FINAL FOUR | Party Central | April 7

When you think about a city to host the Final Four, there aren't too many better than New Orleans.

It's been fantastic spending time here, the organizers have done a phenomenal job creating a festive atmosphere for the fans. You walk down the street and the fans are going wild, rooting for their teams and wearing their school colors. I had a great time walking down Bourbon Street on Thursday night as we taped a piece for ESPN showing the excitement and enjoyment of the people.

My bosses told me to have fun going down Bourbon Street to shoot a segment for the basketball special. It wasn't just work, it was fun!

I was with my good friend Marty Mule' of the New Orleans Times-Picayune and we had a blast at a restaurant called Mother's. You shouldn't leave the Big Easy without eating there, the red beans and rice is a PTPer, baby!

While there, I ran into my former ESPN buddy Tim Brando, who was dining with a couple of friends. Also at Mother's were a number of coaches -- Bill Self of Illinois, Henry Bibby of USC and Mike McConathy of Northwestern State, who had the youngest team in the nation this season.

I also had fun with my family there, as well as my agent Sue Lipton, her assistant Elena Perez, and ESPN's Linda Cohn, Josh Krulewitz and Howie Schwab. We had a great time. We went to Pat O'Brien's on Bourbon Street and the gal playing the piano broke out into the Notre Dame fight song! She was awesome, baby, with a capital A! I was up there singing along!

We went to a couple of clubs and had a blast! We were out on the street and interviewed coaches like Ed DeChellis and Bob Huggins, as well as players like diaper dandy Carmelo Anthony, Scott Merritt and Travis Diener.

Led by our senior coordinating producer Barry Sacks, Chris Fowler, Digger Phelps and I broke down the games and talked about the 2-3 zone that Syracuse plays. Saturday was a late night after the games, and then we had an early call Sunday to do SportsCenter. Putting the clock ahead one hour was not great for a 63-year-old who needed some sleep!

We ran into the Sports Reporters crew on Sunday morning with John Saunders, Michael Wilbon, Mike Lupica and Bob Ryan.

Digger, my family and I enjoyed a great Italian dinner Sunday night at a restaurant named Massimo's. I had a great time at the Anaconda Party on Sunday night with over 1,000 in attendance. John Stote did a great job putting this event together and it was wonderful to hear words of wisdom about the great Jimmy V's legacy -- cancer research.

I also had a great time attending a signing of merchandise at Utopia on Bourbon Street. It was wild, baby! They unveiled a Dickie V alarm clock with all of my different sayings. While there, a gentleman from Palm Beach, Florida named Doug Kass made a $1000 donation to the Jimmy V Foundation. It made my heart feel warm to see so many people interested in helping the cause to beat cancer.

Meeting the people and holding court in the lobby of the Wyndham Hotel was great. I love being around the fans -- they make it so special. Taking pictures with people from all over the country is great. They help make the NCAA Tournament the greatest tournament of them all.

There is also the outstanding basketball. Carmelo Anthony put on quite a performance, the best Final Four performance by a diaper dandy that I've ever seen. He dominated Texas with 33 points and 14 rebounds.

On Monday night it's Roy Williams vs. Jim Boeheim and one walks out with the gold trophy.

As they say down here "Laissez le bon temps rouler!" Let the good times roll!

Yes, it has been a great Final Four. I have had the time of my life over the last five days, New Orleans is the best place in the world to be 63 and still act 12.

New Orleans was awesome, baby, with a capital A!