April 6, 2014

Road to the Final Four: Thursday & Friday

Well hello from Texas! Some days have been busier than others, so I decided to combine my recaps of Thursday and Friday!

On Thursday, I woke around 9:00am feeling really good after my night out with the boys on Wednesday! Honestly, I was quite concerned with my ability to "hang with the boys" solo but I had a lot of fun on Wednesday. I was not sure what Thursday had in store, I knew that many of my fellow basketball wives were arriving Thursday evening, so I figured I should get a good workout in. I was pleasantly surprised when I was the only person in the workout room for like 3 hours! I ended up running 10 miles and then followed that up with a 10 mile bike ride as well! Coach Kemp returned from the NABC conference around 4:00pm, and we just rested up.



Coach Kemp's parents were also in town as Dr. Kemp, my father-in-law, had a medical conference to attend. We met his parents at the The Oceanaire Seafood Room. Dinner was delightful, I ate the Wild Alaskan Halibut. And even more special because of the company that we were surrounded by. My father-in-law is a huge Wisconsin fan and he was not very pleased with my outfit!



The comical thing is that it was really a coincidence that I was wearing orange and blue!

After dinner we headed back to our hotel where we waited for the ladies to arrive. Unfortunately, Stephanie and Katie's flights were majorly delayed so Coach Kemp and I headed out to meet our Toledo staff in the McKinney area of town.

Friday was a really, really fun day! Well, if you are a basketball fan, at least. I again woke up around 8:00am, and worked out. On Friday the gym was PACKED with coaches so I was very pleased with myself for running a long-distance run the day before. I did a quick 3.5 mile jog and then headed to the Hilton Anatole - team hotel for the Gators and Badgers! I went to the Hilton Anatole to meet up with Emily Ryan, wife to Will Ryan and daughter-in-law to Bo Ryan. It was nice to catch up with Emily and her boys since I haven't seen them in a number of months. Prior to heading out to the AT&T Stadium, we hung out in the Badger dining/game room. I did not get too many photos because the players and coaches/staff were also in the room; however, it was really neat. I also had a nice conversation with Kelly Ryan, I will post more about that later.



We then got on the UW Family and Administrator bus and headed to the AT&T Stadium which is actually in Arlington, TX. Wow! That stadium is humongous!




Even though I am married to a coach, I have never attended a shoot-around, so it was a first for me. I think Coach Kemp was a little bummed that he was not able to experience the fun since he is such a big Wisconsin fan. Although we have been having fun, Coach has also been attending lots of convention meetings. 

After the 50-minute shoot-around, we re-boarded the bus and headed back to the Hilton Anatole. By this time, Coach Kemp let me know that we had plans with some of our basketball friends, so I had to rush back to our hotel to get dressed!

We dined with Coach Richman, Coach Olson, and their wives at Ocean Prime! I highly recommend their Teriyaki Salmon - it was so yummy! After dinner we went to the Adidas party, and out to a few other bars/clubs in the Uptown area. 




Michelyn

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