girl I mentioned earlier who bought me my first AMF? I met her and her friend at pong as well. We hung out for most of that day after our O’Sheas experience and we became such best buds that I rode the New York New York roller coaster with them…and I usually hate roller coasters. This past December my brother and I tried our luck at the $40 Thursday tournament. We played against the stiffest competition I have ever went up against in my life. We got our clocks cleaned our first game against some locals and then we beat a Chicago duo in our second game. We were later eliminated by another local team but it was so fun and got our competitive juices flowing.
Arizona friends with me.

Other things I am going to miss about O’Sheas? The oxygen bar for sure (Always rejuvenated me and was usually always tended by a hot girl). The O’Sheas signature smell (Don’t really know how to describe it or what it really was). Lucky the Leprechaun (Coolest guy ever – would always take a picture with you and would never accept a tip…so glad he will be back in the newly revamped O’Sheas). The atmosphere (Nothing ever beat it and nothing ever will).
Me with Lucky.

The Vegas Strip has lost an entity that gave it attitude and uniqueness. I can’t state enough how serious I am, I feel great disappointment that O’Sheas is getting demolished. Harrah’s, the owner of O’Sheas,  is building an entertainment center called The Linq. Inside this new center they will build a new O’Sheas. Whenever The Linq is actually built and the new version of O’Sheas is open, all I can say is that I hope it is at least half as good as the original one. Don’t Blink.

One of My Best Experiences: 2012 NCAA Tournament

Posted on by
Reply

This past week I had the opportunity to travel with the Montana Grizzly Basketball team to the 2012 NCAA Tournament.  I had an absolutely amazing time.

The NCAA Selection Committee decided to send us out to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the second and third rounds of the tournament. While Portland, Oregon, was probably everyone’s top choice on where to go, Albuquerque was definitely number two. Not only did we get a favorable geographic location, we also got a favorable seeding. The Selection Committee tabbed us as a #13 seed and set us up with a matchup against Wisconsin on Thursday.


Our Montana contingent left Missoula on Tuesday morning. Three buses that consisted of the players/coaches and their spouses, athletic staff, media personnel, the Dance Team, and our pep band left campus at 10:30am en route to the Missoula airport. Escorted by the Missoula Police, we had a hero’s send off as people lined the sidewalks as we drove down Broadway Street. It was so cool to see all the support and pride that Missoula has for the program.  We got to the airport and went through security. One of the perks about going on these special trips is that you get to fly charter. That means you don’t have to worry about checking in, checking luggage, or hauling big bags all around. Everything is pre-arranged and pretty much done for you. After eating lunch at the gate, we boarded our plane.

Me just about to board the bus and start the trip to Albuquerque.


The plane ride had a couple of little quirks thrown in. First, we were delayed on the ground for about a half hour. Once we finally got in the air, it was pretty much smooth sailing. However, as we started to fly over Albuquerque and descend into the city we all of a sudden flew out and ascended higher into the air. It turned out that because of our late start, the schedule had been messed up a little bit and other planes were landing at the time. So we had to spend some extra time in the New Mexico skies joyriding around before we were finally cleared to land. Once we touched down on Albuquerque soil, we picked up our luggage that was conveniently waiting for us right outside of the plane and hopped on buses to take us to our hotel. The first thing that hit me upon our arrival in Albuquerque was the beautiful weather. In the low seventies and sunny, my mood was sky high.

The NCAA put us up in the Marriott Pyramid in the north part of Albuquerque. The hotel was definitely the Luxor of New Mexico and it was very nice. The lobby was gorgeous with waterfalls, nice furniture, a restaurant, and a lounge. Streamers strung from the ceiling cascaded down the ten floors, giving it a really cool look. NCAA Tournament banners were hung all over the place, reminding everyone of the  major event that was going on. The NCAA also placed the UNLV Basketball team at our hotel as well since they were playing in the South Region, making it so we would not play them in the initial rounds.
Our hotel, the Marriott Pyramid. Very nice and classy.
By the time we all got checked into the hotel and settled, it was around 4:30pm. We spent that first night pretty much just hanging out as a staff. With the team getting concentrated on Wisconsin, we as a staff just enjoyed each other’s company and watched the First Four games that were going on that night. Later on a bunch of us ventured out to a restaurant called El Pinto for dinner. It was the start of a whole bunch of Mexican food that I would consume on the trip. I gobbled down chips and salsa and had a mammoth burrito that was very tasty and spicy. The best part though? The margaritas! At El Pinto they make them the real way by cutting out the artificial margarita mix and using lime juice. The fact that the tequila was Patron Silver also added to the taste. It was the best couple margaritas I had ever had in my life. The best way I could explain the taste was to say it was as if I was drinking the liquid version of Trix cereal. It was also at the restaurant where I first learned the mini obsession that New Mexico has with putting red and green chilis into everything!
Doug and Megan at the El Pinto bar as we wait for our table.

We got back to the hotel and once again gathered as a staff to just enjoy each other’s company, chit-chat, and watch sports. I stayed up until around 2am talking with our radio announcer and one of the basketball managers before hitting the hay.

