Another weekend in Indianapolis

Ok, let it be known, any post from me that goes up between 8 and 11 AM on a work day, I wrote the night before and posted it in the morning. This entry falls into that category as I wrote it while watching the Red Wings win and I couldn't sleep.

Another weekend in Indianapolis. While it was disappointing to have both Wisconsin and Michigan State lose on Friday, Dad and I managed to still have a great time for the entire weekend. The city of Indianapolis is perfect for an event like the Big Ten Tournament. There are tons of hotel rooms downtown. The downtown area is relatively one of the safer cities in America (compared to other cities of the same size). There are plenty of bars and restaurants within walking distance. I can park the car on Thursday morning and there's no need to drive anywhere until I leave on Sunday. On top of everything being close, the city absolutely embraces the tournament. Every school is assigned a "team bar." The city has signs for the tournament every where and goes out of their way to make everyone feel at home. The seven or eight blocks around the Conseco Fieldhouse are filled with fans from all over the Big Ten and, for the most part, everyone is very friendly.

Here's part one of a running diary of the days in Indy (written in retrospection because there's no way I could have written all of this while down there). Part two will probably be posted about 24 hours after the first part goes up.

10:45 AM Thursday - Driving into Indianapolis, I'm reminded of just how much I look forward to this weekend every year. Aside from my bride-to-be, my dad is my best friend. If you don't have a similar relationship with your parent(s), I don't think I can explain it. There's never been a topic I can't talk to him about. We have so much in common, we just have a bond as father and son. The basketball starts this afternoon and I can't wait. It's the worst day of the tournament (the best team playing today is 6th seed Minnesota), but it's still better than any day at work.

I get to the hotel, park, and head inside. We're staying at the Sheraton in downtown Indianapolis. It's a great location for everything we're going to do all weekend. After a little hassle (as I tried to check in, they told me I had checked in at 11 PM this night before), we got myself checked in and my bags up to my room. At this point, it was about 11:30 and we had until 2:30 before the first game. Lunch time!

11:45 AM Thursday - After a short walk to the original Claddagh Irish Pub, Dad and I took our reserved seats at their bar (ok, not really reserved, but it's the two bar stools we always sit in if they're available). The first thing I realize is they have Fat Tire on tap. It's going to be a good weekend. Dad and I order two beers and peak at a menu. Lunch is good, we have a couple more beers, and we're about to head out to our next location. Right before we head out, Dad takes a bathroom stop and I start talking to the two guys to my right. Turns out they're both from Iowa originally. While they don't know my dad, they know close to 15 guys that either played football with my dad or against my dad. It's another reminder of what a small world we live in these days. Well, they ended up spending close to half an hour talking about their days in Iowa and I could tell my Dad was loving it. At that point, it was game time.

2:30 PM Thursday - We're sitting down, waiting for game 1 of 10 that weekend. As always, Dad was able to get us amazing seats. We were in the third row, right on the baseline across from the visiting bench. On top of being close to the floor, we had the media in front of us (two rows of media seats for the tournament) and I could peak at their TV screens to see all the replays that were mildly controversial (Big Ten policy says those can't be shown on the big screen in the arena). Over my right shoulder, I spot two guys we met 9 years ago. One is a big Wisconsin fan; the other a big Michigan State fan. We immediately bonded with them over the similarities (even if both guys are 10 years older than my Dad). We've seen them every year since and it's great.

3:30 PM Thursday - Michigan is well on their way to a victory over Iowa, but the 100 MSU fans sitting in the 300 level behind the visiting basket will not let Iowa die. I think they're louder than the Iowa fans. Chants of, "Let's Go Hawks!" and "Go Black! Go Gold!" can be heard throughout the fieldhouse. Every time Michigan shoots a free throw, chants of "Little Sister!" are heard coming from the MSU fans. I absolutely love it! Gotta love the MSU fans never letting Michigan basketball fans get comfortable.

4:30 PM Thursday - Iowa keeps it close, by Michigan pulls away with the victory most expected. Rumors starting to float around about Iowa coach Todd Lickliter's job being in jeopardy. We'll see.

