After the weekend ended, we had our Final Four teams: the Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. the South Carolina Gamecocks (both of these teams had never been to a Final Four in school history), and the North Carolina Tarheels vs. the Oregon Ducks (the Ducks' only appearance in the Final Four was the very first year the Final Four existed, which was in 1939)! So much history was about to be made in Phoenix, so we kept our tickets and made the trek east to Phoenix the following Friday, March 31st.
Phoenix is kind of a boring city, so outside of the Final Four and Championship Game, we weren't exactly sure how else we were going to fill our time. A day before leaving, Robbie was reading up on baseball Spring Training. He read that the minor leaguers stay in Phoenix a few days extra for Extended Spring Training. The minor league season starts a few days after the major league season does. Robbie found out there was one more game to be played for the Brewers minor leaguers, so without knowing the location, on Saturday morning we just drove to the Brewers Spring Training facility (Maryvale Stadium) hoping for the best. And then out of nowhere, here were all these men, in uniform! Yes! The whole minor league system was right before my eyes! We were so lucky that the Brewers were playing at Maryvale! Being the Spring Training schedule and competitive games are over (the major league season started the next day), there was zero security, so we could literally just walk right onto the field if we wanted too (but we didn't). We got there when the team was still stretching, and when they got done with that portion, almost all of them walked right past us! I was in heaven! It was really good timing as well, because the Brewers organization is starting to re-build from the ground up, so a bunch of their minor leaguers were drafted high into the organization, and these players are pretty good. And there they were, right in front of us, the future of the Milwaukee Brewers! Now, just like my last post about being at a Spring Training game, a lot of these minor leaguers get pretty excited if you get their attention by calling them out by name (not a lot of people can recognize them), but we spent all last year following them, and watching their games! So, we got the attention of a bunch of highly-touted players, and they were gracious enough to sign autographs for us. Of course, Robbie had to do most of the talking because I was star-struck. These people are my idols! A bunch of the guys we saw and got autographs from during the Spring Training game were also in attendance for Extended Spring Training, and a few of them remembered us! How cool is that?! So, we eventually watched their game, vs. the Dodgers, up close and personal. I'm talking close. The game was held on the practice fields around Maryvale, so they had bleachers set up like a small high school field, right next to the dugout and right behind the fence. I could have reached out and touched Brett Phillips as he was in the on-deck circle if I wanted too! Or, just 2 steps over to my right, I could've been in the dugout. It was totally surreal! The game itself was kinda fun to watch. We noticed a lot during this game that we normally wouldn't see during actual games; the players who weren't in the game were sitting behind home plate taking book on the types and speeds of each pitch, there were players in the dugout who were teaching their counterparts different grips on the ball, etc. It was fascinating! It's actually a real job what theses guys do. This gave me a whole new appreciation for the game, and I really do watch it differently! Going to Maryvale was the best way to start our Phoenix trip!
After Maryvale, it was time to head to the Final Four. The location of these events was the University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. Robbie and I attended a football game there once before, so we were somewhat familiar with the surroundings. Plus, Phoenix is really easy to navigate. Once we got close to the stadium, traffic picked up, naturally. We ended up parking in one of the stadiums lots in what we thought would be an easy exit after the games. Walking up to the stadium, the energy got more intense, and the atmosphere was great! For some reason, it took us a longer amount of time to get into the venue than I thought. They had a small amount of metal detectors on hand, and the gate that we were advised to go to had a larger than normal amount of people around it. After waiting for around a half hour to get through security, we were finally in, with only minutes to spare before the singing of the National Anthem and introductions.
Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. the South Carolina Gamecocks was the first game to be played that day. We were cheering for Gonzaga! They have a few guys on their team that are pretty great, they were 1 of 2 teams representing the West Coast, they come from a small conference, and it would be nice, just once, for the NCAA to recognize this! There were a few ties in this game, but Gonzaga pretty much had control from the start. South Carolina went on a 14-0 run in the 2nd half, but surprisingly, that run only tied the game! Gonzaga ended up winning, a final of 77-73!! I had an interesting thought as the introductions were taking place before this game. Had the Badgers won against Florida in the Sweet 16, they would've matched up against the Gamecocks in the Elite 8, and who knows what would have happened then. Could it have been the Badgers in the Gamecocks's stead?? Woulda, coulda, shoulda...