I awoke at 7:30am the next morning, showered, and went down to the hotel lobby where I caught up on necessary work as I updated our website and social media outlets. Joining me in the lobby were several staff members who were tending to the activities that were going on that day. At 10am, I went right outside the hotel with Christie as we watched the Dance Team and band practice. It was another amazing day out. I had not felt so comfortable in a long time as I stood outside in the beautiful New Mexico morning sun.

The Dance Team practicing in the beautiful weather.

After practice I hopped on the bus and we went out to the University of New Mexico campus for the basketball team’s practice. The team practiced at the venue they would play at tomorrow, the famous facility known as The Pit. The arena holds around 16,000 people and is simply a great facility. Even though it was decked out for the NCAA Tournament, the New Mexico Lobos presence was everywhere, serving as an example of successful branding. The practice itself was pretty much just a formality. For one hour the team just got loose, ran some basic drills, and became accustomed with the floor they would be playing on. After that practice they would go to a local high school for a more intense and traditional closed session.

The team practicing in The Pit.

After practice I returned to the hotel and by this time I was starving. Jimmy, Christie, and myself ate lunch at the hotel restaurant. I don’t believe I have ever mentioned Jimmy in one of my posts before but he is our Assistant Athletic Director for Business and Finance. Not only does he keep all of our money straight, he also arranges all of the team travel…pretty big job if I do say so myself. At lunch I ordered the chicken macaroni and cheese. Once again, it came with green chilis. Anyway, I think it may have been the best macaroni and cheese I had ever had in my life besides what my mom makes and despite how hungry I was and how much I love mac and cheese, I was not even able to eat it all!! That is how big it was.
Me with my macaroni and cheese.
After lunch, we got back into the buses.  Christie, our dance team coach Megan, and I took the band and dance team to a major shopping mall area. It was fun traveling to the shopping area and seeing all of the different businesses and buildings in Albuquerque. Once we dropped off the students at the mall, the three of us went to a place called St. Clair Winery and Bistro and we sampled some wine. Megan ordered some chicken macaroni and cheese. While it looked good, it did not compare to what I had a couple hours earlier. We left the winery and walked the sunny streets of Albuquerque, entering into an area called Old Town. Random shops and old structures lined the area. After looking around a little bit, we headed into a hole in the wall restaurant called Old Church Café. We sat out on the back patio and over some chips and salsa and margaritas we simply just chatted and enjoyed ourselves under the sun. At that point I made a note in my head how lucky I was to be there, it was one of my best memories of the trip.
Myself, Christie, and Megan at Old Church Cafe. One of my favorite moments of the trip.
The bus then picked us up and we went back to the hotel. After hanging out with the staff some more, we took the Dance Team and band out to another Mexican restaurant called Sadie’s. After the dancers and band members got seated, the three of us went to a different area in the restaurant to relax. It was here that Christie and I met a guy all the way from Baltimore who talked to us about how he became a Griz fan the moment he saw our football team on ESPN against Appalacian State in our classic semi-final  night game played in the snow from a couple years back. We had a great time chatting and he assured us he would cheer on the Griz tomorrow. I had enchiladas at this place and just like everywhere else, the food was amazing. At Sadie’s they also had a serve-yourself chips and salsa station. No need to wait for refills! I thought that was pretty cool.
My meal at Sadie’s. So good!

After dinner we returned to the hotel and once again it was more staff bonding time. I think one of the best parts of all this time we got to spend together as a staff was getting to know people you did not know very well (or in some cases even at all) before. By this time, my mind was starting to focus on the game tomorrow and my adrenaline started to pump a little bit. Later on in the night, Megan, Doug (assistant director in the equipment room), a couple people from our student government, and I went out for a little bit. Being the younger people on the trip aside from the student athletes, band, and dance team, we had a little more energy than some of the other staff members. We returned to the hotel and then Megan, Doug, and I stayed up and talked until around 5am. As I said, it was just tough to sleep with an NCAA Tournament game looming the next day. In fact, after Doug and Megan went to bed, I just made it an all-nighter…no sleep for this guy.

Myself, Megan, and Doug.

At 7am I showered and caught up on updating everything on the web and socially. I got put in charge of giving all of the people in our travel party their tickets for the game. I ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant with Jerek (our video person) and a couple of the local sports anchors who had made the trip with us. I had the New Mexico omelette that came with chorizo sausage, cheese, peppers, and you guessed it…green chilis. After breakfast we hopped on the buses and made the trip down to The Pit…it was show time.

When we arrived at The Pit, excitement was starting to build outside of the arena. Several Griz fans were gathering around the gates and I was passing out WE ARE MONTANA cards to them. Again, the weather was beautiful. Christie and I entered through the media entrance and made sure the dance team and mascot were settled in one of the New Mexico weightrooms so they could warm up and stretch. I then went out to the floor and sat on the team bench and just looked around for a few minutes. Looking at the court, press row, television cameras, and various NCAA officials actually made me get a little emotional. Here I was courtside at the NCAA Tournament…the thing that I had watched religiously for the past fifteen years of my life and believed to be the greatest sporting event in the world. It was a little surreal and a little magical.

