NCAA Tournament weekend

I got the best news since Ashley told me we were having a baby a little over a week ago...I had tickets to the NCAA Tournament in Memphis. To make it even better, UNC was the #1 seed in the South Region and they would be playing. Unfortunately for Ashley and Meg, we only had enough tickets for my father, brother and I.


Ryan was unable to fly into Memphis until Saturday morning, so that meant that he would miss the games on Friday (Syracuse vs Oklahoma and Gonzaga vs UNC). To make it all more of an event, my mother decided to join the party and drive over with my father Friday afternoon to take the extra ticket. We could have given it to someone else, but I think that she would have killed us. Also, if UNC had lost Ryan had told me that he was just going to stay in Rhode Island and let me enjoy the weekend with the parents all alone...yep, fun times.

The games were both blow outs on Friday night with Oklahoma and UNC taking the wins. Dad had not let us know this before Friday morning, but the tickets that he had gotten us were box seats in the BancorpSouth box (thank you Mr. Walhood). The box holds 20 people on a normal night at the FedEx Forum, but on Friday night I believe that they fit an extra 5-10 people in there. I saw a lot of people that I knew from work and I also met some pretty cool guys (not that BancorpSouth people are not cool, as well). One of BancorpSouth's board members from Little Rock is former Oklahoma Sooners and Green Bay Packers Tight End Keith Jackson. He was there and I met him for the first time. He now runs a charitable foundation in Little Rock. I told him that we were pulling for OU on Friday night, but Sunday would be a different story. He was a good sport the entire weekend. Believe me, we held back a little since he was quite a bit LARGER than Ryan and I. His hands swallowed mine when I shook his hand, so I did not want to make him angry. Good thing he is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met.

Ryan got to Memphis Saturday morning early and we all ran to get breakfast and spent the rest of the day killing time. We went to the Peabody Hotel and sat in the lobby for a while. We saw Jim Nance, a CBS announcer, and Ryan was mistaken for Tyler Hansbrough's older brother. We went to Silky O'Sullivans to watch the Mizzou/UConn game late that afternoon and met Silky himself. We all ordered a round and when my father asked the server for a bucket he brought him a diver. If you do not know what it is, then next time you are in Memphis, have one. It will definitely quench your thirst.

Saturday night we sent my parents to get a seat at the Rondezvous because we knew there would be a wait. Ryan and I also needed to stop by and see one of Ryan's old friends. A couple of minutes after my parents left, my mother calls to inform us that my father had just walked in the Rondezvous with Roy Williams (UNC Head BBall Coach). I have never seen my brother run as fast as he did from Beale Street to the restaraunt. We did not get a chance to see Ol' Roy, but we did see the rest of the tarheels eating dinner. I actually got a chance to speak to Tyler as the team was leaving, and I was exiting the restroom. My brother was so ticked off. I had lost him on the way to the restroom and he actually ended up missing the team. Good times, but unfortunately, no pictures.

Once dinner was over Ryan and I went back to Beale Street for the night and my parents went back to the hotel to rest. We saw another Tarheel at Silky's later that night. Ryan did not give me a chance to speak to him. Instead, he decided to bear hug the poor guy. He looked like a little girl at a New Kids on the Block concert. It was funny to all of us that were watching, but I am sure that Ryan wishes he could have that one back.

Sunday mom left and Ryan, dad and I went to the game. The box was again packed out, but it was a good time. UNC won the game and Ryan and I went easy on Keith. All in all it was a very eventful weekend for the Hodges crew. I wish my girls had been able to be there, but they had an eventful weekend themselves...