The next game was between the Oregon Ducks and the North Carolina Tarheels. We were big Ducks fans during this game! It was a pretty even match-up because both offenses like to play fast. Fast offenses make me nervous, but I'm a Badger fan, and the Badgers have a very slow and methodical offense. Either way, this Ducks game was bound to be fun!
As advertised, the tempo of this game was quick, and by halftime, the total score was 75; the Ducks were trailing by 3. One thing I noticed when watching UNC, they are speedy in their offense transition. I never noticed this until Robbie pointed it out to me. I have never seen a team transition quite like UNC before! In the second half, UNC extended their lead on the Ducks, but the Ducks were resilient and fought their way back. The score was 77-76 with 4 seconds left, UNC was leading. UNC was then shooting free throws. Their shooter missed them both, and somehow came away with the rebound. Then the Ducks fouled them with a little over a second left. The shooter again misses both free throws, and again UNC gets their own rebound to win the game! First of all, I have never seen 4 consecutive missed free throws from a school like North Carolina before, and I have also never seen 2 consecutive offensive rebounds! The Ducks Lesson Of The Game: BOX OUT! It was a wild and very improbable ending to the game. The Ducks gave it all they had, but UNC prevailed. The Championship Game was set, Gonzaga vs. UNC on April 3rd!
-Battle of the Final Four Bands!-
Before going to Phoenix, Sunday was a huge question mark on what we would do, but Sunday turned out to be our most full day! When we were at the Brewers Extended Spring Training game on Saturday, we found out about the minor leaguers very last scrimmage before breaking camp and going to their respective A-Ball teams. So, of course we had to go to that. It was much of the same as Saturday: autographs, being close to players, etc, but this was a scrimmage against each other. Also, we sat next to the parents of one of the minor leaguers who had just been drafted last fall. It was a cool perspective to hear about the details of that from people that were in the middle of it. We stayed until the final pitch was thrown. Speaking of which, in Extended Spring Training and in this game, they don't play full innings; the innings go by pitch count. The whole Brewers Spring Training experience was almost spontaneous, and it was probably the highlight of our trip! We came away with 13 more autographed balls!
Sunday was also Opening Day of baseball, which both Robbie and I absolutely love! There were only 3 games that day, and the afternoon game happened to be at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Perfect! Being there was a no-brainer! We purchased the cheapest seats in the stadium that morning, and after watching the Brewers minor league scrimmage, we headed downtown towards the Opening Day crowd. The buzz outside Chase Field made me smile. After a long off-season, baseball was finally back!
We got to our seats (first baseline, foul territory, very top deck) with a few minutes to spare. For Opening Day, they do a whole team introduction, bring in a flag the size of the outfield for the National Anthem, and also do a fly-over! It was fitting for how big the day was! They should make Opening Day an observed holiday!
The Diamondbacks were playing their division rival San Francisco Giants. The Giants' ace, Madison Bumgarner got the Opening Day nod, and just like that, the season was underway! A few exciting notes on this game was that Bumgarner had a no-hitter going into the 5th inning. Not only that but he, the Giants pitcher, had 2 homeruns!! He is the first of his position to acquire such a feat! Nice work! Even that, though, could not hold off the D-Backs! In the top of the 9th inning, game knotted at 4, the Giants scored a run, and in the bottom of that inning, the D-Backs scored twice for a walk-off win! A very good start to the season! I was hoping for an exciting game, and that's what I got!
The Diamondbacks game was not our last event in our Sunday, believe it or not! On Friday night, just after getting into Phoenix and settling in for the night, we had the local news on. It was then we saw that the Phoenix Suns were hosting the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. We wouldn't have thought anything of it, except Sam Dekker, the old Wisconsin Badger of their 2015 Final Four and Championship game campaign, now plays for the Houston Rockets. "Why not," we thought! Robbie and I have been following his career in the NBA since the Rockets drafted him in 2015. His first season was pretty much spent as a bench-warmer, but this year he started seeing much more playing time, and actually padding his stats as well! Our plan was to be at the arena by the time they opened the doors, wear our Badger stuff to try and get his attention during pre-game shoot-arounds, which is very common, like batting practice for the MLB!
Luckily Chase Field is right down the street from where the Suns play, so we didn't even have to drive there! We did get there in time for the doors to open, and we did wear our Badger stuff. Only problem was that Dekker never came out for the pre-game shoot-around before we had to go to our seats. Bummer. We did, however, get seats in a suite. We thought it would be a cool experience, especially being we don't get to many NBA games. Sitting in the suite was pretty awesome.
