Ira Cronin WCNC Sports

What a Saturday with the Wildcats!

We began by going to the team's hotel and watching them get on the bus heading to practice. It was great being in the hotel lobby, watching the players come down to hugs and cheers from family members and fans who had made trip with the team.

After the team hotel we headed over a couple of miles to a hotel where many of the students who came in on the buses were staying. There in the lobby we saw a surprising site: college students had transformed the joint into an impromptu student union and had their noses buried in the books. My photographer Kevin Ridley said, "That's why they go to Davidson and I went to Nebraska. I never cracked a book on a Saturday." It was an amazing thing to see, but not so much the more I thought about it. That's why these are the kids with good grades that the school's board of trustees were willing to open up their purse strings to get them up here.

We talked with Nanci Danaher who told me that, like me, she has been to every game since the Southern Conference in Charleston. The difference is, she has been hitting the books during this entire adventure and I have been making a living. I think I get the better end of the deal. She told me she enjoys cheering for this team, not so much because she is basketball fan, but because at Davidson, the team blends in so much with the rest of the campus. She has classes with Stephen Curry and many of the other guys and feels more like she is cheering for close friends than just a school's basketball team.

That's really the amazing part of the Wildcats story; the relationships that exist not only between this team and the Davidson community, but on the inside of this team.

It's safe to say that Stephen Curry is blowing up on the national stage during this tournament and he's getting a lot of media attention from the national outlets, and there isn't an ounce of jealousy or envy from his teammates. Coach McKillop really has cultivated an atmosphere of true family and brotherhood among these players.

It was a stark contrast listening to the press conferences Saturday. The Wildcats are lose and relaxed and ready to stay in the same routine that has brought them this far. The Jayhawks seemed to have an air cockiness around them, like they are already packing their bags for San Antonio. Kansas is certainly the team with more pressure on them to advance.

I think all these things will play into the Wildcats favor and I feel another upset on the way.

We'll see come Sunday night!

Davidson rolls on in Detroit

The sun did come up as expected here in Detroit and there was no need to pinch myself to wonder if last night's amazing performance against Wisconsin was for real. It was so convincing and the team was so business-like in the locker room after the game it seems nothing like a dream.

A couple of reflections from last night, and I'll start with the venue cavernous Ford Field. The building is so large that even sitting three rows from the court there is a little bit of disconnect with the game. Usually the sounds of the game are more contained in a much smaller building. I'm used to hearing the basketball bounce better, the sneakers squeak better, the rip of the net from a swish. I usually hear it all. I could barley hear the ball bouncing.

And as for those amazing Davidson fans who showed up and made so much noise, again there was a disconnect for me. I could hear them, but their voices were swallowed up by the expanse of the space. I picked up the chants from them, of "Bob McKillop", and I could make out some of the words of Neal Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline' being sung as 'Sweet Carolina', but just barely. Usually when I hear those chants, they rock my world. It's a big stage, certainly a final four type of stage (it will be here next year), but I miss the volume of the crowd that is lost. All I could really hear were the Wisconsin whiners sitting behind me. Begging for calls from the ref rather than cheering on their team. Funny, they quieted down with about 10 minutes to go and Davidson running away with the game.

Let me tell you what I liked the very best about last night's game. It was the business-like mood of the team in the locker room after the huge win. This team has made a habit of winning. I guess 25 in a row can do that for a team. The mood also shows the maturity of this team, which gives me my biggest clue that we are in for a great game against Kansas on Sunday. At this point I can't pick against this team and against one of the greatest performers that has been seen on the stage of the NCAA tournament, Stephen Curry. His 40, 30, and 33 points in this year's tournament have been off the hook. Lebron James was in the house, and had a look of surprise after one of Curry's amazing drives to the bucket.

We're off to hear what the guys have to say today. You better believe that these Wildcats believe they can earn their way to San Antonio, and so do I.

Game day for Davidson heats up

When I went to bed, the skies were dark (yes, I know, it was past midnight so it's suppose to be dark) and the snow was coming down like crazy. This morning as I look out my window the sun is shining bright and the ground is covered in three inches of bright white snow.

Game day is here for the Davidson Wildcats. There is excitement and hope in the air that coach Bob McKillop and his team can knock off another higher seed. There is no amount of rain or clouds that could dampen that. In fact the brightness of the sun reflecting off the fresh snow seems to make the day seem even brighter and full of hope.

There are busses on the way from Davidson filled with students eager to cheer on their team thanks to the generosity of the Board of Trustees and the willingness of the faculty to make other arrangements for kids who should be in class.

