Road to the Final Four

Friday was media day at the HP Pavilion. UCLA had five players and their coach at their 1:30 presser (Pacific Time). After the 20 minute press conference, each player had a separate curtained off areas where we could interview them until 2:30. The coach stayed in the presser room to be interviewed while the players were in their separate areas. Kansas did the same from 2:45-3:45.

The only interview environment I'd been in until now was either the locker room or the press conference panel, so this was a fun experience. I was flying solo, so at first I tried to shoulder the camera and put the mic on the table that the player was sitting at. After a while, I decided there wasn't a good chance I'd actually use most of this footage. I had already listened to and recorded the press conference and had heard some good things there, plus the lighting was awful in the rooms. I carried around the J-School's Nokia N73 cell phone to take some pictures of the players, and for the most part just listened while the other reporters did the talking.

I didn't need much UCLA coverage, so during their media time I hung out in Luc Ricard Mbah a Moute's area because it was the least crowded. There were a couple of occasions where he and I were the only ones in the little room. I didn't have much to ask him, so for the most part it was just awkward.

There was also a point when Sasha Kaun and I were the only ones in his area, so I just asked him what he was doing to pass the time and relax in-between games since I heard that Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush liked to play cards. Sasha said he did homework.

Rush consistently had the most press around him, but Julian Wright's area was surprisingly slow so I spent a lot of time in there chatting him up. He said he passes the time listening the music and getting on facebook. He's got family in the area so he went to see the movie "Premonition." According to him, "It was garbage."

Since I had brought up free time, and hanging out with the other guys, one reporter asked him what Rush was like off of the court. Julian said he was always joking and goofing.

Reporter: "How do you mean?"
Wright: "Like right now"

Wright pointed behind us to the back of the room, where Rush was poking his head through the curtain, sticking his tongue out at Wright. Priceless. Too bad I wasn't taking video on the phone, but it won't be the last time I'll catch Rush goofing off on this trip.

Mario Chalmers
Photo: Nick Nelson