Final Four Notes and Events

Gitcher Tickets

You can pick up your pre-ordered tickets at any of three times: At the Alamodome will-call during Stanford's Open Practice (see below), at the Hotel Contessa during the reception (see below), and of course at the 'dome before the first game.

Saturday Fun

Saturday April 3, 11am to 12:30 in the Alamodome is Stanford's open practice period. It will be followed by an autograph session.

Then, if you can make that event, stay around the Alamodome until 3:45 for the Battle of the Bands, when the four team's bands have a play-off judged on musicianship and showmanship. In Tampa, the LSJUMB won this event.

Pregame Reception and Sendoff

Stanford hosts a reception Sunday April 4, 3-5pm, in the Hotel Contessa (see map below). Cash bar, free tex-mex nibbles. You must RSVP to Lisa Ortiz (Lortiz@stanford.edu or 650-723-7415).

One Game at a Time, But...

If the Cardinal advance to the Championship game, Stanford will host another reception, from 4:30 to 6:30pm at the Rio Rio Cantina, across the street from Hotel Contessa. The Rio Rio is the "official" Cardinal gathering place.

NCAA Info

The NCAA is providing a wealth of online clickables, starting here. Sort of buried in it is an 8-page PDF, the (right-click and download) Final Four Fan Guide.

Downtown Map

From the fan guide we have extracted a very useful one-page map. Click to biggify, then print.

Note especially #4 on the map; that's the Hotel Contessa where the reception is planned. Also note the route of the NCAA shuttle; almost all downtown hotels are within a short walk of its route.

Heading to Sacramento

(Updated 3/22 with bus and social info)

Suh-weet Sixteen

The Cardinal move to ARCO Arena in Sakamenna (homage to Herb Caen) to play the "Sweet Sixteen" game against Georgia and then possibly the "Elite Eight" game.

Game tickets from the Stanford ticket office (1-800-STANFORD) starting tuesday morning. Or, if you can stand to wait, you can order them from Ticketmaster beginning Wednesday noon. Click here for Saturday tickets, click here for Monday. In both cases, use the promo code CARDINAL.

The round of 16 games will be on Saturday 3/27. The Stanford-Georgio game begins at 6:04; Xavier-Gonzaga at 8:30. Prior to the first game, the BB office will sponsor a no-host Social. If you are an FBC member you've received email with a link to register for this $20 event. If not, here's the link. You have to create a name and password registration, ho-hum. But don't do that if you plan to take the bus!

The BB Office is also organizing a bus from campus. Just email h.owen @ stanford.edu to reserve bus seats. The bus will leave campus at 2pm and return after the second game. Bring something to read; it's a long ride. Your $55 ticket (for non-FBC members) includes the social, and you can skip the online registration. Game tickets are separate.

Leet Eight

The Elite Eight game will be on Monday 3/29 at 6:07. The Office will sponsor a bus for this game also; $45/seat for you non-FBC members (cheaper because no Social is planned). Will leave campus at 3pm.

Arco and Sacramento

If you've not been to Arco Arena (many FBC members were there last year to see a Monarchs/Lynx game), it sits in the middle of a vast flat agricultural plain just off I5. Here's a Google map (also available by clicking the Arco link on our Schedule page).

There are few amenities near, although there are a couple of chain restaurants near the Del Paso/Commerce intersection. We ate at the Outback Steakhouse there and it was not bad.

Drive up or spend the weekend?

Some Bay Area fans will no doubt expect to drive to Sacramento on each separate day—especially since Stanford is organizing a bus from campus (see above). Out-of-town fans and some locals may consider spending the long weekend in Sacramento.

If you will stay the weekend, you can look for a hotel at either tripadvisor.com or at yelp.com (click 'em for a list of hotels).

That settled, you only have to figure out what to do with a Sunday and most of a Monday in Sacramento. Here's a list of links to things to do:

• Old Sacramento is a historic district with shops, eateries and museums.
• Sutter's Fort is a State historical park with lots of kid-friendly activities.
• The California State Railway Museum has dozens of beautifully-restored steam locos and cars.
• The California Auto Museum has lots of beautifully-restored old cars to admire.
• The California State Capitol Museum gives you access to the historic capitol building
• The Leland Stanford House is a restored governor's mansion once occupied by Stanford's founder.

Besides these, Sacramento has a large number of performing-arts venues: ballet, orchestra, theater and others. We aren't going to comb through and figure out what's on for that Sunday night. But you can open the Yelp Performing Arts listing and look for something that piques your interest.

PAC-10 Meetups and Events

For Your Reference

Here's the complete PAC-10 tournament bracket which includes game times.

And here's the FBC Travel Page with a long list of things to see and do in L.A.

Also, here (thanks, Eileen!) is a Chowhound thread on "Good east walking distance from USC?"

Band Send-offs

If you haven't seen one before, what happens is the LSJUMB plays loudly and the Dollies dance on the hotel porch or portico while the team is filing out to get on the bus. If the band plays well, team members are sometimes inspired to dance with the dollies. This will be happening in front of the Downtown Marriott, 333 Figueroa street before each game, assuming the team keeps winning:

• Friday at 11am (conflicts with the Cal-ASU game)
• Saturday at 12:15 (plenty of time to get to the meetup after)
• Sunday at 12:45

Saturday Meetup

If the Cardinal win on Friday (in the post-season, you can never be sure of anything) join Heather Owen and other fans for an informal meetup prior to Saturday's 2:30pm game.

Gather starting around 1pm 12:30pm in The Lab, just up the street from the Galen Center.

Sunday Brunch

Strictly uncoordinated, but if you want to see other fans and have a nice brunch, make your way to Canter's Deli between 9:30 and 10:30 am Sunday. It is located west of city center, and a convenient walk from a big cluster of museums and parks described on the Travel Page above. Here's a map...

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