April 2, 2004 | ESPN.com's NCAA Tournament coverage
Final Four V-Previews: Connecticut-Duke | Georgia Tech-Oklahoma State

POSTCARD from SAN ANTONIO — Wow, what a great time I'm having down at the Final Four! A busy schedule, but it's a lot of fun.

After our SportsCenter tapings on Thursday, my family and I were able to go on a boat cruise down the Riverwalk, and we had a great time with fans. It was enjoyable seeing the sights of San Antonio.

I also saw and spoke with a number of coaches.

Then it was off to a trophy shop. Every year I hand out my Dickie V awards to several ESPN staff members who work so hard behind the scenes. When I present them at dinner Monday night, I think some people will be pleasantly surprised.

Next, we had dinner at Paesano's, a nice Italian Restaurant where we had great service and a great meal. Then, off to the Riverwalk. Boy, the fans were out in full force -- as well as coaches and others.

I ran into NCAA executive director Myles Brand and we spoke for a few minutes. I also saw and spoke with a number of coaches: Purdue's Gene Keady, Alabama's Mark Gottfried, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Iowa's Steve Alford, Washington's Lorenzo Romar and West Virginia's John Beilein. It was great talking college basketball with these coaches who have such great minds -- very interesting conversations.

On Friday morning, I had breakfast with Richard Oliver of the San Antonio Express-News, and we had a good conversation about college basketball and the Final Four. Later Friday, it was more SportsCenter and related activities.

This will be a great Final Four, baby! I'm really looking forward to Saturday's national semifinal games.

Dick Vitale coached the Detroit Pistons and the University of Detroit in the 1970s before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in 1979 (he's been an ESPN analyst ever since). Send a question for Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.