(03-09-2017 01:21 PM)CrazyPaco Wrote: [ -> ] (03-09-2017 01:01 PM)orangefan Wrote: [ -> ] (03-09-2017 12:35 PM)ken d Wrote: [ -> ]Ordinary fans couldn't get ticket books for the games - they were only available to the biggest donors. So you drove to Greensboro to score tickets from fans of first round losers heading home early.
Ha! I used to do the same thing at Madison Square Garden for the BET back in the day.
Me too.
Me three.
Here's a great story from my youth. I was in Grade 6 and was in a science class whenever another student knocked on the door and told my science teacher that the Phys Ed teacher needed to see me immediately. He told me to bring my things.
Everyone made the "Oooooooooo" sound – Including my science teacher.
I was a little bit nervous, trying to figure out what the hell I had done and why I was being summoned to the gym?
Well, I get to his office and he asked me if I knew why he called me down? I told him I had no idea? He then asked me if I liked college basketball – And I told him I LOVED college basketball, and he knew that because he was my coach.
Then, he asked me to move a box from one corner of the office to another. I happily obliged but had no idea what was going on.
Then, he opens up the door to a large room that I had no idea even existed and it looked to be a lounge type area – I'm sure it was the teachers lounge.
He then tells me that if I want I can stay and watch some basketball or I can go back to class – it was my choice. I look in the room and basically all of my friends were sitting in there watching the Big East Tournament!
Not exactly a tough decision.
I will never forget it – it was Syracuse versus St. John's. We stayed in that lounge area for the rest of the day until the end of school just watching college basketball and talking about basketball. It remains one of my favorite memories growing up. I still stay in touch with that teacher and have told him many times over the years how much I appreciated that kind gesture.
You couldn't do that nowadays. Nowadays that would be considered creepy or inappropriate or anti-academic or something goofy like that. When in reality all it was was a nice man doing something nice for a bunch of good kids whom he knew loved basketball.
Basically, the best of the Big East and the ACC merged and we both have to sacrifice some of our long cherished traditions. However, the flipside to that is that we also get to build new traditions.
If MSG were to ever become available, I would adamantly push for it to be a permanent host even though I know it will never again be what the old Big East was for decades. However, it is still way better than anything most ACC fans have ever experienced just like a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium is a better road environment than anything most Big East fans have ever experienced.
Times have changed and we would be ridiculously foolish if we were to fail to take advantage of those opportunities.