My Final Four...

On Friday, We Make it Rain travels to Indianapolis for the Final Four. It will be my eighth time attending this event. I truly love attending this event, and I truly love attending it in mid-sized cities such as Indianapolis (religious freedoms aside). I got to thinking that I should rank my previous seven. Which was the best, and what did I like (not like) about each.

So without further ado, Sinickal's Final Fours, worst to best:

7.   Atlanta 2013 - Just an awful trip. I made a last minute decision to drive down to Atlanta since Syracuse made a nice run through the East Region including a dominant performance against Region #1 Seed, Indiana. I don’t even want to talk about this trip as Syracuse suffered an awful loss to Michigan in the semi-finals and I drove back to Washington DC in the middle of the night.

An. Awful. Trip.

Grade: D

6.   Indianapolis 2006 – This trip was okay, not great. Quite honestly, I don’t remember too much about it. Pepster and I were there, but I can’t remember who else. We were completely unprepared for Indiana’s Blue Laws and were essentially sober on Sunday Funday. I remember that there was a hotel west of the city. I am sure that we had fun.

      It was certainly better than Atlanta in 2013…

      Grade: C

5.   Atlanta 2007 – Home games suck! My advice to you is to always travel to big events. I was living approximately 500 yards from the Georgia Dome in 2007 and while it was great to hang out with Pepster and Hopps for the week, it was disappointing to do it at home. I get that there are a lot of South Florida people in the We Make It Rain Tournament Pool and I know that people come to you often for big events. I am telling you that home games suck and you should try to travel for Super Bowls, NCAA Bowl Games or the Final Four.

      Home games should be reserved for local teams and circuit events like golf tournaments and car races. All in all, still a really fun time.

      Grade: B-

4.   San Antonio 1998 – “Oh, what $1 can buy you in San Anton!” The defining quote by friend of the program, Marc R. Ended up with tickets to this Final Four and spent an abnormal amount of time on the Riverwalk hoping that we were not so drunk that we would fall in. San Antonio is a great big event city! All activities, including eating and drinking occur in a central area, and it attracts all of the teams, all of the fans and all of the celebrities. I am pretty sure that there is a picture of me and the entire UNC cheerleading squad.

      Good times. Really good times.

      Grade: B

3.   Minneapolis 1992 – This was my first Final Four, and it was outstanding! Duke chasing back-to-back national championships, the Fab Five as freshmen, and an underrated host city. This trip was made spectacular by a family friend who joined Sinickal and my father. Turned out, we were guests of former Texas head coach Tom Penders and had access to the National Association of Basketball Coaches social events. Great parties with iconic coaches and television personalities, and unbelievable seats to the games.

By all accounts, this trip should be ranked higher. You will see momentarily why it is not.

Grade: A

2.   East Rutherford 1996 – This was the last time that a Final Four was played in an arena, and I was in attendance. Kentucky and Syracuse in the finals and I was in attendance! Seats at mid court, row 17 for $35. Let me repeat that, the face value on the tickets was $35. We sat with NY Governor George Pataki and his family surrounded by security. We had better seats than most celebrities.

      And then…

      Tony. F. Delk.

      New York overwhelms anything going on in its metro area, and the Final Four was no different. You really couldn’t tell that you were attending something special. No matter, this was one of the great experiences I have ever had and it ranks second for me.

      Grade: A

1.      New Orleans 2003 – Your National Champion Syracuse Orangemen complete a spectacular tournament run on the backs of Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara. Pepster and I were in town for this one and it was one for the ages!

The drinking was excessive with beer and hurricanes at all hours.

The meals we cared about were out of this world.

The host (Pepster’s Aunt) was tolerant and entertaining.

The jokes are still funny…and I still can’t print the R. Kelly joke.

Alas, the precursor to this blog is no longer.

Grade: A+

I have no idea where this Final Four will rank, but I expect that on April 7^th I will be smiling again about another great trip to my favorite event.