TV蘑菇视频 great but live is better for NCAA
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Many fans will tell you the first week of the NCAA men蘑菇视频 basketball tournament is No. 1 on the list of most popular sport times of the year.
With 16 elimination games on Thursday and 16 more on Friday followed by eight each on Saturday and Sunday, how can even the casual college hoops fan not get excited?
Switching channels to keep up with it all on TV is a pleasure, not a pain, to true sports fans.
Being there in person is even better, though.
Yeah, you can make a case for simply sitting on your couch and not having to deal with paying exorbitant prices for tickets, parking and food.
Despite all that, it蘑菇视频 still exhilarating to be in there in person to witness the event.
Pittsburgh was hosting NCAA games this year for the third time since 1997 and second time at Consol Energy Center, which presented the opportunity for area fans to see some of the madness that March brings in person.
I chose to do so on Saturday, bringing along a pair of bright-eyed young boys eager to see not one, but two NCAA tournament games.
I remembered the electrifying atmosphere that swarmed over the Civic Arena in 1997, especially when 15th-seeded Coppin State shocked No. 2 South Carolina. I was hoping my sons would enjoy the experience as much as I did back then.
The games were the highlight on Saturday, of course, but when you have a 9-year-old and a 10-year-old with you the sequence ends up being something like this:
Eat, watch first half of first game, buy merchandise, eat, watch second half of first game, eat, visit restroom, watch first half of second game, eat, watch second half and overtime of second game, visit restroom, buy more merchandise, go home.
Did I mention we ate a lot? Back to the games, though.
Saturday turned out to be a bonanza, two games that went down to the wire. We sat up high on a corner but had a good, clear view of the court and we had a variety of fans around us pulling for their teams loud enough to make for a spirited atmosphere.
Listening to how each faction responded to the ebb and flow of the games was almost as entertaining as the games themselves.
The first match-up pitted the top-seeded team from the East Region, Villanova, against No. 8 North Carolina State.
My son Westley had donned a red-striped shirt for the night because, for whatever reason, he had latched onto the Wolfpack and assured me they would pull the upset. This, if you know anything about siblings, automatically prompted my other son Colton to pull for the Wildcats.
Right behind us was a line of Villanova fans. They were boisterous before the game but as it quickly became apparent their Wildcats were in for a dogfight with this Wolfpack, they became much less rowdy.
When N.C. State蘑菇视频 Trevor Lacey drained a 3-pointer right at the first-half buzzer, the underdogs were up by four and the Nova fans were beginning to turn on their team.
The Wolfpack, sparked by the brilliant play of Lacey, would indeed pull the upset, 71-68, despite some too-little-too-late heroics by Villanova蘑菇视频 Darrun Hillliard, who hit a trio of 3-pointers in the final 1:29 to give his team a chance.
Westley was extremely pleased. Villanova was the first No. 1 seed to fall and its fans filed out grumbling.
Both my boys jumped on the Notre Dame bandwagon for the second clash 鈥� Colton has specifically selected a green shirt to wear just for this game 鈥� as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region took on No. 6 Butler.
Of course this prompted me to feign favoritism for the Bulldogs to give my two boys a foil. Butler threw a scare into the Fighting Irish, rallying to take a six-point lead with 9:37 left.
Unlike the Villanova fans, the Irish throng never wavered and continued their loud, strong support of their squad 鈥� and they were rewarded.
The final 2:55 of regulation was nail-biting for most but torturous to me in that I found watching seven missed shots, three turnovers and zero points in that span very difficult to stomach. Did either team want to win this game?
Notre Dame蘑菇视频 Pat Connaughton did soar for an impressive, game-saving blocked shot in the final seconds to light up the Irish faithful and send the game into overtime.
Colton and Westley were giddy about seeing OT, especially since Notre Dame pulled out the win thanks to clutch treys from Connaughton and Steve Vasturia and a dazzling, driving basket by Jerian Grant with 21 seconds left to seal it.
You would think that after such a long night with a pair of heart-stopping, suspenseful games 鈥� not to mention all that food 鈥� that a couple little boys would be tired at that point.
But as we filed out and grabbed a couple more souvenirs, Colton looked at me smiling and said, 鈥淒id you know they鈥檙e coming back here again in 2018?鈥�
Yep, I knew. I guess we鈥檒l be going again then.
Who knows how much they鈥檒l eat when they鈥檙e 12 and 13?
Rob Burchianti can be reached at rburchianti@heraldstandard.com. Follow him on Twitter (@rvburch).