Since the Lady Vols were ranked in the top 4 and had earned a top seed in upcoming tournements we decided to travel with the Men's team for their first and second round in Columbus, OH. The really cool part of all this is that you get on a bus, ride to the airport, get off the bus, get on the plane and eat a nice dish of fresh fruit with a cool refreshing drink.....instead of beating yourself up going thru security and walking a mile and a half to the gate.
The band, cheerleaders, support staff and a few close friends were all on board when the team arrived and the coaches. Bruce has this thing, for luck, to go thru the plane and bump your fist with this and that included everyone from the pilot back to the last lonely memeber of the band....:)
Off we went into the wild blue yonder to Columbus and about an hour later we were unloading the bus again into a waiting bus. The trick here is getting on the right bus.......
Hey, they even have a Tim Horton in Columbus of all places and we took advantage of that place at few times......
Everywhere the team traveled it was with a police escort with is kinda cool in it's own way......sirens running....lights flashing....IT'S THE BIG TIME BABY.
Another cool part of traveling with the team is that you ended up getting on the bus at the hotel, police escort to the arena, right to the entrance, get off and walk right into the arena.......
There were enough TV trucks parked outside you would have thought that this could be the super bowl instead of just the first round of the tournement.
Each team is allowed a couple hours of practice before the game, to work out those last minute details, work on getting focused, and of course, for Bruce to work on the media....
And work they did, I personally like to listen and watch how they plan to take advantage of the other team. What to block against and so on...drills drills drills.
Of course, what is a college game without a pre-game pep rally and it was jammed with loyal UT fans and standing in the street.....
The one thing that people like Imus would never understand is this.......it's not about race, it's not about anything other then the team and trusting each other.
Long Beach State wasn't what you would call and top ranked team, but the tournement is setup to allow all team a chance at the national championship. I know that I love to see the underdog stick it to a top team, but then there is reality......
Bruce once said that we will lose some games, but not because we were out hustled. So every point, every move, every blocked shot all thru the game is like life or death......and not a walk thru the park.
In the end it was a walk thru the park....at least this time, but again this is college basketball and the highlight of the game, the part that had the 8,000 or so UT fans jumping up and down and screaming, wasn't so much the win, but the end of the game.
The game was in hand with 5 minutes to play, so the coach put in the players that are not the starter, and Tanner Wild is one of those young men.....Chism would works under the basket, instead of taking the ball the jammin it in the basket, he would pass it out to the non-starters. This way they could take a shot, and Tanner did with only second left in the game we got this chance.....to play in the NCAA tournement....to hit a three pointer in front of a pack house and screamin fans...
Just look at that smile....tells it all...doesn't IT????
The fans loved it, the players loved it....everyone but Long Beach I guess....
You would have thought he scored the winning point.....NO.....just reached a personal goal in his life
Of course, he got high fives from the fans as he left the arena floor, and people still cheered for 5 minutes after the shot........Tanner showed everyone exactly how he did it........as he should........isn't it great that you reach a personal goal in your life? What are your goals these days.....????
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