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Friday, February 23, 2007

Mayer

Mayer: Final Four price? Don’t ask

By Bill Mayer

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Remember the joke about the billionaire who told a friend that if he had to ask the price of a Cadillac or yacht he couldn't afford one? That's how it is when you try to run down the costs for NCAA Final Four basketball tickets of the distant past.

People then, as now, were so obsessed with just getting into the hall that they paid no attention to the loot they surrendered. Scalpers existed then, too, and sometimes people shelled out as much as (gasp!) $15 to $25 for a showdown seat.

Surely there is some string-saver who never throws anything away who may have ticket stubs from Kansas University involvement in Final Four activities in 1952, '53 and '57. I've even had the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis trying to run it down. No luck. Called the business and media offices at KU and North Carolina, and folks who might have saved something to document the tariff. Blotto. If you have ANYTHING, let me know.

This year's one-person, two-night Final Four package in Atlanta, says the NCAA, is in the $150-175 range, and you had to order the package. Not surprisingly, the "sold out" sign has long been up. Lots of local people are planning to go, furtively figuring their Jayhawks somehow will get past the first round, for a change, and run the table. No limit to what scalpers and even legitimate ticket brokers will rake in.

There was little deep interest in the '52 Final Four in distant Seattle when Kansas prevailed over Santa Clara and St. John's to win the title in Washington's Edmundson Arena. No flurry for ducats, which may have had a face value as low as $10. The '68 Super Bowl football seats peaked at $12.

In 1953, KU reached the finals in Kansas City before falling to Indiana, 69-68. Municipal Auditorium held 10,500 (11,000 if safety people looked away), and there were countless KU zealots ready to pay the price, maybe even as much as $15 non-scalp.

Then came 1957 and the title game that did more than any other to brand the NCAA Tourney big-time - local darling Kansas with a 23-2 record, No. 1-rated North Carolina, with a 30-0. There was a huge uproar because NCAA policy dictated only a 250-ticket allotment for each of the four schools in the meet - and thousands of KU faithful wanted to watch in person. You can bet the scalpers got fat, sometimes drawing as much as $30, a lot of money then. But so far I haven't been able to find a single verification of the actual pasteboard price.

Audio clips

2006-07 Feb. 22 KU hoops presser

Still with '57, the saving grace for the March 23, Saturday night titanic was that television had advanced enough to let Channels 9 and 13 project grainy black and white images. The immortal Frank Burge had 10 sets lined up in the Kansas Union. Only radio carried Kansas' semifinal victory over San Francisco on Friday night.

KU-Carolina complimentary footnote: Some call the '79 title game matching Magic Johnson and Larry Bird the ice-breaker for college claims that the tournament is the nation's No. 1 sporting event. Horse apples! The largest tourney media group to date was in '57. There was an 11-station TV network, and it was the first time a game had been tubed in Carolina. There were 64 newspaper writers and live radio broadcasts on 73 stations in 11 states. THAT, folks, was the breakthrough.

One dear lady happened to have a ticket stub from KU's 1986 Final Four trip to Dallas. Forty-six bucks for the two-night package. But Jayhawkers would pay then as they do now almost any amount with little or no regard to affordability.

Are KU fans devoted or what?

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Comments

nddhawk (anonymous) says...

You lost me after this line -

"Lots of local people are planning to go, furtively figuring their Jayhawks somehow will get past the first round, for a change, and run the table. "

I know you're joking, but c'mon...we hear it enough from everyone in the media, why do we KU fans have to say this? We all know what has to happen, and I know the players and coaches realize this more than anyone. How about we stop canibalizing the past and let the talking heads look stupid when we cut down the nets in Atlanta. That would be the best idea.

February 23, 2007 at 4:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Let's just hope the talking heads DO look stupid. The last thing we want is to live up (down) to expectations of falling early.

February 23, 2007 at 8:56 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Eroy (anonymous) says...

Why do they still let this guy write for the LJ World? He is atrocious.

February 23, 2007 at 11:53 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bowers79 (anonymous) says...

Couldn't agree more with you guys more. Someone should tell Mayer that Kansas fans don't need a history lesson on past ticket prices and first rounds. This isn't news, it's useless filler if you ask me.

February 23, 2007 at 12:27 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

It's nice that old man Mayer likes to travel down memory lane from time to time, but he was way out of line with the 'figuring the jayhawks will somehow get past the first round for a change' comment. I know that every old codger thinks that the teams he witnessed when he was young were better than the current ones, but degrading the current team publicly is an entirely different animal. It's NOT 1957, Eisenhower is NOT the President, and the Russians are NOT coming!!!! If you don't have anything positive to say about recent teams, then stop writing your stupid 'memory lane' columns! I try to be tolerant of Mayer's point of view, but the above comment set me off.

February 23, 2007 at 2:02 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawktriplegrad (anonymous) says...

Get off Mayer's back! KU's basketball history and tradition are what make it so special. You don't learn, let alone understand, truly what KU basketball's all about by concentrating only on what's going on this season.

I once heard a know-it-all high school sophomore say,"Why should I care about history--I wasn't even born?" And I'm sure that attitude has led her to a fine career in fast food.

