Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 17, 2002

? Not a single shot, point, foul or timeout Saturday was official unless Scott Schumacher’s pencil made it so.

Schumacher, a former Wichita State University sports information director who now works for a Tulsa, Okla., sports publications company, was official scorer for the Kansas-Stanford showdown in the NCAA Tournament.

In relative obscurity, from a seat at halfcourt, he logged made field goals, made and missed free throws, individual and team fouls and timeouts.

“My job is to take what the officials report to me and keep it in the official book,” said the 39-year-old Schumacher.

Since leaving WSU in 1994, he has kept a hand in big-time college sports by pushing pencils at basketball games. He has scored U.S. Olympic Festival games and last year’s NCAA women’s Final Four. He works the annual Missouri Valley Conference tournaments.

Schumacher follows the Jayhawks, but his sentiments were set aside when the referee tossed the ball up at midcourt.

“Internally, I have feelings,” Schumacher said. “It’s not proper to express them at the scorer’s table.”

Couldn’t tack a few extra points on the Jayhawks’ total? Delete a foul or two?

“Not a chance,” he said. “I’m a neutral party.”

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 17, 2002

? Not a single shot, point, foul or timeout Saturday was official unless Scott Schumacher’s pencil made it so.

Schumacher, a former Wichita State University sports information director who now works for a Tulsa, Okla., sports publications company, was official scorer for the Kansas-Stanford showdown in the NCAA Tournament.

In relative obscurity, from a seat at halfcourt, he logged made field goals, made and missed free throws, individual and team fouls and timeouts.

“My job is to take what the officials report to me and keep it in the official book,” said the 39-year-old Schumacher.

Since leaving WSU in 1994, he has kept a hand in big-time college sports by pushing pencils at basketball games. He has scored U.S. Olympic Festival games and last year’s NCAA women’s Final Four. He works the annual Missouri Valley Conference tournaments.

Schumacher follows the Jayhawks, but his sentiments were set aside when the referee tossed the ball up at midcourt.

“Internally, I have feelings,” Schumacher said. “It’s not proper to express them at the scorer’s table.”

Couldn’t tack a few extra points on the Jayhawks’ total? Delete a foul or two?

“Not a chance,” he said. “I’m a neutral party.”

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 17, 2002

? Not a single shot, point, foul or timeout Saturday was official unless Scott Schumacher’s pencil made it so.

Schumacher, a former Wichita State University sports information director who now works for a Tulsa, Okla., sports publications company, was official scorer for the Kansas-Stanford showdown in the NCAA Tournament.

In relative obscurity, from a seat at halfcourt, he logged made field goals, made and missed free throws, individual and team fouls and timeouts.

“My job is to take what the officials report to me and keep it in the official book,” said the 39-year-old Schumacher.

Since leaving WSU in 1994, he has kept a hand in big-time college sports by pushing pencils at basketball games. He has scored U.S. Olympic Festival games and last year’s NCAA women’s Final Four. He works the annual Missouri Valley Conference tournaments.

Schumacher follows the Jayhawks, but his sentiments were set aside when the referee tossed the ball up at midcourt.

“Internally, I have feelings,” Schumacher said. “It’s not proper to express them at the scorer’s table.”

Couldn’t tack a few extra points on the Jayhawks’ total? Delete a foul or two?

“Not a chance,” he said. “I’m a neutral party.”

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 17, 2002

? Not a single shot, point, foul or timeout Saturday was official unless Scott Schumacher’s pencil made it so.

Schumacher, a former Wichita State University sports information director who now works for a Tulsa, Okla., sports publications company, was official scorer for the Kansas-Stanford showdown in the NCAA Tournament.

In relative obscurity, from a seat at halfcourt, he logged made field goals, made and missed free throws, individual and team fouls and timeouts.

“My job is to take what the officials report to me and keep it in the official book,” said the 39-year-old Schumacher.

Since leaving WSU in 1994, he has kept a hand in big-time college sports by pushing pencils at basketball games. He has scored U.S. Olympic Festival games and last year’s NCAA women’s Final Four. He works the annual Missouri Valley Conference tournaments.

Schumacher follows the Jayhawks, but his sentiments were set aside when the referee tossed the ball up at midcourt.

“Internally, I have feelings,” Schumacher said. “It’s not proper to express them at the scorer’s table.”

Couldn’t tack a few extra points on the Jayhawks’ total? Delete a foul or two?

“Not a chance,” he said. “I’m a neutral party.”

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 16, 2002

? Ehrin Anderson is known to some as the Calvin Klein of the sports garment industry.

He transforms shabby to swank, simply by racing around his Sports Avenue shop off Market Street grabbing hat, shirt and accessories that make a pick-up basketball role player feel like Michael Jordan.

In honor of the NCAA Tournament, he unveiled a full line of Jayhawk garb.

“Honey,” Anderson vowed, “I can make you look fabulous.”

