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The Road Ends Here, If You Can Get Through The Traffic Jam

Underneath the city of San Antonio, Texas, right next to The Alamo is the Riverwalk, the bastion of faux-Mexican restaurants and shopping that is serving as the thrumming hub of this year's Final Four. The restaurants are jammed, the waiting time is legendary, cabs are impossible, and walking is an exercise in frustration, unless perhaps you are Derrick Rose and you can prance magically along the water.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived Saturday afternoon was the overwhelming number of Kansas Jayhawk fans. Maybe that's because dark blue stands out so much better than the wussy Carolina blue. Or maybe it's the Midwestern boisterousness juxtaposed against the Southern gentility or Tobacco Road.

The other thing you notice is that everyone is happy and hopeful. The chanting never stops . . . U-C-LLLLLLLLLLL-A. UCLA Fight Fight Fight. Something about Rock Chalk Jayhawk (more on that in another post, as that deserves a discussion of its own). And then there's the familiar "Go [insert team name]" that North Carolina and Memphis use.

Sitting next to us at Boudro's Mexican Bistro was a couple, one in a Carolina shirt, the other donning one from Kansas. When asked whether they'd still be talking to each other after the game, the husband replied "as long as the Tar Heels win." I'd love to read their pre-nups.

San Antonio is easily the best city for a Final Four. Years ago, we went to New Orleans, where pretty much anything already goes; but mix in several thousand co-eds and Bourbon Street turns into Mardi Gras-meets-Spring Break. You've never seen regurgitation until you've been to a Final Four in New Orleans; and trust me, it's something you never want to see.

Don't worry, San Antonio has its debauchery. A few years ago, we were in a Riverwalk bar called Rita's when an Oklahoma State co-ed decided to climb up on stage and show us her, um, brains. She was dragged out by police. And this past Saturday night, Coyote Ugly was thumping ... or, uh, so someone told me.

The weather has been outstanding, especially when you've got the first Tee Time at the Westin La Cantera's Palmer Golf Course. Just ask legendary basketball player Bill Russell, whom we saw on our bus ride out to the clubhouse.

Every city to host the Final Four has been as overwhelmed as San Antonio is, so the NCAA made a brilliant move for next year's event ... a move that is sure to thin out the crowd: It's in Detroit in 2009.

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