Three Years Ago Today

[bigdaddystuck]

Was at the Palace watching BU beat Kansas and then calling in more favors to get tickets to the next round and then going out and celebrating with other BU fans!

[LoneStar_Brave]

I was in Korea and watching online in the very early morning. It was fun exlaining to my Korean friends the whole concept of tournament and what it means to win a couple of games. I couldn't find any BU alums with to celebrate... so I had my own party.

[PTownHawkeye]

I was in Ann Arbor, 30 minutes away with about 10 friends who live there.

I had every intention to drive to Auburn Hills and join my wife who at the time worked for Bradley and was in charge of putting on the pre-game party. However, after the Iowa shocker when a guy from Northwestern St hit an amazing 3-pointer at the buzzer to win, I didn't want to move.

We ended up in a large bar in Ann Arbor called Scorekeepers with about 250 patrons. I brought all my buddies Bradley shirts and they became honorary BU fans for the day. My buddies cheered as loudly as I did. They switched the sound in the bar from the North Carolina game to the Bradley game in the last 8 minutes and the whole bar was rooting for BU. It was amazing, one of the best memories of my life. We tried getting a "BU clap clap BU clap clap" chant going and got a solid 1/3 of the bar chanting.

I have returned to Ann Arbor a few times since then and I still run into people who I met that day who say "hey, you're the Bradley guy...what a game!"

[Braves4Life]

I remember watching this game at home and nearly being brought to tears with Brave Pride

[SFP]

I remember watching this game at home and nearly being brought to tears with Brave Pride

I wish I could get my GF in those heals that your avatar woman has on! Now that would bring me to tears.

[Chico]

We were at Benchwarmers Sports Bar and Grill here in Mesa, eating and enjoying a cool brew before the game. A few KU fans, at least as old as I am, came in and saw our Bradley shirts and hats. One ask us where Bradley was as he never heard of Bradley before. I told him Peoria, and he said he never heard of Peoria, Illinois before either. I ask him if he ever heard of Bert Born, the ex KU All-American. He said sure, he was one of KU's greatest. I told him he must not be much of a basketball fan if he never heard of Bradley before because when him and I were kids BU was one of the top teams in the country and Bert left Kansas and came to Peoria to play for Cat. I know he was just kidding, but I was proud of my reply. We had a good time with the KU fans throughout the game and when they left they said good luck and congratulated us. After the weekend I golfed on Monday morning and proudly wore my Bradley basketball golf shirt.

[Beninator]

Great thread......
I was just getting out of work and was speeding home to see the game with Snell and company on the car radio. Earlier in the week, I asked a friend of mine, who sat next to Will Franklin's Mom, to pick up a program for me. He did and I got JL to sign the program at the Itoo hall later that year... It was a good thing I watched the game at home as I was fired up. During the end of the game, I called a friend of mine in Scottsdale, AZ who played for BU years ago and shared the closing moments over the phone. I had to work the next day, and while sweatshirts are not supposed to be worn at work, I said to **** with the rules and wore BU RED!!!!!!!!!!!!
My coworkers were very understanding! Then came the Brad-Pitt game and meeting the team at the airport hanger... The crowd split and I was in front literally high fiving the entire team and JL. It was a low five for me with JL as he is shorter than I am! I still need to have JL sign my airport picture of him among the masses there,... Wow..three years... It doesn't seem that long ago....

[BUBraves04]

These are all great memories and thanks to all who posted, so far. I just thought it would be fun to start a thread and hear from everyone. It's amazing the details everyone has about that night. Definitely a night that made you happy to be a BRAVE!

[Chucky T's]

So many memories....I was very fortunate to go on the BU charter up to Detroit. We got to Auburn Hills early enough to watch the first game (Kent St. vs. Pitt) Even though we had good seats, my wife and I decided to go down to the first few rows and sit since most of those seats were empty. The rightful owners of the seats finally showed up and kicked us out.....it was Marcus Pollard! We joked around a little bit and I mentioned how I schooled him at River City Athletic club one night. Sat by the Heemskerks (including Brent) and Ruffin families during the game...Went absolutely nuts the whole game especially the last 10 minutes....Went back to the hotel and waited for the team to arrive...they arrived around 12:30 AM to a mighty roar and THE BAND playing Charge On in the lobby....Zach gave my wife a big hug and I told Cellus he made an old Central Lion very proud...

The Pitt game was a blur...I don't remember to much about it except for the end when the BU crowd was chanting BU...BU..BU and the guys on the BU bench were clapping along...then the chant changed to MVC...MVC...I thought that was pretty cool...

