OT : Operation351 is back!

[Greathusky]

As is the tradition, I continue my quest this year to visit every D1 campus to see a basketball game posting a quote from Fishy years ago when I first announced my journey on the Boneyard:

“You have no chance of doing it. But beyond that, you don’t want to. At some point, you’ll find yourself at Houston Baptist watching them host Incarnate Word wondering just why you threw your life away. Then, you’ll make your way back to your $29 a night hotel room in Cow Dick, Texas, and drown yourself in the toilet.”

I have scheduled my first 2 games of the season. This will bring my total to 99 games. Good to be back on the road!

11/12 North Carolina
11/13 North Carolina State

journey to 351 – One man. one mission. 351 division I arenas. (now 358!)

 

[SoFla Steve]

Incarnate Word -- I've driven past the campus. Actually, I drove under it. They have a pedestrian bridge over the highway.

FWIW, San Antonio is a great little city to visit -- Alamo, Riverwalk, the old wild west architecture, Tower of the Americas, etc. I made several business trips there and was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Yes sir! @Greathusky, first reading your original thread helped inspire me to check out all of the arenas that are within an easy drive from Norwalk.

My docket for this year:

12/4: Mount St. Mary's @ Loyola-MD - Reitz Arena: I'm spending a weekend in Baltimore for work w/ each day ending at 3:30. The timing for this game hasn't been announced yet, so hoping to check it out!

1/22: Davidson @ Fordham - Rose Hill Gym: A buddy of mine is a Davidson alum and both of us have never been to Rose Hill Gym.

TBA: Quinnipiac - People's United Center - It's such an easy drive for me, so hoping to check out a Sunday afternoon game. Ideally, I'd like to see Iona 1/23 since I'd like to catch Pitino coach the Gaels.

High on the list, but no plans yet:

• John J. Lee Amphitheater, Yale: We don't travel for Thanksgiving, so I'm eyeing the 11/28 game v Stony Brook.
• O'Connell Athletic & Recreation, St. Joseph's: Bonus D3 school, but I haven't seen Calhoun coach at Joe's and would love to catch him.

Between January and May, my wife is doing a 300 hour yoga training that will take place only on weekends. Haven't seen her schedule yet, but depending on totally free days other schools I'd like to catch out for the first time:

Manhattan, Fairleigh Dickinson, Marist, St. Francis BK, Hofstra, Hartford, Columbia, Saint Peter's, CCSU, Army (parlay that trip w/ a few runs at their ski hill).

Total schools I've checked out: UConn, St. John's, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Iona, Fairfield (RIP Alumni Hall) and Sacred Heart (I go there all of the time).

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Incarnate Word -- I've driven past the campus. Actually, I drove under it. They have a pedestrian bridge over the highway.

FWIW, San Antonio is a great little city to visit -- Alamo, Riverwalk, the old wild west architecture, Tower of the Americas, etc. I made several business trips there and was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

'San Antonio is a great little city to visit'
'little?'
'San Antonio , officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh-most populous city in the United States, second largest city in the Southern United States, and the second-most populous city in Texas with 1,434,625 residents in 2020.'
try again.

 

[SoFla Steve]

'San Antonio is a great little city to visit'
'little?'
'San Antonio , officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh-most populous city in the United States, second largest city in the Southern United States, and the second-most populous city in Texas with 1,434,625 residents in 2020.'
try again.

Yes, the boundaries are sprawling, but you can walk the downtown. I know it's big, but it just doesn't feel big . . . or at least not to me.
The highway system always confuses me, too. It's one big loop. Got lost once and ended up in China Grove!

 

[HooperScooper]

Yes, the boundaries are sprawling, but you can walk the downtown. I know it's big, but it just doesn't feel big . . . or at least not to me.
The highway system always confuses me, too. It's one big loop. Got lost once and ended up in China Grove!

