Time flies too quickly. It seems to me like we just barely finished the Milk Bowl Football Championships... and wouldn't you know it, state basketball is right around the corner! This is one of those events that you live for as a sports enthusiast. For me, it's one that I've been attending my whole life, albeit in two different countries.
Growing up in Southern Alberta, you would think that the area would be known as hockey central (c'mon, it's Canada, right?). But believe it or not, it's a hotbed of high school basketball. Packed gymnasium's every night and plenty of tension in every game, much like here in Idaho. But the best time of the year was always the tournament.
We called it the Zone tournament, which is the same thing as the district tournament here. We would pile into our vehicle and go watch a full days worth of high school hoops at the 5,000 seat Sportsplex (a hockey arena) in nearby Lethbridge, a 30-minute drive from my home. We would do this every year on each day of the zone tournament (which normally lasted Wednesday through Saturday, but featured more than one size classification, from 1A all the way to 4A). These were some of the best memories of my young life: sitting in the packed hockey arena watching high school basketball with my dad and friends. It just couldn't get better than that.
But somehow, it did get better. Playing in that zone tournament was unreal. I didn't get the full experience of the event until I participated in it... and goodness it was exhilarating. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything, even though we came out on the losing end my senior year and failed to qualify for the provincial (state) tournament, which was being held at the same venue.
Since that time, I left Alberta and came to Idaho. Somehow, I was fortunate enough to connect with Ted Austin, the owner of a local radio station in Rexburg, who was looking for a play-by-play man for high school basketball games in the Upper Valley. I was hired for that position and was partnered up with Josh Curtis, a former player at Hillcrest High School in Idaho Falls.
We went through the regular season seeing some big crowds and great plays from the teams in action. When it came to the district tournament, covering 3A and 4A ball in the Upper Valley was a blast! Lots of passionate fans and memorable moments. I wondered if it could get any better than that... That's when Josh turned to me and said, "Wait until we get to Boise". I expected a few more hundred fans for the State tournament than the District tournament, thinking that for whatever reason, the fans would stay for their own team and then leave afterwards.
Boy, was I wrong!
My very first Real Dairy Shootout experience was the 2011 4A Boys Real Dairy Shootout at Borah High School. We were assigned to cover Rigby and Madison throughout the tournament. As we were setting up our equipment for our first broadcast, the fans started piling in.... literally PILING IN. And not just fans for the first game of the day, which was Rigby vs. Minico, but fans from all EIGHT TEAMS in the tournament (even though technically, at each site, fans aren't supposed to show up until their teams' session, whether it be afternoon or evening). They must have felt much like I did as a kid when we would spend all day watching games. These fans just LOVED high school basketball.
After our first broadcast, we got ready for our next game which was Madison vs. Bishop Kelly. If the gym wasn't packed enough beforehand, it was easily overflowing for that game. It was like the city of Rexburg decided to evacuate all of their citizens into the Borah gym for that one weekend. While I may have had elbows in my ribs for most of the game and might possibly have had to stand up more than once just to see the action, it was an atmosphere that rivals any atmosphere in Idaho high school sports. Not to mention that the game went into overtime to make it even more intense.
These scenes have not left my mind since the day they happened. The very next night, we were able to witness an unbelievable semi-final game between Skyview and Minico. The contest was easily a State tournament classic. We had to wait until that game was over to get set up for our game, because there was literally no room ANYWHERE: bleachers, stairs, walkways... you name it, there was probably someone standing there. I actually had to sit on the floor right next to the scorer's table just to even have a chance at seeing. It was an awesome experience nonetheless.
Super Saturday arrived with a chance to be in the Idaho Center all day long. Not only was that place huge, but it was PACKED with people seemingly from start to finish. If I remember correctly, all of the games played there that day with the exception of one either went into overtime, came down to the last shot, or both. It truly was a sports fans' paradise that day. Broadcasting the 4A State Championship game after that was just the cherry on top of it all (if you need evidence of that, watch the IdahoSports.com GameStreams broadcast. The game happened March 5, 2011 between Madison and Skyview).
The Real Dairy Shootout happily exceeded my initial expectations. But not only that, I was hooked on Idaho high school sports. And all of that free chocolate milk from the United Dairymen of Idaho too. When I was told you could get free milk from them at the gate, I honestly thought that someone had stolen a milk crate and was trying to secretly sell it to me without telling me how much it was. I didn't believe the guy who was handing me the milk bottle until I saw a flurry of other spectators rushing to one of the other milk stations where a fresh batch of milk had just arrived. As we walked away, I told Josh that the free milk giveaway was probably the greatest fan promotion I had ever heard of at the high school level, possibly at any level.
The next year, after Ted Austin sold his radio station, I was approached by IdahoSports.com executive producer Lorin Jensen about the possibility of broadcasting high school football with him for Idaho Falls and Skyline. You already know what my answer was to that. Shortly after we started calling those games, I asked IdahoSports.com owner/team member Paul Kingsbury about the possibility of broadcasting the Real Dairy Shootout. Fortunately, he wanted me there anyways, and before you know it, I was back in Boise soaking in all the high school basketball I could handle.
For many Eastern Idahoans (I guess I can call myself one now), coming to the Real Dairy Shootout is like a vacation. Many fans expect their teams to be in the tournament and plan their vacation time as such. Even if their team doesn't make it, a lot of them still make the trip to Boise to watch high school sports. That's just the nature of a fan.
In a sense for me, I'm classified as a fan. I love watching good quality high school basketball at the biggest stage. That's what makes it so much fun for me to broadcast the games: I get to have fun while doing it. I don't even mind getting up ridiculously early in the morning on the Thursday of the tournament to make the trek to Boise... because it's all worth it to me. I'm sure many of you feel the same way about going to the tournament.
Much thanks goes to the IHSAA and the United Dairymen of Idaho for all they do for high school sports in Idaho and for staging wonderful tournaments for these high school kids to compete in. Thanks also goes to Paul Kingsbury for allowing me to be a part of the tournament in a way that allows other people around the world to see what we get to experience every year in Boise.
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