IU Basketball

When we decided to go to Bloomington for the weekend but not attend the football game, I started to look for other things to do while we were there.  Brett had to work Friday and was signed up to volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul Society on Saturday morning but would be free Saturday afternoon.  Cameron at first thought he'd be around for lunch on Friday but decided to leave early for the game in South Bend.  Thus, we wouldn't see him until Saturday night when he returned to Bloomington.  

With Saturday morning free, Doug and I decided that we would both enjoy attending the IU men's basketball game against Chattanooga.  We had no idea how good the game would be, but didn't really care.  We were both just excited to see a game at Assembly Hall again. Doug had last been to a game in 2020, but I hadn't been there since Cameron was in preschool.  

The outside of the basketball arena had changed quite a bit in the last fifteen years.  The statues lining the hall were impressive as were the tributes to past coaches and players.  The seating area looked the same and the court was painted just as it was when Doug and I were in college.  The scoreboard was bigger than I remembered, and I enjoyed watching all of the pregame videos on it.  Our seats were about eighteen rows from courtside which gave us a perfect view of the game.  It was fun watching all of the players that we had known for years warm up and to learn the names of all of the new ones.  The game was a lot closer than it probably should have been, but we didn't mind.  My favorite moments revolved around Malik Reneau throwing up his hands to argue about a foul that wasn't even called on him and seeing Trey Galloway make a floater in the paint in person.  IU did win by nine in the end, and we left extremely happy with the game.   

Brett picked us up once we were done, and the three of us headed to Oliver Winery so the guys could do some wine tasting.  It was cold on the patio, but the heaters running, so we were able to sit outside without any issue.  It was fun to catch up with Brett and hear what he had been up to at work, with Karen and in politics.  I drove us to mass at St. Paul's afterward and then to Brett's apartment for a game of Ticket to Ride.  Dinner was at one of Brett's new favorites - Hoosier Hanks.  It was fun to try.  We made it back to Brett's just as Cameron arrived from Northern Indiana.  He was tired, but excited about his trip.  We turned on the Ohio State game and played some more Ticket to Ride while it was on.  It was a great day in Bloomington, and I was extremely happy that we had made the most of our time in our favorite town.