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Brandon RodriguezThe Trip I Have Mixed Feelings AboutTexas Tech Men’s Basketball beat the Gonzaga Bull Dogs in the Elite Eight for the first time in school history, Texas Tech advanced to the Final Four which was being held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Emotions were high. Everybody was excited. I woke up Monday morning to a text message on my phone from my friend Cam saying “check your email!” The university sent a link to the student emails to get tickets for $40 to attend the Final Four. I was in complete shock! I never expected to be given an opportunity to go support my university at the nation’s highest level. I had to pinch myself. It all seemed too good to be true. I went online and purchase my ticket and what I believed to be fake ended up being real. It turns out there was a very limited number of tickets and the university sold out by 10:30 am. I purchased the ticket at 10:15. Just in time! Now came the planning. Cam is one of the people I would attend the basketball games with. It was only right I go with him to Minneapolis. The plan was to leave Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. to get to Minneapolis by Friday morning. The drive from Lubbock to Minneapolis is sixteen and a half hours. The two of us can’t safely drive us there. Cam asked his two friends Sarah and Valencia to join us on the trip. Cam’s mom proposed a deal that couldn’t be resisted. She offered to pay for the hotel if we didn’t take Cam’s car. Valencia volunteered her car. I was thankful because they didn’t know I own a brand new car. I wouldn’t want to put the miles on it. If Texas Tech were to win their first game against Michigan State on Saturday night, they would advance to the championship game on Monday night. The plan was to be there until Monday unless we lose the first game.The week of the tournament went by incredibly fast. Before I knew it I was done with classes on Thursday and all that needed to be done was pack up the car and head up north to Minneapolis. My ride arrived right on time at 3 pm. I had never met Sarah or Valencia before so it was a quick meet and greet. Being an experienced traveler, I packed Aleve PM for the car ride. Nothing could be worse than staying awake in a car for sixteen hours. My plan was to take some Aleve pm thirty minutes after getting into the car so I could have some conversation time as well as allowing time to pass before it kicks in. Eventually, I fell asleep in the car and I wake up a few hours later to what seemed to be a very intense conversation between Cam and Valencia. It turns out Valencia works for Texas Tech and has to work on Monday, the day of the championship game! If she doesn’t come back in time for work, she then gets fired. I’m thinking to myself “I’m not missing the championship game regardless if Valencia has to come back to Lubbock.” Cam is trying to convince Valencia to quit her job considering she graduates in May. They both notice the blanket that was covering my face while I was sleeping was no longer over my head. Both Cam and Valencia drag me into their unpleasant conversation and ask me my opinion. I just met Valencia only a few hours ago and now I’m being asked if she should quit her job or not. THIS IS NOT AN IDEAL SITUATION TO BE IN! I tried my best to come across as if I went back to sleep. It did not work. Finally, I am convinced to partake in the conversation. I tried my absolute best to try and keep my bias out of it. I hinted to Valencia to quit her job. I said “Hey, when is the next time you will be able to go support your university in the Final Four as a student?” I thought to myself “Damn I’m good. What a convincing question.” It only created an awkward silence. To avoid the awkwardness, I went back to sleep. A few hours went by and it’s now night time which meant it was my turn to drive. During my shift, I drove us through Iowa, Kansas and the start of Minnesota. That shift must have been the worst driving experience I have ever had in my life! Kansas and Iowa were terrifying to drive though. It was pitch black and it didn’t have streetlights. They were arid and foggy! The fog was so thick, you couldn’t see twenty feet in front of you which made driving on roads I am not familiar with a nightmare. Not knowing what was going to happen with Valencia made everything worse.Eventually my driving shift ended and we finally make it to Minneapolis at 8 am on Friday morning! The four of us check into the hotel and immediately fall asleep. After we woke up, Cam and I decided to head over to the stadium where the game was going to be held. In the stadium, there were open practices that were free to anyone that wanted to go. While there, Cam and I watched Texas Tech, Michigan State, Auburn, and Virginia practice. The next thing you know, Friday is coming to an end which meant it was almost game day! It’s finally game day and the time we were all waiting for was approaching. As a group, we caught word that there was a bar in downtown Minneapolis that was owned by Texas Tech alumni there, they were hosting a Texas Tech exclusive pregame party. It was an incredible atmosphere, everybody there was a Red Raider. Cam and I met some guys who were alumni they were Sam, Steve, and Mitchell. These guys were awesome people. They bought us some drinks and talked to us for over an hour. Before you knew it, it was time to head to the stadium. We arrived at the stadium and the staff showed us to the student entrance where they would escort us to the floor, right next to the basketball court. The seats that were given to us were incredible! The student section was filled with energy; we were all going crazy in support of our basketball team. The game between Texas Tech and Michigan State came and went and we won. Texas Tech made it to the championship game on Monday night. Now came the time for Valencia to make a decision. Everybody in the stadium started to leave at the same time and eventually I lost my group. While heading towards the exits, I ran into the alumni I met at the bar. They all told me to hang out with them until we found my group.Myself and the group of alumni decided to head back to the bar where we were earlier that day to celebrate our victory. I called Cam to tell them to meet me at the bar. We started to approach the bar, when we see Cam, Valencia and Sarah. They were huddled up in an alleyway that didn’t look ideal to be standing in. Valencia is in tears; Cam’s face told the whole story of bad news. The alumni decided to keep me with them to continue to have a good time and celebrate. My group decides to head back to the hotel to figure everything out. Myself and the Alumni get into the bar and have a good time. We then decided to part ways and head back to our hotels. I eventually make it back to the hotel and I walked into a room that was filled with emotions. Cam did not succeed in convincing Valencia to quit her job. She was leaving at 6 am the following morning. Cam’s mom offered to buy Valencia a plane ticket to Lubbock if she would leave us the car to get back. She said no. Cam decided to go back with Valencia so she wouldn’t drive alone. Eventually, we convinced Sarah to go back with Valencia leaving Cam with me in Minneapolis. Morning came, Valencia and Sarah leave. I was fully unaware that we had to check out and leave the hotel that same morning. Another surprise to add to the whole thing. Cam and I packed up all of our belongings and begin to backpack in the city to figure everything out. We had no place to stay and now we had no transportation. We were stuck. We found our way to a nearby Starbucks. There I was able to charge my laptop and my phone. We were in Starbucks for four hours. I was eventually able to find us a place to stay as well as a ride back to Lubbock! We head over to our new hotel and spent the rest of the day watching TV.Monday morning, the day of the championship. We met up with the guys who are taking us back to Lubbock, Luis and Stephan. They are both students at Texas Tech. The four of us head to the stadium to watch the game. Again, the student section was electric. We ended up not winning the basketball game which was a disappointment, but at the same time it was exciting because we all got to witness Texas Tech history. After the game, the four of us walked back to the car to start our sixteen-hour journey back to Lubbock. The drive back to Lubbock felt longer than the drive to Minneapolis. Eventually the four of us made it back to Lubbock safely and heartbroken.Word count: 1624 ................
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