Fast Break Club

Planning Tips for Pac-12 WBB Tournament (March 7-10, 2019)

Quick Overview:

• The Pac-12 WBB Tournament will be in Vegas for 2019 and 2020.
• The Pac-12 has a WBB Tournament Central Page (link).   You'll eventually see the filled brackets there, with details.
• The Pac-12 WBB Tournament runs from Thursday AM of March 7th through Sunday evening of March 10th.  The Top 4 in the conference standings will skip the first round (Thursday) games, so hopefully that applies to us Ducks.   
  
• The WBB Games will be in the MGM Grand's Garden Arena.
• Do you have any Additions or corrections?  You can contact stevec.fbc@gmail.com

 

Extra Oregon Events:

• (This section will be updated if there's news on Alumni/Oregon gatherings.  Keep in mind that this MGM Tourney is new to everyone, so they still have to figure out details themselves)

 

Game Tickets:

• From Oregon: The Oregon ticket office told me they have their allotment of tickets that are in the Oregon fan group area. (You can try asking the MKA ticket office before our games.  Supposedly the tickets are online, but I didn't see them. Or contact the Duck Ticket Office: 9am-5pm Mon-Fri | 800-WEB-FOOT | 541-346-4461 | tickets@uoregon.edu)
• From Pac-12. (link) (They sell 'All Session' tickets, both Reserved and G/A, as well as individual games.  A reserved, All-Session ticket runs $125, plus about $35 in fees)

 

Travel Tips:

• Fly from Eugene:
  • Direct: The only direct flight from Eugene to Vegas is via Allegiant (~2 hours flight time).  This is a quirky, budget airline (with extra fees) and they only fly the route on certain days  (Fly to Vegas Friday night and return on Monday night).   Be aware that you'd miss all the Thursday and Friday games!  
    
  • With Stops: Other options from Eugene fly through SFO/PDX/SLC/LAX and take at least 4-6h.
• Fly from Portland: PDX has more options for direct flights at a variety of prices.
• Other Options: It makes a long drive via car (~14-16h).  The Bus takes ~24h, and the Train takes ~forever.

 

Lodging (MGM, main link)

• The MGM is definitely the center of the WBB Tournament.   If there's any extra Oregon events (send-offs with The Duck, bands, cheer, etc), they'll likely be somewhere in the MGM. 
  
• The MGM itself has a very wide range of lodging and rates, though isn't an inexpensive hotel. Be aware you will pay a ~$42-per-day Resort fee (in addition to taxes) on top of the posted room rates.
• The main hotel building has 4,293 rooms, and 751 suites.  There are 'The Signature' towers -- 3 towers, each with 576 suites.   There are also other high-end options like the SKYLOFTS and The Mansion.
• Here is MGM's Property Map (link)
• We can all appreciate MGM for their brilliant color scheme --  A lovely green building with yellow lettering:

Lodging (Non-MGM)

• The MGM is close to New York, New York (somewhat cheaper), and the Tropicana (much cheaper). There are pedestrian bridges from the MGM across the traffic to those two.
• The options are endless, if you're open to longer walks, travel, or Monorail (mentioned below).  Some of you will want to stay close-by, but others may want to stay off the main strip.
• The Pac-12 Tickets page does have a link for allegedly 'Discounted Hotel Packages'. 

 

City Travel includes the Monorail:

• You can taxi/Uber/Lyft to get around, but be aware that there's a Monorail station inside the MGM very close to our Arena (monorail map link).
• The Monorail only has 7 stops, but runs often and gives an easy connection between the MGM Arena (for our WBB games) and other 6 other locations with lodging/food/events (Flamingo, Harrahs/Linq, etc).   
  
• Monorail cost ranges from $5 per-ride to $36 for a 4-day pass.

 

If you can't make it to Vegas!

• The games will be televised (Mostly on Pac-12 Networks, with the championship game on ESPN/ESPN2)

• Hopefully the Ducks earn the chance to host NCAA's postseason games and attend the Portland super-regional where more of us can attend.  We'll have some March Madness planning tips, when we know more.

Upcoming Fast Break Club Elections!

 

The Club will hold a Member Social and Meeting after the Colorado game (February 3th 2019).    The social will be back DOWNSTAIRS in the Founders Club (The room at the bottom of the stairs, like the photo below).    We will meet some of the behind-the-scenes staff.  We wont interview players, but you never know who will stop when there is Ice Cream and CupCakes!   We'll keep this gathering shorter, to celebrate our Ducks and still let folks get home for the Superbowl.