Christie and I outside The Pit.
Watching our team take the floor and then our dance team and Monte take their positions under the basket gave me a huge sense of pride. Walking around the floor area pre-game was a little chaotic as cameramen, security, NCAA officials, media personnel, and others were moving all around. Although exciting, I was happy when the National Anthem was performed and the game was about to begin. Christie, Megan, and I sat front row in one of the corners of the arena so we could be right by the Dance Team and Monte. The Pit employs ushers who wear distinctive red coats. The one right next to us three informed us that he was rooting for Montana.
Getting Monte ready to go!

At 12:10pm on Thursday, March 15, the Montana Grizzlies tipped off against the Wisconsin Badgers. Most of you know how the game went. For the first half, the Griz stayed right with Wisconsin. Although trailing by ten points at half, it was a very competitive first twenty minutes. When the second half started, Wisconsin started to pull away. The lead started to extend. At one point,  the lead was cut back to ten points on back-to-back three pointers but it was not meant to be.  Wisconsin beat Montana 73-49.

Me at the tournament.

After the game, Christie, Megan, and I went to the press conference to support our team. Behind the disappointment, it was really cool to see how a major press conference is conducted and set up. Seeing the media workroom was also a neat site. We walked around The Pit for a little bit and then we went back to our seats and watched the Vanderbilt-Harvard game. Vandy ended up winning the game but would eventually fall to Wisconsin on Saturday.
At the press conference after the game.

After our game ended, word quickly got around that we would be leaving at 8pm that night. After the Vandy-Harvard game we got back on the buses to go back to the hotel and pack. Before we packed though, a bunch of us shared one last meal at the hotel restaurant. As we ate and chatted, I realized that I really did not want to leave New Mexico.

Megan got macaroni and cheese one more time.

We got on the buses and headed to the airport. Our buses pulled right up to the plane and we went through security in the dark right when we got out of the bus. We got on the plane and I immediately fell right asleep. When I opened my eyes next, we were landing in Missoula. We were greeted by a cold, consistent rain. The buses took us back  to campus and I trekked from where we were dropped off to my car which seemed like a thousand miles away. Once I reached my car sopping wet I got in and drove back to my house.

Despite the early exit in the NCAA Tournament, I had a wonderful time in Albuquerque. It was a true highlight for me and something that I feel very fortunate to have experienced. I love working for Grizzly Athletics and I love working with the people who I work with. This trip could not have confirmed those two facts any more. Don’t Blink.

Christie and I…what a great trip.

Albuquerque Here We Come

Posted on by
Reply

At around noon today I will be hopping onto a charter with the Griz Basketball team, my co-workers, our dance team, our band, and some media personnel and we will fly south to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

With the team’s win in the Big Sky Conference Tournament last Wednesday, they punched their ticket to the Big Dance. This past Sunday, the Selection Committee rewarded the Griz with a #13 seed and a date against the #4 seeded Wisconsin Badgers in The Pit on the campus of the University of New Mexico.

I can’t wait for this experience. As we do not play until Thursday, we will have a full day and a half to soak up the sun in Albuquerque and really get a feel for the NCAA Tournament atmosphere. I have only attended the NCAA Tourney once, a couple years back in Spokane. The prestige and the competitiveness of the tournament gripped me, as well as seeing all the different teams, coaches, cheerleaders, mascots, and band members converging on one arena. It was special. To be able to attend as an employee for a participating school is pretty cool.

The Griz will have a shot against Wisconsin come Thursday. It has been a lot of fun watching the national analysts make their pick in our game. Doug Gottlieb (who I despise) and Andy Katz (who I like) both picked Montana to upset the Badgers. If Wisconsin wants to win, they will have to snap the longest win streak in the nation right now…not an easy task.

I can’t wait to share with you my NCAA Tournament experience. Let’s just hope it is on Sunday as opposed to Friday. Albuquerque here we come, GO GRIZ! Don’t Blink.

Tim Tebow Visits Missoula, MT: #AllHeDoesIsWin

Posted on by
Reply

This past football season belonged to Tim Tebow. With the odds stacked against him and with the media, fans, opposing players, and even his own coach and GM lining up to knock him, it definitely became the best story of the year when he became the Bronco’s starting quarterback and led them to the playoffs. Tebowmania swept the nation and a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon. He quickly became not just one of the most sought after athletes around, he became one of the most sought after celebrities.

Thus, it generated huge pandemonium and excitement when word broke about two months ago that Tim Tebow would be stopping in Montana for a three day tour around the state. In his itinerary was almost a full day in Missoula with the marquee event taking place in the Adams Center. Pretty cool, huh?

The group hosting him in Missoula was a local Christian community center (City Life). It is a long, drawn out story but supposedly a girl for her high school senior project wrote a letter to Tebow asking him to come to Missoula to help raise funds for the center. The quarterback agreed and a storm of publicity came with it. As it was a fundraiser, tickets were sold for $100 for a lower level seat and $50 for an upper level seat.

Let’s stop right there.

I don’t think twice about paying inflated prices for premium tickets to concerts and sporting events. I also am a big fan of Tim Tebow. But while I dump a lot of money into tickets and while I also admire #15, I could not bring myself to pay triple digits to hear him talk. I would cough up twice that amount of money to see him play…but not talk.

