From not sleeping for 24 hours straight to staying in a motel with flies and cold McDonalds, there's nothing quite like traveling for the MAC Tournament.
I feel bad for those who've never covered a Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Actually, uh, never mind. If you hear how my weekend in Cleveland went while Ohio men's basketball lost in the semifinal round, you might feel bad for me.
Firstly, I'll be transparent. I enjoy the chaos and disorganization of tournament coverage. It's messy, lightning quick and, really, a 72-hour "sportsapolooza" of madness.
"There's not a lot of down time, which is pretty cool," Charlie Hatch, Sports Editor for The Post, said. "I think the MAC Tournament is its own niche, and it definitely caters to that."
Hatch and I have covered multiple tournaments together. We spent two nights in Cleveland covering Ohio women's basketball win the MAC outright last year before spending five days in Tempe, Arizona, for the NCAA Tournament. Simply put, it's draining to cover a sports tournament independently.
Last weekend at the Quicken Loans Arena was no different.
Driving all Thursday morning, missing class, figuring out Cleveland's backstreets and finding the Steel Yard exit on I-71 a few hours before tip-off is one of the less stressful parts of tournament coverage.
Delegating cash between The Post's senior writer Tony Wolfe and staff photographer Oliver Hamlin, sleeping in a sketchy, bug-infested motel and driving from Canton all the way to Athens in the middle of the night wasn't even that stressful either.
It's the energy, tentativeness and unpredictability of the MAC Tournament that makes it so draining. It's also what makes it so damn special.
The buzzer beaters, the Bulls sweeping both men's and women's tournaments and the diversity of sources to talk to created an air of frenzy and thousands of story opportunities.
As I sit in a media workroom draped in black curtains, littered in empty cups of coffee and MAC logos, the possibilities to story tell are infinite.
I had no idea No. 3 seed Buffalo would sweep the MAC after Ohio bested the Bulls twice in the regular season.
"An exciting weekend for us," Buffalo coach Nate Oats said after his team defeated No. 1 seed Akron, 64-61, to advance to the NCAA Tournament. "Nobody was predicting this back in October, November."
It was also an exciting weekend to be a journalist.
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It's easy to become disinterested in the world during the daily grind of journalism.
But seeing the world, experiencing new heights and finding timeless stories are things that never get old.
Yes, the undercooked McDonald's may have gotten me sick. Yes, I was completely sleep deprived by Saturday morning. Yes, I filed a story at midnight in a motel room that had cold, wooden floors with white paint stains.
No, I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.
Maybe you shouldn't feel too bad for me, after all.
@Lukeoroark
Lr514812@ohio.edu
