Butler 81 Bowling Green 69

Men's Basketball
2002 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) 1st Round
Home Team: Butler Bulldogs
Visiting Team: Bowling Green Falcons
Venue: Hinkle Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.

Game Story | Box Score

(Written January 19, 2013)

With Gonzaga visiting Butler tonight for a primetime ESPN game, and a matchup of two highly ranked teams, it got me thinking about my visit to Butler's venerable arena.

Being a basketball junkie, you have to love Hinkle Fieldhouse. It's a historic venue in the heart of basketball-mad Indiana, famous as the place where the championship game scenes were filmed for the movie Hoosiers. As soon as you walk in, you can feel the history. Besides that, it's just a cool building and a great place to see a game. I'm glad I had an opportunity to go.

Unfortunately, I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have. I was really emotionally invested in that BG team, attending all their home games, a number of away games, and their entire run through the MAC Tournament in Cleveland. I remember feeling in this game like they were getting jobbed by the refs, and thus I spent most of this game in a state of high irritation (to say the least). Nonetheless, I kept thinking BG would come back, that Keith McLeod had one more miracle left in him.

Sadly, it didn't happen; Butler pulled away toward the end, and thus ended the season for the best BG men's basketball team I've ever seen. Man, I loved those guys. And what was there not to love? McLeod was the MAC Player of the Year that year, leading the conference in scoring, and he was just so, so clutch. His backcourt mate, Brandon Pardon is still, for me, the absolute epitome of a point guard. Throw in center Lenny Matela, the Cowboy Brent Klassen, and perhaps the biggest athletic freak I've seen play for BG, Germain Fitch (before a couple of ACL injuries ended his career), and they were quite a collection. That was the team that briefly got coach Dan Dakich the head job at West Virginia, before changing his mind and returning to BG (where, sadly, things were never quite the same for him).

And really, as great a matchup as this game was, it was a game that never should have happened the way it did. Butler was 25-5 coming in; BG was 24-8, with three of those losses coming to Kent State (including one in the MAC Championship game), who made it all the way to the Elite Eight that year. Both teams should have been in the NCAA Tournament. Even in the NIT, this shouldn't have been a first-round matchup.

Still, it gave me a reason to visit Hinkle Fieldhouse, and even though BG lost and I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have, I'm glad I can say I've been there. It's just hard to believe it was almost eleven years ago. Hopefully someday I'll have a chance and a reason to go back.

Reds 2 Padres 0

Major League Baseball
Home Team: Cincinnati Reds (S. Parris)
Visiting Team: San Diego Padres (B. Meadows)
Venue: Great American Ball Park
Game Time: 7:05 p.m.

Fellow Attendees: Mom

Game Story | Box Score

(Written July 14, 2023)

Inspired by a Reddit post that asked about the rarest thing you've seen at a baseball game--the first thing that came to mind was this game, in which Reds right fielder Dante Bichette grounded into three double plays.

There isn't much else I remember about the game itself--not surprising since it was 23 years ago--but there are some fun names in the box score: Sean Casey, Ken Griffey Jr., and Hal Morris for the Reds; Dave Magadan for the Padres. I see the Boone brothers, Aaron (Cincy) and Bret (SD), played against each other. I remember being disappointed that Tony Gwynn was hurt and wouldn't play, although I had seen him play in person the year before (May 14, 1999).

This game was on a Tuesday, and I had graduated from BGSU the weekend prior. I had two tickets--I can't remember who was supposed to go with me, but it turned out they couldn't make it. I was planning to go by myself; I didn't mind, but I think my mom felt bad, so she went with me. And this was before I had a digital camera, so if I took any snapshots, they're probably in a drawer somewhere at Mom's house. I was, however, able to lay hands on my ticket stub--I have a shoebox full of tickets from sporting events, concerts, and even movies I've been to. I think it started because I'm kind of a freak about hanging onto anything that can be used as a bookmark, but it turned into a fun little collection. And I think it's kind of a bummer that event ticketing is almost entirely digital these days. It's more convenient, for sure, but it takes away a cool little automatic souvenir.

Bowling Green 90 Wright State 63

Men's Basketball
Home Team: Wright State Raiders
Visiting Team: Bowling Green Falcons
Venue: Nutter Center (Dayton, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendee: Patrick

AP Game Story | Box Score

(Written February 23, 2013)

My first Bowling Green basketball game. The funny thing about that, of course, is that I was a student at Wright State at the time. This game took place during Christmas break of my sophomore year; my decision to transfer to BG was nearly final, so when I saw this game on the schedule, my friend Patrick and I hopped in the car and made the short trip down to the Nutter Center to take it in.

Perhaps not surprisingly, seeing as how it took place over sixteen years ago, I don't remember much about the game itself, other than the fact that it was dominated by Antonio Daniels, who would go on to be picked #4 in the NBA draft after graduating at the end of the season. That was my only opportunity to see Antonio play in person in college (I saw him play once in person in the NBA), so I'm glad about that. A number of guys that played for Bowling Green were still on the team next year, when I was at BG and began my passion for Falcon hoops. Of course, that was my only chance to see a BG team coached by Jim Larranaga as well, as he left after the season and Dan Dakich took over the Falcon program for the next ten years.