So although I was all set to bypass his Missoula appearance, I ended up watching it anyway. Because of my background DJing the football and basketball games for Grizzly Athletics, the Adams Center (the place where our department rents office space and facilities) from time to time asks me to DJ their events as well. I gladly accepted, knowing that I would have one of the best seats in the house, would get to play music for Tim Tebow, and would not have to pay a cent.

Tim Tebow was scheduled to speak at noon last Wednesday. I started working the event at 11am right when the doors opened. I played a bunch of feel good, non-suggestive music such as U2’s “Beautiful Day,” Katy Perry’s “Firework,” Garth Brooks “Standing Outside the Fire,” Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” etc. Come noon Tebow had not arrived at the Adams Center yet so after one of the City Life representatives stalled for the audience a little bit, I played more music. Probably about seven minutes past noon, Tim Tebow himself walked down the vehicle ramp in the northeast corner of the arena right where my music table is set up. He stood a foot away from me as the City Life Pastor greeted everyone and then one of our former football players and one of our current assistant coaches introduced him. No, I never said anything to him. Surrounded by a few members of his entourage and then a throng of “official” (#sarcasm) looking City Life security guards in orange t-shirts, I decided to play it cool.

Tebow was introduced and he walked about thirty feet to midcourt to start the session. So this is how it was all set up: There was a chair for Tebow in the forefront of the Grizzly bear logo on the arena floor. Right next to Tebow’s chair was another chair that faced him. To the back left of the two forefront chairs there were two chairs and then to the back right there were two additional chairs. These six chairs faced in the direction of about 100 chairs that were set up on the south end of the arena floor for “VIP” attendees. It was a Q&A format. The person who sat in the chair right next to Tebow would ask the questions. After that person finished, someone else from the four chairs in the back would walk forward, take the seat next to Tebow, and resume asking questions.
Tim Tebow handing off a football at the Adams Center.

The City Life Pastor/Leader person first took the seat of honor next to Tebow and started asking him questions. It was pretty entertaining. He asked him rapid fire general interest questions such as “Do you prefer the Grizzlies or Bobcats?” (Grizzlies), “BCS or Playoffs?” (Playoffs), “Skiing or snowboarding?” (can’t remember what he said), etc. The questions were good and Tebow’s answers were funny.

They next brought up a local football coach who was affiliated with City Center and he asked Tebow questions strictly about football. It was pretty interesting. They covered high school, college, and NFL. Tebow talked a lot about how he transferred high schools so he could get a shot at playing quarterback. He went to a school with a terrible program and of course he turned them into state champions. He talked about some of  the Broncos players and how much he respected them. Not too much of a shocker there.

Then a girl who is battling a disease and whose dream it was to meet Tebow took the seat next to him. She only asked one or two questions and to be honest I can’t remember what they were.
#AllHeDoesIsWin

Next the girl who had written the letter to Tebow inviting him to come to Missoula took the chair. That whole Q&A period really centered on how important it was to go on a mission overseas in an impoverished country. Tebow and the girl traded stories and I simply lost interest.

To end it, a guy who had some position on the City Life team quizzed Tebow about his faith. I did not mind this at all because of course it was going to come out eventually, after all a Christian community center was putting it on. I actually thought the way City Life balanced the content of the session was very well done. They took a lot of time to ask Tebow just general stuff, questions that were not geared exclusively towards faith and religion. After the questions were finished, they prayed for Tebow and that was the end of the show.

Right when the prayer was over Tebow and his crew marched right up through the vehicle tunnel and off into the Missoula day. The funniest part for me was the chaos that happened right then: A dad and his little son carrying a football along with some more randos sprinted up the vehicle tunnel chasing Tebow, hoping for some personal contact (they were denied). At the same time, ESPN stormed the court to get ready for the Big Sky Conference Championship game that was occurring later that night. It was an interesting sight.
Tebow rushing out of the Adams Center.

Just a few notes on the whole “Tebow Time.” I was so happy I did not spend $100 to watch that. The whole deal was much more boring than what I thought it was going to be. Again, credit City Life for trying to appeal to everyone in the audience by keeping the session lighthearted and not one-sided but I was just not captivated. Secondly, Tim Tebow did not come across as “straight laced” as I have found him to be on national interviews. He was definitely witty and even sarcastic at times.  Finally, he definitely did not come across as larger than life. Sometimes when you see celebrities in person you can feel a certain aura or special presence. Even though I thoroughly respect the man and cheer for him, I did not get that from him.

Right now I am watching this Peyton Manning saga closely. If he does go to the Broncos and Tebow gets released, it will just be another chapter in the adversity saga for him. God Bless him, there are not many players in the league who could handle what he has gone through. The kid is a winner and I  will be rooting for him, even if his Q&A sessions are a little boring. Don’t Blink.

Blake Shelton Concert Review

Posted on by
Reply

This past Thursday I left work a little early to make the trip over to Spokane for Blake Shelton’s “Well Lit and Amplified” tour.  The trip pretty much came together just a week prior when I realized he was playing in Spokane. After checking ticket availability on Stubhub I decided to pull the trigger and bought a couple of “slightly” inflated second row seats.

