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Message: [QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 146603, member: 405"] First game in person was at Manley, probably in the Louis & Bouie years. Began listening on the radio the season after Bill Smith graduated, 1970-71, I believe, and I'm pretty sure we played in the NIT, which was a huge deal, because the NCAA was still only 16 or 32 teams - it was only the conference winners, no multiple bid conferences, and so there were tons of really good teams still in the NIT back then. Kid Kohls was the best guard that so few remember. He had ridiculous shooting range, and our teams ran all day long and press all game. Dennis Duval was another early favorite, along with the Lee Brothers. I went to high school at OCS, and we used to run at Manley for HS track meets and used it as a community practice facility, on certain off-hours. Our time used to run up against the men's basketball team, and I remember Rosie Bouie having to duck to enter through those doors, with that big Afro of his. I used to run on the wooden indoor track, back when there was still a dirt floor, and the raised court, with the netting to catch guys who fell off the end. A great early memory was that the Sweet 16 game against North Carolina (I always thought it was the Elite 8, but believe I've been wrong about that) - anyway, it was the night of our sports banquet at school, which was held in the gym. Each team would get introduced, there would be individual awards, people would take turns going up on stage, like an awards show, but without the jokes. Anyway, it was the night of the North Carolina game, and people began sneaking out of the gym to watch on this TV set in the library. This was pre-cable, now, too. So, first a few of us are sitting there and trying to keep quiet, and not draw attention to ourselves. But the longer the game goes on, and as the chance of the upset kept growing, more and more people began flooding into the library until there were about 40 cheering people in there, as Jimmy Lee hit the jumper to win it. Awesome memory. Lots of great memories of the Georgetown rivalry, like the chair throwing game at the Garden, and Pearl's battles with Ewing. Great, great stuff. Went to my first Big East tournament the year that we beat Villanova to win, when we still had Sherman and Coleman ('88 or '89?). That was my first experience with a great run in person at a tournament. There have been more memorable games than I can count. But we all have to agree that the first half, in particular, of the 2003 championship game was mind boggling. I was sitting there, and could not believe what I was seeing, as Gerry McNamara made 3 after 3, and our lead was growing to 12, 15, 17 points in the first half. I could not believe what I was beginning to anticipate. And of course Kansas made that tremendous comeback, bringing back bad memories of '87, in particular, and Hakim blasted it into the seats. What a wonderful experience. My daughter and her girlfriend, when they were like 10 and 8, had bowls of confetti that they patiently tore into tiny little pieces, and let me tell you, it was a wonderful experience to throw that confetti and celebrate that victory. One before the pine box, as Toga used to say. [/QUOTE]

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