15 years ago, 34,616 | Page 3 | Syracusefan.com

15 years ago, 34,616

That team was great, just so many options. They simply played so well together and did everything well.

It's a shame we never got the opportunity to play at full strength in the tourney.
 
I just loved that feeling of like a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon BET game at the Garden -- it felt so carefree. You're skipping out of school or work to watch it. It would always start with footage of a million yellow cabs driving down the street, and then pan over to JB getting out of a bus looking grumpy to walk into MSG. Those were the days.

In some ways I actually enjoyed the BET more than the NCAA Tournament.
I used to love finagling ways to leave early for the afternoon games. My firm didn't care but I had to get my work done. I'd get judges to take cases scheduled for the afternoon in the morning. Work things out so that we could cancel an afternoon conference. That was fun.

I know a lot of old timers love the 80s Big East, and that was definitely special, but Louisville era was pretty great too. And it was one of those things where we all knew how great it was and appreciated it. All good things...
 
This was my first basketball game at the Dome. Prior to that the last game (on campus) was in Manley during my Senior year 71-72. I brought my three adult sons to this game and spent the pregame in Faegans watching teams clad in blue (Kansas, Kentucky) losing to teams clad in orange (Okla St., Tenn). I took that as a good omen! It was a great bonding experience for us as I had just lost my wife to cancer the prior Fall. One of the most impressive wins and sporting environments I have had the privilege of attending until the Duke game 4 years later!
 
I have a framed panoramic picture of this game over my desk in my home office. I look at it every day.

What made that game extra exciting is that we were ranked #4 going in, but #1 Kansas, #2 Kentucky and #3 Purdue incredibly all lost earlier in the day. So we knew if we won, we would probably be #1 for the first time in 20 years.

I bought a framed copy from the in-Dome store. It was hanging on the wall and they made up a price on the spot because I wanted it.
 

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