I don’t think I had ever felt so pumped up for a concert before. Still nursing a nice high from the previous night when our basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament and really feeling in the mood after listening to Blake the whole drive over, I could not wait to walk through the doors of the Spokane Arena. After some great food at P.F. Changs and a few drinks, my friend Emily and myself drove across the Monroe Street bridge and entered the venue.

Emily and I made it to our seats, second row as advertised, just as the show started. Blake’s opening act was Dia Frampton. If you are like me, you are probably asking yourself “WHO?” right about now. If you are not a fan of “The Voice,” there is little chance you would know who she is. Dia rose to stardom on the first season of the show and of course she was coached by Blake Shelton. This by default earned her a spot on his tour.

I don’t want to hate on Dia Frampton too much. The fact of the matter is, when you are the first opening act for any type of show, you already have the cards stacked against you. Most of the time you are playing to probably about 60% of the crowd that the headliner will receive later on in the night and of that 60% probably only half are really engaged in your set anyway. A lot of times, as in Dia’s case, you won’t be working with a very visually appealing stage either. Dia did not even have a backdrop with her name on it. So please forgive me if I say that her quick twenty-five minute set did not really impress me too much. Emily and I could never really put a finger on what type of genre her music was but it definitely wasn’t country.  If we couldn’t get into her set by watching her from two rows away, something was definitely missing.

Dia Frampton at the concert on Thursday

After grabbing drinks during the set change, we made it back to our seats in perfect time for the second opening act…Justin Moore. I had the opportunity to meet Justin Moore and watch him perform last October in Missoula when he was on the Miranda Lambert tour so I definitely had an idea on what to expect. Basically, there were not too many surprises. This was just fine by me though because I thoroughly enjoyed him the first time around. He still brought the energy, the passion, and the tight pants to Spokane that he displayed in Montana. He still carried with him his pro-gun rights, small town loving attitude as he talked to the crowd. He definitely had a little more of a swagger than last October though. A little more cocky, a little less shy. But I can’t say this surprised me, just in the past five months his career has continued to skyrocket. He changed his set list around for the Spokane show as well. He pretty much saved all of his radio hits for the second half of the set. I actually thought it was great planning, it kept me excited the whole time. A cool highlight of his performance came when he sang “With a Little Help from My Friends,” also known as the Wonder Years theme. I can’t say I became any more of a Justin Moore fan than I already was after watching him the second time around but he definitely put on a decent show.
Justin Moore was just as good the second time around.

After going through the same drill as we did during the first set change, we made it back to our seats drinks in hands (both hands) right before Blake Shelton took the stage. Only this time, instead of staying in our second row seats we climbed over the chairs in front of us and filled the front row, not thinking about the people who occupied those seats during the first two acts. Joining us in our front row assault were two very nice women who looked much younger than they were, Kathy and Serenity. The four of us were ready to party.

Blake Shelton came out on this Star Trek type elevator deal singing “Footloose.” Everyone in the arena went crazy. I had not received an adrenaline rush like that at a concert for quite a while. The opening of his set was absolutely superb. After “Footloose” he sang “It’s All About Tonight,” “She Wouldn’t Be Gone,” and then one of my favorite Blake songs of all time, “Don’t Make Me.” Talk about packing a punch! After he sang “Don’t Make Me,” and really established that tone, he started to really interact with the crowd.

Blake Shelton killing it to open the show.
Now going into the concert I was ready for a tough, cocky, borderline arrogant attitude from Blake Shelton. That is just how I have always pictured him and how he has come across to me while on television. I was actually kind of looking forward to it. But let me tell you, this was not how he acted in concert. He was very charming and personable with the crowd. When he talked about Nashville and the powers that be, he stuck it to them but he never seemed above any of us. His stories were engaging and he seemed to give genuine respect to the people of Spokane as they had packed every single seat in the arena.

I never got bored or distracted during his whole time on stage. The hits just kept coming and coming. He sang “Some Beach” and “Drink On It” back to back, both great performances that had everyone singing along. He then talked about his infamous Twitter account (@blakeshelton) and basically explained about how he does not censor what he says. He can be happy, mad, or drunk and he will still tweet. He again reiterated the point how he hates the suits in Nashville and how they should give up on trying to control what he posts through Twitter. He then took a fake cell phone and threw it right to Emily who caught it like a champ!! He then went right into “Kiss My Country Ass.”
Emily and I with Blake in the background
The concert just kept rocking. Blake shook the hands of us four numerous times. We repeatedly annoyed the security guard who acted as if her life depended on not letting us get too close. Emily and all the other girls at the show had their hearts melt when Blake went out to the very end of the stage, sat on a stool, and sang “Austin.” He brought out Dia Frampton for a duet as well. All of the fans at the show who attended solely because they are fans of “The Voice” got their fix as Blake told a funny story about the first casting meeting they had. Basically Blake was the first one there and then Adam Levin, Christina Aguliera, and Cee Lo Green each came in separately after him. He talked about the entrance of each one and made fun of them…it was hilarious. After he ended with Cee Lo’s entrance into the meeting, he sang “Forget You.” The crowd responded very well to it and even though he sang the “Forget” version, it worked.
Such a great entertainer.

Shelton then went into “The More I Drink” and then sang another one of my favorite songs, “Honeybee.” After a couple more songs, he left the stage.

