As I write this, I am grabbing a cup of coffee in Baltimore. I returned home late yesterday–around 8 PM–from my drive back from Atlanta. The drive was actually a lot smoother than the one down since I avoided Northern Virginia in its entirety. Taking US 301 North was a much better alternative, but the stretch through Waldorf is pretty busy.
I can now say with confidence that I have attended a Final Four in my life. It was fun, but I would have liked the games to have been a bit more exciting. Both games in which Florida played were effectively blowouts. Both UCLA and Ohio State had poor shooting percentages, and Ohio State could not hit anything from beyond the arc. Additionally, the stands were full of Florida fans. As my friend said, it was practically a home game for the Gators.
As for the play of both teams, I was actually impressed by Greg Oden on Monday night. During most of the tournament, I have been unimpressed by Oden. He seemed prone to getting into foul trouble early, and his game tended to be easily stifled as a result. I still think his game needs another year in the college ranks, as his skills could use some seasoning. I was impressed by Al Horford of Florida who I think is much better than the over-rated Joakim Noah. Additionally, I found Noah’s histrionics to be annoying. His playing time on Monday night was limited thanks to early foul trouble. I was also impressed by how good a long-distance shooting team Florida is–the guards Corey Brewer and Lee Humphrey seemed to hit just about anything they threw up from beyond the arc. Admittedly, I would argue that Brewer was a better spark plug in the two games I watched than Noah was.
I did get some nice shwag from attending the game. On Saturday, all of the attendees received seat cushions. I also held onto my ticket stubs from the game, and I am thinking about getting them framed. One does not go to a Final Four often, so I may as well relish the opportunity and get the tickets framed.
All in all, I had a good time. It was good to see my friend and his wife, and it was even better to be able to enjoy Atlanta while not having a large crowd of people to entertain. I was even able to enjoy some of the historical sites, visiting the Cyclorama in Grant Park. Atlanta is not a bad city, but I would be hard-pressed to actually move there. A good city, but I could not find myself living in the South.
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