Thoughts from Sacramento

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Iggy1979
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Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by Iggy1979 »

While I try to get over jet lag here's some thoughts:

-- Very nice arena but to me it was like the bars and restaurants were barely aware of the tournament. I've been to better sites, including Providence.
-- Great job by URI to arrange receptions before the games etc.
-- Dooley was obviously on the trip and he understands the importance to the university in this kind of exposure. That's a good thing.
-- Tom Ryan made the second game and the importance of his support can't be overstated.
-- Great turnout by URI fans considering the distance. I talked to many Sacramento people who said URI had the best fans.
-- I will never buy tickets again from VividSeats. What a nightmare.
-- On this kind of stage there are players who are nervous and those who aren't. Let's just say JT and Stan were not nervous.
-- The refs jobbed us in the Oregon game, but Oregon also was the type of team that we struggle to defend because they get to the rim.
-- It was great to see Lamar but impossible not to feel bad for him.
-- Great to see Coach Harrick, too, who was sitting in the URI and UCLA sections based on who was playing.
-- Great to hang out with EZBuckets. Nice guy who does a great job.
-- Nice to catch up with Red and Little Red.
-- Ran into URI classmate Walt Gray, who has lived in Sacramento for 30 years and is the anchor for the local ABC affiliate.
-- If Hurley stays or Thor hires the right replacement if he leaves, we're entering a great period for this program.
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RIFan
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by RIFan »

I may be biased, but from the games I attended the Rhody fans were by far the best (really not even close). Always engaged and on their feet encouraging the team on. One of the first things I did when I got home last night was to watch the Creighton game, and you could see the players engaging with and feeding off the Rhody faithful...especially KI. The players, coaches and fans did the University proud and put everything they had into those games.
Last edited by RIFan 7 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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FroggyTheFan
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by FroggyTheFan »

I agree that URI had the best fans. Many UCLA and even some Oregon fans mentioned that we had great spirit. What a fun time to be a URI fan! Let's hope we'll be in the tournament next year too.
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section(105)
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by section(105) »

.....I did not know where to put this post but to you all that followed the contemporary dreams to both Pittsburgh AND then Sacramento, tip of the hat and thanks for carrying the URI banner to people and audiences for the first time....I tried living through you all, but simply could not cause your experience was individual to you and thanks for relating as best you could to us back in Rhode Island.....please know that our paths do cross, sometimes known, sometimes not.....thank you and God bless....catch you all back in October, anticipating in banner raising.....time to get the cover off the boat, soon to jump on my mower at PJCC and will check in from time to time over the summer.....see you at the last Coach's Show, if there is one.....keep up the good work here....out.
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bigappleram
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by bigappleram »

Frog > Duck
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EZBuckets
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by EZBuckets »

I mentioned it already in another thread; but it was great meeting you as well, Iggy. I also had the pleasure of meeting a ton of other KB regulars who made the trip west like Red, Frogman, & Neil and some others. It was great to put faces to the "names" and celebrate some long awaited success along with fellow Rhody diehards.

*Edit* I say "faces" to the names; but I just remembered that Frogman impressively appeared at an event in full costume and refused to reveal his identity even when a bartender asked for his ID. That's some dedication, right there.
Last edited by EZBuckets 7 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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steviep123
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by steviep123 »

I unfortunately was unable to make either Pitt or Sacramento, but have met a few of this crew in the past, at "Slow Break Club" pre games, pre game tailgate vs. Valpo last season (kudos to Blue Man for putting that together) and boston area meet ups with a few members. It's always great to meet a fellow Rhody fan!
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ATPTourFan
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

That pregame for Valpo last year was legendary. Many many beers and drinks were consumed in that several hour period.

Blue Man had an eventful game as well...
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Blue Man
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by Blue Man »

ATPTourFan wrote:That pregame for Valpo last year was legendary. Many many beers and drinks were consumed in that several hour period.