Now Emily had told me that she thought Blake would sing “God Gave Me You” for his encore before the show even started. I disagreed thinking that artists usually end with an upbeat, energy rocking song. Going in, I would have guessed that he would have sang either “Honeybee” or one of his drinking songs to close out. But as he left the stage and the only song I could really think that he had left to sing was “God Gave Me You,” I knew Emily was right.
He sang some other song to open up his encore and then finished with “God Gave Me You,” my favorite Blake Shelton song. It absolutely rocked. As the band left the stage Emily caught another guitar pick, giving her three picks for the entire concert in addition to her phone and the multiple hand slaps with Blake. Kathy caught one of the drum sticks, proving that it definitely pays to be in the front row.

Blake Shelton holding Emily’s hand.


Leaving the concert I told Emily that it was one of the better concerts I had ever been to. Four days later I still think the same thing. It did not have the pyrotechnics, expensive videos, huge video screens, and massive production of say a Toby Keith or Keith Urban show but it had personality and it had a great entertainer singing hit after hit who had a great time with his audience. I will remember this concert for a long time. Don’t Blink.

PAST CONCERT REVIEWS:
Emily and I with our new friends, Kathy (white jacket) and Serenity (dark jacket).

Big Sky Conference Tourney Day #1: Awesome

Posted on by
Reply

As I mentioned in a previous post this past week, the athletic department that I work for earned the right via our excellent players and coaches to hold our men’s basketball conference tournament. Throughout that post I talked about how excited I was to have the opportunity to take part in helping to host the tournament.  Still in my office after an extremely long day, I can’t express how much fun Day One of the 2012 Big Sky Conference Tournament was.

The whole day was full of constant movement and activity. Sharing our office space with the Big Sky Conference staff while assisting visiting schools and media as they walked in and out throughout the day was pretty cool. I got to put faces to many names and also see a lot of people I had not seen in a while. Many people in our department went above and beyond to accommodate our conference, our competitors, and our guests…a valuable example and lesson to someone like me who is still relatively new in the business.

When it came to the actual games, we could not have asked for a better night of basketball. In the 5:30 matchup, Weber State (#2 seed) barely edged Portland State (#3 seed). Portland State owned the lead for much of the game but could not hold on. It was so nice to work a good, high stakes, competitive basketball game with no stress attached. Let me tell you though, that stress certainly hit me for the 8pm game as Montana took on Eastern Washington. The Eagles held the lead for most of the first half. Come the second half, the lead went back and forth but ultimately the Griz won, 74-66. The first tournament game got a decent sized, appreciative crowd and then of  course come the Griz game Dahlberg Arena was explosive.
So it all comes down to tomorrow night. Montana will host Weber State in a rematch from just last week. Only this time, instead of a Big Sky Conference regular season championship up for grabs, it will be a Big Sky Conference Tournament championship up for grabs with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament to go with it.
For tomorrow night’s championship game we welcome ESPN2 into our arena. The exposure is priceless. I can’t wait for the game to start and for all of the texts and tweets that will come my way from my friends who will be watching in various locations across the country. It is time for Missoula to once again put on a show for the nation.
After I post this, I will once again walk out the doors of the Adams Center so thankful and so happy to be doing a job that I love. It does not get much better than this. Don’t Blink.

The Three Best Unhealthy Cereals of All-Time

Posted on by
5

So I know this following blog post is kind of a little stupid and might make me look a little desperate on something to write about but I like to  keep things light hearted from time to time. Plus I am starving right now and would love to eat something ridiculously sweet so please forgive me for this softball post.
———————–

I think my parents raised me and my sister and brother the right way when it came to our diets. We definitely did not get to live on junk food and sweets but we did get to be kids and indulge in some of the finer not-so-healthy crap from time to time. We only got to drink soda when we visited my grandparents’ house and when we did, we got no more than half a can. Continuing with the moderation theme, my parents would only let us eat half of a candy bar as well. When it came to fast food, whenever we got to go out to McDonalds it was a special occasion. On those nights where my mom and dad would really wanted to reward us,they would take us out for ice cream.

However, one aspect when it came to food that my parents let slide a little bit was breakfast. Whereas Monday through Friday before we went to school we got the option to eat oatmeal or cheerios, when the weekend came, we got to open the bottom shelf and eat whatever sugary cereal we had picked out at the store earlier that week. We usually had at least two cereals to choose from and sometimes we would get to have a bowl of each!

Growing up, I not only looked forward to the weekends because of cartoons, sports, and no school, but also because of breakfast! I loved those sugary cereals with the colorful boxes and wacky characters associated with each different kind. While I loved everything from Froot Loops to Trix to Cap’n Crunch to Lucky Charms, there are three cereals that I absolutely LOVED growing up that I would still eat today at any given second. Of course they are the most sugar loaded and unhealthy creations ever made that really have no business being called a “cereal” but who cares?!I will share with you which cereals they are and even rank them for you!

