Welcome to Bloomington

I made it to Bloomington.

Here's the problem though. I had this vision of Bloomington that just didn't come true.

Bloomington to me was supposed to be a recipe blending my memories of "Breaking Away" and pretty much every John Mellencamp song ever. And then I arrived on the Berlin Turnpike.

Ok, so I went over to campus and yes, I did think the on campus Memorial Stadium looked pretty impressive and it was nice to see a campus with all of its historic athletic facilities in one spot. And I did get a little bit of the "Ain't that America" feel when I drove by the John Mellencamp Pavilion. But when I went over to my hotel about 2 miles from campus I actually got lost in a shopping plaza. It was quite possibly the bigget shopping plaza I've ever been in. The whole time I could see my hotel and yet, I couldn't get there. It took me 15 minutes to get from the highway to the hotel, the same hotel that was right there visible off the highway when I got off the exit.

But I did get stuck behind a farm tractor on a 4-lane highway on my drive from Indianapolis to Bloomington, so I guess that was my true weekend feel of Indiana life.

So here's my travel complaint. I didn't realize how difficult it would be getting on a plane for a morning flight without some caffeine in my hands. No liquids carried on board, suck it down or throw it away was the word before boarding. The problem was, there was no beverage service on the 1-hour first leg of my flight. Mmmm, morning dry mouth and snoring. Lets just say, the airline probably lucked out by the fact that nobody else was in my row. They would have lost customers. 

So here's the most interesting tidbit from the morning of my first road trip following the Huskies. 

For years I've had the John Feinstein book "A March To Madness" sitting on the bookshelf. Countless times I've started reading it and it never really sucked me in to the point where I couldn't stop reading it. But I kept trying and trying and trying. I took it on vacation this past summer and read it for one day on the beach and then found another book that night and Feinstein marched right back into the luggage for the rest of the trip. Maybe I should have realized at that point when I put it down to read a book called "The Lobster Coast" (which was a pretty fascinating look at the history of the Maine seacoast from the first settlers to present day urban sprawl, which by the way I couldn't put down) that The March To Madness and I weren't going to get along.

Fast forward to this morning. As I'm packing to get ready for the trip to Bloomington I realize I don't really have much to read on the flight. And what do I do? I grab Madness off the shelf one more time. Here's the kicker and the true sign it was never meant to be for me and Madness. As I'm checking in at the airline ticket counter I realize I don't have the book with me. I left it on the counter at the car parking place. No, I didn't call and tell them to throw it in my car for when I get back. And I hope they didn't just put it in my car knowing I left it there. No offense to Feinstein, but it was time for me to say goodbye and give up on Madness.

And to close it out today, wondering what I do when I'm not busy covering UConn football? I like to spend my free time getting in between racecar drivers who are ready to throttle each other on pit road.

Shawn Courchesne, 3:56 p.m.

Comments

[Raphielle Johnson]

On Feinstein, I thought that his book on the Patriot League, "The Last Amateurs", was better than "Madness". Also, check out the book he did with Red Auerbach, "I Got A Story To Tell". After those two, you'll probably like his writing a little more. Go Huskies!

[Zack]

Hey Shawn-

I actually stayed in the same hotel when the MBB team was at IU last year. How do I know it's the same one?

Because I got lost trying to find it too. And watch that pothole near the entrance...it could eat a rental car alive.

Welcome to "the Rock".