5:00 PM Thursday - Northwestern vs. Indiana tips off. Pretty poor showing from the IU fan base. The disappointment in Hoosier land is pretty evident today. I see good things though. While IU is struggling, Tom Crean is building a good foundation. Not much to say about this game. Northwestern let the Hoosiers hold a slim lead for the first 30 minutes of the game before turning up their effort the last 10 minutes of the game and blowing out the Hoosiers by 20.

7:30 PM Thursday - Minnesota vs. Penn State. Talor Battle must be hurt worse than we know, because he looked awful for Penn State in this game. He has to play well for them to be competitive and it was pretty disappointing as Minnesota won in a game where Penn State never was really competitive. In 9 years of attending the Big Ten Tournament, Dad and I have never left a game year. With about 4 minutes left in this game, we seriously started thinking about heading out early. It was that bad.

9:30 PM Thursday - Dad and I realize we didn't eat dinner tonight. Luckily, the Rock Bottom Brewery is on the way back to the hotel. If you're a beer drinker and you're ever in downtown Indy, this is a must stop location. Great micro-brews on tap and a pretty decent menu. Dad and I each had a couple of beers and a sandwich about 10 PM. As it turns out, the Minnesota Alumni Association of Indiana has rented out the basement of Rock Bottom for a pep rally after tonight's Minnesota game. Cheerleaders, coaches, and the band were all present. It's all part of the Big Ten experience (even if I can't stand Minnesota).

11:30 PM Thursday - Back to the hotel. The walk is always shorter on the way home (though, at 8 blocks from hotel to Conseco, our furthest destination, nothing is a long walk in Indy for us). Dad and I agree we're having a great time and we can't wait for tomorrow.

10:00 AM Friday - I meet Dad at the Starbucks in the Sheraton lobby for coffee. Dad comments on how he's feeling better this morning than expected. At 61 years old, he's still able to hold his own with his 28 year old son when it comes to drinking beer and having a good time. I'm not sure who is prouder, father or son.

10:45 AM Friday - We're walking through Indy, realizing that most bars don't open until 11 on weekday mornings. How are we supposed to get two beers in before the noon games if we have to wait until 11?? Luckily, we see some people walk out of the Champps establishment (not my favorite bar and restaurant, but it gets the job done). We meet a guy at the bar from Indiana. He's an IU grad, but his wife and daughter both went to Purdue, so today, he cheers for Purdue. Nice guy and we have a nice chat over our beers while his wife and daughter are in the mall above Champps doing some quick shopping.

Noon Friday - Game one today is Ohio State - Michigan. Torn on who to cheer for. I guess Ohio State is more entertaining to watch, so we'll cheer for them. I'm a pretty silent observer for this game though. I really don't like either team (nothing against the players, it's the fan bases that really drive me crazy). It's at this point that Dad and I realize it's Friday and we can't eat meat. Cheese pizza it is! Sporting event pizza is never great, but this stuff wasn't too bad. Definitely an upgrade over other stadium pizza I've had.

2 PM Friday - What should have been a blow out for a talented OSU team just ended in one of the best finishes ever in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan went on a run late in the second half thanks to the 3-point shooting of Stu Douglass and the playmaking skills of Manny Harris. With 30 seconds left, Harris hits a tough jumper in the lane to take their first lead since the 3 minute mark of the first half. With 14 seconds left, OSU guard David Lighty hits a jumper to tie the game at 66. With 2.2 seconds left, Harris makes another tough jumper to put the Wolverines back up by 2. As if the last 30 seconds hadn't been great, I don't think anyone expected what happened next. Evan Turner, league MVP and Mr. Everything for OSU, takes the inbounds pass moving toward half-court. About 10 feet across half-court, Turner throws up a prayer and it goes in! OSU wins, 69-68 in the most improbable manner. Unreal finish. Words just can't explain it, you just had to see it (on TV or in person)

2:30 PM Friday - The first game where we have a real rooting interest. Wisconsin vs. Illinois. In a strange year, the first two times these teams played, the road team came out victorious. I fully expected Wisconsin to win this game (see my Tournament predictions). They had just beaten Illinois by 15 the previous Sunday. What I didn't factor in was how much this game meant to Illinois. If they had any chance of getting in the NCAA tournament, they really needed to win this game. Wisconsin really had nothing to play for in this game (other than winning the tournament and maybe a better seed in the tournament, but they didn't NEED to win). Wisconsin came out flat and was never really in the game. While Illinois didn't play great, Wisconsin was awful for the first 35 minutes. At the end of the game, they started to make it interesting and even had a 3 point shot with 12 seconds left to tie the game at 54, but it bounced off the rim and Illinois hung on for victory.

