It will be three years ago on March 30th that I lost my friend Mike Pritchett. Mike was pretty much a brother to me and also was a race fan.

I documented how we found out we had a common interest in a column I wrote back in October. (http://www.kevinramsell.com/node/30).

The other day, I was going through some papers in my apartment when I stumbled across the photo you see on the front page to the right of this story. It was taken on March 21, 2002 inside the Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY.

This was a few days before Mike got married to Christina, we traveled to Lexington to watch Mike’s favorite team, Indiana Hoosiers, take on the Duke Blue Devils. The thought process was that we would go down, watch Indiana lose, have fun and get ready for the wedding in Bloomington, IN on Saturday.

Well, if you are a basketball fan, you will realize that Indiana beat Duke that night in an upset. They would go on to beat Kent State and get into the Final Four, only to lose to Maryland in the Championship game.

This caused somewhat of a dilemma because when you purchase tickets for a Regional you get tickets for all of the games.

So, here is what happened. Friday, we traveled to Bloomington. Since I was his Best Man, we had to do the wedding rehearsal and the dinner on March 22nd.

The wedding took place on Saturday, March 23rd in this small chapel on the campus of Indiana University (guess whose idea that was).

We then hustled over to his grandparent’s church for a quick reception. While Mike and Christina went to enjoy their honeymoon in Nashville, IN (yes there really is…Google it), I was on the way to Lexington with Mike’s parents and his little brother, CJ to watch Indiana advance to the Final Four.

They say a photo is worth a thousand words, I compacted this one down to 311 only because the remaining 689 are great memories that I will cherish for myself for the rest of my life and will never forget.

Mike, I still miss you and still think that what we did in March, 2002 happened yesterday. I still feel that you keep a watchful eye over me and your family and friends. I still feel that you are watching all of the same races that I watch and will be watching this season. With the countless trips I make from Stoughton to Rockford and now the countless trips with the ASA Midwest Tour and Big 8 Series, I am glad to know that you still have my back.

Thanks again for the great memories…and I will see you down the road when God says its time for us to see each other again.