NCAA Tournament Diary from San Diego….. Day Two

By Chris Stewart

San Diego – Now we know what the suspicious package was inside Cox Arena Thursday.

It was Jean Felix.

Thankfully, he was the only thing that went off inside the building, pouring in 31 points, knocking down a school-record tying eight three-point shots, and leading No. 10 seed Alabama to an incredible 90-85 win over 7th seeded Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament here in San Diego.

Wasn’t it a fitting end to such a bizarre day? Let’s think about this:

I had just walked into the Cox Arena about 9:15 a.m. Pacific time, and put my brief case down at my seat on press row. Moments later, a security guy walks on to the arena floor and tells the roughly 25 of us in the vicinity that we need to leave the building immediately.

My first thought was they were doing the routine security sweep that normally takes place prior to events of this magnitude. I fact, I left my bag where it was and headed out for the exit, thinking we would be back within minutes. I soon realized I was wrong.

After initially being led to the parking lot about 30 yards from the building, more police arrived and we were instructed to move to the other side of a parking deck a few hundred yards away. That, plus the fact that even the CBS Television people were forced out of the building, led me to realize this was far from normal.

I knew it would be just a matter of time before we saw television helicopters flying overhead, and it would soon become a national news story – which is exactly what happened.

Thankfully, everything was fine. The “all clear” was eventually given, and we were able to go back to prepare for what would prove to be a wonderful basketball game.

As bizarre as the events before the game were, frankly they paled in comparison to what took place during the game. Jean Felix had made just 2 of his last 10 three point attempts prior to Thursday. He had never scored more than 19 points in a game in his Alabama career. And he’d never made more than four treys in a game since waltzing onto Tuscaloosa from Bevill State Community College two years ago.

The senior guard has been a stopper throughout his career, and his defense on Marquette’s All-Big East selection Steve Novack was sensational. Yet it was his early offense (five threes in the first 7:30) that opened up things inside for Jermareo Davidson (21 points and 12 boards). Ronald Steele was back to his old form, taking over in a second half stretch for 11 consecutive points.

“The Magnificent Seven”, as I’ve dubbed Alabama’s lineup of seven scholarship players, continues to amaze. Sure they’ve had some frustrating times. They even happened during the win against the Golden Eagles. Case in point, two double-digit leads surrendered in the second half.

Yet, this gutsy team battles on against the odds. They have earned a shot at No. 2 seed UCLA on Saturday night.

What will happen? I don’t know. And I’m not going to worry about it yet. Tonight I’m going to enjoy a very odd, very special day in Alabama basketball history. Tomorrow I’m going to relax, watch some games, and see some more sights of Ron Burgundy's favorite city.

Not sure there is a much better feeling than watching the NCAA Tournament on TV, from a great city, knowing the Tide is still very much alive. After Friday, we’ll be one of only 32 teams left dancing. Man, is this fun.

Roll Tide… and you stay classy Tuscaloosa
 

Chris Stewart is the pre and post game host for the Crimson Tide Sports Network's coverage of Alabama Football. In addition, he hosts a talk show each weekday morning from 7 until 9 on Tuscaloosa's Sports Radio 1420, The Tusk. Stewart is also the radio play-by-play announcer for University of Alabama men's basketball.   Bama Fever is a company devoted to providing University of Alabama Crimson Tide merchandise. We have stores in Birmingham, Tuscaloosa  and Huntsville and have now created an online catalog for Crimson Tide fans all over the world searching for that hard to find merchandise. We carry over 7,000 items in our stores and have posted many of these items right here in our online catalog.

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Read all of Chris's 2005 Game Recaps