Ben McKeown

It’s been a week. And I haven’t said anything about San Antonio. My sincere apologies.

A short recap to preface a much longer explanation sometime in the future:

Being at the Alamodome for the Final Four was simply incredible. As I imagined, the experience was humbling and simply surreal. The sheer magnitude of this accomplishment for me still hasn’t totally settled in. I’m going to need a few moments to reflect on the entire experience in order to understand it’s true importance.

My work for WRAL:
Practice Day
UNC vs Kansas

I spent Sunday walking around San Antonio taking pictures. I went to the Alamo (cliché, I know, but my family would disown me if I told them I went to San Antonio and didn’t visit the Alamo) and just walked for miles. I tried my best to hit spots that weren’t totally touristy, but with my limited transportation, it was a bit difficult. After a while, I began to marvel at the irony of the fact that a place like the Alamo - historic, important, a symbol of a struggle for liberty and justice - sits directly across the street from a wax museum and Ripley’s Believe it or Not! - certainly not a beacon of freedom. I began to think about the fact that despite its absurdity, there is something about this juxtaposition that is quintessentially American. We are free, if even to build ridiculous and terribly absurd tourist traps intended exploit the disfigured for a profit. This is one of the things that makes us unique.

The rest of the trip… the rest of the trip…

There were certain events that occurred on this trip that made it one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. Namely, I dealt with some folks that were less that professional, though I feel that it would be inappropriate to discuss this in detail publicly before it’s all finished. Suffice it to say that it seems that in any industry, there are always those who will seem truly insane, who will push you to your professional limits, who will engage in the ludicrous, the fatuous, the inane. I’m still reeling.

At any rate, the experience as a whole was important for me on a variety of levels. I’ll remember things - good and bad, professional and personal - about this trip for a long time.

A few things you might see me ramble about soon:
1. My moving, existential moment at the end of the UNC game
2. More details on the frustrations in San Antonio
3. More musings about the uniqueness and absurdity of America, for better or worse

For now, I’m sitting at Panera Bread in Greenville, North Carolina. I’m going to act in a movie being made by my lifelong friend and surrogate brother, Marshall, called “Neighborhood Watch”. It should be a fun and much needed vacation.

Peace.