SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Busy signal, voicemail or an inactive number. Over and over and over. When I called about 15 different taxi services in Sioux Falls around 1:30 a.m., I got one of those three responses. I started to question: What kind of city is this?

A few hours earlier Syracuse had won its biggest game, at the time, in program history — an 80-72 upset of No. 1 seed South Carolina. That meant it was going to be a long night.

I was the only reporter from The Daily Orange here and I knew I’d have to crank out a few stories. By the time I had finished, the media work room had already filtered out. The hotel I was staying at offered a free shuttle around the city, but only until 11 p.m. It was about two hours after that. I needed a taxi. When I couldn’t get one, that’s when the fun began.

Luckily I had booked my flight out of Sioux Falls on Monday morning. One less thing to have to worry about. But I still had to worry about how I would get back to the hotel. With the help of one of the media coordinators, Greg, at the Denny Sanford Premier Center, I finally found a taxi to pick me up. Actually, I found two. The first one said he’d be 45 minutes. The second said 20. I unsuccessfully tried calling the first driver back to tell him not to come. They both came at the same time. Some things I just can’t explain.

As I waited for the cab, I sat and talked with the security guard. He asked about my other D.O. road trips. I said Greensboro, where I went two weeks ago for the Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament and the start of Syracuse’s improbable postseason run, was one of my least favorite cities. It doesn’t have a major college in it. I’ve preferred college towns like Charlottesville and Louisville. He understood. He used to live in Michigan and would go to Ann Arbor for football games at the Big House.

In 2016, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in our phones. I took to Twitter during the wait, but I also cherished the human interaction. It was a calming discussion that Twitter couldn’t provide. Like the open air in the the Midwest, it was refreshing.

The next day, it started snowing while I worked at the Premier Center writing stories off of Syracuse and Tennessee’s press conferences. The shuttle driver discussed the weather on my way back to the hotel.

“It’s like we say, ‘It’s South Dakota — you never know,’” the driver said.

I sent a Snapchat of the snow to some friends with the caption: “Cuse or Sioux Falls?” I really couldn’t tell you where I was. Technically, yes I’m in South Dakota. But can anyone really identify where South Dakota is? Who knows. I certainly couldn’t before a week or two ago.

There’s something about this state I just couldn’t put my finger on. It’s a whole new world from the East Coast that I’m used to. If nothing else, though, I’ll always remember the Mount Rushmore State (sidenote: Sioux Falls is in the southeastern corner of the state while Mount Rushmore is a five-hour drive away in the northwest corner) for the interesting few days I’ve spent here.

As I took my last shuttle ride on Monday morning and looked out at the empty plains, it hit me. Kind of. The emptiness of the state meant the opportunity for creation. I formed lifelong memories this weekend of the state and the city I still can’t figure out.

Syracuse’s first second-half lead in the game against South Carolina came with 4:44 left in the fourth quarter. Of course, because South Dakota.

When I sat down to board my plane on Monday morning headed for Chicago, I realized the flight number was 4044. Of course, because South Dakota.

I didn’t know Syracuse was going to win both games. I didn’t know I’d barely be able to get a taxi at 2 a.m. on a Friday night. And I didn’t know I’d have my greatest journalistic experience so far. But hey, it’s South Dakota — you never know.

Paul Schwedelson is an asst. sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his column occasionally appears. He can be reached at [email protected] or @pschweds

Published on March 28, 2016 at 10:47 pm