Anatomy of a Regional: March Maddness, Indeed
A lot has been going on since we got back from break last week. First, and most pressingly, the campus has been in shock for the past several days since we learned a well-liked cheerleader apparently snapped and murdered his ex-girlfriend in front of their daughter. Brian was a frat brother in Sig Ep, a very likable guy and popular with almost everyone on campus. I've seen him hundreds of times over the past three years, first in summerstart, then at almost every sporting event, since we're both always at them. It's tragic and no one can believe it happened. I can't help thinking if we were still in the tournament, Brian would have been in Austin with the team and none of this would have happened. It's crazy.
Meanwhile, Syracuse is in the midst of hosting the east regional. For me, this means four straight days of living and breathing in the Carrier Dome. I was there last night until 2am and went back this morning at 12:00. I'll be there tomorrow at 11:00 and will be stuck until at least 7:00. Grossssss. My job has been mainly to correct and format quotes from the student-athletes. It's essentially the same thing I do after our games. To give you an idea, that's usually about twenty minutes of press conference, and it takes me about an hour to do the quotes. For the Regional, we've had at least two hours of press conferences every day since Thursday. It has been endless.
That's not to say it hasn't been fun, too. I like the people I'm working with and because there are no quotes to take care of until after a game ends, I got to watch the first game last night (NC State vs. Wisconsin) from the front row, right behind the scorers' table. I missed most of the UNC/Nova game, but finished the first set of quotes in time to watch the exciting and controversail ending. For the record, as badly as I wanted Nova to win, i do think the referees made the right call. It's too bad -- they've had a hell of a season.
I have decided this "up-close-and-personal" thing with the athletes has gone a little too far. The bathroom we are allowed to use is back by stadium control. It has a single stall and one urinal. Fine. I was in the stall on Thursday when someone came in and started using the urinal! And I could see his head over the wall of the stall - he was some NC State player. Akward. If he'd looked to the left at all, he could have looked right at me sitting there. Not cool.
Today there were group press conferences, then "break out" sessions with the student-athletes one-on-one. I was assigned to quotes from the first conference, quotes from the second conference, and to be a moderator for the break-out session. That meant if no reporters were around to ask my play any questions, I had to come up with something to ask him. Cool. I was assigned to Raymond Felton from North Carolina. Luckily, someone else became available to moderate, so I got to cross that responsiblity off my list. My favorite question and answer from him was:
Q: Why would you go to north carolina with all these other great players when you could go somewhere else and be the big fish?
A: Well, you can be the big fish on a team and not win, or you can be a mediocre fish...It's not about being a small fish or a mediocre fish, it's about all being fish together."
Huh? What the hell does that mean? That top's Julius Hodge's "I'm here on all of my four legs" comment from Thursday and Coach Williams, "You have to coach the crap out of every possession" from last night. Can't wait for tomorrow.
Actually, tomorrow is almost here, so I'm going to get some sleep before I have to go back to the Dome again. One last thing - Today during the press conference I was standing at the back of the room and Bill Rafferty walked in. I don't know what he was looking for, but he started peering behind curtains (which are just there to cover the cinder-block walls) and looking completly disoriented. Finally our athletic director led him to the side door, which apparently was what he was trying to find. Yesterday he told me I am "a delight". That was right after I accidentally smacked into him. I suck.
I'm pulling for Wisconsin tomorrow, dispite my "relationship" with Felton. There really aren't any teams left in the tournament I like. Damn you, Vermont!
Meanwhile, Syracuse is in the midst of hosting the east regional. For me, this means four straight days of living and breathing in the Carrier Dome. I was there last night until 2am and went back this morning at 12:00. I'll be there tomorrow at 11:00 and will be stuck until at least 7:00. Grossssss. My job has been mainly to correct and format quotes from the student-athletes. It's essentially the same thing I do after our games. To give you an idea, that's usually about twenty minutes of press conference, and it takes me about an hour to do the quotes. For the Regional, we've had at least two hours of press conferences every day since Thursday. It has been endless.
That's not to say it hasn't been fun, too. I like the people I'm working with and because there are no quotes to take care of until after a game ends, I got to watch the first game last night (NC State vs. Wisconsin) from the front row, right behind the scorers' table. I missed most of the UNC/Nova game, but finished the first set of quotes in time to watch the exciting and controversail ending. For the record, as badly as I wanted Nova to win, i do think the referees made the right call. It's too bad -- they've had a hell of a season.
I have decided this "up-close-and-personal" thing with the athletes has gone a little too far. The bathroom we are allowed to use is back by stadium control. It has a single stall and one urinal. Fine. I was in the stall on Thursday when someone came in and started using the urinal! And I could see his head over the wall of the stall - he was some NC State player. Akward. If he'd looked to the left at all, he could have looked right at me sitting there. Not cool.
Today there were group press conferences, then "break out" sessions with the student-athletes one-on-one. I was assigned to quotes from the first conference, quotes from the second conference, and to be a moderator for the break-out session. That meant if no reporters were around to ask my play any questions, I had to come up with something to ask him. Cool. I was assigned to Raymond Felton from North Carolina. Luckily, someone else became available to moderate, so I got to cross that responsiblity off my list. My favorite question and answer from him was:
Q: Why would you go to north carolina with all these other great players when you could go somewhere else and be the big fish?
A: Well, you can be the big fish on a team and not win, or you can be a mediocre fish...It's not about being a small fish or a mediocre fish, it's about all being fish together."
Huh? What the hell does that mean? That top's Julius Hodge's "I'm here on all of my four legs" comment from Thursday and Coach Williams, "You have to coach the crap out of every possession" from last night. Can't wait for tomorrow.
Actually, tomorrow is almost here, so I'm going to get some sleep before I have to go back to the Dome again. One last thing - Today during the press conference I was standing at the back of the room and Bill Rafferty walked in. I don't know what he was looking for, but he started peering behind curtains (which are just there to cover the cinder-block walls) and looking completly disoriented. Finally our athletic director led him to the side door, which apparently was what he was trying to find. Yesterday he told me I am "a delight". That was right after I accidentally smacked into him. I suck.
I'm pulling for Wisconsin tomorrow, dispite my "relationship" with Felton. There really aren't any teams left in the tournament I like. Damn you, Vermont!