Attending NCAA March Madness
 

So who will be attending any March Madness games in person this year?

I will heading up to Portland for the games there.

Curiously, at that site we have either 5 v 12 or 4 v 13 match-ups for all of the first games.

Omaha also does this with its two four-team mini-tourneys having two of each 2v15 and 7v10 games.

I guess that this is a product of the pod system.

Our organization held a raffle for the 2 dates in St. Louis. Bummer. I did not win. That would have been so cool to attend those games.
I wonder if they will open the Edward Jones Dome for practice sessions?

Since the Rose Garden is about 10 minutes from where I currently am sitting at work I wanted to go and burn a day of vacation and watch some basketball. However, when I tried to get tickets I was blown away at the costs. Over $200 for a ticket in some halfway decent seats, I couldn't believe it. However, the last time they were in Portland 3 years ago the place was sold out so I'm not surprised the prices stayed the same. So with that in mind I think I'll watch them on TV during an 'extended' break at work.

My employer has a skybox at the Rose Garden but not suprisingly they are not allowing the worker bees in on that.

I will probably still check out craig's list or stubhub close to the gametime to see if they have dropped in price at all.....

Is the $200 for 4 or 6 games? For 6 games, I think it's not a bad price.

Heading to Omaha Friday to see Florida vs. Virginia and then Mizzou vs. Norfolk St. I only get to attend the first session though so I won't get to see the other two games. St. Mary's vs. Purdue looks to be a good one and of course Kansas will be there too. Tickets were $84 I think and I am pretty sure they are in the nosebleed section. Lower level prices are crazy, $200 and up. I told somebody the other day, I went to Lincoln at the Devaney Sportscenter in 1988 when Kansas won it all that year with Danny Manning. It was great, NC St. with Valvano, Shackleford and Pitt had Jerome Lane and Charles Smith. I think Dan Marjale (sp?) played for Eastern Michigan and they were there too. Anyway, we sat 4 rows behind the bench and paid $36 for 6 games total. Those were the days. :D

Should be 6 games. Four the first day, two the second.

Will be at Portland for all sessions.

I don't think that's a bad price. I know when I went in the 90s it was $120 for seats in the nosebleed section.

It is $222 per seat for the 4 games on Thursday. The 2 games on Saturday are a separate purchase.

Ouch. No wonder many of the regionals are played to half-empty arenas.

I paid $486 for 2 seats....for both Thursday and Saturday....$81 per session per seat.

I am, however, disappointed in the seats I got. I got in on what was advertised to be a special early offer...and such offers usually means better seats. But not in this case.

If it was some special offer, I wouldn't expect to end up on the 300's (Section 334, Row B, to be exact) and especially not for those prices. The only thing special about it is that the NCAA got my money early before I found out I could have done better on the 2nd had market..

I'll never do that again.

I'd feel very comfortable going with no tickets and getting in under face. Trust me, I'm a pro at this. Someone will always have extras. Alumni with a block of tickets, and a few extras etc. If you're catching a doubleheader and don't mind missing the opening tip, someone will be in a hurry to get in and take anything for their extras. if you're with your son, take a brightly colored file folder and "Dad & Son" need two sign.......like flies to honey.

If you're a single, even easier

All Star game
Home Run Derby
Final four in 2005, 2007
Bears, Packers games
Cub, Sox games
Cub playoff games(as few as they are)
Bulls playoffs back in Jordan days
Boston, Cards World Series
Notre Dame USC
and countless regular season games in all sports

You will always get in, I've never been shut out, and for above games many were free tickets from folks who didn't want to deal with street scalpers out front. Of course it helps to have a cute little blond haired son.

I've never paid face for any of the above events.

Wow, that would be a great session for me to see. UVA and Mizzou each have a starter I officiated throughout HS and Norfolk St has players I officiate in a Pro-Am every summer.

Going to Women's Final Four in Denver.

Where are your seats?

Section 106 row RR for session 1.
Section 116 row G for session 2.
Look for a couple of guys wearing Nevada Wolfpack clothing.
Please come say hi.

Tdy
 

TDY to Omaha for you for the weekend!! The orders are cut. You can pick them up later today.

BTW - do you know that BG, your official CVBOA recruiter worked a state semi last week.





PS - The fine print - your lovely young must go with.

Funny, I was actually out there last year the week before the Pitt/GB Super Bowl when the Midwest got hit with that deep freeze. <s>Drake</s>Creighton and UN-O didn't have any home games that week and I tried to attend a local HS game but got there just as the game was about to end.


Didn't know that. I'll have to send him a text. Us tall referees have to stick together. :)

Will have to see if they let a peasant venture down from the "cheap" seats.

Came by 106RR in the first session and must have missed you...no Wolfpack clothing that I could see but half the row was empty....hung around for a bit but moved on. You must have been out for snacks or a bio break.

Maybe some day??
 

And when I grow up, I want to be ... Oh, never mind! I'll never get there from down here. Enjoy the weather up there. :) :(

Dang, sorry to have missed you. I did go out to the concourse during half and between games attempting to get my cell to work. I get very poor reception in the arena.
I will be at the games on Sat. Don't have the seat info yet.
I'll send you a PM with my cell number. Call or text me.
Got rather wet leaving the evening session!

That was NOT Oregon-like rain....that was more along the lines of what I remember from living the the south.

I got completely soaked on the way out tonight....and we had to park a long way out since we got there late today.

I've sent you a PM....or at least I tried to. You PM box is full. You can always get mine at http://www.reftown.com/rt_contacts.asp

Have Saturday tickets. Section 116 row E seats 13-15.
I will wear my glasses and a long-sleeve shirt that is a gray/light blue with Buckbean Brewery emblem on the chest and Native Nevadan on the back just below the collar. Please come by, text, call, whatever!
We took your advice and hit a BWW today for dinner and watched games then went to Edgefield for some evening partying and adult beverages. Great time!

PS for those who are curious about prices, we paid $350 for all three sessions in the lower bowl. $100, $100, and $150. That works out to $117 per session and face value was $81 per session. I'm okay with that as we got to select our seats. So rather than gamble with being assigned nosebleeds, we sat where we wanted and allowed the original ticket purchasers to make a small profit. I do feel for those who paid the NCAA or the Rose Garden full price ($243) to purchase upper deck tickets. That just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Turns out my seats are not a "bad" as I anticpated. They are in the upper deck but being the 2nd row and almost in line with center court, the view is not bad at all, much better than anticipated. It is as close to the court as a lot of seats on at the ends of the lower arena.

My seats are the same for today...334, B, 11-14. I'm wearing a short-sleeve shirt that is crimson/burgundy with a white ring around each shoulder....logo on the chest says OACA and has a whistle on it.