This is the 15th year that I have taken much of the month of March off to enjoy what has become my annual March Madness Vacation. Fifteen years I have managed to use the NCAA Basketball as an excuse to travel to places near and far. So before I starts this years edition of my March Madness vacation, I thought it might me nice to look back on the previous 14.
It all started back in 2001, when on a whim I decided to try and get tickets for the first and second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament, which was being held at the Greensboro Coliseum. If there is a better venue for tournament basketball, I haven't found it. The Greensboro Coliseum has hosted more ACC Tournaments than any other location for a reason. They simple embrace the event and do it right. The ACC Tournament has an identity in Greensboro and it should be its permanent home. Greensboro is known as Tournament Town for a reason. But I will save that for another rant, and another time.
After attending that first Tournament and seeing and feeling the excitement of March Madness, I was hooked. The next year I selected Greenville, South Carolina as my tournament venue. The Tournament was held at the Bi-Lo Center in downtown Greenville. The one thing that I remember most about Greenville is the protests that were held around the arena. As we arrived at the arena we were greeted by a large group protesting the fact that South Carolina was still flying the Confederate Flag on the grounds of the state capitol in Columbia. Another group was standing nearby silently waving the Stars and Bars, while still a third group, obviously the Ku Klux Klan had assemble in a near by parking lot and was waving the Confederate Flag and preaching their doctrine of segregation. Both days of the tournament saw peaceful protests. After the tournament, the NCAA announced that they would not hold any further NCAA Championship events in the State Of South Carolina until the Confederate Flag was removed from the capitol ground. The flag is still flying and the NCAA hasn't been back.
In 2003, I hit the road for my first real March Madness Vacation and traveled to Birmingham, Alabama. Before arriving in Birmingham I stopped in the small town of Lynchburg, Tennessee and spent some time learning how Mr. Jack made some of the best know Bourbon in the world. The highlight of the trip was a stop at the United States Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Space flight has always fascinated me and I spent much of the day touring the facility.
I selected Orlando as my 2004 Tournament site on the day between round, drove over to the Space Coast and spent the entire day touring the Kennedy Space Center and all of the space related attractions.
Music City, Nashville Tennessee was my 2005 tournament site. But rather than heading straight to Nashville, I took a side trip up to Dayton, Ohio for the Opening Round Games on Tuesday Night. While in Dayton I also had the opportunity to visit the United State Air Force Museum at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base. Man what an outstanding museum! From an original Wright Flyer to a B-52 Bomber and everything in between, they have it here. But the highlight of my tour was a visit to the Presidential Hanger. It is here that a number of Presidential Aircraft's are on display, including FDR's Sacred Cow, Truman's Independence, Ike's Columbine III, and perhaps the most famous if all presidential planes, SAM-26000. This was the plan that President Kennedy used to fly to Dallas in 1963 and was where President Lyndon Johnson took the Oath of Office following the assassination of President Kennedy in downtown Dallas.
Dallas, Texas was my destination in 2006. I was able to visit the Texas School Book Depository and to stand where Abraham Zapruder recorded the assassination of a President on that fateful in 1963. I even ventured over to Rose Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth and found the grave of the alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. But what I will remember the most about this trip is, THE RAIN. It started raining on Friday night and rained all day Saturday. By the time we got to the arena on Sunday there was some local street flooding. But it really got real when they made an announcement between games that wide spread flooding was occurring. We were staying about 4-miles from the arena and when the last game ended we found out it was virtually impossible for us to get back to our hotel. We made it to a nearby IHOP restaurant where we met a few other fans who were staying in the same hotel. We exchanged phone number and agreed to call each other if we were able to find a way back to our hotel. Over the next 4-hours we tried street after street only to find them blocked by high water. Finally about 10:30 p.m. we received a call from one of our new IHOP friends telling us that they had made it and gave us great directions and we were soon back at our hotel. I will always remember the Dallas Flood of 2006.
I stayed close to home in 2007 as the first and second rounds were held at the Joel in Winston-Salem. I will always remember this tournament because I was able to got get autographs from three of the games greatest coaches, Tom Izzo, John Thompson, Jr., and Bobby Knight. Yes, that Bobby Knight, he was coaching at Texas Tech and I must have caught him on a good day when he was standing in the tunnel watching his team warm up. All I did was politely ask him to sign my ticket and to my surprise he did. You never know until you ask. Also at that tournament I was able to get autographs from, Magic Johnson, Jud Heathcote and John Thompson III.
In 2008 it was back to Birmingham, followed by returning to Greensboro in 2009. In 2010 I made it to Oklahoma City, which is one of my favorite tournament cities. Lodging is great and reasonable, restaurants are great and there is a lot to see. Plus the people that I met are just down right nice.
In 2011 and 2012, I again stayed close to home attending the tournament in Charlotte and Greensboro. I will always remember the 2012 Greensboro Game where little ole LeHigh managed to send might Duke packing. It's always a good tournament when Duke goes home early.
In 2013 I hit the road for my longest trip (14 days) ending up in Kansas City for the tournament at the Sprint Center.Just as I remember my 2006 Dallas trip for the wide spread flooding, I will remember Kansas City in 2013 for the snow that blanked the area on Saturday Night. It started snowing mid-afternoon on Saturday and snowed most of the night. When I got up Sunday Morning there was 8-12-inches in the Kansas City Area. The one thing going for us was the Kansas City Games were scheduled for late afternoon and early evening starts. By the time it was time for me to head to the arena MODOT had Interstate 70 virtually clear and the City of Kansas City had busted their butts to clear the downtown parking lots and the games went off without a hitch.
Last year (2014) it was off to Raleigh, where the highlight of the tournament was getting to see the Mercer Bears bounce the Mighty Duke Blue Devils from the Tournament right in their own backyard. I am never sad to see Duke leave early.
This year its off to Charlotte, but before I get there I will be touring some of the historic site of my home state of Virginia before moving on to the Carolina's. We will see what I can find and where I end up. The Madness has begun.
No comments:
Post a Comment