the Informer

I lived where you run, and I’m perfectly OK with it.

For four days I wrote, blogged, interviewed, ate and by the final buzzer each night practically slept at the University of Hartford Sports Center during the America East tournament. Four days, 17 teams, 13 games; I saw it all. As fast as the thousands of fans, hundreds of student athletes and momentary Fan Fest tents came in, like magic they disappeared.
The America East tournament occupied Hartford for just over 72 hours, but its enduring effect on the university and the conference could take years to comprehend. However, one thing is for sure: this weekend marked possibly the most important and most successful sporting event in the university’s history.

Being at Chase Family Arena for 12 hours per day was simply amazing; to witness the amount of work the America East and the university put into transforming the Sports Center into a fan and media-friendly environment. The Fan Fest behind the arena was constantly packed. The media room, which occupied the usual cardio room and multi-purpose courts, was perfect. But it wasn’t the rare accommodations that made this weekend special. It was the athletes and packed fan buses.

This weekend yet again proved why collegiate athletics can be the greatest spectacle in sports, even if the tournament didn’t involve competing for a national, or even conference championship. Every athlete at Chase Family Arena this weekend played their heart out, sweating out every last gasp of available determination and grit for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve athletic glory at the Mecca of college sports: the NCAA tournament.

It wasn’t only the players creating an incredible atmosphere. Fans from nearly every America East university, especially Stony Brook and Vermont, packed the stands each and every game, making more and more noise as the tournament progressed. For an arena usually devoid of screaming student sections and standing fans, it was a sight to behold for a university with few “big games” in school history.

I realize this tournament just happened, but the impact it had on the university and the America East conference is yet to be known. Hosting an event of this size, particularly the first ever combined men’s and women’s America East tournament, produces increased visibility to Hartford as both a school and an athletic program.

As for the conference itself, hosting a combined tournament in a very central location is a fairly innovative idea, but one that is already clearly a success. Who knows if Hartford will be the tournament site next season, but whichever location the conference chooses, it would shock me if a combined tournament is not chosen. This conference is improving, even if each specific team is not, and having a combined tournament with all of fans, players and media in one location will only continue that trend.

So next season whether the tournament is in Hartford, Vermont or somewhere in between, you can be sure I’ll be there to witness the passionate fight for a NCAA bid, even if I actually have to live there this time. Again, I’m perfectly OK with it.