First Ever College Basketball Game

On Sunday I got to do something I have never done before. That thing was go see a college basketball game. Why up until Sunday it had never happened is a mystery as we have the Oregon State Beavers within twenty miles, and getting tickets for them is real easy. Despite that it had never happened before, but odds are it might be happening on a more regular basis now.

After doing the guys weekend I had mentioned to a few people including the wife that there were still a few sporting events I hadn't gone to. Those events were college basketball, NHL, MLS, NFL, and NASCAR. When making that mention I thought it would be cool to eventually knock all, but one off the list. While I'd love to do a game of NFL. There are a ton of other things I could do with what it would cost to get nose-bleed seats to an NFL game. Sorry NFL, but you are a league that is just to rich for this cat's blood.

Hearing the list the wife talked to a co-worker who goes to Oregon Ducks games, and he asked if I wanted to do a game this year? All on board he went out, and bought tickets. Little did we know at the time it was Super Bowl weekend, and my favorite team the Broncos would be playing. All was cool in the end though as the game started at 1, and I listened to the first quarter while heading home.

This was the view from our seats, and I didn't zoom in the phone's camera for this shot. Personally they were great seats,and we got to see all the action quite well.

I watched the Utah Utes warming up as the reason he picked this particular game is my being a fan of the Utes. As time got closer the team took over the full court when the Ducks went in to get dressed for the game.

As you can tell the Utes bench was on our side of the court.The thing I thought was most crazy about the game is I think both teams used maybe one timeout, and two at most. They were showing the game on ESPN 2 so TV timeouts were the norm.

For the game itself. Things were close until the second half when the Ducks took over. Utah just couldn't seem to get any closer than nine points, and trailed by almost twenty at one point. In the end the scoreboard shows it all.

Some interesting things I have learned from not just this game, but the Huskies football game my friend, and myself did in the fall.

When it comes to sporting events I have always been a fan of showing up before the doors open, and touring the place. In college basketball there isn't a whole lot to see so you basically end up sitting in your seat waiting for the game to start. This might be different in other places, but here in the Northwest this seems to be the normal thing. At the football game we could walk around, and check out people's tailgating murals to kill time. There wasn't any of that at the game so it was sit, and wait for the hour until game time.

At the two games I've been to the view for the college game is simply more amazing than the pros. A few years back we went to some Blazers games, and once sat close to the area we were at Sunday. Those seats didn't give the same views we had in Eugene. The college venues seem to be built so that you almost feel like you are on top of the action. I know in both Eugene, and Seattle where I saw the two games the playing surface was dug down.  The hole seems to help give off that vibe of being almost on the field, or in this case court.

Overall I had a great time, and we talked about maybe catching a game or two next season. Odds are we won't be doing Utah, but two other teams so for those games I'll just root for the Ducks.