COLUMN: March Madness and Blue Fields

I'm an avid sports fan and my absolute favorite time of the year is the NCAA Basketball Tournament, especially the first four days.

I grew up at a time when the University of Wyoming basketball team had an amazing program and their eclectic player Fennis Dembo even graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. I was able to experience the magic of the tournament watching the Cowboys play in Salt Lake City and those are experiences I will never forget.

Unfortunately the success did not last long, but every once in a while the Pokes make the tournament and all seems right with the basketball world.

It was during their long spell in between tournament appearances that I fell in love with another basketball team and they have become just as special to me.

Along with the hopes Wyoming will make the tournament and there will be a plethora of upsets (look at last week) to break brackets across the United States, I carefully follow the Gonzaga Bulldogs as they search for an elusive national championship.

There has certainly been joy following them, but also a lot of heart break. More importantly, there has been plenty of March Madness.

March of 1999: As had been the case with every tournament I was hoping for upsets, and this is when I first started to fall in love with Gonzaga. I certainly knew that John Stockton had gone to school at the University located in Spokane and had once heard a story about Bing Crosby throwing a piano out of a window while attending the school, but I didn't know much else. It was in 1999 a team led by Richie Frohm, Matt Santangelo, and Casey Calvary shocked the nation and made it to the Elite 8 of the then 64-team tournament. They were the perfect Cinderella for America, but the joy seemed short lived after coach Dan Monson took a job in Minnesota. The Zags would hire assistant Mark Few and little did anyone know that this would be the start of something special. I was so excited to see Few lead his team to two Sweet 16's in his first two years at the helm. I don't know if they could have been called a Cinderella anymore, but if they were, the slipper certainly still did fit.

March of 2002: Gonzaga was 29-3 going into the tournament and this looked like the year they may advance to the Final Four. It was also pretty cool because Wyoming was also good and was going to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. I was super excited to watch the selection show and see where and when each of them would be playing and plan out what should be an amazing day or two days of action. I almost threw up when neither team had shown up on the selection show until the last game and I found out they would be playing each other. I seriously wanted to throw the television out the window much like Bing Crosby had done with the piano. I was happy Wyoming would advance, but sad because the Zags had a team that could have made a deep run.

March of 2017: Between 2003 and 2016, Gonzaga would advance to four Sweet 16's and one Elite Eight before finally making it all the way to the National Championship in game against North Carolina in 2017. They would end up losing, but it was an incredible breakthrough for the program.

March 11, 2018. 4:18 p.m.: The annual selection show had revealed the bracket, and the Bulldogs would be playing Thursday, March 15 in Boise against UNC Greensboro. It was at this time I thought to myself this is the time I need to go see them play in the NCAA Tournament. I have seen them play a handful of times, but never in the atmosphere I loved so much as a kid.

March 12, 2018. 4:45 p.m.: After a day of being bummed out I can't afford to take the whole family to see them play, I come to the realization that it would be okay if I just did something nice for myself and think of planning a solo trip. I tell my mom and sister who are very happy I may go and they even want to chip in a hotel and some spending money.

March 12, 2018. 9:36 p.m.: I purchase a ticket and decide I will be leaving at around 3 or 4 a.m. on the March 15 to make it to Boise in time to see the game. I am so excited at this point and the weather forecast looks promising.

March 14, 2018: 1:05 p.m.: The forecast has changed and it looks like a winter storm is on its way. I decide to change my hotel room to later that night and that I will return after the game. I can't miss the Zags playing because it decides to storm in Montana.

March 14, 2018: 3:00 p.m.: I start my trip to as far as Pocatello when I run into a monsoon. It was a driving rain the entire trip with a few patches of fog. It was a horrible drive, but I finally made it around 6:30 and settled in for the evening.

March 15, 2018: 6:15 a.m.: I hop out of bad super excited for the day and am on the road by 6:45 a.m. I want to get to Boise in time for something to eat and perhaps a few cold drinks with fellow Gonzaga fans.