Blue Man had an eventful game as well...
Well when you give BPR and myself a bottle of goose and 2 hours, and mix that with a valpo fan in 205 chirping rhody season ticket holders - "events" can certainly happen.
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ramster
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by ramster »

Golden 1 Center
- Beautiful Arena for the NBA Sacramento Kings opened just 6 months ago
- Cost over $500 million, replaced the Sleep Train Arena which was located in the suburbs, out in the rural, farm countryside. Not much around it.
- The new Arena is downtown, easy to walk to. Many Apartments being built in the downtown area.
- Breathtaking just to walk inside the new Arena
- The Display Scoreboard is the largest in the NBA. Scoreboard Length is only 10 feet shorter than the Basketball Court and is 24 feet tall
- Arena Rating 1-10? 10

URI Fans
- The arena had 4 sections for the Team Fan Groups that were all close to the floor. 18 seat across rows and about 20 rows for each team.
- Our section was very often displayed on the giant scoreboard for all to see
- Our fans were by far the most vocal, loudest, energetic, photogenic, enthusiastic, interesting and colorful
- Many, many Live shots on the scoreboard of most all fans in our section and including Lamar Odom, Jim Harrick and Frogman
- We had President Dooley, Thor, Bobby Hurley, Tom Ryan (Saturday) and many distinguished boosters/alumni in our section
- Lamar Odom was with us for both the Creighton and Oregon games as was Jim Harrick. Great to have them there for us. Can't get better publicity than that and they were frequently shown on the Big Screen.
- NCAA T-Shirts with Rhode Island on them were sold out for the Creighton Game. Only Team that sold out. They said many sold at the Practice Event on Thursday as many URI Fans bought for family and friends back home, especially band members and cheerleaders :D They had more available for the Saturday game. GO RHODY :!:
- Watched the Creighton, UCLA and Cincinnati Fan Sections and by far our URI Section was the best.
- Fans in the Arena started to cheer for us more and more in the Oregon game - helped by seeing and hearing the URI contingent I am sure
- Many complimentary things said about our team after the Oregon game
- URI Fans were great. Nowhere could you find a more fun, friendly, happy, positive, proud and enthusiastic bunch of people. Nowhere.
- URI Fan Rating 1-10? 10

Pregame Reception Events
- Held about a mile from the Arena at 15 L Cafeteria. Events were 90 minutes long.
- Creighton Event was in the outdoor section of the restaurant. Well organized by URI Event staff. Nice, fun, meet and greet.
- All registered attendees provided with pre-printed name tags at the door which was helpful
- The Oregon Event was held in the same Restaurant as Creighton, but indoors. It was darker in the room so that the two giant TV Screens could be viewed showing live NCAA Action. Everyone was there including Rhody, but not players or coaches or course. Slightly bigger crowd on Sunday. Amazing atmosphere :D
- President Dooley, Thor and Tom Ryan all made short speeches at the end. They graciously thanked all the fans for attending the event and said how much they would like to do this again!
- Tom Ryan spoke about the URI Foundation and the plans for the future. Can't think of anyone better to lead this initiative going forward. URI has Big Plans and it's great to have Tom Ryan in this position with his experience, connections, leadership ability and his love for URI.
- Of course the Rhody Fight Song was sung multiple times :!:
- Pregame Receptions Ratings 1-10? 10

Doubletree Hotel
- About a 10 minute Uber ride to the Arena Downtown across from a large Shopping mall
- 450 room hotel was filled to capacity. Team, Band, Cheerleaders, Fans, President Dooley, Thor, etc all stayed there
- URI and Cincinnati were in this hotel
- URI Coaches and Players were, as always, so nice, gracious, friendly and happy. Always thanking us for coming. So proud of this team and how well they represent the University of Rhode Island
- Restaurant/Bar was a noisy place every night. Many URI fans not staying at the Doubletree found there way there by Uber to partake in the fun, laughter and celebration. Bar contingent was a high percentage of patrons, well over Cincinnati FWIW
- URI Events staff had a Hospitality Table continuously staffed and providing lot's of free stuff and T-Shirts, Hats, etc for sale in the Lobby
- Interesting note that Team, Cheerleaders, Band and all on the Charter Flight had to be packed and checked out of Hotel prior to the Creighton game - NCAA Rules that you leave after the game. So they had to come back after the Creighton win, which of course they were happy about :D But must be very tough to pack your bags and then go play the game knowing you go straight home if you lose. It's that way for all teams.
- Hotel Rating 1-10? 10

