Back Blog: 2013 PAC-12 Tournament, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV - March 13-16, 2013

What I really wanted to do was start my blog from where my photo albums left off on Facebook, and that was in February 2013, so a bunch of my blogs will be what I am calling "Back Blogs." It'll take me a while to get caught up, but I will work diligently!

Everyone who knows me well knows that I like sports, and after I met Robbie, I found he had a passion for college basketball. Over the years, it has really grown on me and has become something I look forward to every fall, and I really get pumped up come March Madness time!

Now, the PAC-12 Tournament wasn't really a trip, per-say as it was held in our back yard. It felt like a vacation though, as both Robbie and I took that Wednesday and Thursday off work (Friday's games started at 6pm) and practically lived in the MGM Grand's Garden Arena for over 3 days! We bought the package tickets that got us into every single tournament game, and we got the tickets discounted, too! One of Robbie's coworkers is a Stanford Alum, so he was able to get both of us his alumni rate! Thanks Elliott! We had great corner seats, about 15 rows up, and the action each day was amazing. If I had to choose a favorite that weekend, it was either the Bruins of UCLA, or the Oregon Ducks. Not only were we watching the action on the court, but I also made note of all the pep bands that supported their schools, the cheerleaders, uniforms, and the mascots as well. More on all this later.

We didn't make it to the first few games on Wednesday, but we were there for the 2 night games, one of which was the Utah Utes against the USC Trojans. We were both pulling for USC, but the Utes edged them, 69-66. I was upset that I had to sit through more of the Utes's cheerleading routines! I kid, kinda. The night ended with a duel of the Northeast, Washington State Cougars vs. the Washington Huskies. The Huskies took this game in a close 64-62 score. I was sad that I didn't have my camera on this day! :(

Time for bed.

We picked up the action again at the Quarterfinals games on Thursday. The first game pitted the Arizona State Sun Devils vs. the UCLA Bruins. Robbie told me that there was a really good freshman playing for the Bruins, Shabazz Muhammad, and watching him throughout the tourney was a treat! ASU outscored the Bruins 41-33 in the first half, but the Bruins made a run in the second half, leaving the final score to be 80-75 in favor of the Bruins! Yay!

 

 

We stayed for the Utah Utes vs. California Golden Bears game, and the only thing I can remember about this game is that the Utes won 79-69, and the Golden Bears had the saddest mascot of all. Also, a cool thing to note was that during the game, the Ute's mascot was meandering the crowd, and came right up to me and scooped me up! Really!

 

The next game we saw was the Washington Huskies vs. Oregon Ducks. Each day, the Ducks had the schnazziest uniforms on, and their shoes even fit the part, being green and yellow! They also had one of the most entertaining mascots and cheer squads! The Huskies pep band was really small, but they packed a lot of punch. Their pep band reminded me of the pep band I was in in college (Go Falcons)! I appreciate that kind of stuff! This was the first game that we saw go into overtime. It was a real nailbiter down to the end, but Oregon came out the victor, 80-77!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first game of the Semifinals on Friday saw Arizona vs. UCLA. UCLA won this game 66-64, and I remember being relieved because their fans were a little unruly. The second game was a match-up between Oregon and Utah. This game turned into a pretty nice runaway for the Ducks, and they found themselves in the championship game the following day, beating the Utes 64-45!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The championship game was played on Saturday night, and I remember the energy being electric. We got there for the pre-game warm-ups (as we did for the games on the previous days). We made sure we had plenty of time to take it all in, as this was both Robbie and I's first tournament experience, and it came down to my 2 favorite teams in the tourney!! Despite my hunch that UCLA would come away the PAC-12 champs, Oregon pulled ahead to win the tournament by a score of 78-69. I was still pretty happy!! We stayed at the Arena for post-game celebrations and ceremonies. It was fun for me to see all this, as before this tournament, I had only been to one other D-1 college basketball game, and that was in college. The celebration consisted of confetti (I felt bad for the janitors), pictures, and interviews by the ESPN crew! After the celebration, each championship team has a tradition of cutting down the net and keeping it as a memento. This was VERY cool, probably the highlight of my night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The PAC-12 Tournament has a contract with the MGM Grand until the end of the 2015 season, and you better believe that we will get tickets each year, and pray that the contract is extended!! The tournament was a pretty great experience!