Thursday marked the official return of the Final Four to Houston as teams got in their first practices and media members got their first peek inside the bowels of NRG Stadium. It was a day of settling in both for players and for everyone involved in making this massive event happen.
It was pretty clear from the dozens of semi trucks outside and the many times media badges had to be scanned that this is a huge undertaking. There wasn’t a ton of news, but there were quite a few things of note before fans get let into the stadium and Fan Fest on Friday.
NRG is gigantic.
This is not new. We know this. But, until you start wandering around underneath the seats, you don’t realize just how big it is. Just taking a quick look inside the main arena area — off limits on Thursday because of practices and setup — made the basketball court look like a postage stamp on the floor of your living room. Getting used to watching basketball in that setting is weird for fans. Imagine what it is like to play inside that.
Speaking of, the players said their biggest concerns were the backdrop.
Literally, what is behind the basket can change the perspective of any shooter. Of the players who were queried about the set up, most said the floor felt good, it was just taking a little work getting used to the basket with that giant empty backdrop. For many of them, this will be their first experience playing in a stadium and it can be disorienting.
Having said that, even FAU and SDSU didn’t seem fazed by anything.
You might imagine these smaller schools would be intimidated by the spectacle of it all. You’d be wrong. Even the mere mention of “Cindarella” made players bristle. Rightfully so. They have earned the right to be here and have faced some incredible competition along the way. To a man, they all believe that this is just another game even if it is not just something special for them individually, but for their schools.
Did they paint the walls?
The NCAA has completely taken over NRG to be sure, but it took us aback a bit when we noticed the walls in the area below the stands were actually painted. It wasn’t some overlay or a false wall. The concrete bricks were painted in great detail. We feel for the people who have to repaint everything, but the NCCA obviously doesn’t mess around. When they rent your place, you better be ready for renovations.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
