I have now protested two things in my life.
One is the NCA* *********t.
As promised, The Barking Crow protested the “Final Four” on Saturday, with a little help from some family in the Houston area (thank you again to that family). It went well.
Observations from the experience, in which I stood in front of one gate asking people if they liked basketball and trying to get them to take the NIT handout:
- Not a lot of people notice if you use a broken phone charger instead of string to hang a sign around your neck.
- Miami fans were a mixed bag. Some great ones, some who were very sensitive about the NIT. You can tell an insecure fan by how much vitriol they hold for something they claim to not care about. We’ll be excited to see Miami in the field again soon.
- San Diego State fans were all either neutral or great. This also went for the games themselves, where SDSU didn’t have as many bodies there as Miami but were definitely the most impressive fanbase. The “Uprising” part where they sing “We will be victorious” a cappella is super cool. Best part of the games, I would opine.
- FAU fans were very confused about the NIT, and about the whole situation in general. It was clear that these were people who are still learning a lot about college basketball.
- I only did the protest before the first game, which is probably part of why UConn fans were in short supply, but I also just don’t think many UConn fans came to the games on Saturday. I’d imagine there’ll be more tonight? Maybe a slightly pro-SDSU crowd, though.
- Predictably, a pair of Dayton fans were among those who recognized me. “Oh wait, you’re NIT Stu. I thought this was a Jesus thing.” In a way, guys. In a way.
- Lots of people wear their favorite college’s merchandise to the Final Four, regardless of whether that college is playing. Relatedly: Colgate’s logo looks a lot like that of the Cubs when it’s sunny and on a neutral-colored polo.
- There are a lot of North Texas alums in Houston, as we should have guessed. They are deservedly fired up about the NIT.
After brunch yesterday (pretty sure I saw Jon Diebler, the recruiting director at Butler), I drove back to Austin, so the NCA* *********t is safe tonight. Really, though, will anyone show up? I mean, I handed out 500 of those cards. A lot of folks got the message.
I’ve decided I’m a fan of Houston as a city. Lot of great neighborhoods. Definitely huge and pocketed, and I wouldn’t put it high on the must-visit list, but as a place to live? Seems like you could do a lot worse. I like most places, though.
I will say: I thought Houston would seem mightier than it seems. I thought it’d have some of the Chicago vibe of feeling like a big, powerful city. It doesn’t really feel that way. To me, at least. It feels big, but more like Dallas feels big. It just goes on and on and on. There’s industry, and it’s cool, but it’s not the City of Big Shoulders. I think the absence of cohesion is part of this.
With this, our travels for the college basketball season are over. Fargo’s pumped. She got her first walk in a week this morning, since she’s home from the boarder now, and she got herself so hot and excited that she needed to lie in the bathroom to cool down. Been there, girl.
