I walked into Firestone Fieldhouse Monday for work. I referee intramural basketball games Monday and Tuesday nights to pay for ridiculous off-campus electricity bills and the occasional night on the town. (Mom and Dad I know you get this paper sent home so let me reassure you: said “night” is lights out by midnight and always early to rise.)
To be honest work was tough to get through Monday night. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the empty stands. Twenty-four hours before at a select amount of mid-major schools fans gathered in the stands of their respective gyms for the sheer joy of being in the NCAA Tournament.
Despite Pepperdine being a mid-major that doesn’t stand a chance I am just distantly upset that I never got to experience that sheer joy of packing a gym for no reason other than to see what team was going to crush our souls.
The dance is the dance; it just can’t be topped as the ultimate collegiate experience. So I will stop venting and bring up my next point: Vegas and the WCC Tournament March 6-7.
No one slept on the six-hour drive to the strip. In fact there wasn’t much sleeping at all throughout the extended weekend. So there wasn’t much writing during the West Coast Conference Tournament which was held in the Orleans Arena just outside the strip.
However I did my fair share of work in and out of the arena’s confines. The great thing about being a journalist in Vegas is that I can bring back my stories:
1. The WCC’s first tournament in Sin City was a huge success. The Orleans Arena is an appropriate venue (about as family-friendly as you can get in that town): right size easy to get to and not overpriced one bit.
Five years back you couldn’t get a room in the big hotels. Now walk to the Bellagio Wynn you name it and you’ll be staying for half. Vegas had a “money-saving” feel that it should never have again when I visit.
2. “If” was a frequently used word during the trip in regards to the men’s basketball team.
Heading to the arena from our hotel that key word was used: What “if” Pepperdine won the tournament? It was a crazy thought one that my friends and I didn’t believe but fun to hash out.
However the Waves did beat San Francisco in one of the finest college basketball games I have seen this year. They showed true signs of “team something I haven’t seen in four long years.
3. For every winner in Vegas there are 10 losers. Sadly for the Waves, the dancing shoes were yet again put on hold, as they were defeated (okay, destroyed) by Portland the following night.
There wasn’t much to say about the game. I knew it was going to happen and apparently so did every other Pepperdine fan, since Matt and I were the only ones in the 9,500 seat venue. Only one good news story came out of that night…
4. Residing in the media room before the game, Matt and I struck up a conversation with the Pilots’ beat writer. I gave my frequent take on how the Portland basketball team looks like an uncomfortable thing to experience in anyone’s lifetime.
He gave me information that I will now share that the lower classmen can use to torture and harass Pilot center Jasonn Hannibal in the seasons to come.
Oh yeah this team is weird all right the writer said. Jasonn is actually the reigning Canadian Pokémon Champion and plays the double bass.”
Your eyes are not deceiving you. Pokémon. You read that correctly. Please read it again.
A 6-foot-10 center on a Division I basketball team with a last name reminiscent of a horror character who devours human flesh with a nice glass of Chianti casts magic spells on Pikachu trading cards all the while getting funky with what really is a comically oversized violin.
There really is hope for our team next year with opponents like these.