Wayne Norman broadcast the UConn/Michigan State game from the N.C.A.A. Final Four at Ford Field in Detroit in April, 2009.
Wayne watching Friday’s UConn shootaround
Your broadcast team: Joe D’Ambrosio, Wayne Norman, and producer Eric Davis
Note the odd vantage point–our seats were actually BELOW the level of the court
Ford Field shows the distance each competing school traveled on the road to Detroit. UConn came the farthest.
There were 72,000 basketball fans in here Saturday night
Joe D’Ambrosio. Note the sign high above Joe’s left shoulder saying Michigan State traveled 92 miles to Detroit.
A view from Ford Field’s concourse–its a long way down. The UConn football team won the 2004 Motor City Bowl in this facility.
The view from Wayne’s hotel room–looking south on Detroit River toward the northwest corner of Lake Erie. Windsor, Ontario is on the left.
Our courtside view before the game. The white on some of the seats is Final Four seat cushions.
The National Anthem before the game. Military personnel unfurled a gigantic American Flag which was nearly as big as the court while the UConn Pep Band played the Anthem. The Temptations sing the Anthem before the title game.
Final Four signs are everywhere in Detroit. In the media hotel they hung banners for each NCAA champ. UConn’s 1999 and 2004 navy blue banner is over Wayne’s left shoulder.
Another angle on the UConn banner
“Hitsville U.S.A.” is the Motown Museum about 4 miles from downtown. A fantastic trip down memory lane.
Few cities can claim the music legacy of Detroit
Pictured in the window is Motown’s roster of legendary names. The tour includes stories, videos, memorabilia and culminates with a visit to the legendary studio.
Outside Wayne’s hotel, the Detroit River looking north on Detroit’s Riverwalk
Looking south on the Riverwalk to a steamship restaurant and the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario, Canada
And from St. Louis where the UConn women’s basketball team plays for the national championship, comes this photo of the new Busch Stadium, taken Sunday from the UConn team hotel.
