For a while, I wasn’t sure if my boy Erik was going to share his pictures from the NCAA National Championship Game. I posted his pics from the Final Four Michigan State-UConn matchup almost immediately after their game. But last night, I was convinced the he would break his camera so not to have any proof of what happened in Ford Field.
To say he was a bit, down, about the game is probably the understatement of the year.
But, he is proud of his Spartans and their amazing season and offered to share his live photos again!
It might be too soon to tell him this since it’s still very bitter-sweet but Erik is one of the luckiest people right now. First, he got to see a Final Four in his hometown with his home team. Since the tourney was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, that has only happened two other times.
In 1988, Kansas played Oklahoma in Kemper Arena. Kemper is actually in Missouri, but it’s only 40 minutes away from their homecourt Allen Fieldhouse and is known to be the “Allen Fieldhouse East.” Then in 1995, Duke played Arkansas in Charlotte, NC. But that game was 2.5 hours away from Durham and loyalties in North Carolina are very divided! There were probably just as many people hating the Blue Devils as there were lovin’ them!
But if that wasn’t cool enough, Erik had the créme de la créme of NBA legends. He got to see Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan all in the same spot in the same night. Larry and Magic presented the Game Ball, in honor of their 1979 famous Championship match that pitted Mich State against Indiana. And Mike was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with John Stockton and David Robinson.
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The brave Green soul that rose up from the heart of the Carolina Blue section
And ran like hell to get out of there!
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird with the 2009 Final Four Game Ball
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Warm-Up
Tip-Off (Take 1)
And the game is over, before halftime.
Festivities at the half:
David Robinson inducted into Hall of Fame
John Stockton inducted into Hall of Fame
And finally…
Michal Jordan inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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The Second Half:
Going.....
Almost rallying but really...Going......
Gone. UNC wins.
To see Erik’s photos from the Mich State-UConn match-up check out Live from Detroit, It’s Saturday Night Final Four Photos!
Also, check out my other NCAA Championship posts:
One Shining Moment 2009: March Madness Compilation Video
North Carolina Becomes Best College Basketball Team in Nation
UNC Tar Heels National Championship Gear
About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!
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