NCAA Tournament: April 2008 Archives

We were in for a surprise when we arrived at the Alamo Dome. The NCAA would not let us purchase (for under $1,000) Internet access. And we thought $30 a day in Detroit was bad.

Let me explain how important Internet is to our operations. We need it to post to tv.ku.edu, upload to our ftp, upload our blogs, and check email to communicate with the newsroom. It's like telling the visiting baseball team they can't play with bats.

Thankfully the hotel has wireless, slow wireless, but at least it's Internet.

Basically the NCAA is telling television stations and other high bandwidth users to work without a business necessity, unless they cough up some serious cash. That's cash a student-run, university affiliated television station doesn't have to drop. When pressed, the NCAA representatives couldn't produce the rule in writing.

"If you want, I can write it down for you," said one official. How unprofessional is that? After no problems in Omaha or Detroit, suddenly we might try to leak the signal live online and rob the NCAA of their precious money, sorry, I mean bandwidth. Come on, why watch in stunning HiDef when you can watch a jumpy Internet feed...? It's asinine and greedy.

We as students are held to the same standards as every other journalist at these events, yet we are denied the proper tools to work.

We still get treated like we have no idea what's going on... Despite other "media" wearing team colors, "media" cheering, "media" crowding us out, "media" breaking the rules, somehow it's the student's fault. Oh, yeah. Our "fellow professionals" unplugged our equipment twice on Saturday, thanks WRAL. It's not everybody at these things, the majority are well-behaved.

Here are my solutions.

1. We're not going to stream video. You can stand over our shoulders and watch us work. We're journalists, we're not exactly in the business of hiding what we do for a living.

2. Throw out the hacks. These guys are like the annoying kid in elementary school who cheers for the Yankees and his only justification is, "We've won it 26 times, you're stupid." And as far as touching my equipment goes... That's as low as it gets, I know UNC is losing, but don't take it out on me. I've got nothing to do with the game. I already know you're upset because you're cheering, childish.

3. Stop handing out freebies to the media. Yes, the leather folder is nice. But you're not changing the way I report how you treated us. As a matter of fact, I'm here to cover a game, the less the NCAA is involved in that the better. Wait, SHINY! It's a Final Four Pin! I take it all back...

4. Put it in writing. If you're going to have rules, have them posted somewhere and be able to produce them on demand. It's like a professor dropping a 20 page paper on her students that wasn't in the syllabus. You think the coast is clear for finals, then BAM! Surprise! Consistent enforcement is step two here.

5. Tacos are awesome on game day. They're almost as awesome as gigantic meatball subs. I can't think of two better ways to ruin a shirt. "Hey, anyone got a Tide pen? I'm going live in five minutes!"

For all the complaints contained here I think I owe an honest compliment. Thanks Kansas Athletics Department, you've done a standout job this year dealing with the increased media attention. Just keep the Cold Stone ice cream cake coming during half time.

Justin and I have been to two cities in the past two weeks that have Final Four attached to their names. San Antonio is home to this year's Big Dance, while Detroit will get a chance to host the event next year. After seeing both venues, we decided to put together our likes and dislikes of each city and venue.

1. Seating: Basketball is meant to be played in front of small crowds (under 25,000 people). Ford Field can seat 70,000, but due to the incline of the seats most of your view of the court is blocked. The Alamodome seats about 43,500, but almost 2,000 of these seats have a better view of the media workroom than the court. Bottom line, determine possible obstructions to your seats before you buy them.

2. Accommodations: Staying in a hotel close to the fanfare is a major plus. San Antonio has plenty of luxury hotels as well as college-budget motels within walking distance or a short cab ride of the Alamodome. Detroit has a few upper-end hotels close to Ford Field, but the majority of places to stay are not within walking distance to the general vicinity of the venue. While there's nothing wrong with taking a cab or renting a car, being able to walk everywhere will definitely save you a few bucks and prevent some hassle.

