It went well. It was long. I wrote a column, a feature on North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough and a North Carolina notebook. Oh, and two hours of radio. And now this blog. Am I a hard-working man or what? Actually, our beat writers are the hard workers. I’m a columnist. And they pay me.
There’s nothing quite like covering a Final Four. This is my sixth and I remember my first, which was also at the Alamadome. When I walked into the building, I was amazed. Now, not so much. In fact, the place looks out of date. I am very much looking forward to tomorrow night’s games, though. How could a college basketball fan not be excited about this Final Four? My picks: North Carolina and UCLA. Although it wouldn’t surprise me if Memphis and Kansas won. Nothing about this Final Four would surprise me.
By the way, it’s a Friday night in a great, bustling city like San Antonio and here I sit, in my hotel room, with my roommate, Rick Plumlee. They don’t call me Mr. Excitement for nothing. This is one of my favorite cities and, under normal circumstances, I would be out tearing this place up. I would get to know police officers on a first-name basis. I would be rowdy and crazy. Instead, I’m fighting a cold and I’m fatigued from yesterday’s 10-hour drive to get here. Plus, if you read the first part of this post, you know how hard I worked today. So I’m staying in.
Now, tomorrow afternoon the plan is to go grab some lunch on the Riverwalk after we go for a long walk in the morning. I’m looking forward to that, almost as much as I’m looking forward to getting some sleep tonight. This cold of mine disappeared for a few weeks, but I think remnants of its have returned. I’m coughing and sneezing a lot and I feel the congestion in my chest, although it has cleared up some. I just feel like I need sleep.
Hello to everyone back home who reads this blog. As I write this, by the way, the Cardinals are beating the Washington Nationals and Rick Ankiel has hit his second home run of the season. I’m amazed by Ankiel, the pitcher-converted-to-outfielder. And I’m a little more optimistic about the Cardinals than I was a few days. Now, if I check the score later and they’re losing, I reserve the right to change my mind about the optimism.
I miss my friends. This will be over soon and I’m going to play a lot of golf and hang out with my buddies. And, of course, write on this blog.