New Hartford native living in Salt Lake gets rare opportunity to see the SU Orange
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (WKTV) - After winning two games as the higher seed, the Butler Bulldogs are back in much more familiar territory, facing off against the Syracuse Orange.
For former New Hartford native Dave Bauer, who currently lives in Salt Lake City, Syracuse's placement in the West Coast provided a long sought after opportunity to see his favorite team back on the court. "I was stoked, because I haven't gotten to see a Syracuse game in quite a while," Bauer said. "The chance for them to come out and see them here and I don't have to travel to see them is totally awesome. I had my fingers crossed all of selection-Sunday....waiting...hoping they didn't get put in the south regional bracket. So, I was pretty lucky that they got here." The Bulldogs are the underdogs in this match-up, facing No. 1-seed Syracuse on Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals. Butler is unbeaten in the NCAA tournament as the higher seed. But that has only happened four times and the Bulldogs are quite comfortable playing as one of the tournament's lesser-known teams. That could change if the Bulldogs can break through Syracuse's highly touted zone defense and reach the West final on Saturday. A member of the United States Air Force, Bauer has lived in several cities throughout his life, and said that while he appreciates his time back in Utica and New Hartford, Salt Lake City has a lot to offer. "I call Salt Lake City a great little town that has all the amenities of a big city," Bauer said. Though he is far from the his former northeast home these days, he says that along with obviously missing his family, he longs for the Utica-area foods he remembers all too well. "I always tell people about Utica and all its unique foods - half moons, tomato pie, chicken riggies, you miss that," Bauer said. "And every time I come home, I've got to pick up some half moons and all that good stuff that's native to Utica." Despite missing his favorite foods, Bauer said Salt Lake City offers him one remembrance of his former home that is a bit of a con "One of things I miss most about upstate New York is the four seasons," he said. "And Salt Lake City definitely has that. We've got all four and all the other places I've lived across the country never had those seasons. So that's nice out here." If the Bulldogs sweep through two games in Salt Lake City, they'll be headed back home to Indianapolis for the Final Four. However, for Bauer, the final prediction was pretty easy. "Of course," he said. "Syracuse all the way." |
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