Bloglander

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As far as I'm concerned, the first two days of the NCAA tournament are a national holiday. And we at the Inlander will be treating it as such, especially considering there are second and third round (ol' timers like me still call these "first and second round") games being played right here in Spokane.

We will be on press row for all the games tomorrow and Saturday and will be giving you coverage of all the happenings on the court and in the stands, where we'll talk to fans who've traveled from far and wide to see some hoops in the Lilac City.

And pick up this week's issue of the paper, which happens to be our Best Of the Inland Northwest issue, for previews on all the games happening at the Arena.

Today at the Spokane Arena, it was clear how big this event is for the city as media from all over the place had assembled to get a look at the eight teams practice. We caught some of the Delaware Blue Hens practice as they warmed up for their date with Michigan State tomorrow afternoon.

If you want to get a look at the teams, practices are open to the public and are totally free. The last practice features New Mexico State and starts at 6:40 pm. Head down there.

If you like what you see, there are still a few tickets available.