The Road to the Final Four - Part Three: Stuck in San Antonio

On the day of the Championship Game, I was losing my mind.

We had been staying in our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express, ten minutes away from downtown, killing time, sleeping in our rooms, surfing the net, or watching TV. Little things started to get to me.

Like our toiletries:



Regular hotels would label their little bottles with, you know, nouns. But not the Holiday Inn Express! They would rather you associate the correct verb to their bath products. Call it a learning experience. I'm pretty sure I washed my hair with body lotion all weekend.

The three of us decided to spend the final hours before tip-off wandering this great city. So what do you see in San Antonio? Well, obviously:



The Alamo. It's a lot smaller than I pictured it. And there's nothing particularly special about it. It's just...there.

We then took the half-hour boat tour of the Riverwalk, which is not unlike taking the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. Except on these boats, you can consume alcohol liberally. Passing by all the swanky restaurants and bars, I noticed a lot of these stores:



There wasn't much official liscense Kansas or Memphis merchandise. But plenty of UCLA and UNC liscense merchandise were available.

We wanted to watch the final somewhere where the beer was flowing and TVs large; Somewhere classy. Somewhere that's genuinely San Antonio.

We went here:



People I know always look down on Hooters, but not me. Where else can you experience fine "Riverwalk Dinning"? Nowhere, I say.

Four hours and 5o hot wings later, Ry, J and I were at peace. Kansas had won the title, the Holiday Inn Express (otherwise known as Jayhawk Central) was jumping. We were exhausted. Also, the hot wings were starting to affect our bodies. I started to hallucinate. It was time to return to L.A.
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San Antonio is a great host city. From the moment I stepped out of the plane, I felt like a welcomed guest seeing his distant uncle for the first time. The people are friendly and the food is fantastic. I wish things could have turned out better for us. But the Alamo City did it's best to comfort me.

Thanks, San Antonio.

The Road to the Final Four - Part One: So, This is Texas

San Antonio wasn't meant to be a vacation.

I had one thing on my mind; a National Championship. I had devoted the past five months to cheering on my UCLA Bruins. I saw every game. I read every news article. I wore blue at all times. For me and my friends Ry and J, Our trip to San Antonio was not a vacation. It was a mission.

Unfortunately, thousands of fans from three other universities felt the same way. Such was the scene on a pleasant Friday afternoon, sitting by the Riverwalk, sipping on sweet tea out of a Texas-sized glass. A mass of blue shirts and basketball jerseys, some bearing Kansas logos, some Memphis, some North Carolina, some UCLA, bustling down the San Antonio River. Everyone full of nervous energy. Everyone afraid to stare at their opponents in the eye. Everyone quick to spot fellow Jayhawks, Tigers, Tar Heels and Bruins. Everyone reluctant to talk trash, yet unhesitant to start trouble if provoked. Welcome to the Final Four.

Before going into the actual Gameday festivities, I must say something about San Antonio. This city loves Mariachi bands.



This was the site that welcomed me and Ry at the airport.



In fact, these musicians were so fond of me, that they followed me all day! Here I am trying to enjoy a beer at Cafe Ole, by the Riverwalk. At first it was kinda cool having a group of Mariachis trailing me, but then it got weird.






OK, they didn't really follow me around, but believe me, there were bands up and down the Riverwalk, doing their best to make city folk like me feel like they were getting an authentic Texas experience. It worked.

The rest of the evening was spent pounding down ribs and beers, crawling from one pub to next, making small talk with fellow Bruins, but all my friends and I could think about was the next day. The next day would either make us incredibly happy, or terribly depressed.

We were in for a wild ride.