I was in Phoenix for the Women's Final Four, and I'll tell you this: no broadcast comes close. When you're inside that arena, what hits you first isn't the basketball. It's the people. Fans, families, friends, living and dying on every possession for their team. And because this is college, because some of these women will never play at this level again, this means everything. They are playing for each other. And somehow, 16,000 strangers feel that too.
Then the bracket crumbled in the most spectacular way. Everyone assumed it was going to be a UConn-Texas final, but South Carolina and UCLA had other plans. And when those two teams took the floor for the final, the energy in that building was unlike anything I've ever felt.
And then we had a new champion in UCLA, 79-51. MVP Lauren Betts cut down the nets. (Actually, 2 champions because I picked UCLA in the pool and can lord it over everyone for the next year. That's just the rules.)
Oh, and one more thing about being live and in-person: there are no replays, no announcers in your ear. You are locked in and present, which is mostly a gift, except when you miss the Geno-Dawn handshake and your phone explodes and you have absolutely no idea what happened. That's the deal you make. And I'd make it every time. The energy, the mayhem, the fandom of the Women's Final Four is, for me, unmatched.
But Phoenix wasn't the only place Storied Sports showed up. I'll hand it over to Laura, who found herself at Madison Square Garden for a night that proved women's sports aren't just arriving. They're taking over.
