My March Madness continued inside the Rose Garden Arena as I located my seat!

My seat! Section 120, Row E, Seat 1! The only seat in the row! Foot room! Room for my purse! Room for my plastic bag of souvenir T-shirts! No one right beside me steeped in cologne or after-shave! Hallelujah! All that and a wildly wonderful view. Not that anyone was on the court yet, but I felt a strong premonition of 10 young men at a time, engaged in quick, skilled college basketball in my immediate future. Four times today and two times on Saturday!


Thank goodness I had verified that this would be expected of us ticket-holders for both sessions. I didn't have an NCAA Souvenir Cup, empty or otherwise. I took my trash from lunch and someone's empty Diet Coke bottle which I saw in the cup holder on the empty seat in front of me to the recycling bins when I left. Don't worry, I picked up that bottle with a napkin. Without a trace of paranoia, my motto is be vigilant, take no chances with germs when in public places.



Aglow in what must be NCAA blue--it was everywhere electronically as you can see from the Jumbotron screens to the narrow surround-the-arena screens to the center circle and half of the free throw circle on the court. The row of chairs beside the Rose Garden employee in the gray jacket is the home team while the visitors sit at the opposite end of the floor. All sorts of media folks would later fill the seats at the tables covered in NCAA blue.

Do you agree that--in my immediate future--I've got a fantastic view from my one-seat row?