1999 NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championships - South Regional Knoxville TN
In 1999, #2 seeded Maryland Terrapins (its a Diamondback Turtle) beat Valparaiso & Creighton in Rounds 1 & 2, Maryland Survived! Now they matched up in the Sweet Sixteen game against #3 seeded St. John's (NY) of the Big East. South Regional to take place on the campus of The University of Tennessee-Knoxville on March 18 & 20, 1999....ROAD GAMES!!!
On Thursday, March 18, 1999 @ 7 am, I drove to BWI Airport with my college roommate and BFF Steve. Landing in Nashville about 10 am, we rented a car and drove to Knoxville. There was major construction on the way and we stopped for lunch. We got to the U of Tennessee at 5 pm. Campus police directed us to "Shuttle Parking" and there we waited an hour for the shuttle bus. The bus took us to the arena, where I had to walk around the building and up a ramp to "Will Call." Got the tickets, walked back around to the entrance and entered the facility.
After I bought a T-shirt, hat & program...I sat in my seat 15 rows above the Maryland bench at 7 pm...12 hours of travel.
Tip off at 7:18 pm for TV, everything was okay...for the first 3 minutes. Then the Terps were overwhelmed by St. John's Red Storm, which had recently changed their nickname from the "politically incorrect" Red Men. You can Google it...I was there. Down 10...15...20...25 points, it was a nightmare. During timeouts, coaches and players yelling at each other. At the half, I was disappointed the concession stands didn't sell cyanide. I found a pay phone (no cell phones then), changed my flight home to the next afternoon and my hotel room to a one night stay from three.
I watched Laron Profit, Obinna Ekezie & Steve Francis (entered NBA early) Maryland careers come to a Thud Ending. At the final buzzer, the ticket "scalpers" ran into the Maryland section, handed me $100 and I gave him our two Championship (Saturday) game tickets. No wait for the shuttle bus back to the parking lot, I was out there before Ohio State-Auburn had warmed up. I got home the next afternoon and admitted to my wife, what a waste of time.
2002 NCAA Div 1 Men's Basketball Championships - East Regional Syracuse, NY
In 2002, everything was on the line for Maryland. Their first Final Four appearance the previous year ended in a 2nd half collapse of historic proportion against Duke in the National Semi-Finals. Maryland was home at the Verizon Center (formerly MCI Center) for Rounds 1 & 2. I was there via DC Metro (Chinatown Station) for Round 1 win over Siena. Wisconsin was a tough 2nd round opponent, but the Terps Survived! ROAD GAMES!!
So happened, my daughter was a Sophomore at Syracuse University, site of the East Regional, March 22 & 24, 2002. Although it was "tax season," I packed the computer, some files and headed to Syracuse NY. I secured two tickets for the game from a client (Terp Booster) who wasn't going.
Syracuse University's Newhouse School is worth every penny of tuition. But, that place was an icebox. I walked Friday night at 6 pm from my daughter's dorm room to the Carrier Dome (center of campus), 1/2 mile tops...I thought I was going to freeze to death.
We sat behind the basket, near Maryland's bench for the Sweet Sixteen game against Kentucky. It was close for awhile, but Maryland won. Wow!! I finally get to use the Championship Game Ticket. Of course, CBS scheduled it a 5:30 pm tip off on Sunday...another cold, dark night in Upstate New York.
I worked in the hotel room, Best Western by the airport Saturday & most of Sunday.
The Championship game was against UConn and it wasn't going well. I was still defrosting in the 2nd half, it was colder than Friday night, while UConn's Huskies were outplaying the Terps. Maryland couldn't inbound, got out hustled, out played...UConn had MOMENTUM.
Then the Giant Hand of CBS reached into the Carrier Dome...the Red Light came on - "TV or Official Time Out" was called.
About 12 minutes later, Maryland throws in the ball (without calling time out, throwing it away or having it stolen), Juan Dixon dribbles up the court and calmly hits the three point shot. The Terps got their game back to form. Maryland's Championship Run is Saved!!! Bless you CBS.
My daughter walked me to the garage (indoor icebox), I kissed her goodbye, told her I love her. I spoke to some friends on the cell phone coming home by myself. I don't know what commercials CBS showed during that 12 minutes "timeout" but I was there to see what really happened. I saw a composed Maryland team (coaches & players) work out the strategy needed to win. The lessons learned in Knoxville (1999) and two Duke disasters in 2001 were not in vein.
I'm glad I was in Syracuse to see it. Also, I was wrong, Knoxville was not a waste of time.