3. Cinnamon Toast Crunch- “Cinnamon and sugar in every bite” is the slogan and they definitely were not kidding. This cereal was so good and so addicting. Even as a young tike I could probably eat the whole box. Putting a spoonful in your mouth really gave you a rush of flavor as the sugar and cinnamon assaulted pretty much every taste bud you had. Downside was definitely the rather unpleasant film that would encompass your teeth after eating a bowl. Not my favorite feeling in the world but oh so worth it. One thing about each of these three cereals that I am listing is that they all taste just as good without milk. Attesting to the greatness of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, if you ate them dry with your hands, all of your fingers would be completely covered in cinnamon and sugar. Just a sign of how potent and loaded this cereal really was.

2. Reeses Puffs- There is no other description for this cereal that fits it better than “eating a bowl of candy with milk and a spoon.” Really, it is beyond me how my parents even let me eat this stuff. I can close my eyes and envision taking a bite and tasting exactly what it tasted like. The rich peanut butter and chocolate flavor was so strong, the texture so perfect! Honestly, I am pretty much salivating right now. Again, I can’t describe enough how much of a stretch it really is to call Reeses Puffs a breakfast cereal. I remember my mom pouring the cereal in a zip lock bag and bringing it to the movie theater with us to serve as a cheap snack for me. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Besides Coco Puffs, there is no better cereal than Reeses Puffs that produced a better milk to drink after you had finished eating every piece.

1. Rice Krispie Treats Cereal- My all-time favorite sweet cereal though is Rice Krispie Treats Cereal. The concept of one of my favorite desserts in cereal form captured my little head when I was a youngster. I actually liked the cereal better than the actual treat in bar form…that’s how good it was. It also just put the original Rice Krispie cereal to shame. My favorite part of eating the cereal was getting the especially large clusters in my bowl. My brother and I would compete to see who got the biggest one.  The sweet, marshmallowy taste of each bite was taste bud sensual overload. Looking at it in a bowl you couldn’t help but shake your head and concede that it really looked nothing like a cereal.

So there you have it, my three favorite sugary cereals growing up. These days for breakfast I am rather plain…Monday through Friday I eat a piece of bread with crunchy peanut butter on it. On the weekends, I prefer eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I had a sugary cereal. I am definitely not above it, if the opportunity came I would definitely dive right in. But as I mentioned in a previous post, our minds tend to over glorify how things tasted years ago. Who knows how good a big bowl of Rice Krispie Treats cereal would taste today (do they even still make it?).

I apologize again for this lame post. I promise to go back to topics and issues that actually take a little bit of thought. However, I think every blogger is entitled to the nostalgic, lazy “let’s make a list” type post. Until next time, be sure to eat your Wheaties. Don’t Blink.

Taking the Sunshine Too Far

Posted on by
Reply

For an early March day in Missoula, today was beautiful. With the sun shining the whole day and the temperature hitting an unseasonably “warm” fifty-three  degrees, I found myself smiling. Who wouldn’t? For the most part, we have had the great fortune of experiencing a rather mild winter here in Missoula. The heavy snow, the arctic cold, and the brutal winds have decided not to pulverize our town as harshly as they have over the past few years. All that I can say to Mother Nature is THANK YOU.

Because of the fact that we have gotten a nice break this year from a typical Missoula winter, I figured that most people would still be able to differentiate between an early (teaser) spring day and, let’s say, a summer day in the middle of August. I am sometimes too optimistic.

As I walked out of the house late this morning to hop into my car to complete some errands I caught out of the corner of my eye my next door hippie neighbor in the middle of his lawn. My peripheral vision caught enough of the site that should have told my brain not to look over and give it a full glance but I guess I needed confirmation of the ridiculous site. With the outside temperature at forty-seven degrees at the time (according to my car), my granola neighbor was pacing his lawn shirtless and with shorts on. As I always do I avoided eye contact and got into my car as quickly as possible to avoid any type of interaction with the neighbor and drove off.

As I drove down the Rattlesnake*, I saw numerous bikers and runners/walkers in summer clothing getting their exercise in. When I drove through downtown Missoula it looked like people were about to attend the farmer’s market or something. When I unfortunately had to make a stop at Wal-Mart it was hard to ignore the multitudes of people dressed like it was the flippin Fourth of July.

Timeout.

The thing that makes Missoula great is that it is free spirited. People do their thing and judgment for the most part is low. But come on, there has to be a line between free spirited and stupid. Have some type of grasp on what type of clothing is appropriate for various situations. Just because the sun happens to be shining does not mean it is a pass for swim wear. How about besides just looking to see if the sun is out before going shirtless you look at two things: 1. The calendar – If you live in Missoula and it is not even June yet, stay covered up. To make it easier on yourself, if it is still technically WINTER, shorts need not apply. 2. Look at the temperature – If the thermometer indicates that it is a balmy fifty  degrees outside, please make an appropriate decision on how to dress. Fifty degrees will not get you a tan.

By all means, please enjoy the weather. Today got me energized and made me feel happier than I normally would have. Missoula does not see very many nice March days so today was definitely a special treat. But don’t go overboard. Sometimes I feel that Missoula gets such crappy late Winter/Spring weather because Mother Nature can’t stand the way our citizens react when she graces us with a mild, crisp day.  Enjoy it in a windbreaker and jeans…not a tank top and shorts. Don’t Blink.
* The Rattlesnake is the long road that connects the residential area I live in with the main part of town. Rattlesnake Road is a popular place for bikers and runners to utilize for their workouts.

