March Madness

OK, so I got a call Monday at lunch and was invited to go along with the Winthrop Eagles to Spokane, Washington, for the NCAA tournament first round...and if we win...we'll stay for second round. So I write this from Washington state sometime on Wednesday! How crazy is this!
So, cheer for the little Winthrop Eagles as we take on Notre Dame at 2:30 Friday. GO EAGLES!!!! Beat the Fighting Irish (the day before St. Patty's). I'm here at least through Saturday, possibly Monday if we win.
This is all so very cool. I had noooo idea I'd be included in this fun. Tomorrow we go to Mount Spokane and around the city. I'll post pictures. Apparently I'm just yards away from the world's largest red wagon...that excites me. :)
Here are some notes I wrote on the way here whilst bored and feeling literary:


Hanging Hopes on Tall Shoulders

It's restless on the airplane as over a hundred of us have been up since before the sunrise, excited…expectant…and now weary from traveling across the country to watch our favorite basketball players live up to monumental media hype. The tall guys in black warm-up suits show no signs of nervousness, taking this trip to Spokane, WA, in stride as though trips to the NCAA tournament happen every day.
Flight delays, no food—save pretzels in various forms—and no in-flight entertainment. But I shall not complain. Outside my window I catch glimpses of snow-covered Rocky-Mountain-tops and vast valleys. My little Winthrop in the Big Dance again. And somehow, I've been thrust into a mini-drama of epic proportions, picked out of a veritable hat to accompany the team and a small group of fans. We're garbed up in various hats, shirts, stickers—anything to prove we're good fans of the Cinderella Eagles of 2007. I hope our little drama ends with high fives and hugs and a few more days in Themiddleofnowhere, Washington. Well, maybe that's unfair. I've never been to Spokane, but I wouldn't mind to stay until Sunday and watch Winthrop take on yet another opponent. I'm just a measly staff member and an alumnus, but I feel like I'm living in an "against all odds" Disney sports flick. March Madness to be sure.