SMU Game Experience

[dannykuconn]

What if you had to choose?
Spend a few days with your family or travel to see an important UConn game?
What if you did not have to choose and could do both? I flew into Dallas early Friday morning met my sons Paul and David who flew in from Colorado. We toured the Perot Science Museum, visited the Dealey Plaza JFK assassination Museum and took a trip up to the top of Reunion Tower to view the city landscape The next day we took in the George W. Bush Presidential Library and drove to Lubbock to spend a few days with relatives.
All that I'm still found enough time to spend a couple hours at Moody Coliseum to watch SMU Mustangs valiantly try to stop an immovable force. They could only slow it down a bit and the UConn Huskies set the NCAA basketball record for consecutive victories.
Thursday started early with a 3 a.m. wake up call so I could head to the airport for the flight to Dallas. After picking up a rental car it was on to Dealey Plaza a place I visited when I was here in 2014 but it was worth a second visit with my sons. Then lots of interesting exhibits at the Science Museum and a trip to the top of the tower. Checked into the hotel got two hours of sleep before going out to a Texas Steak house with Phil who arrived that afternoon.
The following morning we met Boneyarders Phil and JP, who arrived late Friday for breakfast then drove over to the campus where Phil and JP headed to The Meadows Art Museum and I went with Paul and David to the Presidential Library.
Back to the Coliseum at noon two hours before the game and we still weren't the first ones in line. There are a lot of Connecticut transplants in Texas and this is one of the few times they get to see UConn in person. Most of the seats are general admission so many show up early to get good seats. We have reserved seats but still wanted to be there early to chat with fans many of whom we had met in line on previous visits. The school open the doors at 12:30 which was nice even though we were in the South it was in the low forties and wrong it was nice to get inside.Had one seat in row A,B and C but a really nice SMU fan who was there with her son moved over so my sons could sit with me The first half Boneyarder Ochoopsfan fan sat with us but went somewhere else the second half.
Moriah Jefferson's dad came by to say hello and we got a chance to have my picture taken with Lexi Gordon.David was wearing his number 5 UConn Jersey so he got it signed by Caroline Doty.
You know what happened in the game. The first quarter was close to perfection in terms of the score. The Mustangs weren't ready for the Huskies but regrouped and held their own for much of the second quarter. There were enough UConn fans many of whom had signs to get off a few cheers.
As the game round down to the inevitable conclusion Phil and I blew up 40 inch inflatable mylar balloons one a large "9" and the other a large "1". No inflatables are allowed in to the arena but I always find a way even though they set off the security wand. Unfortunately I could not take pictures of the last few minutes as Phil and I were getting the party started. We held up the balloons and signs as the national media interview Gabby Geno Katie Lou and others.
Even on the way out we got to meet some Boneyard as such as Tomcat and his wife who flew in from Florida and a fan who came in from the West Coast. Even gave the balloons away to a young fan after taking a picture with her. Hopefully it made her day even better.
Stayed up late last night talking with my sister and her husband talking. Went bowling today as a family and now during the Packers Cowboy game finishing up writing this post and editing pictures. Heading to Tulsa early tomorrow and will be playing miniature golf weather permitting. Before the game Tuesday picking up Phil and we all are seeing Rouge One in IMAX 3D. We will be getting to the game early because its general admission. After the game drive back to Dallas airport for a 6:10 am flight home.
SMU Game Experience | Facebook

 

[sarals24]

Hey! That's me in the last pic, top of the stairs with the baby. Promise I was more excited than I looked

We got our tickets from our friend who is a trainer for the SMU men's team and were right behind the SMU bench, so he told me I wasn't allowed to wear Uconn gear

 

[sarals24]

I posted this in the game thread, but I talked with Holly before the game. She was wonderful. Glad you had a good time in our city!

 

[ochoopsfan]

Nice to meet Danny, Phil and JP.
On a side note. There have been tornado warnings and bad storms in the area tonight. My tv has gone out and lights flickering in the hotel.
Lets hope the girls are safe. Should be clear in about 2 hours or less.