Championship Week

Posted on by
2

The first couple months of 2012 kind of dragged on but finally March has arrived. Of course the month of March is synonymous with one thing: College Basketball.  Many people will equate the month of March and college basketball with just March Madness. However, true fans know that the third month of the year brings us college hoops fanatics so much more than just the NCAA Tournament.

I believe one of the greatest spectacles in sports is Championship Week for men’s NCAA Basketball.  Championship Week is actually longer than a week. This year it started on March 1 and will run all the way through Selection Sunday on March 11. For those of you who don’t know, CW is the time where all the conferences who host post-season tournaments to decide automatic berths to the NCAA Tournament stage their competitions. Now I am not going to go as far as to say that Championship Week is better than (or on the same level as) the NCAA Tournament, but it is close. Without taking too much of your time, I hope to convey to you why CW is so awesome for fans and how it distinguishes itself from the NCAA Tournament.  To cut it down to the basics, nothing beats Championship Week because of the inclusivity, the drama, and the scenery.

To me, Championship Week is a shortened, excitement-heightened, steroid-injected version of the regular season. Conferences will beat up on each other for three straight months pretty much only to put themselves in position for the conference tournament at the end of the season. Even if a certain team did not have the best results during the regular season, besides the seeding part of it, they have new life come the conference tournament. This is what I am talking about when it comes to inclusivity. Many of these post season tournaments that are played by the many conferences across the nation include most of their teams, if not all. Teams and fans alike can go into these tournaments totally disregarding the seeding and grasp onto a mindset that all they need to do is win a few games and they will be in the Big Dance….regular season be damned. There is just something special about seeing a whole conference come together at one site to battle it out for such a prestigious prize.

You can’t beat the drama of Championship Week. What you got to keep in mind is that pretty much all of the matchups that take place in these tournaments are teams playing each other for the third time that season. I won’t even start to get into all the clichés that are thrown out when teams play each other for the third time, but you know what I mean. All of the storylines, the bad blood, the controversies, and the trash talk are brought over from the regular season and magnified on the conference tournament stage. For the tournaments that take place on neutral courts, these matchups carry with it even more intrigue. What will happen when you take away the home court advantage between two teams that split during the regular season? 

The drama that carries on from game-to-game in the conference tournaments is so much fun to watch as well. If there is a coach who is in his last season, all eyes are on him as he tries to  prolong his career and help his team advance. If there is an NBA caliber player, especially in the conference tournaments where the only bid that is going to be given out is the automatic one, everyone is watching him. How will he make sure that his team will advance in the tournament? Can he play at his high level for four straight nights? If there is a whole team that has come under scrutiny during the season, their drama and dirty laundry is definitely going to be put under a microscope throughout the conference tournament.  You see, these storylines must be magnified during the conference tournaments because it is that unique spot between the regular season and the NCAA Tournament….that spot where the stage is the highest it can be with almost everyone included.

My favorite aspect of the conference tournaments though is the scenery. I love the contrast that is involved. I can enjoy watching both the major conferences play in the greatest entertainment venues in the nation and then flip the channel and see two schools I have never heard of duking it out in some 1,000 seat gym. You can’t go wrong watching the premiere conferences play. The best conference tournament there is, the Big East Tournament, is played in Madison Square Garden. Before I die, I want to attend a Big East Tournament. All sixteen schools in the conference play in it over five days. I try to watch every single game I can. The tradition, the personalities, and stamina of that tournament radiates through the television screen and captivates any college hoops fan.  As a Pac-12 guy, I love watching their conference tournament as well. Played in the Madison Square Garden of the West, the Staples Center, the tournament is definitely big time. Not only does the arena provide a great backdrop and atmosphere, I also get to watch the hottest sideline reporter in all of sports, Rebecca Haarlow, work the whole tournament. Talk about scenery! Growing up in Spokane, I obviously was a Gonzaga guy. I also have an obsession with Las Vegas. Because of these two traits of mine, the WCC Tournament staged at the Orleans in Sin City is also one of my favorite tournaments to watch. Just something about taking all of these Jesuit schools plus the one Mormon school (BYU) and throwing them in the Vegas environment to decide an automatic bid is pretty intriguing.

Although the glitzy big time arenas holding the elite tournaments do captivate me, I equally enjoy the obscure as well. Nothing gets me glued in more than watching the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game or the Patriot League finale. Watching some of these games taking place in tiny gyms with overflow crowds is the best. The shaky camerawork at these sites that is attributed to the volume inside the facility gives me delight. As this is the only time that many of these conferences get any of their games on national television, fans are at their best. You can feel the passion and intensity from watching these games…no, you can’t get something like this during the NCAA Tournament. It truly is a unique experience.

Finally, because of the intercollegiate marketer that I am and because of my love for the college atmosphere, I crave the opportunity to see all of the mascots, spirit squads, and bands that are shown throughout Championship Week over and over again. So fun to see what everyone all around the nation is doing.

So by writing this blog post I definitely distracted myself from watching a lot of basketball that is on right now. Did you know that my city newspaper lists fifteen games that are going to be on local cable just today?! Heaven! Enjoy Championship Week everyone! Don’t Blink.