So you have probably heard the amazing news that Duke is the 2010 National Champions but what you might not know is that I was there in person to witness it! At least this is good news to me, to others not so much. It's just amazing how many Duke haters there are out there. I do not blame non Duke fans for pulling for Butler. I always pick the underdog if I'm not a fan of either team, but at the same time I don't hate. What about UNC you might say? They are not my favorite but I don't hate them. Ninety five percent of the time if a game does not effect the outcome of Duke's season then I'll pull for the ACC team. The other 5% I pull against the ACC because fans have annoyed me by being obnoxious about hating Duke (Maryland fans is the perfect example).
Matt and I left on Saturday morning to head to Indianapolis for the weekend. Matt's dad was offered the oppurtunity to buy tickets to the Final Four since he has Duke season tickets. Matt, his dad, and I all could not pass up the opportunity to go. This is nothing new for Matt, he has been to 7 Final Fours! We went to the semi final games on Saturday night. Both games couldn't have gone better the first game was Michigan State vs. Butler. I was pulling for Butler and it ended up to be a close game that obviously Butler won. Then Duke played WVU and it was a blow out. It was fun to see a close game that I did not have a big stake in.
Sunday Matt, his dad, his dad's basketball friends, and I went to a Duke Presidential Brunch at an alums house. Well it was more of an estate then it was a house. The actually brunch was in what looks like a barn from the outside but is actually a basketball court with an amazing loft bar, beautiful deck, and a theater room. Oh and did I mention that Friday's game was playing the whole time on the 10 feet projection screen? The barn overlooked their private pond and on the other side of the pond was another big house. I figured the house was probably a relatives, but no it was their 7 bedroom guest house. They had really good food catered too. Probably the food was part of the reason I gained 0.2 lbs this week. I did make some better choices than I would have made a few months ago. The biggest thing I did differently was portion control.
Monday we ate breakfast at the Embassy Suites where we were staying. I had pancakes but practiced self restraint and had two small ones with a little bit of syrup. I also had a tiny bit of scrambled eggs and a big serving of cantalope. After letting my breakfast settle I set out to do a Couch 2 5k workout. I ran arond the parking lot of an industrial park area behind the hotel. There were some pretty birds and geese to look at in a man made area of water but that just meant there was a lot of goose poop to avoid. Goose poop and ugly scenery did not stop me from finishing my workout though.
We spent the rest of the day walking around downtown Indy and at Bracket Town and trying to kill time before the big game. For dinner before the game we met up with his dad's basketball friends for dinner at
Oceanaire. I had a crab stuffed white fish, corn, and wine. I hate that wine uses WW points but calories are calories I guess. After dinner we headed to the game. I was so nervous before the game even started. I had no idea that my pre game jitters were going to be nothing compared to what was to come. The game left my stomach in knots. In the last second when Butler's Hayward throw up the half court shot and it hit the rim I could barely stand to watch to see if it would go in. Finally when I saw it did not go in I was able to celebrate that we were the Champions!
After we were done celebrating in the stadium we headed to the hotel where the team was staying. After a crowded, hectic, and hot 45 minutes we were able to greet the team and congratulate them. I was right up front and high fived Singler, Nolan, and Coach K's wife. I'm never going to wash that hand! Okay kidding I already have washed it many times since then. The whole weekend was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. For that I thank you Matt for taking me! You are the best!
