UNI basketball game

Faithful readers may recall that last year Austin & I attended a UNI basketball game for free when he got to shoot free throws as part of a drawing from the Fareway in Waverly.  I seriously laughed out loud when I got a phone call this week asking for Austin because his name had been drawn AGAIN!  I promise I only signed each of us up once both times!  Anyway, this time he won four free tickets, so we decided to leave Lincoln home with a babysitter and take Emily along.

Emily was pretty excited and counted down the hours until it was time to leave.  She kept talking about wanting to score a goal.  We tried to explain that she wouldn't be playing and we were just going to watch other people play, but it didn't really sink in.  She was also very concerned that she didn't have a Panthers shirt and wanted us to buy her one.  When we got to the McLeod Center Emily decided that she & I would get to play because we were wearing purple.  After settling into our seats, Emily learned that we were supposed to cheer for the players wearing the white jerseys.  At that point she informed us that we needed to get her one of those white shirts with a number on it--specifically #4 because she is 4 years old.  Okay, then.

You can imagine Emily's excitement when it came time for Austin to shoot baskets during a media time-out in the second half (the game was televised).  It was structured a little differently this year.  It was just Austin shooting 10 free-throws.  He made four of them good for a $40 gift certificate to Fareway.  Hooray!  Not bad for not shooting a ball once since last year!

The game itself wasn't terribly exciting.  UNI jumped out to an early lead against Southern Illinois and ended up beating the Salukis 72-52.  Emily told us on more than one occasion that it was a long time to sit!  We brought a little bag of activities and some snacks, which she blew threw before halftime.  We didn't get there early enough to get a foam Panther paw (although we found an abandoned one in the bleachers afterward), but there were some college girls sitting behind us that thought Emily was cute and funny and let her have their pompoms, which Emily thoroughly enjoyed.  Her other favorite parts were watching the "wolf" (i.e. TC the mascot), the motion-sensor water faucets in the restrooms (we made two trips there) and the big bag of popcorn she mostly shared with Austin.  She was a trooper and made it all the way to the end.  It was very entertaining to have her along, and I'm sure she'll remember--and talk about--it for a long time to come!