Curtis Grad in Louisville Band Describes Experience As Men's Basketball Team Won Title

(Editor's note: Carly Kaiser, a Curtis High grad who plays the trumpet for the University of Louisville band and has blogged for us, iss sharing her experiences as both the men's and women's basketball teams are playing in their respective national championship games. Here's what she experienced during the championship games)

There are really few words to describe how I feel right now.

This whole thing almost doesn’t seem real. It is like a dream. This past week, nine people and myself traveled from Louisville to Atlanta, then Atlanta to New Orleans and back, then back to New Orleans, and then all the way back home to Louisville. This was a whirlwind going across 2,100 miles with as many ups and downs as you can imagine.

Monday April 8, 2013, is without a doubt one of the best days of my life. After returning to Atlanta around 7 a.m., there wasn’t much time for sleep. As we loaded onto the bus in uniform, it was slowly becoming more and more real what was at stake. Tensions started to rise the closer we got to our first pep rally with Cardinal fans absolutely taking over the street and the venue. The place was packed, overheated, and exhilarating. During my time at Louisville I’ve never seen our fans this electric before. We played a few songs, got everyone exited and cheering, and then we reloaded the bus to head to the Georgia Dome.

We got there about two hours early, sat around, took pictures, and got more and more excited until about 60-minutes before the game when we started to play. One of my pals pointed out how surreal the whole situation was: We were watching the last two basketball teams standing when every other team has fallen. That really put into perspective what we were watching. Like most of our games, it started out pretty slow. We always end up being down by 10 for the first half, or at least it seems like it. Even though we all know our guys can pull back up, it is still so stressful when they do that, especially in the finals! Then walks in eventual Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock as he starts to drill in three point shots, as we ride the momentum to finish the half down 38-37. And then, just like always, the Cardinals pull it through and eventually win the game with a score of 82-76.

The volume of the crowd as the clock slowly ticked down to zero absolutely exploded once we realized a win was certain. After the buzzer, fireworks boomed and streams flew onto the court and everyone was screaming. We went nuts, yelling, jumping, hugging, crying. This is real life. The most fulfilling part of it all was when the song “We Are the Champions” played, and we all jump on our chairs, wrap our arms around each other and scream-singing. That was probably the happiest moment of my life. Everyone started to get chocked up and numb, almost not believing it. I’ve said a few times about how in love with that team I am, and it is still true. After seeing the agony and heartbreak on their faces in Indianapolis after Kevin went down, to seeing the euphoria and delirium in Atlanta was truly something that I will never forget. We listened in as they gave their victory speeches, as Coach Pitino talked about what he have over. It was really a magical moment.

At the same time, it was a little sad. With Peyton Siva being a senior, and Russ Smith and Gorgui Dieng probably going to the NBA, this was the last time we’d see these guys in the Louisville uniform. Unlike the one-and-done schools, these boys have been with us for three and four years—the whole time I have been a student at UofL. Seeing them all develop as men, and players made this win so much sweeter.

Many of you guys may remember Peyton when he played high school basketball out at Franklin, too! And now he has completed his four years in D1 basketball, winning Big East Tournament MVP in 2012 and 2013 along the way. While we are sad to see them go, we are just as proud for them to move on. All three are phenomenal men, and I am excited to see how their future turns out. We have even seen Pitino change as well. While he is still very professional (and sometimes psychotic) during the game, it’s the off-court Pitino that we have seen a change in. He has learned to laugh, and to love his players more so than he has any other team (or at least it seems). Even writing this entry, thinking about how different the team will be next year is getting me a little choked up. Even though they’re not all leaving, it will be hard to fill the void that Siva, Gorgui, and Russ will leave. I love these guys, and will miss them all very much.

Once their speeches were done, we were allowed to go on the court and just soak in the entire experience. Took so many photos, got pictures with players, got to talk to reporters, all the while having huge smiles on our faces the entire time. There was a point when I sat down on the stage, looked out and thought, “this is a sight I will never see again.” Just being on the court was an privilege. In a CBS blog about Luke Hancock, Matt Norlander wrote, “[Luke] greeted some thrilled members of the Cardinals' pep band, who'd made their way to relish the fête on the court. Their faces of joy were so infectious, I have regrets over not being ready to snap a picture.”  We all love Luke, having him win MOP made it all perfect.

Post-game celebration was a little short lived, though. Besides those of us going to New Orleans, everyone had to be on the bus at 3 a.m., to head on back home that night. We returned to the hotel around 2 a.m., so there wasn’t too much time for celebration. The rest of us stayed in and were still absolutely jacked about the game. We all ended up going to bed around 4, and had to be up around 7 for the van ride to NOLA. None of us got really solid sleep on the van, and arrived around 4:30 when we had to be ready to go at 5:15. Power naps a plenty, we didn’t care about sleep it was time to watch our ladies take on UConn in the Women’s Championship Game!

Using the phrase “Party Crashers”, our ladies are the lowest seeded team to ever get into the finals. This game meant a bit more (going in) than the men’s game because this was just so unexpected. Well, unfortunately for them, they played like the lowest ever seed. UConn absolutely stomped us. There was a point in the game when we were up by 10 and were so excited, then in a blink of an eye they went on a pretty big run and just mowed us over. We still had hope, our girls took down Baylor, Tennessee and Cal along the way they can take UConn! Then they were up by 30 and it was all over. Seeing them so deflated was a little sad, and we were sad for them. Once the game was over, everyone was sad.

But then we remembered, this was the Championship Game and they are second best in the country. That is a tremendous accomplishment!  On top of that, we lost to UConn. They’re always fantastic. We’re all very proud of our Lady Cards, and with only two players graduating, they’re all coming back next year. Who knows what they can accomplish next year!

We are all back safe and sound from this whole March Madness experience. In the past month I have been to New York City, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and New Orleans while a few other members of our band also went to Hartford and Oklahoma City. This post season has truly been one for the ages. Our men dominated, and our women shocked the world. Everything still seems like a blur, and now that its almost finals week it is back to the daily grind of being a college student. But I’ll tell you what, this has definitely been the best month of my entire life.