2024 NCAA TOURNAMENT ADVENTURE - MARCH MADNESS IN THE STEEL CITY

 

Every year since 2001, I have attended the first an second rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Every year that is except the COVID Years of 2020 and 2021. I returned to the Tournament in 2022 and went to Greenville, South Carolina. Last year I stayed close to home and traveled to the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

This Year I had Originally Planned on traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Tournament. Now, Charlotte is NOT one of my favorite sites but like Greensboro it is close to home.  But my plans Changed when the Ticketmaster Website for Charlotte, showed SOLD OUT Just moments after Tickets went on presale.

I checked other sites, and they too came up either sold out or nothing but nosebleed seats available. It appeared that I was out of luck and would be watching this year’s tournament from home.

Then in January, I decided to Check StubHub to see what kind of seats were available and how much they were going for. I first checked Charlotte and found that tickets for all three sessions in the lower-level tickets were going from $815 to $1,200. That was too much for me.

Not wanting to Give up, I decided to check tickets for the Pittsburgh Site.  I was surprised to find that Lower-Level Ticket in the PPG Paints Arena were a little more affordable. I spend some time searching the other Tournament sites and to my surprise, Pittsburgh was the most Affordable.

After checking Hotels in the Pittsburgh Area, I found the Holiday Inn – North Shore would be my best option. It was located just across from the Pirates PNC Park and I had stayed there before when attending Pirates Game.. While the Holiday Inn was across the Alleghany River from Downtown Pittsburgh, it was only about a mile from the PPG Paints Arena. There were plenty of restaurants within walking distance.

So, after weighing my options I decided that I would head to Pittsburgh for this year’s tournament. I bought my ticket off StubHub. I purchased a single ticket for all three sessions, on the aisle about 10-rows from floor. After sellers mark up and StubHub fees the ticket for all session cost me $517.

I made my 4-night reservation at the Holiday Inn North Shore for an average rate of $151 per night. Like all downtown hotels, you must pay for parking. That figures out to be about $30-$40 dollars per night if you park in private garages. 

The Holiday Inn has a parking Package where you can pay for parking up front for $28 per night. Because I was staying multiple night and was a Holiday Inn Rewards Member, my parking rate was reduced to $20 per night. By the time you figure in all the city and state taxes, my four-night stay ended up costing about $185 per night.

So, on March 20, I headed out to the First and Second Rounds of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.  I have been to Pittsburgh several times time for Pirates Games at PNC Park. But this would be my first time attending an event at the PPG Paints Arena, which is the home of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

I left home about 8 a.m. to clear skies with morning temperatures in the low or mid-40’s. I stopped a couple of times for coffee at Sheetz along the way. When I have traveled to Pirates Games in the past I have always stopped at Gino’s in Weston, West Virginia for lunch. I did so again and then headed on to the Steel City.

Surprisingly, the traffic wasn’t too bad, and I made my way unimpeded through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and across the Roberto Clemente Bridge, arriving at the Holiday Inn a few minutes before 4 p.m.

By the time I arrived in Pittsburgh, the temperature had dropped and was in the md-30’s. The strong wind made it feel even colder. Before I headed out for supper a couple of snow showers had passed through. Yes, I said snow. My original plan was to walk back across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and have supper at one of the downtown restaurants. But the wind and cold changed my mind and I ended up walking next door to the North Shore Tavern.

Since I was walking, my supper consisted of hot wings and a couple of IPA Beers. The wings were good and the beer cold. It was a good choice. Being so cold, I hustled back to the Holiday Inn and settled in for the night.

The Holiday Inn is located right next to Interstate 279 and the traffic noise is horrible. But I came

prepared and brought some ear plugs from home. The ear plugs allowed me to get a good night’s sleep.

The next morning, I had breakfast at the Hotel. While I was having breakfast, I met several other people who were in town for the games. It was an enjoyable breakfast with some new friends.

The cold weather settled in overnight so rather than walking to the PPG Paints Arena, I chose to order a Lyft. This was a very good choice, I waited only 5 minutes for my driver to show up and 10 minutes later she dropped me off right in front of the arena. The ride cost me $8.75. She was prompt and safe so I tipped and additional $5.00.

The Afternoon Session consisted of two games. The first saw the Creighton Blue Jays defeat the Akron Zips by a score of 77-60. The second game was between the Oregon Ducks and the South Carolina Gamecocks.  Oregon came out on top 87-73.

Most People don’t realize that TV Networks sets the Tip Time for games and because of that, the Akron Crieghton Game didn’t tip until 1:10 p.m. with the Oregon – South Carolina Game schedule for 3:40 p.m.

We were essentially the last game to tip in the afternoon block of games. The first game of the evening session was between the Oakland Golden Grizzlies and the Kentucky Wildcats. It was scheduled to tip at 7:10. This was the first game in the evening block of game.  We had this same schedule in 2021 in Greenville and it was a disaster. Late afternoon and early evening, is never a good idea.

The arena is completely cleared between the afternoon and evening session. Because both afternoon games ran long, the afternoon session didn’t end until 5:50 p.m.  The arena was cleared, and I immediately got back in line.  Because Kentucky was scheduled to play in the first game there were several thousand Big Blue Fans already in line waiting to get in.

If Pittsburgh Followed the Greenville example it would be close to an hour before the doors would open for the evening session. It was a good chance that the Kentucky-Oakland Game would start with an empty arena.

As I was walking toward the back of the very long line, I saw a couple of people who were staying at the Holiday Inn and who I had met over Breakfast this morning. They yelled at me and as we were talking the doors reopened. I looked at my watch and it was 6:25 p.m. Hats off to the Staff of the PPG Paints Arena Staff for turning the arena around in about 30-minutes. 

I had time to visit the concession stand and was back in my seat a little after 7. Come to find out, CBS Didn’t want to start with a virtually empty arena and ended up delaying the tip until 7:30.

When Kentucky and Oakland Tipped at 7:30, the PPG Paints Arena was only about a quarter full. Hopefully, CBS will learn not to schedule late in the afternoon and early in the evening.

The Oakland – Kentucky game was why we refer to this time of the year as March Madness. It was nip and tuck all the way. When all was said and done, the #14 seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies defeated the Wildcats 80-76. To say that Big Blue Nation was Irate and Headed Home. A couple of the Kentucky Fans sitting near me were so upset, they said, that “Calipari needs to be fired immediately, don’t even let him back on the plane.”

A few weeks later, John Calipari would resign of his own accord and become the new head coach at SEC Rival Arkansas. Boy I bet Bud Walton will be off the chart when Kentucky Comes Calling.

The second game of the evening session featured the Red Raider of Texas Tech taking on the North Carolina State Wolfpack. The Wolfpack wasn’t even supposed to be in the tournament, but they won 5-games in 5 days to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Championship and claiming the ACC’s Automatic Bid. The Wolfpack’s winning ways continued as they won the last game of the day 80-67.

It was just a little after midnight when I made it out of the Arena and ordered my Lyft Ride back to the hotel.  It was really cold and thank goodness the traffic around the arena wasn’t bad and my driver arrived in less than ten minutes.  My driver was familiar with the downtown area and was able to navigate the maze of street closures and traffic. It took only about 15 minutes for him to get me back to the Holiday Inn. plus, use it was after midnight the ride rate increased and cost me $13.86 plus a $5.00 tip.

Still it was better and a lot warmer than walking. My 2024 NCAA Adventure was off to a great start.