When I talked to coach and the players yesterday I asked them could they avoid falling behind in the first half as they have in the first two games of the tournament? It's a very dumb question to an athlete or a coach. They take the game as it comes to them. As a fan watching this team, I would prefer they simply pull away early and lead wire to wire. It seldom works that way at this point in the season for a lower seed in the tournament. Coach McKillop - when pressed - did tell me that if I was trying to get him to say he didn't want to start the game with Wisconsin scoring the first 15 points, he assured me he doesn't want to start the game down 15-0.

The Wildcats will let the game come to them as they have in their first two wins over Gonzaga and Georgetown. That is why Stephen Curry is such a great player at a young age. He understands how to let the game come to him. He doesn't panic, or press, or force the action. He takes the shots that come to him, even if they are from near half court and if he shoots, he'll probably make it.

We'll be heading over to Ford Field in a couple of hours. I'm excited to see exactly where the seats are for these Davidson students who are getting free tickets to the game. There are some real stinkers in that building as far as seats for a basketball game. As of last night there were still almost 15,000 seats left, so I'm guessing the board sprang for some pretty decent seats.

I'll let you know when I know and we'll be talking about it tonight in my reports through the afternoon and early evening newscasts leading up to tip off.

Davidson heats up cold Detroit

Detroit is cold and snowy, while Davidson is heating up!

Before leaving for Detroit I checked the weather forecast, which did call for a chance of snow. Let's just say that chance has turned into a full blown blizzard. It's been snowing since early this afternoon, and as I sit here blogging tonight, it's still coming down in big thick flakes and has been sticking for about the last three hours. Now they are calling for 3-4 inches by morning. Good thing I brought that winter coat!

So while it's cold and snowy outside, the team that has been the story so far in the tournament was heating things up inside Ford Field today. In my earlier blog as the team was taking the floor, I talked about how curious I was about how the team would shoot in such a big and unusual stadium. Coach McKillop summed up his team's shooting performance by saying he was tremendously pleased with how well his team shot the ball in today's practice. The team looked sharp, focused and relaxed all at the same time on the court. The interview room was packed with all kinds of national writers and media. As soon as the Wildcats were done, and it was Wisconsin's turn on the podium, the place emptied out. It seems the Wildcats are still the darlings of the tournament and this mid-west regional.

The locker room was packed and associate head coach Matt Matheny commented to me how great it was to see the locker room full of a bunch of national media people sticking microphones and tape recorders in his player's faces. I told him that I knew who two of those other media people were, so think of the all the press Davidson will be getting in places all over the country. It is a great time for the Wildcats and it will get down to serious business tomorrow against Wisconsin.

Good night from Detroit, and I'm going to find some warm blankets!

Davidson part of really big deal

Nothing like a statement of the obvious! Things are getting down to business here in Detroit today. For me things always get real when I find my press seat. I'm sitting here writing this blog, thinking of all that is about to begin.

Our day began around 8:30 this morning when we left our hotel to make our way to Ford Field. Home of the Detroit Lions, yes the NFL team. This brand new state of the art edifice usually houses a very bad football team, but this weekend it will host the mid-west regional of the NCAA tournament. It's a big building, a very big building as it has to be for a football field. We have needed every minute in our day so far just to find our way from where to park, where to haul our heavy equipment in, and where to set it up in this cavernous facility.

As I'm sitting here blogging, the doors just opened and fans have begun filing in for the free practice session. Davidson is the first team on the floor at noon and there are already a couple of hundred people here, which doesn't look like much in a building that is ready to seat 72,818 for the games. This will be the largest crowd to watch a regional in the history of the tournament. The previous record is 42,284 in St. Louis in 1999. At last check, Ford Field has already sold more than 53,000 tickets for the weekend games.

The players have just walked onto the floor, which is a unique set up. It's about 4 feet up off the floor on risers. Where I'm sitting I'm looking eye level at the players' knees. Everything is so scripted at these sites. Coach McKillop now has players gathered at center court. I'm wondering if he's telling them not to get caught up in the size of the arena, or the unique set up of the floor. I can say he doesn't have a tape measure like in the movie Hoosiers that he has dropped from the rim.

Practice begins with balls in about 10 minutes and then it's time for interviews. I'll share a look at this unique and historic site coming up at 4:30 today live from Detroit.

Talk to you soon,

Ira

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Headed to Detroit

Here we go again! Fresh off the return flight from Denver covering the Winthrop Eagles, I'm back at the airport headed to Denver. On the bright side we're on a direct flight and we're staying in the same time zone!

Also getting me through are two facts. Number one is that I am going with all-star news photographer Kevin Ridley and number two is that fact that on the other end of this plane ride to Detroit will be the Davidson Wildcats.

The surprising team of the tournament certainly has a chance to do it again in the Sweet 16 against Wisconsin. The team doesn't fly out until much later tonight, but we're hoping to catch up with them at their team hotel tonight.

By the way, the weather forecast is actually calling for snow. Good thing I packed the winter coat and gloves.

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