Just because I was curious, and for comparisons sake, the City of Boston has a population of about 700,000 in 89.63 square miles, while San Antonio has about double that in population in 505 square miles. So you have a point. Boston's metro area is about 4.9 million people in 4,674 square miles and San Antonio's is about 2.6 million people in 7,387 square miles.

And I would I agree that downtown San Antonio is not very big. It doesn't feel like a big city. Had a great time there for the 2004 Final Four. We stayed on the River Walk and could walk everywhere. They really should have more Final Fours there. I think it's a better place to have it than New Orleans (was there in 2003). The River Walk area is just big enough to hold all the fans with enough bars and restaurants to satisfy everyone. Had dinner one night at the table next to John Thompson and had lunch one day next to Jay Bilas and another time next to Jim Boeheim (don't think he picked his nose the entire time). Got to talk to lots of coaches and media people and had a blast chirping with fans from the 3 other teams. It was great because everyone was down at the River Walk. In St. Pete in 1999 everyone was so spread out and there wasn't a central place to hang out. Heard the same about Dallas in 2014 and Houston in 2011.

 

[Greathusky]

Yes sir! @Greathusky, first reading your original thread helped inspire me to check out all of the arenas that are within an easy drive from Norwalk.

My docket for this year:

12/4: Mount St. Mary's @ Loyola-MD - Reitz Arena: I'm spending a weekend in Baltimore for work w/ each day ending at 3:30. The timing for this game hasn't been announced yet, so hoping to check it out!

1/22: Davidson @ Fordham - Rose Hill Gym: A buddy of mine is a Davidson alum and both of us have never been to Rose Hill Gym.

TBA: Quinnipiac - People's United Center - It's such an easy drive for me, so hoping to check out a Sunday afternoon game. Ideally, I'd like to see Iona 1/23 since I'd like to catch Pitino coach the Gaels.

High on the list, but no plans yet:

• John J. Lee Amphitheater, Yale: We don't travel for Thanksgiving, so I'm eyeing the 11/28 game v Stony Brook.
• O'Connell Athletic & Recreation, St. Joseph's: Bonus D3 school, but I haven't seen Calhoun coach at Joe's and would love to catch him.

Between January and May, my wife is doing a 300 hour yoga training that will take place only on weekends. Haven't seen her schedule yet, but depending on totally free days other schools I'd like to catch out for the first time:

Manhattan, Fairleigh Dickinson, Marist, St. Francis BK, Hofstra, Hartford, Columbia, Saint Peter's, CCSU, Army (parlay that trip w/ a few runs at their ski hill).

Total schools I've checked out: UConn, St. John's, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Iona, Fairfield (RIP Alumni Hall) and Sacred Heart (I go there all of the time).

Safe journeys my friend!

I have done all the drivable schools from CT (within reason because technically you can drive anywhere) so it is train and plane trips for me in the future. I have completed all the ones in your list.

Be a little wary of the neighborhood around Fordham. I took a wrong turn out of the train station and ended in a neighborhood that prompted me to not run but walk very fast.

Also little know fact: The campus in Manhattan is really in the Bronx!

 

[TXHuskyFan]

Safe journeys my friend!

I have done all the drivable schools from CT (within reason because technically you can drive anywhere) so it is train and plane trips for me in the future. I have completed all the ones in your list.

Be a little wary of the neighborhood around Fordham. I took a wrong turn out of the train station and ended in a neighborhood that prompted me to not run but walk very fast.

Also little know fact: The campus in Manhattan is really in the Bronx!

Visited a friend at Fordham in the late 80s. I remember him telling me that you can walk off one side of campus into a really nice upscale neighborhood and off the other side into a virtual war zone. I wasn’t there long enough or did not explore enough to find out which was which.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Yes sir! @Greathusky, first reading your original thread helped inspire me to check out all of the arenas that are within an easy drive from Norwalk.

