I Was There: Duke Vs. Kentucky, Philadelphia, 1992

Here's one of our first submission to #Iwasthere ( here for explanation) courtesy of Brett Hoover, who was on press row at The Spectrum the night Christian Laettner ripped the heart out of Lexington.

Funny you should mention the Duke-Kentucky game, which was at the Spectrum.

I was on press row, directly behind the Kentucky bench, sitting next to Lesley Visser. Every time I see the pass from the full court view on television, I see myself in a red sweater in the second or third row of the press.

Inexplicably, I ran onto the court after the game (I had a press pass) and stood next to a confused Jamal Mashburn and soaked in what happened from near midcourt. I have no idea why I went on to the court, but I must have looked like I thought I owned it as I scanned around, looking at 19,000 people and their faces of disbelief. The Kentucky band, which had been playing in my ear all game long, was in tears, as was Cawood Ledford, the UK radioman who had announced his retirement at the end of the season.

I have been at many sporting events and never do I remember walking into the middle of the action like that. When I finally snapped out of it, I slinked back into the media room and joined the conversation about it being the best college basketball game ever, which made the question of the day: What exactly was the best game prior? The consensus seemed to be Kentucky beating Indiana in double overtime in the 1975 NCAA Tournament.

Crazy thing was, I was at that game too. Sitting in the stands at the UD Arena with my dad.

But before you think that I am too lucky, I have watched a lot of simply horrible basketball in my day, including the Jim O'Brien years at Dayton. That included a game with his top player wearing wrestling headgear because his ears were frostbitten after getting locked out of the arena after practice. Dayton was 4-26 that year. That season alone should even things out.

Enjoy the basketball,

Brett