This years tournament was originally slated to be held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, but because of what is known as the "Bathroom Bill" the NCAA decided to remove all of its championship events from the state of North Carolina. So the tournament returns to Greenville.
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| I Have Great Seats |
So, after 15-years I return Greenville. When I attended the tournament here in 2002 the arena was known as the Bi-Lo Center, now it is know as the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The one thing about the is disappointing about returning to this arena is that they prohibit any camera's with detachable lenses, which means that I will not be not be able to get my gook Nikon Cameras into the arena, so most of the photo will be taken by my cell phone. The NCAA didn't do me any favors in seeding the teams this year as I have two of the ACC big dawgs, Duke and North Carolina seeded here. In addition to the Devils and Heel being here in Greenville I also have what I think will turn out to be the "HOME" team, the South Carolina Gamecocks. The rest of the teams seeded here are the Arkansas, Troy, Seton Hall, Marquette, and Texas Southern.
The schedule for the First day of the tournament has Duke and Carolina split between the afternoon and evening session. One thing about NCAA Scheduling, is that they have sold their soul to the TV Devil. The TV Networks set all of the game times and for what ever reason the afternoon games here in Greenville were late starts. The first game wasn't scheduled to begin until 1:20 p.m. and game two is schedule for 4:30 or 30-minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
AFTERNOON SESSION:
Arkansas vs. Seton Hall
North Carolina vs. Texas Southern
I tried to get my good Nikon in and was turned away at security so there won't be many photo during this tournament. The first game of the day saw the Razorbacks defeat the Pirates by a score of 77-71. The second of the afternoon session saw the Tarheels pound the Troy Tiger 103-64.
After the conclusion of the first session, everyone was forced to exit the arena and re-enter for the evening session with the first game scheduled to tip at 7:20. This is another quirk of the TV Scheduling. With the late start of the Afternoon session and the early start of the evening session makes for a quick turnaround. I had a similar schedule a few years back in Kansas City and the event staff there did not handle the quick turnaround very well. In fact, I missed the first 6-minutes of the first game.
I must say here in Greenville they were much better prepared as the doors re-opened about 40-minutes before the scheduled tip. I tried one more time to get the Nikon through security without success. I think I am going to give up on tournament photo this year.
EVENING SESSION:
Duke vs. Troy
Marquette vs. South Carolina
The evening session started off with Duke having a little more trouble with Troy than the Tarheels had with Southern. But when it was all over the Blue Devils came out on top 87-65. The final game of the first day here in Greenville was perhaps the most anticipated game of the day. The NCAA mixed in a little sub plot. It featured the Marquette Warriors which is coached former Duke player and assistant Coach Steve Wojciechowski against the South Carolina Gamecocks. You can't tell me that the selection committee didn't think it would be interesting if Marquette and Duke both win, the story line would be the Student takes on the Teacher. But first, Marquette has to take on South Carolina. Another interesting sub-plot is that the Gamecocks is playing just 90-miles from their campus in Columbia.
The Gamecock nation traveled well and the "Cock" had a the majority of the fans and the home court advantage. When all was said and done the Home team defeated the Warriors by a score of 94-73. The Marquette - South Carolina game brought the curtain down on day one of the NCAA Tournament here in Greenville and set the stage for an interesting two games for round two on Sunday.
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