 

[tomcat]

It was great meeting DannyK and Phil. Wish there had been more time to see more UConn people. ITt's always fun to attach faces to the names of BYers. A few perspectives on the game:
-- By way of introduction, We made a last-minute decision to use air miles and fly out. We could not get seats in the reserved section, but were offered something called Loge seats for the same price. This is a row of seats, right behind the reserved seats, featuring really comfortable chairs (picture comfortable office chairs) and a counter on which to lean and to conveniently place food and drink. The view was spectacular. I am certain we will never watch a live game under more comfortable circumstance.
-- SMU is an interesting campus, and the neighborhood in which it sits is nearly spectacular, with lots of old (maybe 1920-1940 homes in Tudor and Colonial styles) and very well-kept houses. You know you're at Southern Methodist when you order a popcorn at the arena food booth and note that a portion of the proceeds goes to the neighboring Methodist church.
-- We were stunned at the number of UConn fans in attendance. We talked to some people who used to live in Wethersfield and chose to retire to Texas rather than Florida, and they said there's a surprising number of retirees in Texas, and they often show up for games in Dallas and/or Houston.
-- We were not surprised that UConn could not sustain the incredible momentum they built up in the USF game. The first quarter was much the same as the previous game, but SMU's coach seemed able to get his players focused on playing better in the second quarter, and his team actually did some good things throughout the rest of the game. I thought a couple of their players did well -- one working her tail off to achieve a double-double, which is pretty damn impressive -- against the best competition they'll ever see.
-- Geno's comments that you have to see Gabby play in person to appreciate her was spot on. She already is my favorite player, but in this game, I spent some time focused on how she plays defensive, and the word ":disruptive" hardly begins to describe her.
-- The worst thing about the game was that at the end, there was no organized way for UConn fans to celebrate the win. Of course, that's reasonable given it was not UConn's house, but more than a few fans were frustrated and stayed until all UConn personnel left the floor after the many media interviews. It was sort of like, "Well, what do we do now?" and there really was no good answer.
--The experience made my wife think about seeing if we can get to the NCAA Final Four this year. Up to now, that had not been on the "possible" list, but Dallas seemed manageable and the team is just so much fun to watch.

 

[HopJim]