 

 

CANDIDATES:

• Vice-President -- vacant
• Secretary -- Linda Berg
• Development Director -- Carol James
• Member Recruitment Director --Hally McCabe
• Member Services Director -- Judy Long
• Socials Director -- vacant
• Members at Large:
  • Diane Gregoire
  • Sharon Isaacs
  • Shirley Rainwater
  • Janet Schwier
  • Kris Jacobson

 

AMENDMENTS TO FBC BY-LAWS:

The following amendment will be voted on at our meeting on February 3, 2019

Change to Article 7 (additional duties added to the Treasurers position)

Article 7.D to read as follows
TREASURER shall be responsible for all financial activities and shall maintain all required financial records and records of paid memberships. Treasurer shall present financial reports and copies of bank statements at each regularly scheduled Board meeting. Treasurer shall maintain all financial records and reports in accordance with Oregon Booster Association requirements. Treasurer shall, with input from the Board, prepare a Budget for the next year and present it for Board approval by the last meeting of the next fiscal year.

 

The Club will hold a Member Social and Meeting after the Colorado game (February 3th 2019).    The social will be back DOWNSTAIRS in the Founders Club (The room at the bottom of the stairs, like the photo below).    We will meet some of the behind-the-scenes staff.  We wont interview players, but you never know who will stop when there is Ice Cream and CupCakes!   We'll keep this gathering shorter, to celebrate our Ducks and still let folks get home for the Superbowl.

 

 

CANDIDATES:

• Vice-President -- vacant
• Secretary -- Linda Berg
• Development Director -- Carol James
• Member Recruitment Director --Hally McCabe
• Member Services Director -- Judy Long
• Socials Director -- vacant
• Members at Large:
  • Diane Gregoire
  • Sharon Isaacs
  • Shirley Rainwater
  • Janet Schwier
  • Kris Jacobson

 

AMENDMENTS TO FBC BY-LAWS:

The following amendment will be voted on at our meeting on February 3, 2019

Change to Article 7 (additional duties added to the Treasurers position)

Article 7.D to read as follows
TREASURER shall be responsible for all financial activities and shall maintain all required financial records and records of paid memberships. Treasurer shall present financial reports and copies of bank statements at each regularly scheduled Board meeting. Treasurer shall maintain all financial records and reports in accordance with Oregon Booster Association requirements. Treasurer shall, with input from the Board, prepare a Budget for the next year and present it for Board approval by the last meeting of the next fiscal year.

Fast Break Member Socials Announced

We will have two player socials this preseason:

• Sunday, Nov 18th, after the Buffalo game
• Sunday, Dec 2nd, after the Long Beach State game

We will have 1-2 events during the Pac-12 season, to be announced later.

These Socials will be in our new location in the *upper* west concourse after the game. You can take the stairs or elevator by the west entrance to the upper level.  This is an area with less traffic after WBB games that will fit our growing club better than our lower-level location.

 

Chalk Talk Schedule announced

The Chalk Talks begin about 50 minutes before game time, downstairs in the Founders Club. These are put on by UO WBB (not the FBC) and are open to all fans!  So bring friends, and get a good parking spot along with some extra game insights.  

During the preseason, there are Chalk Talks for the first 4 home games.  During Pac-12 play, there are Chalk Talk's before the Friday home games.

Schedule:

• Nov 10: Syracuse
• Nov 18: Buffalo
• Dec 2: Long Beach State
• Dec 18: Mississippi State
• Jan 4: Washington
• Jan 18: Arizona State
• Feb 1: Utah
• Feb 15: Oregon State
• Feb 22: UCLA

 

BINGO: Try It! You might like it

We could use a few fans willing sell BINGO -- even if just once or twice a season when we need extra help.   It never hurts to have more BINGO sellers, but there are a few games where we have the most need:

• We need extra help for the 'Big Games':  Huge crowds can use more sellers (example: Mississippi State!)
• We need extra help for Early Friday Games -- especially during Conference play:  For a 6pm Friday game, BINGO sellers need to arrive @ 4:45 to be ready for the doors opening @ 5pm.   Our regular sellers with jobs usually can't make it in time for BINGO selling.

If you have any interest, contact our BINGO Director, Carol James (carolj1428@comcast.net, or 541-746-7400).   Carol can resolve any questions and concerns you have, find a game for you to try it out, and pair you with an experienced seller to make it a positive experience.   If you like it, you can choose when you try selling again.

 

Extra info (if you wanted it):

You don't need to be an FBC member, though we are looking for *responsible* fans that will work to support the WBB program.  It is possible to sell BINGO without being a ticket holder.   (You get free general-admission entry into the game).   So, you can refer your friends!

BINGO sellers normally arrive 1h:15m before game time, so they can be ready when the doors open to the public.

You can see Carol's BINGO report from last season (here), about the funds raised.   This season, Satou Sabally is the recipient of the Teresa Smith Women's Basketball Scholarship that the FBC supports.

BINGO sellers welcome lots of happy fans to MKA and help support our Duck WBB.   Look at it as another way to do your bit to help a program you love.  Most often, you are just 'selling' to fans that have bought a ticket every game for years.  Sometimes you are answering common questions for new fans ('where is the nearest restroom?')