We found out that the Rockets star player, James Harden, was out with the flu that game, and because of that, Sam Dekker actually started! This was a surprise to us! I was excited for him! However, Houston runs a very specific offense, usually through Harden, so being he was out, they went to their #2 guy. So, during each offensive possession, Sam Dekker had a place on the court, and that place was the corner of the floor, just beyond the 3-point arch. Houston mainly drives the ball to the hoop, so Dekker didn't get a chance to do much during the game. Then in the 4th quarter, as it would be, he was in transition, collided with another player, and ended up breaking his hand. Man! What a series of events! It was still really cool seeing him start, and play! He looks so much different than what he did in college. The NBA does a number on an athlete's physique! After Dekker left the court is when we left the game. The Rockets did end up winning, but it was a bummer that the one player we were there to see had to leave the court due to an injury. Get better, Dekker! Here ends our crazy fun Sunday!
Monday was a little more laid back, and it was the first day of our trip that we had nothing to get up for! It was nice to sleep in! The Brewers had their Opening Day on Monday at 11:10am PST, so we planned to go to a Buffalo Wild Wings close to our hotel to watch it. The Brewers have so many new faces in their line-up this year, only Ryan Braun and Jonathan Villar have seen an Opening Day before with the Brewers in previous years. This is also an exciting time for me as a Brewers fan because I know we are re-building, and that allows their management (and me) to see the potential in these young guys. There are 2 new additions in our line-up (among other), Eric Thames and Jesus Aguilar, who are 2 huge dudes! Everytime they are up to bat, my jaw drops with how big their biceps are! They were crushing the ball in Spring Training, and I hope it continues into the regular season! The Brewers lost their opener by 2 to the Colorado Rockies, but I know that this season is a marathon, not a sprint. After Buffalo Wild Wings, we actually had about an hour to go back and relax at our hotel, but then it was back out the door to head to the National Championship Game!
We got to the venue with plenty of time to spare. We drove in and parked in a reserved lot in a business park a little further north of the stadium. We didn't want to deal with thousands of other people leaving the stadium's lots after the game. We had a bunch of time to kill when we got settled, so I bought some Final Four merchandise and got some food in me before the game so I didn't have to worry about leaving my seat in the middle of the game.
The National Anthem was sung, introductions were done, and it was time for tip-off! We were again cheering for Gonzaga. It was their first appearance in the Championship game, whereas UNC was vying for their 6th title in 20 tries.
One cool thing to note is that last year we were watching the 2016 National Championship game on Robbie's phone (the end of it) while attending Opening Day at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. This year we were watching the Anaheim Angels Opening Day on Robbie's phone (only during half-time) while attending the 2017 National Championship game.
The action was non-stop right off the bat, and both sides were playing some really good basketball. It was back-and-forth for much of the first half with lots of 3-pointers seeing the bottom of the hoop on both sides of the court. Gonzaga went into the half leading by a score of 35-32. During halftime, I swear, the refs got together and concluded that they hadn't blown their whistle enough in the first half because almost immediately when the 2nd half started, it was whistle after whistle. Not for one team more-so than the other, though. They were calling very small fouls on both sides of the ball. I got a text from my mom in the middle of the 2nd half that said the announcers were as perplexed as the fans about these fouls. Towards the end of the game, Robbie was cheering (sarcastically of course) for the refs, and for players to get fouled out of the game. It was that bad. I felt bad for both teams, more-so for Gonzaga however. Our take-away from this aspect of the game is that the refs need to let the game be decided by the kids on the court and not the whistles around the refs' neck. Just let them play! I digress. UNC made just a few more shots down the stretch and came away with the win. To be totally honest, we left with around a minute to go in the game. I could write a whole separate blog on how, for lack of a better term, unfair the NCAA is sometimes. But I won't...right now anyway.
Even though the team we were cheering for didn't end up winning the "big game", we still had a GREAT time in Phoenix! Tuesday morning we drove back to SoCal, and had the rest of the day to relax and unwind. Going back to work on Wednesday I realized that most of the PTO I take is for some sort of sporting event! This weekend was way more than we thought it would be, and I really wouldn't have had it any other way.
We aren't counting out the 2018 Final Four in San Antonio just yet, but there is a VERY good chance we will be attending the one in 2019 in Minneapolis! We comin'!
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." -John Wooden, established NCAA coach (Indiana State and UCLA)
