The Final Four is an experience everyone should be a part of at least one time in their life. I am lucky enough to have been to three straight Final Fours.

This year the Final Four was in Phoenix, Arizona. As soon as people get off the plane in Phoenix, it is shoved in their face that this is the place where they want to be. Posters and signs are everywhere about the Final Four.

The whole city transforms in to a big party town centered on the four teams. Everywhere I looked all I could see was Gonzaga, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Oregon clothing. The fans flooded the streets of Phoenix showing their school pride in monster numbers.

Phoenix was no longer Phoenix. It was just simply the place where the Final Four is played.

Even the street names where the teams were staying were changed, to names like, “South Carolina Road” or “Oregon Road.”

Inside the hotels were posters and decorations to accommodate the team and fans staying there.

The sponsorships in Phoenix were also something I have never seen before. Inside the “Fan fest,” an event for fans in the convention center, everything was basically for free. They would just hand my brother and me stuff.

Even walking the streets of Phoenix, people would hand you free things paid by the sponsors of the Final Four.

Walking the streets you could also see a celebrity there for the games. I saw notable names like Mike Brey, head coach of Notre Dame, and Michael Phelps.

The event has grown in to one of the biggest events in sports, drawing huge numbers of all types of people and top celebrities. The biggest cities are transformed in to the center of sports and everything in the city is put on hold for the Final Four.

The Final Four does not seem to be a college basketball event. Instead, it is more of a cultural experience that everyone, no matter if you are a basketball fan or not, should experience.