Click on the image above to see pictures from the event.

Seneng deh pas weekend itu (2 minggu lalu). Downtown st. louis berubah jadi rame dan meriah sekali..entah berapa puluh ribu orang tuh yang dateng ke sini untuk nonton final four, baik nonton langsung di edward jones dome nya atau yang nonton rame rame di bar. Banyaak banget calo2 ticket berkeliaran di downtown...pingin sih sebenernya nonton..but not for $600..:P, we should've registered our name in the lottery last year, siapa tau bisa dapet ticketnya..walaupun lumayan mahal juga ($150)..but the experience will be priceless...apalagi taun ini for the first time in so many years that the number 1 seats meet in the final, everybody has been imagining this match up since the season started. Oh well..

Tapi tetep seru juga sih weekend itu walopun nggak nonton langsung, banyak acara2 lain yang bisa di ikutin. Hari kamis malemnya ada slam dunk and three point contest di washington university..tadinya pingin kesana..tapi entah kenapa nggak jadi..yang ada nonton dari rumah aja. Hari jum'at nya ada team practice...went to downtown with Jibran..pas udah sampe sana baru ngeh kalo gue pake jacket ijo, jadi banyak yang mikir kalo gue fansnya michigan kali yaa..pantesan dari tadi kalo ketemu orang2 pake baju ijo2 gue di senyumin trus kalo ada mobil plat michigan lewat gue juga di klakson2..hehehe. Pas nyampe edward jones...antriannya panjang banget..pas lagi ngantri trus di samperin petugasnya lagi..katanya gue nggak boleh masuk bawa stroller..soalnya udah kebanyakan yang nitip stroller di kantor guest service nya..kecuali kalo gue bisa nunjukin metro ticket (bukti kalo gue ke downtown naik kereta..jadi mau nggak mau strollernya emang harus di bawa)...tapi kan kita nyetir..and i parked the car like 6 or so freaking blocks from there..erghh..nyebelin nih peraturannya...bisa aja sih minta ke orang yang punya metro ticket ..tapi males banget harus nanyain semuanya satu2. Trus akhirnya gue samperin aja petugas yang lain yang cewe dan dengan masang muka memelas gue bilang kalo gue tuh dateng all the way from out of town to see the practice..masa udah sampe sana tau2 nggak di bolehin siihhh..hihi..akhirnya dia kasian kali..trus dia bilang ya udah strollernya tinggalin disitu aja deh, tapi dia nggak tanggung sih kalo ilang..ya udah lah coba aja..daripada gue nggak nonton sama sekali mendingan stroller ilang..hihihi..lagian tuh illinois udah mau selesai practicenya..jadinya gue nggak mau mikir lama2.

Pas udah di dalem, wahh kaget juga liat orang segitu banyaknya..40 something thousands gitu..padahal kan ini practice aja..but almost the entire seats was filled. Gue kira gue bisa jalan2 di courtside nya and take pictures of the players up close...boohoo salah besar ternyata...hehe..gue kemaren duduk pas di sebelah CBS broadcast sectionnya, jadi lumayan lah at least bisa ngeliat broadcasternya kaya craig gumbell, clark kellog and seth davis..hehe. Kalo ESPN nggak di dalem edward jones dome nya, tapi di Union Station..padahal pingin juga liat Dicky V, Digger and Jay Bilas...*pingin nimpuk maksudnya*..haha...! Setelah illinois selesai, giliran UNC yang main...there were coach williams, sean may and co...kalo pas ini yang nonton nggak sebanyak Illinoi so we can move closer to the floor...seru juga sih practice nya apalagi pas dunk sessionnya. Anywayy....abis itu rencananya kita mau nonton NBC all star game Vs. Globetrotters (sp?) di savvis center...tapi malah jadi pada males gitu...akhirnya makan di King n I and browsed west county mall.

Sabtu nya cuma lewatin downtown aja ngeliat2 keramean, tapi nggak turun. Pas hari minggu nya baru kesana, ada taste of st. louis, ada concert (kelly clarkson, better than ezra to name a few)..dan banyak atraksi2 lain...ada concert nelly sih walaupun nggak berhubungan dengan final four..kebetulan pas aja waktunya. Dari situ kita jalan kaki ke union station and on the way there i saw this guy..

di depan Hyatt..not sure of who he was sih..tadinya kirain chingy ato siapa gitu..but i knew he was somebody famous soalnya orang pada minta tanda tangan dan ada bodyguards nya di sekelilingnya, his flashy cadillac escapade was waiting for him and there was this very coutured girl who looks like one of the girls in the hiphop video carrying her L'Ingénieux PM Suhali. Turned out it was T.I, the rapper from atlanta..I did take his picture...you can see it in the PEOPLE album in my photo gallery.

Anywayy..kita main2 aja di union station, liat2 merchandise nya final four, jibran got an NCAA 2005 ball from Bude Dien...trus kita makan di KC Masterpiece....my first time there and it was the worst dining experience i have ever encountered deh..will.never.go to.kc.masterpiece.ever.again!!!..no it's not the food..we didn't even get the chance to taste it...it was something else. But it was a good weekend nonetheless..jibran had so much fun running around everywhere.

Hari senennya championship game...and hiks.... illinois picked a bad night to have their poor shooting..but in the end, they only lose by 5 despite their inability to get the ball in the basket..I don't think Coach weber was outcoached as they did get open looks, but they just couldn't get it done. Too bad..but congrats for UNC though.

And with all that being said..it's been a fun season...and i miss my salukis already...i've been trying to compose all the pictures i have (taken and stolen..:p) and upload it in my album, belum selesai sih..but you can view it in my photo gallery under SALUKIS...gotta love the human side of basketball...for me there's more to basketball than basketball yang kalo pun gue jelasin disini juga mungkin nggak bakal ada yang ngerti..hehe...Have a nice weekend all..=)