Our plane was the first to arrive among the BU planes back in Peoria...we were about two hours or more ahead of the team and there were already a few hundred people at the airport. When we got off the plane people started cheering like we were the team or coaches...EVERYONE wanted to know what it was like to be there and asked us a hundred questions...I felt like a real big shot for a short time! (people who know me can attest I am no big shot!) My wife and I almost made a huge mistake by going home before the team arrived...we were completely exhausted and just drained from the excitement of the past 72 hours. Luckily we kept running into friends and stayed until the Braves plane landed. For those who were there I know you will never forget it. The players and coaches snaked through the crowd high fiving everyone. Squirrel and a couple others from the band did their best to play the fight song. Cellus saw me and came over to me and asked "how'd you get here so soon?" We talked briefly and as he left people asked me "DO YOU know Cellus?" Once again...big shot time for me As I left I saw Tony Bennett. (If you remember, Tony hurt his neck in the Pitt game.) I asked him if his neck still hurt. He just smiled and said ..."Man...right now.......nothin hurts"

Sorry for being long winded.....It was AWESOME!

[PTownHawkeye]

Thanks for creating this thread BUB04. I completely forgot today was my "other" anniversary. Its great to read all these posts (Chucky Ts, your post was particularly awesome) and I'm amazed how many great stories are out there.

BUB04, I also remember sitting in your family room watching the Pitt game with your family...my boss was nice enough to let me leave my job for 2 hours to drive to your house and watch the game. When I got back 3 hours later she asked why my eyes were red...I gladly admitted I teared up a little bit while listening to Snell's postgame while in the car on the way back to work. The rest of that day flew by, nothing could bring me down!

[Bradleyguy10]

I hate to bring this into such a great thread, but this here is exactly why mid-majors should get in over BCS equivalents. It means more. You can't find a thread like this on any BCS board. It's standard run in the mill for them. When things like this happen to schools like Bradley...it's something more than just basketball...and that's what makes the tournament so special. I hope people begin to realize this more in the near future. It's awesome reading all of your posts. I regrettably have to admit I don't remember since at that point I was not a Bradley Brave, but hearing about it inspires me and makes me feel like I was there. Keep 'em coming!

[Rusty 54]

I wasn't at Bradley yet, but the KU game and the Brad-Pitt game played a huge role in me coming to BU. I wanted to go to a school with a good basketball program, and hadn't really heard of Bradley. I was hanging out with some friends, and saw a tv with the game on. One of my friends says "Hey, there's Bradley, aren't you thinking of going there?" Then BU makes the Sweet Sixteen, and that means that BU has a good basketball program So i came here. That not the only reason haha, but it did play a big role

[bigjimmy]

I was listening to the KU game at work and told my co-workers that since my sister lives just outside of Detroit if Bradley won I was going to the next game. Needless to say I was in the stands for the Brad-Pitt game right at the free throw line in the upper bowl amongst the sea of red. What a game as I counted down each minute in the 2nd half(i.e. 21 minutes down 19 minutes to go). POB had his best game as a Brave and we advanced to the sweet sixteen. Then in one of the most amazing things I've seen all the players came into the stands to celebrate with the sea of red. As I was heading back home I got to talk about it on WMBD and relieve it all over again. Then as I got back into Illinois I turned it over to WMBD and was somehow able to listen to the rebroadcast. What a great day that was. I hope we can have that kind of day again real soon.

[houstonbrave]

My wife and I were in the stands for both the KU and Pitt game. I'll never forget being in the foyer at halftime and a KU fan on the phone back to Kansas saying-Bradley played great the first half but they were expending so much energy on defense they could never hold up in the second half. I remember thinking -"I wouldn't be so sure" but did not want to say anything for fear of "hexing us". Watching the team storm into the stands after the Pitt win is something I will never forget.

I walked down to some friends after the Pitt game and saying-"I think we just lost Patrick" after he made Aaron Gray look so foolish in the second round game.

Just the most wonderful sports weekend ever.

[wily coyote]

As much as I love the Braves, I am heavely involved in High School basketball. Much to my regret I was not at the BU vs KU game but, was in Carver Arena watching the big school tourney. One of my good friends braves12 was in Detroit and was calling me every few minutes. I was spreading the scores around to everyone in our section and the people there were going nuts after they finally started to believe me. In fact I would tell the people in our section before Paul Herzog would announce the score. It wasn't anything like being there but it sure was exciting.