The View from Indianapolis

Alright, maybe its not the best title for a blog entry with no pictures (yet), however, from our view (ection 139, Row 25, Seats 104-106) I saw two teams advance that were men among boys on Saturday

Florida 73, George Mason 58
This game wasn't a total surprise. I will give Mason credit for making a run in the first half when it appeared that Florida might beat them by 30. The Gators jumped out to a 16-6 lead and Cinderella was turning back into her tattered clothes in a hurry, but the boys from Fairfax, VA pulled it together and got the game back to within one point (25-24) and only five at halftime, 31-26.

At the half, I said the telltale words to my LSU buddy: "First five minutes of this are crucial for George Mason. They're going to have to weather the storm."

Turns out they couldn't. Lee Humphrey hit four consecutive threes and the Gators were on their way to Monday night.

UCLA 59, LSU 45
I have no idea what happened to LSU. I knew the Bayou Bengals weren't the best shooting team and I told my friend that the key to a win would be Darrel Mitchell from outside, but it didn't matter which Tiger took the shot, they weren't going in.

Not so if you were a Bruin. If you needed to know how this game went you only needed to see one possession in the second half. Jordan Farmar throws up a three-pointer with the time running out on the shot clock from 25 feet and he drained it. That made it 48-27 Bruins and it was over for sure then. I have never seen the RCA Dome evacuate so quickly.


So at least I got my earlier prediction right: It will be UCLA vs. Florida for the national championship on Monday. After Saturday's games I am just hoping for a competitive basketball game. Being a Kentucky fan, I could care less who wins. Apparently an early indicator is who can get that 16-6 lead as both Florida and UCLA held the same score leads in the first half of their games.

Either team winning is really a no-win situation. Florida's fans are obnoxious people. Period. Same bunch that threw oranges when Kentucky scored a touchdown one year - that only brought the score to Florida 47, Kentucky 7. Florida fans are also confused as I kept seeing so many Gator fans wearing football jerseys.

UCLA fans are arrogant as hell but I would be to with 11 national championships. At least their attitude is justified. I normally took UCLA fans to be a wine and cheese crowd, but they were there in vocal force at the Dome (helps when your beating your opponent to a bloody mess).

I just want a good game. We as fans deserve it after Saturday.