For the past few weeks, the Lord has really blessed me with opportunities to experience things so few sports fans ever will. I went toe-to-toe with the PGA guys and the past few days, I worked courtside at the Final Four here in Houston. The announced attendance for the Championship game was just over 70,000. This included the general public and members of the media. Of that total attendance, about 3 dozen folks had court access. Yours truly was in that small group. It was nice being able to walk up on the court and guys like Jim Gray (NBC Sports), Andy Katz (ESPN), and Pat Forde (ESPN) were stuck looking from afar.
It didn't hit me what I was about to experience until I was walking up to Reliant Stadium Saturday afternoon around 2pm (3+ hours before tip-off). As I walked into the stadium, I found myself on the court. Hey, photo opportunity, right?
The first few hours were spent helping out the photographers, learning the ropes and then figuring out which locations we were going to work. My job was a photo runner. Most photographers were wired into an editors computer so every picture they took, immediately popped up on their editors' computer. Some still needed memory cards to be run at every timeout. I volunteered to work up in the stands the first game, but I got to run down on the court when I had to deliver the cards to the editing room. It was fun, but the running up and down the stands was getting old. I eventually moved to the court side spot for the second game between Kentucky and UConn.
I did manage to see the following athletes as I quickly scanned the crowd:
Warren Sapp (Former NFL)
Eric Gordon (Ex-UConn Husky, Now NBA)
Tubby Smith (Ex-Kentucky, Current Minnesota coach)
Charles Barkley (Duh)
Tom Izzo (Michigan St. Head Coach)
Wally Szczerbiak (Former NBA, now CBS Analyst)
George Smith (ESPN Reporter)
Robert Wuhl (Actor, From Arli$$ on HBO)
Owen Daniels (Houston Texans Tight End)
Adrian Peterson (Vikings Running Back)
Hasheem Thabeet (Ex-UConn, Current NBA center...7'3")
Ashley Judd (Actress...however the photographer I was working with took pictures of her, didn't recognize/know her and then asked for her name to put in the paper. His man card was quickly revoked)
But my favorite athlete I ran into, and had a fun conversation with, was Matt Kuchar, PGA Tour member. Possibly the nicest, most down to earth guy I have ever met. He even asked what my role was for the media and he volunteered to run for me. I told him if he got me on at Augusta, he could take my spot.
So that was Saturday. Come Monday, Championship night, I was pumped. Security was ridiculous. Numerous times I was approached to show credentials, explain my duties and then they finally left me alone. Want to know where I stood for the game?
And while UConn was celebrating and most of the media had to wait off the court, where do you think I was at? Oh yeah, exploiting my court access:
I stood off the court during the actual game play but before the game, during timeouts and after the game, I was allowed on the court. Sure the game was boring, but it was still and electric atmosphere!
Numerical Summary for the Final Four:
16 - hours spent at Reliant stadium Saturday and Monday.
40 - percent of the allotted student tickets filled by UConn. It was a bad student turnout. Heck, even VCU and Butler far outnumbered the tradition-rich Huskies.
5 - years until Houston hosts the Final Four again. Don't worry, I have already started my campaign to be a runner when it returns!
It didn't hit me what I was about to experience until I was walking up to Reliant Stadium Saturday afternoon around 2pm (3+ hours before tip-off). As I walked into the stadium, I found myself on the court. Hey, photo opportunity, right?
The first few hours were spent helping out the photographers, learning the ropes and then figuring out which locations we were going to work. My job was a photo runner. Most photographers were wired into an editors computer so every picture they took, immediately popped up on their editors' computer. Some still needed memory cards to be run at every timeout. I volunteered to work up in the stands the first game, but I got to run down on the court when I had to deliver the cards to the editing room. It was fun, but the running up and down the stands was getting old. I eventually moved to the court side spot for the second game between Kentucky and UConn.
I did manage to see the following athletes as I quickly scanned the crowd:
Warren Sapp (Former NFL)
Eric Gordon (Ex-UConn Husky, Now NBA)
Tubby Smith (Ex-Kentucky, Current Minnesota coach)
Charles Barkley (Duh)
Tom Izzo (Michigan St. Head Coach)
Wally Szczerbiak (Former NBA, now CBS Analyst)George Smith (ESPN Reporter)
Robert Wuhl (Actor, From Arli$$ on HBO)
Owen Daniels (Houston Texans Tight End)
Adrian Peterson (Vikings Running Back)
Hasheem Thabeet (Ex-UConn, Current NBA center...7'3")
Ashley Judd (Actress...however the photographer I was working with took pictures of her, didn't recognize/know her and then asked for her name to put in the paper. His man card was quickly revoked)
But my favorite athlete I ran into, and had a fun conversation with, was Matt Kuchar, PGA Tour member. Possibly the nicest, most down to earth guy I have ever met. He even asked what my role was for the media and he volunteered to run for me. I told him if he got me on at Augusta, he could take my spot.
So that was Saturday. Come Monday, Championship night, I was pumped. Security was ridiculous. Numerous times I was approached to show credentials, explain my duties and then they finally left me alone. Want to know where I stood for the game?
And while UConn was celebrating and most of the media had to wait off the court, where do you think I was at? Oh yeah, exploiting my court access:
I stood off the court during the actual game play but before the game, during timeouts and after the game, I was allowed on the court. Sure the game was boring, but it was still and electric atmosphere!
Numerical Summary for the Final Four:
16 - hours spent at Reliant stadium Saturday and Monday.
40 - percent of the allotted student tickets filled by UConn. It was a bad student turnout. Heck, even VCU and Butler far outnumbered the tradition-rich Huskies.
5 - years until Houston hosts the Final Four again. Don't worry, I have already started my campaign to be a runner when it returns!
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