For the seven people who have found this website, you probably already know. For the randoms that wander in between now and the start of hoops season (when this website will begin to come into its own), I figured I could at least let you in on the deal as well.
Tourney Trip . com – is the brainchild of a group of basketball junkies. Thats the small of it. The large part includes several trips that have already taken place, with plans to attend the NCAA tournament every year into infinity. It’s not as easy as that though:
1. Each member of our collective attends at the very least 5 basketball games. This is the qualification in order to be in. Now, if one of us was only able to make it to 4, we’re not going to cut him loose. This requirement is almost a moot point as I myself went to nearly 20 games last year, with Sam, Jimmy, and Nate hitting up aprox. 10+ themselves (from what I can count). It should be noted that I currently reside in Las Vegas, while the rest of the clan lives in and about southeast Michigan. I am able to attend 20+ games because I am a 1st time UNLV Basketball season ticket holder. I plan on doing this again as it was nothing short of epic.
2. The trip in a few words:
- started with Sam, Jimmy, and Chet (?) going to St. Louis in 2002.
- I stumbled into the group in 2003 with my first trip starting in Indianapolis which just happened to line up with my 21st birthday.
- 2004 saw us drive around the lake for a weekend in Milwaukee at the Bradley center.
- 2005 nearly saw the end of the tradition before it began. Through undeniable will and spirit, Chet, Jimmy and Sam found their way to Syracuse to watch the East Regionals.
- 2006 is the upswing. Midwest (Or Minneapolis per its current standards) Regionals @ the HHH Metrodome.
- 2007 brought us to classic old timey hoops Lexington, KY
- 2008 did not bring the group far from its roots, as we stuck it out in Detroit for the Midwest Regionals @ Ford Field
This is a total of 7 trips. The trip survived what is almost certainly the most trying times in our young adult / welcome to the world lives – getting out of school and finding a way to get income. Lets be honest about it – the biggest hurdle in this situation was always $, and making sure we had tickets. We did not want to become suckers to the scalpers. Being prepared is part of the game. Scalpers played their part in keeing the trip alive in the cuse, but outside of that, we always secure duckets in advance. Now we have all graduated from school (in most cases), and began our lives, this will not be an issue in the future.
3. We don’t root for your school. We root for who needs us. We root for the underdog, the deserving, and the justice deprived. If your squad is a 6 seed playing a 3 seed, and your squad only had to travel 50 miles to the tourney site, chances are, we won’t like you. If your team has a bunch of fans who wear stupid hats with large letters on them and the price tag / sticker combo still on it, we won’t like you. You’re going to want us to like you. Outside of people who do this for a living (beat writers, scouts, coaches, etc), we will reign supreme. Putting in our dues indeed.
In the coming months I will attempt to post detailed recaps of each site attended, including all relevant details, glorious meals consumed, and disturbances brought upon said locals. Monuments have been wronged. Wings have been consumed. Fancy art bathrooms have been exploded. It’s all in the details, folks.
Good Talk.