4:30 PM Friday - This is the hardest part about the Big Ten Tournament. On Friday, there are four games. After the first two, they clear out the arena so they can sell a different ticket for the early games and the late games. With there only being two hours between games and 18,000 people trying to find somewhere for dinner or to kill time, everywhere is crowded. If you don't have a reservation somewhere, don't even bother trying to have a sit down meal. Dad and I have gotten in the habit of just running through Jimmy John's quickly and then finding a bar for a beer or two between games. This year though, we decided to try and find a couple of my Dad's friends (Jeff and Randy) who happen to also come to the tournament every year. Jeff is a Purdue fan, but is stuck living in Columbus, OH. His friend Randy lives in Columbus and is a Buckeye fan. Jeff loves the bar closest to the Conseco Fieldhouse (a place simply called, The Pub). It's a relatively small sports bar, but we've managed to have a lot of fun there with those two. Well, we get there and Jeff and Randy are all set-up with seats at the bar. On top of that, Jeff has already made friends with everyone around him. He has friends from Purdue, friends from Michigan State, friends from Wisconsin, and even a couple Hawkeyes and he's trying to have a conversation running with all of them. That's Jeff in a nut shell (on top of him probably being on beer 5 for that hour). Good guy, good times.

6:30 PM - Back in Conseco for the late games that day. Purdue vs. Northwestern leads off the evening. There's a pretty decent showing of Purdue fans, but you can tell they're a lot less excited ever since star forward Robbie Hummel went down for the year with a knee injury. At least for tonight, Purdue still looks dangerous and they jump out to an early lead against Northwestern and hang on for victory. It started to get close toward the end, but Purdue hung on for a fairly easy victory. It was a 7 point victory, but it felt like the game was never in doubt.

9 PM - The moment is here, we finally get to see the MSU Spartans in the 7th game of the tournament. It's Minnesota-MSU and I'm feeling good. I like the Spartans to win this game as Izzo always seems to have Tubby Smith's number. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how well Minnesota would play (or how poorly MSU would play). Minnesota impressed me again for the 2nd day in a row with their ability to knock down shots at all the right moments. On the other hand, Michigan State didn't seem to play very well on the defensive end of the floor and really only Raymar Morgan showed up to play for 40 minutes. Draymond Green and Kalin Lucas played well at times, but not the whole game.

11 PM - After playing from behind the whole game, MSU scored the last seven points of regulation time to tie the game at 55. MSU had the ball with 10 seconds left and a chance to win the game. Unfortunately, Kalin Lucas drove the lane, got bumped a little, and lost the ball out of bounds. Lucas has to know he's not getting a foul call at that point in the Big Ten Tournament (tie game, 5 seconds left) for just a little hip bump. A pull up jumper makes a lot more sense for him there instead of driving to the basket, but it's poor decisions like that one that cause me to wonder what Lucas is thinking sometimes. Luckily, the Spartans play better defense than Michigan in the last 3 seconds and Minnesota fails to get off a decent shot at the end of regulation.

11:10 PM - Overtime begins and the Spartans look poised to take care of business. They lose the opening tip, but Draymond Green has a great block followed by Raymar Morgan making a great post move, getting fouled, and making the shot and the free throw and MSU is up 58-55 and looks to be in control. Then they forget to play defense the way they did to end the game. Minnesota gets open look after open look and it seems the Spartans have forgotten how to play offense again. In the end, Minnesota built a decent overtime lead and won the game. Without getting into my frustrations as a Spartan fan, I can see Minnesota was the better team and hit bigger shots today. They deserve to play on the weekend.

11:30 PM - Dad and I are walking back to the hotel after what's been a very long day of beer, food, and basketball. We pass The Pub and consider ducking in for one more beer (knowing full well one more could turn into 4 more if we bump into Jeff and Randy). At that point, we both looked at each other and decided we could both use some sleep. Good call if you ask me, as we got back to the hotel and were both exhausted and asleep shortly after midnight.

If you were at all interested by this, check back tomorrow for the rest of the weekend as we met more people, ran into some old friends, and had lots more fun