Greetings from the chilly St. Pete Times Forum in downtown Tampa. Everything inside this building is blue, it seems.
Siena is scheduled for interviews at 5:15 p.m., followed by a 40-minute practice.
Siena fans are all over the place. I shared a few drinks with some of them at the hotel last night, including 91-year-old Gino Turchi, who built Northway Heights Golf Course, later to become Eagle Crest. I accused him of having once kicked a golf ball left under a bush by my friend and colleague, Bob Weiner, out into the fairway.
Gino did not deny it.
Today around noon, I shared a cab to the arena with four Siena fans, Gerald Sherry and David Driggs of Colonie, Craig Coutant of Guilderland and Marilynn Coutant of Schenectady. They're typical of Siena fans I've encountered: willing to go anywhere in the country to watch their Saints, and unfailingly friendly.
Oh, and they firmly believe Siena will beat Vanderbilt on Friday.