March 15: 2018 10:20: a.m.: I arrive in Boise and make my way to University Drive to find parking for Taco Bell Arena. It is pure chaos. The traffic is like that of Seattle and people are darting in front of cars walking to the arena. I'm about to pull into a lot and right before I do a man places a sign in front of it and they close it. They direct me to a parking garage.

March 15: 2018 10:34 a.m.: I arrive at the parking garage and am told it is full and to go to another garage. I ask where it is and they guy tells me he doesn't know. I ask "Why the hell would you tell me to go somewhere you don't know the location to?" He ignores me and I start to drive in circles. There is nowhere to park. Even the spots in front of houses are full. I begin to think if the people at the University spent more time on parking then trying to be unique with a stupid blue football field this would not be a problem.

March 15: 2018 11:00 a.m.: I'm starting to panic. Tipoff is at 11:30 a.m. and I don't know what to do. I find a grocery store and decide to park there. As I'm walking away from my car, an employee of the store says that if I leave my car it will be towed. I'm not going to share what I told him, but it wasn't pretty. I was starting to think I may miss part of the game and was in a NASTY mood.

March 15: 2018: 11:04 a.m.: I go back onto University Avenue and ask another person where the other garage is and he gives me great directions. I get to the garage and they tell me there is plenty of space. I search every level and nothing. On top of this they want $30? Are you kidding me? Unless this money goes to help remedy the parking problem or to get a real football field I would have had a rough time paying for it.

March 15: 2018: 11:18 a.m.: I pull out of the garage and I'm almost in tears. I'm over a mile from the stadium and don't know what to do. I finally decide I am pulling onto the campus and am going to park somewhere even if I get towed. I find a little park with a few spots and get out of the car.

March 15: 2018: 11:22 a.m. : I'm 1.3 miles away from the Stadium (Thanks Google Maps) and I have eight minutes. I'm not young anymore, but you should have seen me move. I was as quick as a cheetah, but not so graceful. I almost knocked a lady of a bridge over a creek I was going so fast, but nothing was going to stop me from tipoff.

March 15: 2018: 11:30 a.m.: I'm not sure how, but I made it for tipoff. I wasn't in my seat, but I still watched. At the first timeout I went to get my seat and someone was in it. He was an elderly man sitting with what appeared to be his grandchild and I decided to not approach him. It reminded me of times with my Grandpa and I wasn't going to ruin that for them. The only empty row in the arena packed full of Gonzaga fans was behind me and I sat there. An energetic Zags fan soon came and start there and he quickly realized he was in the wrong section. I told him of my dilemma and he told me to hang tight. Five minutes later he came back to get me. I had gone from row 17 on the left side of the basket to midcourt in the 12th row. It meant so much to me to see the Zags play at the tournament and we were both very boisterous. It was an incredible atmosphere.

March 15: 2018: 11:48 a.m.: The guy in front of me rips out his cell phone in a hurry. Turns out he has the "Ring" system and someone was at his front door. This has nothing to do with the game, but it is a really neat app that I'm going to check out.

March 15: 2018: 1:00 p.m.: It appears there is only one bathroom on my level. You would think a place called "Taco Bell Arena" would have more bathrooms, but I guess I'm wrong.

March 15: 2018: 1:24 p.m.: After winning comfortably most of the second half, Gonzaga falls behind by one point late and I'm really nervous. What a depressing trip this will be home if they lose.

March 15: 2018: 1:31 p.m.: Zach Norvell Jr. drills a three-pointer and the Zags take the lead. It was pandemonium. Everyone in my section had acted the whole game like we knew each other for years and at this point we were hugging and screaming. May sound weird, but meant the world to me.

March 15: 2018: 1:44 p.m.: I start to make my way to the car. I can barely move. That 1.3 miles in eight minutes did a number on me and I am slower than a turtle.

March 15: 2018: 2:00 p.m.: I start my journey home. At one point I thought it could end up a horrible day and missing the game, but one of the best days of my life.

March 15: 2018 9:00 p.m.: I arrive home and watch Montana play in the NCAA Tournament.

I LOVE MARCH MADNESS!!!