Final Four, Butler vs State

Looking back at Saturday of the Final Four is a little bit of a blur. Everything happened so fast and there was so much excitement, it was so hard to keep it straight. Here goes my best attempt (and I am sure the hubs will correct me if I am wrong).

We woke up and got ready for the day, but we had to make an unexpected pit stop to Keystone Mall so that we could swing by Banana Republic to pick the hubs up a new belt (while getting ready he realized he forgot this men's essential). We grabbed some lunch with our girl JD and we made our way down town Indy. Once we arrived we decided to meet some of my BU college friends/sorority sisters and their men at Cadillac Ranch. Here we watched and boo-d the State fans who tried to ride the mechanical bull. We also consumed quite a bit of beverages. Overall, it was just great to celebrate being a proud alum with other alum. Recognize anyone you may know? Check it out:


After quite a bit of fun here, we worked our way over to Lucas Oil. Remember when I said that place was a beast? Well it is. Our seats were in the 600 level! But we had a great view of the entire place:

Overall, the fan experience was ehhh-ok. There were people from the 2nd game (Duke vs West Virginia) walking up and down the aisle the entire time with no ushers to be found. However, we did have some State fans walk by wearing these lovely State snuggies, is it bad i secretly want to make a Butler Bulldog snuggie now?

The game was intense. My nerves were all over the place and my battery was drained. This was probably a good thing because I don't think that I could handle the pressure of everyone elses nerves via text or facebook updates. As the final seconds approached and Butler won, we were able to snag some decent photos:

After the game ended, there was so much joy in Lucas Oil for every Butler and Indianapolis fan. Beating State was a huge game and even most State fans were wishing congrats to the dawgs (man I love the midwest). The hubs and I decided to celebrate with the rest of Indianapolis, so we made our way for the elevators down to the first level (remember I said we were on the 600 level!). All of a sudden we saw a rush of State fans selling their championship game tickets at the fan exchange booth. The lines was ridiculous so it looked like people were taking their own liberties to sell them on their own. Check out the chaos:


As we got outside, the roads were insane. Everyone wearing Butler attire was giving high fives, handshakes and I think there were even some fist pumps, no joke. We ran into the hubs old roommates from the Indians and then made our way to a few different bars before we ended at Rock Bottom to meet up with another girlfriend from college and her man.

We had some more friends who said they were either in Boradripple or headed that way so we figured we should jump on the B-ripple bandwagon. It's not every weekend I get to see so many friends so we had to capitalize on it. We met up with JD & her brother and headed to her car but first a quick stop at Victory Field, home of the Indianapolis Indians. This spot is huge for us because it is where me and the hubs met and it's where our friendship with JD began. If only we had taken some better more errrr serious photos?


We loaded in JDs car and headed north. As we were sitting in the traffic the hubs looks at me and says hey look is Clark Kellogg. After that awesome Butler win, I had to ask him what his thoughts were for the next game but my words got jumbled. I think I ended with something like this "Hey Clark, now that Butler took out State, will you be routin' for them" (yup I said routin, sometimes I pick up a little slang while I am in Indy, it drive my sisters crazy).

Clark looked at me with pointed fingers and said "Young Lady - pause - I can't cheer I can only cover the games." The next morning my husband was still talking about how I yelled at Clark Kellog, I feel a little bad looking back at it. I probably looked/acted like a fool, but when else would it be ok to yell like that?

Whenw e arrived in Boradripple the hubs was a little confused. Many new bars had moved in and some old ones out. One of hsi favorite little cantinas was now closed. Sorry pacos

At this point we realized our friends had bailed. It's hard to really blame them, those sort of festivities are a lot for a person to handle. And lets be honest, not everyone has the super strength of my husband. So instead of calling it quits we made one last stop, at Landsharks. The hubs ended up running into an old hs friend. Say hi

After that, we were ready to go but we realized we hadn't eaten in quite some time. There was no line at the Hot Box Pizza so we figured it was a great time to put in an order as we waited for our ride home. Here we ran into one of my younger DG sisters who now is on a local Indy morning radio show. Meet Hot Box & Monica of Radio Now


We headed home and crashed because the next day was Easter Sunday. We spent most of that Sunday playing with my Indy family kiddo-s and spending time with my Indy mom. We then headed to the hubs family's house and had an amazing Easter Dinner put on my his mom and his sister. It was a great way to finish up an amazing weekend and a great way to prep for an awesome championship game, Duke vs Butler.