What if you had to choose?
Spend a few days with your family or travel to see an important UConn game?
What if you did not have to choose and could do both? I flew into Dallas early Friday morning met my sons Paul and David who flew in from Colorado. We toured the Perot Science Museum, visited the Dealey Plaza JFK assassination Museum and took a trip up to the top of Reunion Tower to view the city landscape The next day we took in the George W. Bush Presidential Library and drove to Lubbock to spend a few days with relatives.
All that I'm still found enough time to spend a couple hours at Moody Coliseum to watch SMU Mustangs valiantly try to stop an immovable force. They could only slow it down a bit and the UConn Huskies set the NCAA basketball record for consecutive victories.
Thursday started early with a 3 a.m. wake up call so I could head to the airport for the flight to Dallas. After picking up a rental car it was on to Dealey Plaza a place I visited when I was here in 2014 but it was worth a second visit with my sons. Then lots of interesting exhibits at the Science Museum and a trip to the top of the tower. Checked into the hotel got two hours of sleep before going out to a Texas Steak house with Phil who arrived that afternoon.
The following morning we met Boneyarders Phil and JP, who arrived late Friday for breakfast then drove over to the campus where Phil and JP headed to The Meadows Art Museum and I went with Paul and David to the Presidential Library.
Back to the Coliseum at noon two hours before the game and we still weren't the first ones in line. There are a lot of Connecticut transplants in Texas and this is one of the few times they get to see UConn in person. Most of the seats are general admission so many show up early to get good seats. We have reserved seats but still wanted to be there early to chat with fans many of whom we had met in line on previous visits. The school open the doors at 12:30 which was nice even though we were in the South it was in the low forties and wrong it was nice to get inside.Had one seat in row A,B and C but a really nice SMU fan who was there with her son moved over so my sons could sit with me The first half Boneyarder Ochoopsfan fan sat with us but went somewhere else the second half.
Moriah Jefferson's dad came by to say hello and we got a chance to have my picture taken with Lexi Gordon.David was wearing his number 5 UConn Jersey so he got it signed by Caroline Doty.
You know what happened in the game. The first quarter was close to perfection in terms of the score. The Mustangs weren't ready for the Huskies but regrouped and held their own for much of the second quarter. There were enough UConn fans many of whom had signs to get off a few cheers.
As the game round down to the inevitable conclusion Phil and I blew up 40 inch inflatable mylar balloons one a large "9" and the other a large "1". No inflatables are allowed in to the arena but I always find a way even though they set off the security wand. Unfortunately I could not take pictures of the last few minutes as Phil and I were getting the party started. We held up the balloons and signs as the national media interview Gabby Geno Katie Lou and others.
Even on the way out we got to meet some Boneyard as such as Tomcat and his wife who flew in from Florida and a fan who came in from the West Coast. Even gave the balloons away to a young fan after taking a picture with her. Hopefully it made her day even better.
Stayed up late last night talking with my sister and her husband talking. Went bowling today as a family and now during the Packers Cowboy game finishing up writing this post and editing pictures. Heading to Tulsa early tomorrow and will be playing miniature golf weather permitting. Before the game Tuesday picking up Phil and we all are seeing Rouge One in IMAX 3D. We will be getting to the game early because its general admission. After the game drive back to Dallas airport for a 6:10 am flight home.
SMU Game Experience | FacebookView attachment 18684 View attachment 18685

Was at SMU game as well and loved your 91! There were numerous pictures of it nationally.

 

[Phil]

I posted this in the game thread, but I talked with Holly before the game. She was wonderful. Glad you had a good time in our city!

Sorry I did not get a chance to meet you. I was sitting in the front row, not far from Holly and remember you coming over, but I had no idea who you were. I had a nice chat with Holly as well. Glad you enjoyed the game.

 

[Phil]

Tomcat

It was great to see you my main regret is that we met as we were getting ready to leave, so had very little time to chat.

Sounds like you had a great time.

I actually overhead someone mention Wethersfield, so that may be the people you talked to.

I'd encourage you to think about going to the Final Four. I always thought that events like that were something that "other" people went to.

I went to my first in 2001, and despite Geno reporting that it was his worst experience, we had a great time and decided to go back. I haven't missed a Final Four since, whether UConn is there or not (although that hasn't been an issue for some time

 

[Phil]

Nice to meet Danny, Phil and JP.
On a side note. There have been tornado warnings and bad storms in the area tonight. My tv has gone out and lights flickering in the hotel.
Lets hope the girls are safe. Should be clear in about 2 hours or less.

It was great to meet you too. I'm glad you came over and figured out who we were. It was great talking to you about Cassie Harbert. Glad you made the trip. I thought I traveled, but you probably covered more distance.

 

[tomcat]

Tomcat

It was great to see you my main regret is that we met as we were getting ready to leave, so had very little time to chat.

Sounds like you had a great time.

I actually overhead someone mention Wethersfield, so that may be the people you talked to.

I'd encourage you to think about going to the Final Four. I always thought that events like that were something that "other" people went to.

I went to my first in 2001, and despite Geno reporting that it was his worst experience, we had a great time and decided to go back. I haven't missed a Final Four since, whether UConn is there or not (although that hasn't been an issue for some time

Phil,
Thanks for the kind words. We had the same regrets. And you're right., The couple I was talking to were from Wethersfield and moved to Texas after visiting for the San Antonio Final Four. Speaking of that, we're thinking about the Final Four this year, if we can get past the cost. Do you get tickets from NCAA (which we're looking into) or is there a better way through UConn? I assume the price would be the same, but the seats might be better.