It’s time to bid farewell to Cleveland, which was most definitely a worthy Final Four city. Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was actually a city unto itself (they had to put stickers on the floor reading, “Media Path,” for us to be able to find our way to the media workroom.)

I had some time on Friday before the UConn-Iowa game to go visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. As a frequent visitor to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, I was ready to be judgmental of the Rock Hall. So, do I lose my credibility as a baseball diehard if I say this one is better? Oh, boy. Just that music is part of the fabric of every facet of life. Who doesn’t have a song stuck in their head at least once a day? There’s SO MUCH there ... I started reading everything and realized if I kept that pace, I was going to miss the game. It was truly exceptional.

Also, before we left Cleveland, Lori Riley from The Hartford Courant and I (celebrating the fact we were no longer stranded in Washington, D.C.) visited the neighborhood of Littly Italy. I had chicken Parmesan at a place called Maxi’s Bistro. The whole street is a parade of restaurants, ornamented in Italy’s red, white and green, and there was Sinatra singing, “That’s Life” over a loudspeaker as an added touch. A worthy ending after a long week of travel.

The press conferences following the game Friday night didn’t end until 1:30 a.m. (that’s why you didn’t see the story in Saturday’s paper). It was hard to see Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards in tears following a loss in their final game, but Nika made me smile as always when she said, “I’m pissed right now.” She guarded the nation’s all-time leading scorer in Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in front of a TV audience of 17 million and did so valiantly, leaving with the legacy of a bulldog. “I'm glad Nika got to show on this platform, on this stage, what she’s been for us her entire four years at UConn,” Huskies’ All-American Paige Bueckers said.

Thanks, as always, for following along with the season. It’s been a joy to bring it to you.

Until next time,

Vickie