Unfortunately, here's where our photos started to go bizerk again. We don't have many photos from the Championship game but we did get a few.

Since we were on the 600 level, the screens were a good shot for some of the player intros.

At halftime they did a special for some of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame that was presented during the Final Four. What was really cool about it? Well being from Chicago and working for the United Center, seeing Scottie Pipen was awesome. You can meet the entire class by clicking here or checking out this photo:


Some of the game


Despite the loss to Duke, I still don't feel like there was any real loser. Butler held their own against a very strong team and they ventured grounds they had never seen before. The overall experience was amazing and I am so glad that the hubs was so encouraging. It was great to experience something so cool with someone I love so much (even if he isn't a Butler Alumn).

Butler University President's Perspective — April 2010

As I struggle where to go next with my blog about the Final Four experience, I thought I would share an amazing email that all the Butler students & Alumni received today. I know there is lots of laughter and jokes about my expensive Butler education that float around our house and their are financial struggles every day but reading this confirms everything I believed in as a student and now as an alum. I couldn't be happier to be part of Butler University and I can only hope that people feel as connected to their Alma Mater as I do. I may not have played for this Butler basketball team, but that's ok. I feel just the same and I feel like the connections that Dr. Fong speaks of I can relate to in my own Butler Way. You can see the entire page by clicking here.

Excerpt from Dr. Bobby Fong:

"at in the midst of this week’s pandemonium you still attended classes has become a byword of how excellence in athletics and academics is compatible. College presidents have written about how your example stands for all the schools that seek to do right by their students. Commentator Pat Forde wrote this morning, “But Butler wins, too. And the maligned sport of college basketball, a greasy enterprise in recent times, wins a renewed level of nobility. And every small school wins the license to dream Butler dreams.”

"And finally, you have permanently altered the profile of your University. Vice President for Enrollment Tom Weede said, “One hundred percent of students will never apply to a university of whom they’ve never heard.” Going forward, far fewer people will ask, “In what state is Butler located?” Because of what you have done, Butler has become an example of academic and athletic excellence. Because of what you have done, in the years to come, many more students will aspire to come to Butler, some to be athletes, others to be artists, and scientists, and educators. Because of what you have done, more people will better appreciate achieving difficult things by doing the right thing, by doing them the Butler Way. "

Purdue Alumni Association

The hubs has been getting lots of calls from West Lafayette. Knowing that it was the Purdue Alumni Association more than likely asking for money, the hubs has decided not to answer his phone. Now don't get me wrong, he loves Purdue but we had a wedding less than a year ago and we're trying to save for a house oh and not to mention that the hubs could make a career change and have to start all over again.

But tonight was different. You see he got home from work to find a Comcast bill for $250! Turns out when the guy called and offered us a Triple Play Deal for 90 something dollars he really meant to say "You'll be getting a bill for $250" So the hubs made 3 calls. First to the number on the bill. They said they could change the plan to $135 but we would still owe the $250. Then he made a 2nd call, this time to the cancellation department. You'd think they would want to retain us right? Wrong, the lady said the same thing as the first guy and didn't seem to care about the bill for $250. Finally, the hubs called the sales department who informed him that if he were to sign up for a new contract today he could get Internet and TV for $79!

WHAT THE HECK? Really, we can call and sign up for anew service for $79 but they want us to pay $250 for our last months bill?

Right after that 3rd call the hubs got a call from Purdue. This poor college student had no clue what he was in for. I hear the husband first say "it can't be as good as yours, you're in college and I am sure there is plenty of beer." Well that comment must have made the two best friends because then they started talking about majors and Purdue bars and career paths. I am sure the guy on the other line thought the hubs was a for sure deal for some money. However, 20 minutes later the hubs had to let the poor lad down. He was polite about it but I think the college student may be calling to hang out with us the next time he's in Chicago...nice work hubs.

PS Comcast still stinks. I think we are watching all of our recorded shows tonight and then completely cancelling Comcast all together - ::GASP:: I don't know what my husband is going to do with himself!