Ok, let me just start by saying this whole exercise of trying to remember each of these trips has been a struggle - and, in many ways, a mind-bending experience. Here's why:

For the longest time, the only two "clear" memories I have of our first trip are of Andy surprising us with a sonogram announcing that Sarah was pregnant with what would be their first child, Shoshana. Easy enough to figure out that year - as 1997. The only other memory I have corroborates that year. My seminal Las Vegas March Madness experience - the one that I thought started it all - is watching the very end of a Kentucky/Utah game at the sportsbook at The Mirage. Kentucky was winning by about 12 or 13 with less than a minute left. The game was all but over. I walked to the bathroom and heard a roar of cheers and groans from those left watching. Somebody made or missed a last second shot that was completely inconsequential to everyone watching at home. But in Vegas...

Kentucky won by 12. ..the point spread was 12.5

I was hooked.

That's a story I've been telling for 28 years. However..., while four us insist that the sonogram was of Shoshana, Andy it insists it was of Isaac, their second child and he was born in 2000.

In digging through bins of notebooks and photos to find as much documentation of these trips as possible for this project, I came across some old year-end assessments I used to keep when I lived in California. The years covered are about 1995-2001. In those recaps the only year a Las Vegas trip is mentioned in 2000 and it mentions that I met Andy, Ben, Mark and Ezra. No mention of a similar trip in 1997, 1998, or 1999, and I know that Ben and Andy only joined us for the first year and then didn't join again in Vegas until 2005.

But...

I know I was there for that Kentucky/Utah game and I am almost positive I watched Richard Hamilton's last second miracle put-back to push UConn past Washington in the Sweet Sixteen the next year in Vegas. Of course, memory can be tricky - especially twenty-plus years on - but those visions are some of the clearest I have of what has become a very murky period of my life. Additionally, and I admit this is getting deep into the weeds, but I also have a clear memory of being in a Vegas sportsbook when Mateen Cleeves of Michigan State ran into a near career- (and life-) ending pick set by Eduardo Nejara of Oklahoma.

The internet tells me that definitively happened in 1999. So, there you have it.

2000 - Las Vegas (Flamingo)

All five of us meet at The Flamingo and share one room, because we were all extremely poor at that point in our lives. Andy stuck a sonogram in the hotel mirror to announce that Sarah was pregnant. I'm sure we all went out to UNLV and stumbled upon the outdoor court at Margie and Robert Faiman Hall that would become hallowed ground for the next quarter century. That may have been the year Andy bowed out of basketball for good with a bad back (or that may have been 2005).

I don't remember any of the games this year or any of our betting history. I believe most of our viewing and gambling happened at either The Mirage or Mandalay Bay. I have a vision of what each looked like - and the overwhelming joy that drinks were free while we were watching - but I can't be sure which picture in my mind should be associated with each sportsbook.

2001 - No trip

2002 - Las Vegas (Flamingo)

This one I have absolutely NO memory of, but I'm sure it happened. I do have a memory of the year we worked our way into the UNLV gym/practice facility at Thomas & Mack Arena and played our pick-up there. The competition was pretty solid, but I remember that we held our own ;). I can't be sure this should be attributed to 2002, though.

2003 - Las Vegas (Flamingo) Don't remember much but this is the year Dwayne Wade took over for Marquette and led them on an incredible run to the Final Four. I remember watching those games (in New York, New York, I'm pretty sure). My only other memory of this trip was losing money rooting against Kansas and Syracuse (Carmelo Anthony) and walking down the strip feeling like I'd had enough of Las Vegas for a while*.

Although, I seem to have some mixed memories here, because this is the year that UConn lost in the Elite Eight to Texas in a very close game. I remember watching that game at The Venetian and I have memories of Mark and Ezra convincing me to change my flight, because I vaguely remember that I was supposed to leave late Saturday night. It seems counterintuitive that I would go to those efforts to stay given that my memory of the next day (mentioned above) is so sour.

*The fact that we were "tired of Vegas" after this trip also makes me think that we had been doing it for more than just a year or two.

2004 - No trip

2005 - Las Vegas (Treasure Island)

It's really confounding that I don't have a journal entry for this year. I'm pretty sure I wrote stuff down, because I have strong memories of watching Louisville, West Virginia and Illinois from the sportsbook in Treasure Island.

This was also only the second year that all five of us made it to Las Vegas. It was after a rare off year, and as I mentioned above, I know we were all kind of soured on Vegas in 2003. So it's a little odd that we reconvened as a larger group - especially considering that I was now settled in Indiana. Las Vegas was no longer a convenient meeting place.

Regardless, I do remember the very inventive use of an apple and, a hazy memory of Andy surprising us with a visit from an old friend of ours from our BBYO days, Steve Zimmer. Steve was living in Los Angeles, and, again, this is where my memory plays tricks on me, because I could swear I was still living in LA when we saw him. I don't remember anything substantive about that evening or the rest of the trip other than a trip we made over to The Stardust at some point. We noted that they had a light, lose atmosphere (trying to lure in gamblers) and we found some cheap blackjack tables and had fun there. I also think we earned a free buffet and went back the next morning. I remember that, because I think that was the impetus for me suggesting we stay there the next year.