Watch this post! It will be updated frequently with news and links! Add comments below with your suggestions. Updated wednesday 3/11/09 8pm
Fan Reception Saturday
The Basketball office is sponsoring a fan reception on Saturday 3/14 at 4:30pm. Some former players will be there to mingle with us. The location is McKay's restaurant in the Radisson Hotel, a short walk from Galen center (and visible on the campus map linked below).
In these harsh economic times (drink!) the Office won't be footing the bill: drinks & snacks will be available for purchase. But there's no charge for socializing with other fans and alumnae!
Pre- and Post-game socializing
Following Thursday night's WSU-AZ game, we're going to hang out in The Lab, a pleasant new "gastropub" just south of the Galen Center. It's only open until 11pm so we won't be hanging very long—but we have a long day Friday! The Lab may be OK for a meal between the Sessions on Friday; however the wait-staff seem a bit disorganized and service may be slow. See below for more options.
After Friday's UCLA-OSU game (which should be pretty "physical," the way those two play) we recommend hanging out in the bar area at McKay's restaurant, two doors further down Figueroa from The Lab. It closes at 10:30; what is it with these places? We'll try to find a better rendezvous for the next two nights; ask us at the fan reception Saturday!
Getting Tickets
Here is the full tournament schedule.If you ordered tickets through the Stanford ticket office, you should have them now; call 650-725-2787 if you don't. If you are purchasing through the Trojan ticket site, it no longer says "Seating will be determined at a later date," but we don't know what sections they are selling. Here is the seating chart. Stanford has seats in sections 116-119. Cal has been assigned to section 115, so you could go through the Cal site and come close to the cardinal shirts.
Getting around USC
Here is a partial map of the USC campus showing the Galen center with some campus eateries marked. Print it out landscape. (Or get the complete map, a two-page PDF with a directory of all USC buildings.) This is the USC map of parking locations. Convenient to the Galen center are Parking Structures "2" and "X" (actually more visible on the map linked above).
Eating Between Games
The Galen center has concessions, but for proper meals before and between game sessions, there are decent places on the USC campus. All campus eating places are open to the public. Everybody's Kitchen, and The Cafe in Parkside College, are recommended. See the map linked above for locations. The Commons is closed for construction.
Fast Break to Santa Monica
We are recommending Santa Monica for brunch and general recreation Saturday and Sunday mornings. Santa Monica is a friendly, walkable village at the West end of I-10, rarely more than a half-hour drive from USC and less at off-peak hours. The downtown area is full of shops and good restaurants. Walk around there one of these mornings and see how many Stanford shirts you can spot!
For brunch, our L.A. scouts recommend these two places:
- The Rose Café, 220 Rose st. at Main, moderate price, has a large outdoor patio.
- The Coast Restaurant in the Shutters on the Beach hotel, fairly pricey but highly regarded
Here is a link to a good walking map of downtown Santa Monica, print off all 5 pages landscape format. The visitor center website has well-organized links to the many attractions and facilities.
Saturday morning there's a Farmer's Market at 3rd and Arizona, right downtown. Sunday morning there's another at 2640 Main, somewhat south of downtown. The Sunday market has live entertainment; on 3/15 that will be The Praties, an Irish traditional band.
There are of course thousands of other things to do in L.A.—share your suggestions by adding a comment to this post!
