Puerto Rico Goes Nuts for NCAA Basketball

I won’t pretend to know enough about the economy in Puerto Rico to say for certain that $10 is a lot of money down there, but based on the turnout at The O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off, I’m gonna guess it is. Either that, or Puerto Ricans really, really don’t care about college basketball. Note the empty seats from the floor to the rafters in the background here as Seton Hall celebrates its upset victory over No. 20 USC:
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↵↵As Larry Brown Sports notes, the 10 bucks I speak of is all it would’ve required for a day pass yesterday, which included the Seton Hall-USC game along with three other match-ups. One of those other match-ups featured Virginia Tech, whose senior guard A.D. Vassallo is a Puerto Rico native and is blogging (sort of) throughout the tournament. His thoughts on yesterday’s game: ↵

↵↵⇥There weren’t that many people in the stands for our game, so it wasn’t easy for everyone to get energized. It was important for us to win, so we didn’t need a crowd to get pumped up.
↵↵I mean, what is everyone in Puerto Rico doing if they aren’t indoors watching hoops ... you know, aside from enjoying the island’s legalized gambling, perfect 85 degree climate and beautiful white sand, crystal-clear-water beaches?↵