Through the years the game itself has become something of a blur. I was there and recall this feeling of dread during the latter part of the second half as it became clear we weren't going to pull out a comeback. I consider the 1996-97 Gophers season one of the best in my life as a sports fan, certainly now, but then as well. It hurt to see it all end. A friend of mine who was in the peace corps at the time also was a massive fan. In the dawn of the internet age when news still traveled slowly, he somehow heard what was going on and got to a phone a couple of days after we beat UCLA to call at an ungodly early hour to ask if it was really true that we'd made the Final Four.
A few things stood out apart from the action. Kentucky brought more fans than any other school, but Minnesota outnumbered North Carolina and Arizona combined it seemed. Kentucky fans were patronizing, entitled, and pretty ungracious winners. We stayed for the title game on Monday and rooted for Arizona whose fans were pretty laid back. Scalping was legal in Indianapolis at a time when it wasn't here and was far more out in the open than anything I've ever seen in the Twin Cities. Guys were in the Hoosier Dome openly seeking Monday tickets from dejected Gophers and Tar Heels fans, basically trying to wheel and deal in the closing moments of both semis with distraught fans of both schools. It was like trying to buy a deadman's watch from his son at the funeral. The Hoosier Dome was similar to the Metrodome but largely worse, if that's possible with only bleachers on the upper deck and lower deck seats that were narrow and uncomfortable while the concourses were dungeon like. It seemed at the time like the Final Four and that entire season were the beginning of big things, but turned out to be the calm before the storm. I truly enjoyed and appreciated them, but admit to wishing I'd savored it more considering what was just over the horizon.
