NCAA Tournament: March 2007 Archives

I don't want to talk about it.

I didn't want to talk about it last night and, no, I don't want to talk about it this morning either.

I'm talking of course about performance issues. Embarrassing.

"I swear, this has never happened before—"

I mean, how in the world do you go 14 for 33 on layups and dunks?

I'm sitting here with the creeping realization that I may have lost all interest in sports until this August when the perpetually mediocre Chiefs head to River Falls. The tourney loses some of its allure when the Hawks aren't dancing.

One of the most exciting seasons of KU basketball has ended too quickly. It wasn't for lack of effort—the ball flat-out refused to roll in on some of the easiest shots for Kansas, while the Bruins routinely found the bottom of the basket on fadeaway threes with the clock running out. It was just one of those nights. I'm stubborn enough to believe that we were better defensively against UCLA than they were against us.

I'm also stubbornly optimistic in my belief that they'll all be back next year. B. Rush said he'd bolt if he's projected to go in the top 20, but I think the early tourney exit along with a "late first round" projection and the fact that he seems to be enjoying himself on the team all point to him sticking around for another year.

Though Wright is a top-5 pick, he's already said he's coming back. Before the loss, Arthur sounded like he was staying—and he should, because he's not ready for the league. Chalmers is the only other "risk" and his offensive performance against the Bruins (Seven turnovers? On 1 of 8 shooting? Really?) shows he can improve on a few things this offseason.

The tournament this year was a lot of fun, though, with some great finishes.

Duke Players, Doing What They Do Best
Photo: ESPN

VCU over Duke was fantastic. I hate Duke basketball with a passion. My earliest tournament memory was watching Greg Dreiling, Danny Manning, Calvin Thompson, Ron Kellogg and Cedric Hunter fall to an evil team from the East with a coach whose name needed a few more vowels. (Try explaining to a second grader why "Krz…" actually is pronounced "Scha")

I vividly remember sitting on my parent's front porch, slumped forward with my head between my knees, devastated after Laettner nailed that impossible turnaround J at the buzzer to beat Kentucky like they were predicted to. I loathe their collective smugness and detached arrogance.

So to see a bunch of scrappy kids from VCU outplay and outhustle the beast from the east…well, it doesn't get much better than that. And then CBS found the money shot: Christian Laettner, sitting alone in the stands. Shattered. Stunned. Speechless. I'm not one bit ashamed to say that I leapt out of my seat with an exuberant belly laugh upon seeing his broken expression. You can't spell "Schadenfreude" without "Krzyzewski."

March Madness is the most thrilling and unpredictable event in organized sports. If you happened to grow up in Lawrence as I did, it's easy to get spoiled. (Final Four in '86, Championship in '88, Final Four in '91, and again in '93). Every year, "Kansas" is still the last team standing in my bracket.

Right now I'm trying not to think about the "14 for 33" from last night. I'm trying to remember the defensive grit; the selfless, creative passing and explosive potential that made this team go 34-5 this season, and remain one of the most exciting teams I've ever witnessed firsthand.

I'm left with that, and the hope that the team had as much fun playing as I did watching, and that they will stick together and set the record straight next year.

It's the only way I can bring myself to turn on the TV to watch North Carolina and Georgetown tangle this afternoon.

Sunny San Jose! I've never been to California, but it's great so far. Can't wait to see more of it than the hotel, the HP Pavilion and downtown San Jose. Days one and two are a wrap. Here's a little documentation of both. California LOOOOVE.

Edit: For complete coverage by Nick (and others) of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament experience, check out Road to the Final Four

Last weekend I was in Oklahoma City, watching KU basketball. This weekend I was in Chicago, watching KU basketball. Oh, did I mention those trips were free? I mean, I tell people they were free because I didn't pay any money to go, but that doesn't mean I didn't pay anything. I paid my dues with plenty of stress-out time.

Believe it or not, covering sports can be tough. Sure, we get great seats and amazing food. But that's only about 10% of what we sports reporters do while we're at big events like the Big 12 or NCAA tournaments. In Chicago, I'd get to the United Center about 4 hours before the KU game, and for the most part I needed every extra minute I got. I ran in to a bunch of technical issues, and by the time I got everything figured out and set up, it was game time.

For the Kansas/Niagara game, I didn't even watch a lot of the first half. I was working on posting video for my blog. I'd go back to the media workroom about 4 times during each game (sorry, people in my row) to change tapes in the deck that was recording it, and to make sure it didn't stop recording all together (it was a piece of crap).

Once the games ended and press conferences were over, the media are back at work. Which quotes were good? Which bytes work for the focus of your story? Athletes and coaches aren't like other sources for normal news stories. You can't just call them back a half hour later and ask "Hey, what was that you said about your team's rebounding tonight?". You get them for about 20 minutes, then they're gone until after the next game.

Wanna talk stress? Try doing a standup. I don't know if everybody's as bad as I am, but I can't ad-lib to save my life. Then you've got people whispering to one another "that idiot messed up again"...or at least that's what I'm assuming they're whispering.

As far as posting stuff on the Web goes, that's the medium that should be putting out content faster than any other. Newspapers have until they print. TV stations have until the next hour of news. The Web? There's no reason people should have to wait for the stats and results. Not only does stuff need to be posted now, it probably needed to be posted 10 minutes ago. So when your equipment messes up, it makes you wanna slam your face against the desk that much more.

Don't get me wrong, I love covering sports and I intend to make it my profession. Getting paid to watch sports. It's something the average Joe only gets to do when he's not at his job. But it's not just watching. It's a lot more, and I hope others see that.