G-O-N-Z-A-G-A!

Final Score!!

I love, LOVE, love Gonzaga basketball!!  I didn't think I would be the crazy fan; I never even watched college basketball before I went to GU.  But there is just something about watching guys from your alma mater, especially when they're GOOD!!  :)  And yeah, GU's had their moments this season (and not good ones, at that), but by and large, they've been great.

I remember the first time I heard about Gonzaga Basketball was from Coach Dickson.  He knew I was planning to go to GU, and he made some passing comment about how "my" team was doing quite well (this was senior year of high school).  I didn't even know!!  And while I was in Vernal being clueless, GU was taking their first ever trip to the Elite Eight!!  Crazy.

Our boys in blue!!  (Versus Amy's boys in white...)

Freshman year I remember going to games and you could just show up an hour or so early and get GREAT seats.  Gone are those days.  By sophomore year, the team's popularity had skyrocketed, and they had to implement a big waiting in line process that I could never worry about because I always had staff meetings.  But during the year I worked at GU and then the year Erik worked there, we had LOTS of opportunities to go to games in the NEW Kennel--such a treat!!  It's awesome to go games in a big arena (NOT that the MAC is really that big...but it does NOT feel like a high school gym!).  I love the excitement, the energy, the electricity that goes along with watching live sports.  It's so much fun!

That being said, if you're not a student, staff or faculty member, or season ticket holder, it is LITERALLY impossible to get tickets to a home game.  The best solution?  Go to the UP game in Portland.  And we have both years we've lived here, and it is a BLAST!!  There are as many Gonzaga fans as UP fans (sorry, Meem!), and this year they actually gave us a run for our money!  :)  It was an AWESOME game, and such a fun date night.

The best part about small arenas is that you're literally right on top of the action!

AND here's the BEST part--AFTER the game, we had to wait in line FOREVER to get out of the parking lot, and they sent us out the back way behind the Chiles Center (UP's arena).  We were driving and we saw a bunch of camera flashes in a loading dock where some people were gathered...and there was a bus parked next to the sidewalk.  We put two and two together and figured out it was our team!!  So we decided to be cheeseballs and stop.  It was AWESOME!!  We got to talk with several of the players, get some autographs, and even get a photo of Erik and our favorite player, Ira Brown.  Good times!!  :)

Erik with Ira Brown!!  He's AMAZING--and SUPER nice!

And even though my sis went the the rival school, even when we're on her home court, I still have to say--GO ZAGS!!  :)