My docket for this year:

12/4: Mount St. Mary's @ Loyola-MD - Reitz Arena: I'm spending a weekend in Baltimore for work w/ each day ending at 3:30. The timing for this game hasn't been announced yet, so hoping to check it out!

1/22: Davidson @ Fordham - Rose Hill Gym: A buddy of mine is a Davidson alum and both of us have never been to Rose Hill Gym.

TBA: Quinnipiac - People's United Center - It's such an easy drive for me, so hoping to check out a Sunday afternoon game. Ideally, I'd like to see Iona 1/23 since I'd like to catch Pitino coach the Gaels.

High on the list, but no plans yet:

• John J. Lee Amphitheater, Yale: We don't travel for Thanksgiving, so I'm eyeing the 11/28 game v Stony Brook.
• O'Connell Athletic & Recreation, St. Joseph's: Bonus D3 school, but I haven't seen Calhoun coach at Joe's and would love to catch him.

Between January and May, my wife is doing a 300 hour yoga training that will take place only on weekends. Haven't seen her schedule yet, but depending on totally free days other schools I'd like to catch out for the first time:

Manhattan, Fairleigh Dickinson, Marist, St. Francis BK, Hofstra, Hartford, Columbia, Saint Peter's, CCSU, Army (parlay that trip w/ a few runs at their ski hill).

Total schools I've checked out: UConn, St. John's, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Iona, Fairfield (RIP Alumni Hall) and Sacred Heart (I go there all of the time).

I watched St. Joseph play a home-and-home with Yeshiva last season and was seriously impressed with the well above average size and athleticism of the Blue Jays. Jake Sullivan from Choate and Tyree Mitchell from Prince Tech both stood out. Speaking of Yeshiva, definitely worth the easy drive from Norwalk to Washington Heights, where you can grab some Dominican food and then watch the team with the longest NCAA win streak (36) and arguably the best D3 player in Ryan Turell. The offensive efficiency and three point shooting of Yeshiva is impressive.

 

[ConnZag3]

As is the tradition, I continue my quest this year to visit every D1 campus to see a basketball game posting a quote from Fishy years ago when I first announced my journey on the Boneyard:

“You have no chance of doing it. But beyond that, you don’t want to. At some point, you’ll find yourself at Houston Baptist watching them host Incarnate Word wondering just why you threw your life away. Then, you’ll make your way back to your $29 a night hotel room in Cow Dick, Texas, and drown yourself in the toilet.”

I have scheduled my first 2 games of the season. This will bring my total to 99 games. Good to be back on the road!

11/12 North Carolina
11/13 North Carolina State

journey to 351 – One man. one mission. 351 division I arenas. (now 358!)

Gotta find some time while in NC to hit the smaller, random places too! Campbell...home of the Fighting Camels...one of my personal favorites

 

[Deepster]

I still don’t get it.

 

[Greathusky]

Gotta find some time while in NC to hit the smaller, random places too! Campbell...home of the Fighting Camels...one of my personal favorites

Yeah I looked real hard but the stars are not aligned for more than 2 games down there for those dates. The only possibility for a third game was Duke on Saturday night but those tickets are priced in the atmosphere.

I can see a repeat trip down to NC to get in at least three games on one trip.

 

[Yardigan]

Incarnate Word -- I've driven past the campus. Actually, I drove under it. They have a pedestrian bridge over the highway.

FWIW, San Antonio is a great little city to visit -- Alamo, Riverwalk, the old wild west architecture, Tower of the Americas, etc. I made several business trips there and was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

It is a very fun city to visit. I saw one of the very few games Tark the Shark coached for the Spurs there.
I always wondered though why they built the Alamo right in the middle of the city...

 

[FatHank]

@Greathusky I love this and wish you well on your travels this year and hope you give us all updates along the way. And, go get those po dunks, those are the best. What a great experience you are on!!

 

[Greathusky]

Thanks!!!

VMI, Richmond and William Mary are up next on the second weekend of December