Easter Sunday started out with an overcast sky and when I was returning from my Starbucks run a light rain started to fall. I probably should have seen this as an omen of what was to come. After breakfast we decided to pack (and by "we" I mean Max, who does most of the work and is very good at it, my role being limited to lifting, toting and fetching) so we could be ready to leave early Monday morning on the next leg of our trip. After a lunch of leftovers from Saturday's dinner (re-heated in the microwave in our room) we decided to go to the Duke headquarters hotel and watch as much of the Michigan-Florida game as we could before it was time to go to the stadium. We of course were decked out in our Duke togs, me wearing the tee shirt that Max brought me from the 2010 Final Four which Duke won (pictured to the right above). In addition to a number of Duke fans there was a small contingent of Wolverine fans as well as a special visitor shown with Max to the right. As most of you probably know by now, all we had to watch of the Michigan game was the first few minutes, when the Wolverines ran out to a 13 point lead before Florida even scored and then continued to dominate the rest of the game. By the the time we got to the stadium they had won, 79-59 , which means that we will have one team for whom to cheer in Atlanta. Unfortunately Indianapolis was not so kind to the Blue Devils this time around. Notwithstanding the trouble they had with Louisville's press during the first half they managed to keep it close, trailing by only 3 at the half. There was a horrible accident midway through the first half when a Louisville player landed awkwardly and suffered a compound fracture of his leg. We were lucky that it happened on the far end of the court from where we were sitting so that we didn't see it, and of course they didn't show a replay in the stadium. The film is available on YouTube but I wouldn't recommend watching it because it is so horrific. After what seemed like a very long time he was carried off on a strecher and was reported to be undergoing surgery last evening. The game resumed, and during halftime Duke must have figured out how to deal with the press because they didn't have as much trouble with that aspect of their game during the second half. However they soon went into an extended cold shooting streak at precisely the same time that Louisville began hitting every shot they took, regardless of who took it and from where it was taken. Duke ended up losing by a lopsided 85-63 score, a very sad outcome indeed. We left the stadium to find (appropriately) threatening skies, and headed back to the restaurant next door to the hotel for a quiet dinner. Fortunately most of the Louisville fans seem to have headed home immediately so at least we weren't subjected to hordes of red-clad fans celebrating raucously in the downtown area. We were both disappointed, but in the words of a Manchurian expression we picked up from the Albright book (see entry for Day 8) "mey fah zu" -- "there's nothing to be done" -- so tomorrow we begin our southward journey, and plan to arrive in Atlanta Thursday, with several stops in between, including tomorrow in Louisville.
Easter Sunday started out with an overcast sky and when I was returning from my Starbucks run a light rain started to fall. I probably should have seen this as an omen of what was to come. After breakfast we decided to pack (and by "we" I mean Max, who does most of the work and is very good at it, my role being limited to lifting, toting and fetching) so we could be ready to leave early Monday morning on the next leg of our trip. After a lunch of leftovers from Saturday's dinner (re-heated in the microwave in our room) we decided to go to the Duke headquarters hotel and watch as much of the Michigan-Florida game as we could before it was time to go to the stadium. We of course were decked out in our Duke togs, me wearing the tee shirt that Max brought me from the 2010 Final Four which Duke won (pictured to the right above). In addition to a number of Duke fans there was a small contingent of Wolverine fans as well as a special visitor shown with Max to the right. As most of you probably know by now, all we had to watch of the Michigan game was the first few minutes, when the Wolverines ran out to a 13 point lead before Florida even scored and then continued to dominate the rest of the game. By the the time we got to the stadium they had won, 79-59 , which means that we will have one team for whom to cheer in Atlanta. Unfortunately Indianapolis was not so kind to the Blue Devils this time around. Notwithstanding the trouble they had with Louisville's press during the first half they managed to keep it close, trailing by only 3 at the half. There was a horrible accident midway through the first half when a Louisville player landed awkwardly and suffered a compound fracture of his leg. We were lucky that it happened on the far end of the court from where we were sitting so that we didn't see it, and of course they didn't show a replay in the stadium. The film is available on YouTube but I wouldn't recommend watching it because it is so horrific. After what seemed like a very long time he was carried off on a strecher and was reported to be undergoing surgery last evening. The game resumed, and during halftime Duke must have figured out how to deal with the press because they didn't have as much trouble with that aspect of their game during the second half. However they soon went into an extended cold shooting streak at precisely the same time that Louisville began hitting every shot they took, regardless of who took it and from where it was taken. Duke ended up losing by a lopsided 85-63 score, a very sad outcome indeed. We left the stadium to find (appropriately) threatening skies, and headed back to the restaurant next door to the hotel for a quiet dinner. Fortunately most of the Louisville fans seem to have headed home immediately so at least we weren't subjected to hordes of red-clad fans celebrating raucously in the downtown area. We were both disappointed, but in the words of a Manchurian expression we picked up from the Albright book (see entry for Day 8) "mey fah zu" -- "there's nothing to be done" -- so tomorrow we begin our southward journey, and plan to arrive in Atlanta Thursday, with several stops in between, including tomorrow in Louisville.
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