Big Sky Conference Tourney Day #1: Awesome

As I mentioned in a previous post this past week, the athletic department that I work for earned the right via our excellent players and coaches to hold our men’s basketball conference tournament. Throughout that post I talked about how excited I was to have the opportunity to take part in helping to host the tournament.  Still in my office after an extremely long day, I can’t express how much fun Day One of the 2012 Big Sky Conference Tournament was.

The whole day was full of constant movement and activity. Sharing our office space with the Big Sky Conference staff while assisting visiting schools and media as they walked in and out throughout the day was pretty cool. I got to put faces to many names and also see a lot of people I had not seen in a while. Many people in our department went above and beyond to accommodate our conference, our competitors, and our guests…a valuable example and lesson to someone like me who is still relatively new in the business.

When it came to the actual games, we could not have asked for a better night of basketball. In the 5:30 matchup, Weber State (#2 seed) barely edged Portland State (#3 seed). Portland State owned the lead for much of the game but could not hold on. It was so nice to work a good, high stakes, competitive basketball game with no stress attached. Let me tell you though, that stress certainly hit me for the 8pm game as Montana took on Eastern Washington. The Eagles held the lead for most of the first half. Come the second half, the lead went back and forth but ultimately the Griz won, 74-66. The first tournament game got a decent sized, appreciative crowd and then of  course come the Griz game Dahlberg Arena was explosive.
So it all comes down to tomorrow night. Montana will host Weber State in a rematch from just last week. Only this time, instead of a Big Sky Conference regular season championship up for grabs, it will be a Big Sky Conference Tournament championship up for grabs with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament to go with it.
For tomorrow night’s championship game we welcome ESPN2 into our arena. The exposure is priceless. I can’t wait for the game to start and for all of the texts and tweets that will come my way from my friends who will be watching in various locations across the country. It is time for Missoula to once again put on a show for the nation.
After I post this, I will once again walk out the doors of the Adams Center so thankful and so happy to be doing a job that I love. It does not get much better than this. Don’t Blink.