Good Morning! With the Border Country Sports Blog, I'm Keith Harrington.
What a Time at March Madness!
I arrived home last night from Greenville, South Carolina after an amazing four days at the NCAA Men's Basketball Championships, also known as March Madness, and all I can say is "what a time!" It was sure nice to be home. My wife and my 14 year old yellow lab Chloe were both very excited to see me. My son Terrence just looked up and said, "Ah your back?" And then went back to whatever he was watching on his phone.
The rest of the evening was spent sharing the many pictures, videos, and funny stories with my wife Cathy. I kept her entertained and in stitches for the rest of the evening.
There were many high points of the trip. On Thursday we attended practice for Duke, Michigan State and Cal-State Fullerton. Being close enough to reach out and touch the CBS broadcast team of Jim Nantz, Bill Rafftery, former Duke and NBA star Grant Hill, and sideline reporter Stacey Wolfson was a huge thrill. They were all very gracious with their time with the fans.
As a long time Duke fan it was also nice to see Coach K in-person one last time before he retires whenever the Blue Devils lose, if they lose in the tournament. Coach K's wife Mickey sat in front of us at Duke practice and also enjoyed chatting with the fans who came up to her. I have been a Duke fan since Shen's Greg Koubek played there and have now seen them play live multiple times and have been to Cameron Indoor Stadium once.
Next, we were lucky enough to see two players who will likely be two of the top three draft picks in this year's NBA Draft. Most think Auburn's Jabari Smith or Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren will be the #1 pick. Seeing Smith in-person, he is as good as advertised and had one of the best dunks I have ever seen. Paola Banchero of Duke who is projected to go in the top five as also very impressive.
Even though I am a Duke fan and my brother and nephew follow North Carolina, one of the best parts of our journey was traveling out to Clemson University and touring around. We saw the football stadium, also known as Death Valley, Little John Arena, the baseball stadium and softball stadium. What an impressive campus.
Finally, the best part of the trip was just spending quality time with family. My brother, nephew and I had an incredible time and made memories we will never forget. You can never have too much time with your loved ones, and after what we have gone through the last two years with Covid-19 we all deserve to spoil ourselves a little.
Next year one of the regional sites will be at the MVP Arena in Albany. We are going and I highly recommend that you do as well. If you are a college hoop fan and have never been to March Madness, I promise, it will be an experience you will never forget.
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With the Border Country Sports Blog, I'm Keith Harrington.
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