University of Minnesota Athletics
BLOG: Game Day With the Gophers
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Follow along with the Gopher men's basketball team as they prepare to play Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Milwaukee. We will blog here until the game starts where we will have a live interactive blog.
9:47 a.m. – The Gophers are boarding the bus for the short trip to the arena. Bryant Allen is the first on the bus, relaxing with some music.
9:49 a.m. – More guys are boarding the bus. Devoe Joseph is particularly chatty as he hops on. Paul Carter gives pounds to everyone as he walks to the back of the bus. Most of the guys are listening to music with the exception of Joseph, who is chatting while Westbrook looks focused, staring out the window. There's a nice crowd of Gopher fans greeting the players as they get on the bus.
9:54 a.m. – VIP Johnson is the last player on the bus with his jersey around his neck. It's always nice to see the blue NCAA logo on the jersey. Certainly a feeling of accomplishment. One of the guys has the tunes turned up pretty loud. Can hear every Jay-Z lyric from 6-7 rows ahead.
9:57 a.m. – Our police escort is here. They made a grand entrance with the sirens and lights for several blocks leading to the hotel. Nice to have a police escort for literally five blocks. It may save us two minutes. On a lighter note, how great is a police escort? It would really ease the morning commute.
10:01 a.m. – Coach Smith boards the bus to some applause from the crowd of Gopher fans. We are off to the Bradley Center. Police sirens light up again. Green lights all the way.
10:04 a.m. – Bus arrives at the arena. Was nice driving in and fans are waiting at the door to get in the arena and there's gold shirts everywhere. Should be a nice Gopher crowd today.
10:19 a.m. – The security for the NCAA Tournament is borderline comical. It's stronger security than they have at the airport. Every person's bags are thoroughly searched. ID needs to be presented.
10:25 a.m. – The Gophers are on the court to warm-up along with Xavier. Gophers will be going with maroon jerseys today. Team is also wearing maroon shooting shirts with RESPECT on them, similar to the ones they wore in the Big Ten Tournament.
10:40 a.m. – Gophers retreated back to the locker room and the Xavier and Minnesota bands provide some melodious tunes. Of the couple hundred people already in the building, 50 percent of them look like Gopher fans.
10:45 a.m. – Marquette University is the host institution for this site, so even though they were a No. 6 seed in this NCAA Tournament, they weren't allowed to play at this site due to tournament rules. This is similar to last year when the Gophers could not play at the Metrodome site because the U of M was the host institution. Syracuse has a situation like this should they reach the Sweet 16. The Carrier Dome is hosting a regional of its own so the Orange had to be placed in a different region.
We will switch over to a live blog in around 15 minutes. You can follow that here: http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=204911049
10:56 a.m. – Gophers are back on the court to a pretty strong cheer from the crowd and the band pumps out the Rouser.
