I was looking back thru some old clippings and came across an interview with Allen after Longwood had earned an NCAA Tourney spot. It was an exciting time. The NCAA thoughtfully sent Longwood to play in Indianapolis so Amy and I could attend.
We stayed at the team hotel in downtown Indianapolis. It was so much fun to see the excitement of the parents/families staying at the team hotel. The players were royalty when they went thru the lobby for the team bus. There was a police escort for the bus to take them anywhere they were going.
The night before the game, it was a high school girls basketball coach’s dream come true to sit in the hotel bar for 20 minutes talking with the head coach of team that was playing in the tourney the next day.
How many parents actually go to their adult son’s workplace and watch him at work? Amy and I had so much pride watching Allen interact at the hotel with players and the other coaches, doing his thing. Then game game day, watching him on the sideline.
Amy, Dave Wood, Ryan Wood, and I had great seats except for the Mom that started screaming at everyone in our section that we weren’t cheering loud enough.
The game didn’t turn out as we had hoped. At the Indianapolis site, Longwood was not the the Cinderella in 2022 but St. Peter’s in our hotel was. Like in any tourney when you lose, you can’t help but think about what might have been.
The NCAA doesn’t leave much time for reflection. By the time Allen came out of the locker room, Longwood had already gotten their orders. The NCAA had a charter flight lined up that was to leave within a couple hours of when the horn went off. So there was little time to talk- the team went back to the hotel, packed, and headed out.
But when they went thru the lobby one last time, they were still royalty. The family and friends lined the way to express their appreciation.
The last vision of the NCAA experience was as the motorcycle escort whisked the bus down the street.
No comments:
Post a Comment