Hard to believe that 2 years ago I was down @ the HSBC arena watching my Niagara U. Purple Eagles clinch their first NCAA appearance in 35 years. An event that I would never thought that I would have witnessed in my lifetime. The best part of it was I saw it live and in person. I guess the only sporting analogy would have been being a Ranger fan in '94 or a Red Sox fan in '04.

SO here I am on campus watching it with a bunch of other much younger students. Yea I'm pretty much gramps at this point but just being here to watch it almost feels like a duty. I remember the program when it was a doormat, I also remember the first time when I watched them play a NCAA Conference Championship Game back in '93 and getting screwed with a team that may hve won a game in the first round. It's just that I just don't have a good feeling with them being on the road. Pretty much 2/3rds of Siena is in Bridgeport, then agin they say it's only a 2 hour bus trip.

Then I'm thinking about this concept: "Has the sucess over the past 8-9 years spoiled the loyal fans or at least ME? What would I do if something happened and we were back to winning single digit games again? This year I really was a bit lathergic in my support. I guess being a bit removed from the whole student dynamic makes a bit of a difference. I shold be in the reserved seats as a season ticket holder, and not with the student section.

I remember 2 years ago when I caught the NCAA tournament game against Oklahoma. I watched it at the Sarasota Brewing Co. a place that had Directv and plenty of beer. I spent the whole day and the best part was I remember sitting at the bar and this guy came into the place. The bartender asked if he wanted to see any particular game and he said, "Yes, it's on right here" the game I was watching. He was a high school teamate of Brooks a senior starter. It was quite an interesting 2 hours as I was updating my buddy down in Virginia while he was teaching a class. They should have won that game, but that's another story...

Meanwhile Ch 7 is here with a camera. Julie Fine is here and she just doesn't look anything like I would have imagined her to be in person. He's about 5' in heels and wearing jeans and a sweater and blends in like one of the students.

EDIT: It was much sweeter this time with the "down to the wire" drama!!!!!

NCAA TOURNAMENT BABY!!!!!!