NCAA Final Four

Once again we were lucky enough to attend the Final Four games in Indianapolis.  Northwestern Mutual is a major sponsor of the NCAA resulting in the ability to use the Final Four games as an opportunity to reward the hard working field representatives.  This was my first time in Indianapolis and besides the Badger's loosing the title game we had a great time visiting the city and watching some exciting basketball - especially the Badger's win over Kentucky.

The four day weekend consisted primarily of eating, drinking, talking with the representatives, and watching basketball.  It was good opportunity for me to meet more of the representatives as I continue to try and match names with faces.  But, I'll be honest my main interest was in watching the three games.  As with Dallas last year, watching basketball in a football arena leaves a little to be desired since the majority of the seats are a long way from the action, but it does allow the NCAA to pack in 77,000 fans for one game.  And pack them in they did, there weren't a lot, if any, free seats for any of the games.  It creates quite an atmosphere for the games and especially the players.

On the games themselves, needless to say we were ecstatic to watch the Badger's defeat the Wildcats.   We were able to enjoy seats that were only a couple of rows up from the floor for the game so really got to see how tall and athletic the players are up close and personal.  The Romney's were just in front of us - front row seats, if you don't count all the scorer and press tables in front.  Must say, they are a good looking couple - and Mitt definitely has good politician hair!  After the exciting win, we just had to continue the celebration with other Badger fans, so we hit a bar afterwards to revel in the victory.  Unfortunately, it was a very late night in the bar which meant for a pretty late start to Sunday.



Our nephew, Sean, lives in Indiana so we took the opportunity to meet up with him on Saturday for brunch in a town halfway between where Sean lives and Indianapolis.  We caught up with what Sean has been up to, over a tasty plate of eggs, pancakes, and sausage, as he continues to settle into his new job (about 8 months in), apartment, and town.  Seems like he is busy with a lot of hobbies, enjoying his job, and doing well overall.  




On Monday, we had a back stage tour of the Lucas Oil arena which included seeing the locker rooms and the chance to get out on the floor to shoot some buckets.  Let me just say, it is incredibly hard since the baskets sit without any depth behind them.  And that is without someone jumping in my face trying to block the shot or 70,000 screaming fans yelling at the moment I'm releasing the ball.  I only made about 30% of my shots and the vast majority would have elicited the usual "air ball" from the crowd.  Fortunately, not many others were doing any better.

All in all, it was a fun weekend but we both came home tired as there were several late nights

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