Big Win
- Beating 6th Seed, Big East, Creighton was a huge win for our program. But it also allowed us to remain in Sacramento for the 2nd game on Saturday versus Oregon. This allowed all the people who made the trip to have 2 additional full days (and nights) of fun together. Also allowed our team to show the world that we could not only play with 3rd seeded Oregon but also defeat them.
- I know of not one person who was not planning to go to Kansas City for the game next Thursday which would have been against Michigan (upset winner over Louisville Saturday). Everyone in Sacramento was planning to go.
- This URI Basketball Team got our school a ton of positive National Publicity. What more could we ask for?
- Team Respectability, Effort and Performance Rating 1-10? 10
Last edited by ramster 7 years ago, edited 5 times in total.
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ATPTourFan
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

Happy Ramster!
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Section104
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by Section104 »

Those T-Shirts in the arena sold out on Sunday as well - they were a hot item! Great recap by Ramster - I experienced much of the same.
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Rhody83
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by Rhody83 »

I was in Sacramento also. Some additional thoughts and different opinions/experiences:
- frogman is becoming a celebrity. He had many fans from other teams asking to take a picture with him. He was on the jumbo tron during every game.
- shout out to Will Martell for being there - loyal supporter
- great to talk to ezbuckets Saturday night
- great to meet other alum and bond (Bret & Kevin from NYC)
- not as high on the arena as others. Beautiful facility. My issues - the food sucked, selections weak for a new arena; the amount of construction around the arena was a pain. Most sidewalks closed on all sides of the arena. They had a great outside area right near enterance and did very little with it. No food or beverage options outside and it was 70 out.
- great job by URI on all fronts, pregame events, impromptu get together Saturday night.
- local fans were impressed with Rhody play and Rhody fan support. Definitely the darlings of the sectional.
- Rhody shirts soldout so quickly because "we didn't order many shirts for the east coast teams"
- I hate the NCAA for sending us 2,900 miles away. We would've had so many more fans if it was in Indy or Buffalo
- flights were brutal (not on the charter)
- URI needs better apparel at their events with more of the standard sizes. I can't fit in a size S shirt.
- I feel so bad for Hass not being able to contribute in the Oregon game
- I will miss this team. They gave us a great last month. Will never forget that.

I hope we can fill the RC Thursday night for the celebration.
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Rhode_Island_Red
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

Not much to add to Iggy, EZ and ramster, but here goes:
-- Was waiting to board a return flight next to the parents of a Cincinnati player. "You travel well," he said.
-- Don Kaull is exactly like what you hear on the radio -- dry sense of humor, lots of funny stories -- but what I didn't realize was that he's about 6-7.
-- Great to finally meet Rudder. He may have the last intact "Friends don't let friends. . ." shirt left. We need to get some new ones printed before December.
-- I still have no voice. When someone asks what happened, I tell him how hard our fan base works to help our guys cross the finish line. The above posts indicate lots of people recognize that.
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ramster
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by ramster »

ATPTourFan wrote:Happy Ramster!
Sad we lost and sad we will not be in Kansas City but all in all Sacramento was a great for our Team, Fans and University.

I heard said on one broadcast on Sunday, that once Villanova lost URI was the only team left standing from the Northeast Region of the Country and we came very, very close to the Sweet 16 at that. Villanova and URI were the only Northeast Regions Team to make the Round of 32.
Last edited by ramster 7 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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neil
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Re: Thoughts from Sacramento

Unread post by neil »

The only thing I could add was the staff at the arena. They were cordial, polite, and absolutely friendly.
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