3. Atmosphere: You have to have something to do when games aren't going on. Concerts, restaurants, and shopping are all excellent ways to pass time, and San Antonio has got all of these in one area – the Riverwalk. Detroit has Greektown and plenty of food and drink close to the venue, but you better hope for warm weather because wandering around in the cold just isn't as much fun.

Nothing compares to being at the Final Four. The crowds are amazing and everyone is out for a good time, but some cities just have a better environment for hosting an event like this. I have no problem with the NCAA wanting to host the games in venues with seating for 65,000 or more fans, but please don't compromise the overall atmosphere just to make extra money.

Courtney and I have agreed that we have a newfound respect for those people who make their lives traveling week-in and week-out. Be it for business or athletics a life on the road definitely wears on you. Don't get me wrong here, I love traveling, but to do this over a long period of time has to be one of the most demanding jobs out there.

In February I began to plan for the different scenarios for Kansas' March Madness run. I had to budget, decide on staff, arrange equipment, and book travel arrangements. You can have a plan going into the conference tournaments, but Selection Sunday is when you have to put that plan in motion, a mere four or so days before the first round of games.

Omaha was the first stop for Kansas. Kyle West and Alex Dufek took care of KUJH-TV Sports' duties there. I was able to relax for a couple of days over spring break after starting the avalanche of paperwork required to send reporters to venues for sporting events.

I arrived back at Kansas from my home in Iowa on Sunday evening with just Monday and Tuesday to get ready for our flight to Detroit. Classes had to be dealt with, we needed to debrief from Omaha, equipment needed sorting, and sleep fell victim to activities that were cut to get all the work done.

After five nights in Detroit we flew back to Kansas on Monday and had to be ready to fly to San Antonio on Thursday. Again classes, debriefs, sorting equipment, turning everything around and leaving again was the order of the two whole days we got to get caught up.

Now imagine you're playing for a major league baseball team or are a national accounts manager for some company. This is how life is for you every week. I sat next to a woman on the flight to Dallas who lived in Kansas City, who was just in San Antonio, who was headed to New York (maybe, was that Wednesday or Friday, oh well, I'm in Dallas now for a while, what day is it?) Where am I? Oh yeah, San Antonio, Texas, it's Saturday, game day is all that matters.

Personally, I love the stress of running to an airport gate, not knowing where my luggage is, coming up with solutions to problems on the fly, haggling, wheeling, dealing, watching a product come together with insufficient means, rushing to beat the deadline, and then just sitting back to watch all the effort pay off. It makes you really appreciate down-time.

For me that relief usually comes when I see myself on ESPN's Sports Center sitting on press row, or chasing someone with a camera, or hearing, "Hey nice work on that package." I can say, "Yeah, thanks. I can't wait to do it again next week!" Or tomorrow as the case may be.

What would a trip involving a change of planes be without lost luggage? One delayed plane + four checked bags + 25 minute layover in Dallas = recipe for disaster. The funny part is that only half of the luggage was lost. My suitcase and the camera case arrived as planned, but Justin's bag and the bag carrying most of the camera equipment took the long route to San Antonio.

You would think this would be a simple fix. Put the bags that were left in Dallas on the next plane to San Antonio (and with the Final Four, there are plenty of planes to San Antonio) and everyone is happy.

Apparently nothing is as easy as it seems. Southwest sent the bags to San Antonio, but then the hotel somehow misplaced them. So just like last week we were on a wild-goose chase, only searching for luggage this time.

After the luggage issue was solved, we lost our minds trying to get internet access in the TV bunker. Since the NCAA doesn't want us streaming video online, the obvious solution is to not allow internet in the bunker. Never mind the fact that some of us have to FTP our files back to the station.

But perhaps the biggest loss of the day was Rodrick Stewart. Stewart fractured his kneecap at the end of practice and is headed back to Lawrence for surgery. While he doesn't get significant minutes, he was still a reliable guard coming off the bench and during the Final Four you need all the depth you can get.

We know that there is no way to solve the problem of lost luggage, that's a given with traveling. And as for losing our minds, that too is a chance you take with this job. So if anyone has an answer for how to get the NCAA on your side, let us know.