As we come to face the final curtain of our 40-year run as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, it behooves that the senior writer opines on the greatest moments he or she has experienced during that time.

None of the next 1,533 words has anything to do with any game.

Can he do that, you ask? To quote Beyonce (and it's quite a feat transitioning from Frank Sinatra to Queen B), "You must not know 'bout me."

Oh, don't worry, that diatribe is readily available and I do hope you enjoy joining some of my friends and I for that memory lane excursion. I just have another case …  of which I'm certain.

It goes by to my mission days in 1988 where I had a working partner named Keith Lauritzen from Plano, Tex. Today, we consider each other good friends. Back then, we each had a copy of "How to get away with killing your roommate." One thing we did share was a love of volleyball, and we readily accepted an invitation to see the Chardon (Ohio) HS team play.

Midway through the second set, we agreed something was missing. I, of course, delivered the wisdom.

"You know, this same game could be anywhere in America right now. You're missing whatever made games in Plano unique, me Daytona Beach." We actually settled on this, enjoyed the rest of the match and then returned to plotting to kill each other that night. Kidding, not kidding.

Same with all the years in the MEAC. It wasn't the games. It was the people at the games. The unique places, cities, foods, etc., and the amazing fact that in 40 years with my affiliations, I never stepped foot in the conference office.

City-by-city, let's see how this goes:

NORFOLK, VA.  (Conference Headquarters, Basketball and Tennis Tourneys +NSU)

• Dan Ryan Suits. An upscale men's clothing store over in Norfolk Beach. Never went there either. Maybe one day...
• The MacArthur Mall. When you saw another team there at the same time, that was the real official start of any tournament.
• Hell's Kitchen. My "fav" restaurant in the entire league. Little hole in the wall on Granby Ave. catering to hipsters and the other restaurant employees, but had a killer steak, shrimp pasta and wings. Throw in a house band that played a mean cover of "September" and T-Pain's "Buy U A Drank" and you'll understand why I spent a lot of time there.
• Courtyard by Marriott. This became a home away from home for us with our regular conference trips and the tournament. The sales director, Barb, made us feel at home with details such as maroon and gold balloons and streamers in our dining room and remembering I like Pepsi with my breakfast and made sure there was always one every morning. Thanks, Barb.
• The Norfolk Navy Yard. One year, Radio Mike Johnson and I took  a tour of the aircraft carrier USS Truman. It was a remarkable experience. That night at the game we saw two sailors and were telling them about our day. One of them broke out his BlackBerry and started typing. He says "My academy classmate is the captain of the Truman." So, what are you the captain of? I ask? "The George W. Bush" he replied. That man was the Jordan of the Navy! So, we talked and I said "Sir, I had this idea… why don't you let us come out and serve in the public affairs office for one day and you can have a couple of your public affairs office people do some writing and take some photos for us?" He loves the idea and told me to run it up the flagpole. Bottom line – we worked with five carrier offices over the next five years and it was a blast. The best story was when we had the USS Eisenhower people and they marveled how fast we were able to get up a box score on the website … and they serve on a ship that can hit 30 miles an hour, has enough firepower to take out a continent and has TWO Starbucks.
• Greeting the MEAC's Jeff Cunningham during tennis with a salutation not suitable for this publication.
• Leaving the MEAC tournament with at least three new ties and a shirt. Scope vendors rocked.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (HU)

The nation's capital! So many sights, sounds and people!

• Mary McLeod Bethune's room in the Smithsonian African-American Museum. You go in that room wearing B-CU gear and take a picture of the women's basketball team at the meeting table? Goosebumps.
• The second best chicken wings in America can be found in the cafeteria of the National Gallery of Art! Culture! Then you have all the food trucks, Ben's Chili, et al. Also, when Radio Mike took me to the Palm Steakhouse because it was the favorite restaurants of the Kennedy family, the $37 steaks were mind blowing, but when the waiter said that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in our booth earlier……
• All the places to go on a Friday night, even a Wizards game, and instead going to Georgetown for a women's basketball game with former Lady Wildcat assistant James Howard coaching the Hoyas.
• The National Archives doesn't command the "wow" factor of the Smithsonian, but it immediately generates "wow, I'm glad we did that" afterwards. The Rotunda's construction, two impressive murals plus the low lighting needed to preserve the documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights) does create a sense of reverence for 200-year old writings that are, in fact, the actual documents that forged this great country of ours. There's more. Another exhibit two rooms over had an item of particular interest. It was the deck log of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet the day Apollo 11 splashed down after returning from the moon. Any other day, it's a normal and needed record. This day, the entries included "Rescue divers recover spacecraft" and "CIC [Commander In Chief, this one being Richard Nixon] disembarks via helicopter." And that's why I keep all my box scores.

BALTIMORE (CSU,MSU)
                It is the Charm City and when you have two games – on Saturday and Monday --minivacay! The weather also cooperated and that meant a relaxing Sunday at the Inner Harbor.
                Restaurant favorite?  Go and find your own. The choices are that amazing, and the sense of discovery adds to it. Some of them will send transportation. You can find a crab cake, I believe in you. Radio Mike found the best place in a prohibition era dive called the Owl in some old hotel. See what I mean?
                Best way to kill an afternoon? Camden Yards. In the winter, the Orioles keep a left field gate open that has a statue garden and the chance for a photo op. If you're lucky, there's that one restaurant that has the best chicken dinner outside of Popeye's.
 
DURHAM, N.C. (NCCU)
                My favorite baseball movie is Bull Durham, so having that locale a block from the hotel always is cool and justifies why I leave tickets for Annie Savoy, Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh and Crash Davis when we played NCCU. And if you want chicken and waffles, Dame's downtown is the primary reason for any MEAC departure regret.
 
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (SCSU)
                At the Orangeburg interstate exit, there is a Ruby Tuesday, a Cracker Barrel, a Zaxby's and the hotels have three ESPN channels. These conditions can sustain life during basketball season for 24-36 hours. During football season, SCSU had the MEAC's best game day atmosphere outside of us. And eating Popeye's in the Bill Hamilton Press Box with your friend Bill Hamilton….

GREENSBORO, N.C. (N.C. A&T, Track)
                There's a booth in a Golden Corral near the interstate once occupied by the late, great, Dale Earnhardt. It has shrine status among the regulars…and me. Workwise, I'll miss the Track and Field championships. Two days of relatively relaxing working and hanging with the other SIDS than a Saturday that's as good as any Classic football game day.

DOVER, DEL. (DSU)
                Dover is Dover, but it's cool when you get to stay at Dover Downs Casino overlooking a NASCAR track. And there's a decent chance you can break even on the slots.

SALISBURY, MD. (MD-ES)
                Since all but one of our trips to the shore were Monday games, here's the deal: It's cold as heck in January, but you were going to spend most of Sunday watching NFL playoff football anyway, and there was an Outback next door. Not that bad.

                There is one amazingly cool thing for the Bruce Springsteen fans. The late Clarence Clemons, the greatest saxophone player in the history of mankind and the heart and soul of the E Street Band, played football when the place was known as Maryland State. His picture is on the wall outside the arena. For me, it might as well be a shrine. It was.

And for the main photo op, all that we spent riding buses paid off with this one scene -- crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at sunset. What better way to way to end this opine with a sunset photo to bid the MEAC adieu?

We'll see each other again once in a while. After all, God created non-conference games for more than one purpose, right? And when that happens, you can bet your last money, it's gonna be a stone gas honey! As always in parting, wishing the MEAC love, peace and sooooooul!!

[If you didn't expect me NOT to go out like that. You must not know 'bout me….]