Enjoy KU basketball by visiting Naismith's grave, by studying the exhibits in the Booth Hall, by staring in awe at the retired jerseys and championship banners hanging from the ceiling--and by reading Mayer's column. Then you might begin to understand.

February 23, 2007 at 4:04 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Well, Bill, using an overall CPI inflator (the one including energy and housing) based on a national average, a top-end, $25 ticket in 1952 would cost $175.75 in 2004 dollars. Of course, anyone alive knows there's been some inflation between 2004 to 2007, so let's be conservative and round it to $185 in 2007 dollars. If top ticket prices for this year's Final Four are $175, they sound like a steal. :-)

February 23, 2007 at 4:24 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

I kind of like these little musings. Why are people so against them? They seem like peripheral mental journeys.

Nice math Jaybate.

February 23, 2007 at 4:45 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Thomomys1 (anonymous) says...

Peripheral mental journeys = senility. Someone take his keys away from him before he runs down 4-5 people on Mass Street. Or at least look the doors to Country Kitchen.

February 23, 2007 at 5:18 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Thomomys1 (anonymous) says...

lock the doors to Country Kitchen...dammit.

February 23, 2007 at 5:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

brooksmd (anonymous) says...

Hey congrats Thomomys 1. I think you're the first person I've seen actually correct his post. If most of the people who post in here attend KU, their english grades must be terrible. But at least it's not as bad as what I see down here in "da bayou". Rock Chalk from Bush, LA.

February 23, 2007 at 11:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

JayCeph,

I can't speak for the others, but I like Mayer digging into the past. I challenge him, because I think he's got something left. He's just let himself get sloppy in his old age. The older you get, the more the world and most everyone in it seems like a big joke. What you thought was important turns out not to be. What you didn't think was important, is. You know you've made every mistake you can criticise anyone else for, except the criminal ones. Snot nosed kids who think they know diddly don't. Old guys get disillusioned and say whatever stupid stuff comes into their heads. The people in the middle are so overwhelmed with family they don't even smell the roses. And after awhile you just say, "What the hell, they're all cretins anyway. They don't even notice if I put in the extra work to get it right, to craft it well. Hell most of them are functionally illiterate and have the vocabularies of orangutangs." I know. I've felt this way. Its a trap, a dead end. Even if you are 90, especially if you're 90. I figure Mayer spent his life pounding keys and writing about sports. I figure he knows more about how to write than I ever will. I figure his editors don't care about him. They just know their marketing analysts say roll an old guy out and plug a niche. Maybe some young editor even likes him, or feels sorry for him. But bottom line, the marketing geeks are saying the inches cost us nothing and tradition sells in this market. There's a bunch of older boomers who were kids at the time of what he's recalling, and it'll up the clicks for the site and squeeze a few more dollars out.

Mayer has no one to give a damn about him or his self respect. Its good for him to have readers call him on his craft. Nobody can do something their whole life and not take pride in it. This story of his was well written. About a thousand percent better than a couple of his recent efforts. If someone doesn't point out his errors and his good work, he's working in a vacuum and will just embarrass himself. His editors don't care if he embarrasses himself, or they wouldn't let some of the stuff out.

Now the posters who rain on Mayer about being senile, or wasting their time with nostalgia, are being kind of silly (and revealing that they could put everything they know about aging in a thimble of spit and not overflow it).

February 24, 2007 at 10:24 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Why? Because you don't need to read history and tradition, if you don't want to. Skip Mayer's stories, if you don't like to read about the past. But if you like history and tradition, as I do, and good writing, as I do, then you have to look at every one of Mayer's stories and say the main idea IS good. He's still got it. He just isn't putting in the work to get it right. So, put in the work. Being old makes you slower, but it doesn't mean you can't do it if you take longer. Get it right.

There are people out in the digital wilderness who care about what Bill Mayer is trying to do in his stories. There are people out here who care about Bill Mayer. What happens to an old Jayhawker in his tournament with old age matters as much as what happens to a young Jayhawker in his first big-eyed encounters with the world. I want to see them both aquit themselves well.

Frankly, what Mayer is doing takes courage. At his age, he's diving into the web world and trying to find out if he can do it again in a new medium. He doesn't deserve a free pass. He deserves our reading and holding his feet to the fire. He's a pro taking a paycheck. He's playing the game for money. He's a pro at a late age. People ought to respect anyone who pushes the envelope at anything professionally. I'm just telling Bill Mayer, don't go out writing "soft." Write like a pro to the end. Gut it out. That's what the game is about. Even if its just me and Bill all alone in the digital wilderness, well, that's what I think. Get it right AND meet deadline.

Look around you, Bill, there aren't many guys who are even trying what you're trying. You're blazing a damn trail. Like all pioneers, you won't get rich. But you know what? There's going to be some baby boomer who reaches your age in ten years and he's going to do exactly what you are doing now. And he's going to use you for a role model, if you're good. Pros do it every day. They do it when they don't want to do it. They do it when every thing is going wrong. And now you have a chance to show they do it when the final deadline is near.

Go, Bill, go!!!!

February 24, 2007 at 10:27 a.m. ( | suggest removal )