It Was A Great Run
The Georgia Dome may have been laid to rest Monday but left behind a great number of memories in it's 25 years. Olympics, Super Bowls and NCAA Championships were among many of the events The Dome hosted during the venue's lifetime. My experience with the Georgia Dome included a number of UK basketball games in the SEC Tournament and the WIldcats title run in 2012 when the South regional was held in Atlanta.
Catlanta
It was 2002 when I attended my first SEC tournament game. My friend Darrin and I found some 200 level tickets prior to the game and I can still remember being impressed at all of the UK blue inside the Dome. The Cats would fall in that opening game, but the experience in the Dome and around "Catlanta" changed how I used my vacation time ever since. The cast that joined me for those trips would change over the years, but the Georgia Dome and the complex around it remained the centerpiece of those trips. There was nothing better than a ton of UK fans standing out in front of the CNN Center in the warm Atlanta sun(warmer than back home in March) with a big cold draft beer. I do enjoy Nashville, but for ticket purposes, you could find good seats at affordable pricing in Atlanta.
Title Team
The SEC tournament is always fun and relaxed, knowing that if they lose there is still the NCAA Tournament. In 2012, however, the stakes were high when Kentucky had a revenge game against Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen. I had just witnessed the Cats lose the SEC final in New Orleans, so I was a little tense about attending the games in Atlanta. The Wildcats would go on to put two great games together in the Georgia Dome to move on to the Final Four.
The Tornado Trip
The 2008 trip to Atlanta was probably my most memorable SEC Tournament. I'm not sure if it was the best trip, but it was definitely memorable. We stayed in the team hotel at the Hyatt downtown that year and things started off great when Mr Keightly greeted us as we were checking in. We were fortunate enough to share some time(and a drink) with him later. Mr. Keightly was so nice to entire group and never made us feel like we were bothering him, which we likely were. The trip could have ended there and I would have been satisfied with those memories.
Kentucky had the late game on Friday so our group of six or so decided to hit the UK pep rally over at the convention center. Like most SEC Tournaments, Wildcat fans start in the bars around noon that day and go until they can't go anymore. We were no different, but thought the pep rally might be a nice change of pace from the bars. As it turns out, those pep rallys are just another place to drink, but with a slightly higher concentration of UK fans. The party moved back to the Hyatt and as the evening games grew closer it was time to make our way towards the Dome. Our elevator from our room stopped to pick up Derrick Jasper and,unfortunately for him, it was pretty apparent at that point that we had been going strong since noon.
We stopped for a few drinks at Jock's N Jills, which I believe is now Dantana's. The game prior to UK's game was coming to an end when a 3 pointer sent in into overtime. That bought us time for another round of drinks. Just as we were being handed our drinks the bartender yelled… RUN!! For the next few moments, it was chaos. We ran from a glass enclosed section of the sports bar to get inside the main restaurant area of Jocks and Jills. Ceiling tiles were flying everywhere but a few moments later the roar from outside could not be heard and everyone kind of looked at each other wondering what just happened. Not knowing the status of the game, we proceeded outside and immediately understood how fortunate we were.
I'm certain the new Mercedes Benz Dome is an improvement in every category, but for me the Georgia Dome represents an era of Kentucky Basketball trips that gave me, my family, and my friends memories to last forever. Thanks for reading and..Go Cats!
