This just goes to show that if you believe long enough and hard enough, good things happen. My friend, Matthew, and I had been waiting on Final Four tickets for a month or two. However, once Michigan State won their Great 8 match-up, we knew our chances of getting tickets through our source had taken a serious hit. Well, I listened to conference and attended Priesthood session wondering what might have been..... suddenly the phone rang... my palms began sweating... the heart started skipping beats as I heard the voice on the other line (Garrett "Bronco Mendenhall" Gross) tell me that an extra pair of tickets had become available and that he was offering the opportunity to me! In a quick conference with my wife (thanks honey your the best) it was decided that I would attend the NCAA National Basketball Championship game in Detroit, MI. 
Leaving from Columbus about 4:17 PM I drove with the Gross family (that's their name, not a description) up to Detroit, picking up 2 friends along the way. It was lots of fun and even though my fellow travelers were all Ute fans I found their company to be quite enjoyable. Since these tickets came through an individual on the NCAA tournament selection committee they were high quality and close to the court. My seats were right next to the tunnel where the players and coaches and other VIPs came out. It was really neat to see and experience. Being a Jazz fan, it was especially fun to be right there when John Stockton was announced as one of the inductees into the Basketball Hall of Fame, along with Michael Jordan and David Robinson.
In the picture to the right, John is the one in the middle of the two tall African Americans. He also happens to be the one wearing a sport jacket while the others have on their nice suits.
Although the game was never really in question it was a fun atmosphere. We were surrounded by crazies, as evidenced by the adjoining photos...
And Kathryn complains about my BYU fanatacism- at least I don't wear really tight spandex in public! On the other hand, that baby blue wig might cover some of my male pattern baldness!
Matthew, I'm sorry you didn't make it out for this one. We'll all have to catch another one down the road! Thanks to Steve and the Gross family for helping me get there for this awesome event, capped off by a sweet tour of down-trodden Detroit!
Congratulations to Roy Williams and the North Carolina TarHeels. As much as it pains me to say it, they looked REALLY GOOD... and I could have touched Tyler Hansbrough's sweaty uniform!
This whole thing was well worth the trip, despite getting home at 4:30 AM and taking a quiz 5 hours later!
