Day 35: 35 Hours to a UNC Title

A couple years ago Sandra and I were talking about my trip to New Orleans for the Final Four when Syracuse won the National Championship in basketball. I had promised her that I would take her to a Final Four when North Carolina went because it was just a wonderful experience. Little did I know that they would make the Final Four in 2007-2008 in San Antonio. We both have always wanted to go there but with our schedules and the cost of airfare it was just impossible to make that trip work. It worked out well because my bride wasn't happy sitting at home watching UNC get spanked by Kansas in the semi-finals so I'm glad we weren't there!!! I told her that if they made it the next year we would go to Detroit to watch them as it was within driving distance. I was actually thinking that most of their players would go to the NBA and not come back to UNC, but when they did I knew that it was very much a possibility. Little did I know what was going to happen and that we would drive 35 ONE WAY hours over a 4 weekend stretch in the process.

Tournament time started when our neighbor offered us tickets to the ACC tournament in Atlanta. We made the drive on Friday to watch UNC beat VA Tech in the quarterfinals then saw them lose to Florida State in the semis. My bride was so upset that we didn't even go to the finals, giving our tickets to some man and his little boy. On the way back we stopped for dinner to watch the selection show for the NCAA tournament. As the teams came up I looked at her and said, "You realize that UNC and Syracuse are in the same bracket and might face each other in Memphis for the right to go to the Final Four." We agreed then that if they both made it past the first two rounds we would go.

The next weekend we went to Greensboro to meet my brother and see the opening games of the tournament, and watch Carolina take their first steps to Detroit. As the weekend went on both UNC and Syracuse won their games so we realized that we were Memphis bound the next weekend. We were happy to find that they were playing on Friday/Sunday rather than Thursday/Saturday as we would be able to leave Thursday evening. We did realize however, that it would make for a long trip back on Sunday.

Memphis was great. She was all decked out in some light blue color and I was sporting the Syracuse orange. Before the first games, SU vs Oklahoma and UNC vs Gonzaga, we went to Beale Street which is like a mini Bourbon Street. The place was packed and a blast. It was awesome to see how much Orange and Carolina blue was on the street and how many couples were a "house divided" between Carolina and Syracuse. Everything was set for the two teams to play each other on Sunday as all the fans seemed as though they were from those two schools. One problem, Syracuse lost and UNC won. UNC ended up winning again on Sunday and we left about 7:30PM for our 10-11 hour trip home so we could be at work Monday morning. What made the trip even longer for me was knowing that I needed to keep my promise to my bride and take her to the booming city of Detroit in 6 days.

We left Friday night to head up to Detroit and stay with her cousin John just north of the city. It was amazing for me to see what once looked like such a great city was now so empty as you left the downtown area. It was obvious how much the recession has hurt Detroit but the positive for the city was that Michican State was in the Final Four and the city started to rally behind them. We met up with the "Carolina Crowd" before the games on Saturday and had a great time before watching both Michigan State and UNC win to set up a Monday meeting for the title. Sunday we just relaxed, hung out with her cousin, and then went to the river walk to see a free concert with Fergie as well as some other artists. When game time closed in on Monday night it was absolutely amazing for me to see the people in green for Michigan St. and how the city came alive. Parking garages were full of just people in green and I wondered how they would react if Michigan State were to win or even lose a close game. Carolina took care of that, blowing them out and doing it early in the game. We did have great seats for the finals sitting amongst a large number of Division 1 coaches and I did get a chance for a photo with Jim Boeheim. I hopped in our car with a very happy woman and for another long trip home but with memories that will last a lifetime!!!

Day 35 gift.............Another (lol) collage with pictures from every city on our 4 weekend journey!!

Day 35: 35 Hours to a UNC Title

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

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