An additional time zone SNAFU (Indiana, all of Indiana, is in the eastern time zone, apparently.) meant a very late arrival at our first event - the Indiana High School Basketball Championships at Conseco Fieldhouse.
We rolled up with 3 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of the Class 2A Final between Fort Wayne Bishop Luers High School and Winchester High School. It was three minutes well worth the trip.
Loren conquered considerable security obstacles to take in the waning moments. In celebration of his victory, Loren's hand began twitching uncontrollably on the top of David's camera. You get to reap the benefits here:
Here are some of the Winchester faithful:
and the Luers crowd:
In the end, Luers pulled out a stunning 69-67 win for the championship:
Basketball is king in Indiana. As one fan put it, "if you're from Indiana and you don't like basketball, you're crazy." The afternoon session was packed and the crowd was spirited. We met scalpers on the street looking to cash in on the sold-out night session. Scalpers! At a High School Basketball game! But to the people of Indiana, this is one of the hottest tickets of the year.
Here's a couple Loren met who've been coming to the IHSAA Basketball Championships since the 1950s:
Ohio State Men's Basketball coach Thad Matta was there, too. One of Luers' players is a future Buckeye, and Matta was there cheering him on. That is, until Loren sidled up to Matta who then was compelled to feign happiness for three seconds.
We also met IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress, who in addition to being in charge of Indiana High School athletics, told us his first Championship game was the one that inspired the movie "Hoosiers", which inspired our stop in Indy. Which inspires you, clearly.
We walked and talked with Mr. Ress, and we will have that interview posted here soon. So stay tuned.
In the meantime, enjoy some more images of the road. We caught this perplexing meal deal in Paris, Illinois:
Speaking of Easter, welcome to Effingham, Illinois:
Tomorrow: Little Rock, for second round action from the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. We'll see #1 Memphis take on #8 Mississippi State, and #2 Texas vs #7 Miami.
Basketball is king in Indiana. As one fan put it, "if you're from Indiana and you don't like basketball, you're crazy." The afternoon session was packed and the crowd was spirited. We met scalpers on the street looking to cash in on the sold-out night session. Scalpers! At a High School Basketball game! But to the people of Indiana, this is one of the hottest tickets of the year.
Here's a couple Loren met who've been coming to the IHSAA Basketball Championships since the 1950s:
Ohio State Men's Basketball coach Thad Matta was there, too. One of Luers' players is a future Buckeye, and Matta was there cheering him on. That is, until Loren sidled up to Matta who then was compelled to feign happiness for three seconds.
We also met IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress, who in addition to being in charge of Indiana High School athletics, told us his first Championship game was the one that inspired the movie "Hoosiers", which inspired our stop in Indy. Which inspires you, clearly.
We walked and talked with Mr. Ress, and we will have that interview posted here soon. So stay tuned.
In the meantime, enjoy some more images of the road. We caught this perplexing meal deal in Paris, Illinois:
Speaking of Easter, welcome to Effingham, Illinois:
Tomorrow: Little Rock, for second round action from the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. We'll see #1 Memphis take on #8 Mississippi State, and #2 Texas vs #7 Miami.
2 comments:
That cross still haunts me in my sleep. Same as the crazy man at the Gas Station.
I can't believe my mortal enemy took a picture with Thad Matta. Salt in the wound.
That old man's moustache is priceless.
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