Postcard from San Antonio: Just wait until next year

Apr. 4—Hey, everyone!

Well, it's Sunday and time for me to leave San Antonio after 11 days. I finally got a seat closer to the court at the Alamodome on Friday night, just in time to see Arizona up close as it completely flustered UConn on both ends of the floor. As UConn coach Geno Auriemma said, it isn't easy at this level and Arizona, although the underdog — the NCAA made a Final Four highlight video this week and completely left out the Wildcats; talk about fuel for the fire — proved itself fun to watch and Final Four-worthy.

I will always remember the seven UConn freshmen this season and the fresh take they brought. I mean, they started jokingly calling Geno "Big G." Who does that?

If one of the freshmen was on a video conference with one of the upper classmen, they always deferred to the elder statesman. If two of the freshmen came on the video together, forget it. They always wound up in gales of laughter. After Paige Bueckers broke the UConn single-game assist record with 14 on Feb. 27 at Butler, for instance, she appeared with fellow freshman Aaliyah Edwards. Edwards was informed that she was the one to score the layup for Bueckers' final assist and the record. Giggling and high-fives ensued along with the revelation that Edwards had locked Bueckers out of her hotel room earlier that day and that Bueckers "was kind of spazzing out a little bit." It was always interesting that they could be so goofy and yet so talented.

Leaving the Alamodome on Friday night, I walked back to my hotel, about a mile. There were still a ton of people out strolling around the city at 1 a.m., music still blaring from Pat O'Brien's, and I found out that the group of security personnel who guard the Alamo, the Alamo Rangers, are on duty 24 hours a day. UConn lost, but the outside world was still in mid-Friday night mayhem. Good to stay busy until next year, I guess, when the Huskies will have everyone back plus the No. 2 recruiting class in the country.

I had a great time here, mostly looking for ways to bring you guys little slices of the city. To be honest, I'm a little tired of mini bottles of shampoo and mini-toothpastes, tired of trying to explain to my Uber drivers where to drop me off at the Alamodome — I went 0-for-3 in that department — and although this might be blasphemous, I'm even a little bit sick of tacos. Haha.

Now it's time for other things, high school softball, walks on the Niantic Boardwalk and my second COVID-19 shot all coming up soon. I just wanted to be sure to thank you all for taking this trip with me!

Best always,

Your tour guide,

Vickie