SAN ANTONIO, Texas - I arrived at the men’s Final Four late Thursday afternoon, secure in my pre-tournament preparations. I watched the last 30 minutes of movie classic, “The Alamo.”

Who says size doesn’t matter?

The movie - John Wayne version - is a classic, but the actual experience of seeing the old fort was somewhat different from expectations. To be fair, I was warned that I might even walk right past it if I wasn’t paying attention. It wasn’t quite that bad, but then again I was paying attention. I had to see this place. This is my first trip to San Antonio and I think visiting the Alamo is mandatory.

It’s right downtown, sitting along a street and surrounded by a bunch of stores, including a Haagen-Dazs ice cream parlor. Davy Crockett would be pleased to know he died so that visitors here can enjoy their cinnamon dulce de leche without the threat of Gen. Santa Anna’s reinforcements sticking bayonets in their ribs.

Overall though, my first impressions of San Antonio are good. The famed Riverwalk downtown is excellent (listening, Mayor Pam?). The San Antonio River is misnamed though; it looks more like a little brook meandering through town, but that didn’t stop folks here from taking full advantage of it. In Tampa, we have an actual river. Imagine what we could do.

Oh, basketball. Yeah, that.

The teams are arriving and practice starts Friday. I like North Carolina to beat Kansas; Memphis to knock off UCLA; and North Carolina to win the national title. Don’t put much stock in that, though. My original brackets did indeed have N.C. in the final - opposite Pitt. What can I say?