At Legends until 1am, left for Columbus at 6am with dear friend. Arrived, ate at Wendy's, went straight to the arena. Terrible seats in upper deck, no atmosphere. Illini got defended with a zone and completely went into a shell. Weber teams historically struggled against any decent zone coverage. Drove home half asleep / split driving, streak was over, but excited to head to Chicago the next weekend. More personalities covering college basketball back then. EA, Vitale, Lavin, Phelps. FDU game very sleepy, were only up 1 at Half. Same friend as Columbus needed a break from travel, didn't come to Indy for R1. Nearly fatal. Back then called friends and dad at halftime, texting in early onset. He was hot.
What fans don't forget is the entire Arizona game was miserable until the comeback started. We were completely out of sync and Frye and Adams were running laps on us. Turned to another friend with about 8 minutes left, 'is this how it's all going to end?' Hell off a senior year at the UI, went out with a bang. Got what I signed up for May 2001. Remember both pre-games at Al Hrabosky's bar in STL..
Electric atmosphere. - nearly drank the town dry. Another friend in convention business got us hook-up at coaches hotel, saw the aforementioned nemesis of yours Lute Olsen in the elevator multiple times. What a time to be alive. From the fateful game, remember Felton making the miracle 3 to beat the shot clock, Marvin Williams tip in, and Head getting a clean look to force OT. Tough night from 3, Illini 12 of 40. Students in tears leaving the Jones Dome. Took a cool down walk back to Illinois team hotel. Heartbreaking. Haven't been to an Illinois tournament game since.
At Legends until 1am, left for Columbus at 6am with dear friend. Arrived, ate at Wendy's, went straight to the arena. Terrible seats in upper deck, no atmosphere. Illini got defended with a zone and completely went into a shell. Weber teams historically struggled against any decent zone coverage. Drove home half asleep / split driving, streak was over, but excited to head to Chicago the next weekend. More personalities covering college basketball back then. EA, Vitale, Lavin, Phelps. FDU game very sleepy, were only up 1 at Half. Same friend as Columbus needed a break from travel, didn't come to Indy for R1. Nearly fatal. Back then called friends and dad at halftime, texting in early onset. He was hot.
What fans don't forget is the entire Arizona game was miserable until the comeback started. We were completely out of sync and Frye and Adams were running laps on us. Turned to another friend with about 8 minutes left, 'is this how it's all going to end?' Hell off a senior year at the UI, went out with a bang. Got what I signed up for May 2001. Remember both pre-games at Al Hrabosky's bar in STL..
Electric atmosphere. - nearly drank the town dry. Another friend in convention business got us hook-up at coaches hotel, saw the aforementioned nemesis of yours Lute Olsen in the elevator multiple times. What a time to be alive. From the fateful game, remember Felton making the miracle 3 to beat the shot clock, Marvin Williams tip in, and Head getting a clean look to force OT. Tough night from 3, Illini 12 of 40. Students in tears leaving the Jones Dome. Took a cool down walk back to Illinois team hotel. Heartbreaking. Haven't been to an Illinois tournament game since.
Looking forward to Thursday!
Thanks for all the stories!
-RV