This past Friday night I went downtown to watch the University of Louisville men's basketball game. This is not uncommon as I attend most games. This night was different, however, because "Light Up Louisville" had been scheduled for the same evening. There was to be an expected turnout of around 75,000 people for the event, plus 22,000 fans heading to the game. Needless to say, packing 100,000 people in the same vicinity downtown, was a traffic nightmare.
I drove around for 45 mins looking for some way to get to my regular parking spot, only to learn that a parade was going directly around where I needed to be. I eventually gave up and parked several blocks further away. Fortunately, it was a nice night and I am capable of making the trek. I am not sure who to blame for this debacle, but if the city knew of both events ahead of time (which I am not sure of how much notice they had, especially for the basketball game), making a change in the schedule would have been appropriate.
I am all for attracting people to our revitalized downtown, but this was not a well planned or well executed strategy. I realize that times for sporting events are often dictated by television and it may be the week of the game before you actually know what the game time is going to be. With that said, this was Louisville vs Ohio, a game that was not to be nationally televised. I am sure that "Light Up Louisville" had been planned some time in advance. You would think that something could have been done to prevent the craziness I experienced. Oh well, I made it, and the Cards won!
Go Cards!
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