Friday, March 12, 2010

DAY TWO: THE BIG MIST DESCENDS!

Hey guys and gals, Toondog here. Day two of the SEC Tourney is just about in the books. I want to hit on some major points of the day, some developing storylines.

1. The Kentucky representation in Nashville is nothing short of phenomenal. As soon as Jeremy Lee and I arrived at the Bridgestone Arena a sea of blue had ascended on Broadway. Once inside we saw Jeff Sheppard buying a BBQ Sandwich, Joe B. Hall speaking with Kentucky fans and one confirmed sighting of two Alabama fans. A simply amazing showing by the Cats as Nashville has been transformed into Rupp Arena South. In three spots around downtown Nashville, Lexington based businesses have rented empty store spaces to sell Kentucky merchandise. An overwhelming showing.

2. Ticket Scalping. You kind of had an idea it would be a hard ticket to get with the Cats in Nashville. However, with an uber-talented Kentucky team and a fan base that has been starved for a championship caliber team to make a tourney run, tickets have hit CATastrophic levels. Tickets for the semi-finals have hit $425 to $500 with championship game tickets, should the Cats make it, rising to unheard levels. Tonight, after the Florida loss to Mississippi State, a flood of Cats and Bulldogs fans rushed to the Florida section not giving Florida fans a chance to get outside to sell their tickets. Cash transactions were being rendered along with high stakes bidding wars. An absolute feeding frenzy. Bottom line is, with Cal leading the Cats the SEC is going to have to move the tournament sites to a place that can accommodate the crush of Kentucky fans. Nashville is a great site, but the Bridgestone Arena can’t handle it. It’s a perfect storm for scalpers and they are feasting.

3. Over all happiness and goodwill towards men. Nothing like happy Cats fans and happy businesses in Nashville. With the crush of Cats fans come full restaurants, hotels, bars and taxi cabs that are constantly on the move. A HUGE boom for the city of Nashville and you won’t find any bigger Cats fans this week than the business owners of Nashville.

4. The Cats didn’t come to play. If the Cats played with the same intensity that the fans brought they would have beat Alabama by 30. However, Alabama outworked the Cats, out rebounding them and out hustled them. With 15:00 left in the game I looked over at Jeremy and asked when is Wall going to take over? He did it against Tennessee to bring us back in a losing effort and he took over in the today too, Bama could only watch. Wall is the man. Simply put.

5. CARLISLE COUNTY IN THE HOUSE!!!! (To our homies) It’s been pretty remarkable at the amount of Carlisle and hometown people here. Saw Burley Mathis on day one, Jimmy Owens and Jimmy McPhereson. Saw former Carlisle County Lady Comets Coach Kevin Estes, Heather Pearson and her husband, Torey Smithson and John Derek Goldsmith and Mason DeJarnatt. Andy Hayden, Kye Nichols and many more representing the Maroon and Gold! Small world we live in.

Right now those are the biggest factors that are pressing at this moment. Overall, a carefree and great SEC Tournament for those who got a book of tickets in advance. GO CATS! More coverage to come.

No comments:

Post a Comment