The score of an exhibition basketball game is irrelevant in pretty much any circumstance,

but on Friday night at Wayne State, I'd be surprised if anyone remembered the final.

It was as irrelevant as can be.

By the way, it was 87-54 Michigan.

But for both sides, this was important for other reasons.

For Wayne State fans, this was about a start of a new era.

The opening of this new field house in Detroit was the beginning of something special and something the basketball program could have as its own home. Division 2, of course, much different than Division 1, especially a high-level Division 1 program like Michigan. At Wayne State, the basketball program played in the Mathi, which was a building

created for gymnastics, not basketball, and they played there since back in the 60s.

Now they have a home that sure feels big time. It's a 3,000-seat facility with great

sight lines, seating areas, and amenities. And for a night, the big boys, the Michigan Wolverines, made the trip to play at their

place, to see them.

It was awesome to witness as they had a pregame ceremony honoring those who helped

get them to that point.

There was a lengthy halftime show by Spider-Turner.

They even delayed the second half for, and yeah, it was worth it.

It was an exhibition basketball game.

It really was a 40-minute celebration of what will be a special place for a really good program

in an awesome community with a tremendous university.

So that's why the score doesn't really matter at all to the Warriors fans.

For Michigan, at least from my perspective,

this was the return of some normalcy. It was a chance for real-life people in the flesh,

not on a computer screen or a Zoom monitor or a cardboard cutout to be on hand to witness

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