That's Joe Bertrand. He's going to Illinois. He and Brandon Paul headline one of the best recruiting classes in the country.
Rob's going to like these guys.
If you didn't get out to the Chicago High School Classic, you missed out on the action, but you didn't miss any defense (149-138 the final!). I had a good time with all the dunkers, the 3-point shooters and the fast-paced action in the gym at Niles North. If you want to see the game, it'll air this week around the dial (check your local listings if you have Comcast).
**Then I found myself in Detroit for the Final Four on Saturday. What an experience! The 50,000 fans rooting on Michigan State were fantastic. The second game was naturally a snooze-fest. Concessions were pricey, but the NCAA gave away seat cushions. Alright!!! Woo hoo!!!
The folks in Detroit still have a little work to do though. Handling 70,000 fans in a downtown area proved to be difficult for the Detroit Metro Police. Getting in and out of town was not fun. No one was providing any direction. Police didn't overtake the stoplights, so there was no control on traffic flow in and out of town and that was despite having I-75 nearby. Ouch.
If you didn't have a pass, parking was a nightmare. Yes the neighborhood around downtown is changing, but it's still sketchy in some spots. Still after some searching an hour before tip, we parked on the street four blocks from Ford Field. That's not bad.
**I had Carolina, but not Michigan State. So did most. Fill-in extraordinare Sarah Jindra "claims" to have all four Final Four teams right, but follows it up by saying "I filled out a bracket, but didn't turn it in"
Does that count? You make the call
**Snow this morning, yay!!! Who was excited? Definitely not anyone riding in the cars that slid off the roadway on I-80. That was a troublespot this morning. But overall, the commute wasn't affected by the weather conditions. Some back ups on the Metra lines, a little flooding on 80/94, but that's about it.
