2003 NCAA Final Four flashback – A fan’s experience in New Orleans

This column appeared in the Arizona Daily Sun in April 2003.

For one fan, nothing matches Final Four atmosphere

By Ed Odeven

For those folks sitting in the cheap seats, and those fortunate enough to shell out the big bucks to sit where Spike Lee usually does, being at the Final Four is something they’ll never forget.

One of the lucky souls who ventured to New Orleans for this year’s season-ending extravaganza was my buddy Brad Malone. He was one of 54,000-plus hoop junkies enjoying Monday’s title clash between surprising Syracuse and Kansas, along with his dad, Ron, brother, Sean, and friend, Jeff.

Malone was sitting three rows from the top at the Superdome, watching the exploits of Syracuse’s Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, Hakim Warrick and Kueth Duany, as well as Kansas standouts Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich.

The view from the upper deck wasn’t superb, Malone said the…