Just got back from my weekend in Indy with Mark. The usual Vegas trip didn’t happen this year - Vegas burnout + no money + Ezra going to Aruba = no Vegas. I wanted Mark to come here; he wanted me to go there, finally we settled on meeting in Indy and going to the Midwest Regional games.

I drove up Friday morning and picked him up at the airport. We checked into our hotel and as luck would have it, it turned out to be the “official” Michigan State hotel. The front desk told us about a rally with free food and drink planned before the game and there were rumours that Magic Johnson was staying in our hotel. We didn’t find Magic, but we did indulge in the generous Spartan spread (“Go Green! Go White!”)

Then we ventured over to Lucas Oil Stadium for the games. Louisville/Arizona was first. We (very easily) worked our way into the lower section, in the seats reserved for the schools. Louisville destroyed Arizona and then Michigan State faced off against Kansas. We managed to move up until eventually we were only about eight rows from the court. Michigan State won a nail-biter. The games ended late, so we just went back to the hotel and crashed.

Saturday we started at Le Peeps for granola almond pancakes that were out of this world. Then we drove up to Butler, bought some t-shirts and checked out Hinkle Fieldhouse. Then we made our way over to Broad Ripple, walked around and played some pool (watched Findlay win the D2 Championship on an OT buzzer beater).

Then it was time to catch the UConn/Missouri game at a bar. UConn managed to get passed a touch Missou squad thanks to an outrageous performance by Kemba Walker.

As we waited for Pitt/Villanova to start we noticed Jared, the dude from Subway ads walk in. The next hour everyone who walked by made some comment about or to him.

As we watched ‘Nova/Pitt, we also became captivated by an Indiana high school championship game that was on a small screen in the corner. They were being played down the street at Conseco Fieldhouse and this one kid was playing out of his head - scored 40 points, 8 3-pointers, and they still lost. We agreed that when the Pitt/’Nova game ended we would run over to Conseco and see if we could get in for the 2nd half of the nightcap (Fort Wayne Snider vs Bloomington South). ‘Nova beat Pitt on a last second shot by Scottie Reynolds to end a wild finish.

We got to Conseco hoping they’d just let us in for the 2nd half of the last game, but they wouldn’t. Box office wanted to charge the full $15. We tried to use stubs from people on their way out - no dice. Paid a scalper $10 for 2, but the tickets had been used. Got the $10 back and tried every possible way in until we finally snuck in through the gift shop. Turns out you can enter from the street and continue through to the arena. It was a great atmosphere and an exciting finish as Bloomington South pulled out a close one.

Sunday we went back to Le Peeps for more pancakes, then walked in the freezing cold to the NCAA Hall of Champions which turned out to be pretty lame. I thought there would be a lot more historical stuff.

After that it was back to Lucas for the Regional Final - Michigan State vs. Louisville. Once again, we just grabbed two seats as close as possible. We got bounced a couple of times, but settled in to two as the game got underway (the guy next to me was a Louisville fan from Kentucky and when they showed Magic Johnson on the Jumbotron he said, “Asshole.” ??!!) Surprisingly, Michigan State dominated and won easily.

A lot of Louisville fans left early, so we moved closer once again. This time we ended up in the third row for the final 3 and half minutes. When the game ended there was a rush of Michigan State fans, so we were stuck. A security guard game by and “ordered” us to move, because somebody had to get out of our row. Since we couldn’t go anywhere they ushered us into the restricted press area. Turns out it was Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels who needed an escape route. Mark got some great close ups of the celebration - can’t wait to see them.

I drove Mark to the airport. We ate some dinner and watched UNC beat Oklahoma then we said, “Goodbye.”