Go Badgers!! Wisconsin Fans in Indiana

We had a great visit with Jessica, E, Max and Briana last week-end. We arrived mid-afternoon on Thursday after an easy 6 hour drive from Sheboygan. E had a brand new flat top cooker and was getting ready to cook a stir fry. The weather was summery and we enjoyed the warm breezes. On Friday Dad and I did a few birding walks nearby. Griffy Lake was nice but there were no new migrating birds yet. Jessica came home at noon and we started watching the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament. Oregon and Michigan State played at noon, followed by UCLA vs Wisconsin. Jessica had big plans: if Wisconsin won she wanted to go to Indy to see the next Wisconsin game live!

That evening Max and Briana and Briana’s two cats came over. The cats are spending spring break with Jessica. Both kids were getting ready to go to Florida for spring break. Briana is flying and Max is going by car with a bunch of kids. I hope they have fun and stay safe! Briana is all set to start her job as a nurse at a children’s hospital in Indianapolis but not until summer. She even has an apartment reserved. That night we watched a very silly movie that I had never heard of-“Hundreds of Beavers”. It’s a very Jessica movie. Over night the wind picked up and we had a serious thunder storm. Not a lot of rain but a lot of thunder, lightening and wind. There were a lot of downed sticks in the morning and the cars were full of tree buds.

As you know, Wisconsin did win against UCLA and by 11:30 Saturday we were at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, waiting to go through security and settle down to an afternoon of basketball. The first stop was to buy some Badger gear-we didn’t come prepared for this. Then we circled the interior food vendor area and ran into this photo op. We found some food and got into our seats in plenty of time. It was fun watching the pep bands and the cheerleaders and Bucky! We seemed surround by Michigan State fans.

from Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

The teams were well matched, and Michigan state was always just ahead of Wisconsin for most of the first half. Wisconsin pulled ahead with a modest lead shortly before the end of the first half. The second half was very exciting with the score always within a couple of points. But the Spartans Justvcouldn’t win over the Badgers! There was a lot going on the whole time. Bucky was so much fun to watch. During media time-outs the Jumbotron cameras focused on people in the crowd and sometimes applied silly Snap-chat filters. It was hilarious.

After the game we had dinner at a brewpub and then E & J took us to see Monument Circle, a few blocks away. (drive by)

(photo by alexeatswhales wikipedia)

Mid-morning on Sunday we headed back to Wisconsin. It was an uneventful drive. We started out with fine rain but by the time we got to Illinois it was snow. But the roads were OK and the traffic kept moving so we were home in time to see the end of the Wisconsin Michigan game. The players were playing their fourth game in four days and appeared tired. Wisconsin couldn’t quiet get the job done.

We were tired too! It was a great week-end!