For a crisp $100 bill, the king of athletic fashion offered to give me the look of a true-blue Jayhawk.

1. Jeff Boschee game jersey, $45.

“It’s nice,” Anderson said, “but it goes on sale after the season because he’s a senior.”

2. KU visor, $17.99.

“I love dark blue. Oh, yes. That’s you.”

3. Beaded necklace, $5 for four.

“They’re Team Spirit beads. They come in pairs of red and blue. Mix and match as desired.”

4. NCAA Tournament bracket T-shirt, $19.99.

“It doesn’t say Jayhawks, but we’ll write that in at no extra charge.”

5. Jayhawk cap, $15.99.

“For a friend. It’s tacky to return from a trip without gifts.”

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 16, 2002

? Ehrin Anderson is known to some as the Calvin Klein of the sports garment industry.

He transforms shabby to swank, simply by racing around his Sports Avenue shop off Market Street grabbing hat, shirt and accessories that make a pick-up basketball role player feel like Michael Jordan.

In honor of the NCAA Tournament, he unveiled a full line of Jayhawk garb.

“Honey,” Anderson vowed, “I can make you look fabulous.”

For a crisp $100 bill, the king of athletic fashion offered to give me the look of a true-blue Jayhawk.

1. Jeff Boschee game jersey, $45.

“It’s nice,” Anderson said, “but it goes on sale after the season because he’s a senior.”

2. KU visor, $17.99.

“I love dark blue. Oh, yes. That’s you.”

3. Beaded necklace, $5 for four.

“They’re Team Spirit beads. They come in pairs of red and blue. Mix and match as desired.”

4. NCAA Tournament bracket T-shirt, $19.99.

“It doesn’t say Jayhawks, but we’ll write that in at no extra charge.”

5. Jayhawk cap, $15.99.

“For a friend. It’s tacky to return from a trip without gifts.”

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 16, 2002

? Ehrin Anderson is known to some as the Calvin Klein of the sports garment industry.

He transforms shabby to swank, simply by racing around his Sports Avenue shop off Market Street grabbing hat, shirt and accessories that make a pick-up basketball role player feel like Michael Jordan.

In honor of the NCAA Tournament, he unveiled a full line of Jayhawk garb.

“Honey,” Anderson vowed, “I can make you look fabulous.”

For a crisp $100 bill, the king of athletic fashion offered to give me the look of a true-blue Jayhawk.

1. Jeff Boschee game jersey, $45.

“It’s nice,” Anderson said, “but it goes on sale after the season because he’s a senior.”

2. KU visor, $17.99.

“I love dark blue. Oh, yes. That’s you.”

3. Beaded necklace, $5 for four.

“They’re Team Spirit beads. They come in pairs of red and blue. Mix and match as desired.”

4. NCAA Tournament bracket T-shirt, $19.99.

“It doesn’t say Jayhawks, but we’ll write that in at no extra charge.”

5. Jayhawk cap, $15.99.

“For a friend. It’s tacky to return from a trip without gifts.”

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 16, 2002

? Ehrin Anderson is known to some as the Calvin Klein of the sports garment industry.

He transforms shabby to swank, simply by racing around his Sports Avenue shop off Market Street grabbing hat, shirt and accessories that make a pick-up basketball role player feel like Michael Jordan.

In honor of the NCAA Tournament, he unveiled a full line of Jayhawk garb.

“Honey,” Anderson vowed, “I can make you look fabulous.”

For a crisp $100 bill, the king of athletic fashion offered to give me the look of a true-blue Jayhawk.

1. Jeff Boschee game jersey, $45.

“It’s nice,” Anderson said, “but it goes on sale after the season because he’s a senior.”

2. KU visor, $17.99.

“I love dark blue. Oh, yes. That’s you.”

3. Beaded necklace, $5 for four.

“They’re Team Spirit beads. They come in pairs of red and blue. Mix and match as desired.”

4. NCAA Tournament bracket T-shirt, $19.99.

“It doesn’t say Jayhawks, but we’ll write that in at no extra charge.”

5. Jayhawk cap, $15.99.

“For a friend. It’s tacky to return from a trip without gifts.”

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 15, 2002

? At the Jayhawks’ closed practice at Saint Louis University’s gym, the team rubbed the belly of a Billikens statue for luck.

If Thursday’s narrow escape from Holy Cross is any indication of the statue’s influence, the Jayhawks ought to throw a blanket over the university’s mascot.

Jerod Haase, an administrative assistant for the basketball program who played for the Jayhawks from 1995 to 1997, said KU probably would practice behind closed doors for the rest of the tournament.

It’s not wise to let the world in on adjustments the team might make to foil a foe, he said.

During the regular season, KU practices in Allen Fieldhouse generally are open to the public on Mondays and Fridays.

The Jayhawks ran through a one-hour public session Wednesday at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. It was a rare opportunity for KU fans living far from Lawrence to get a glimpse of practice. There was lots of sweating, running and shooting.

“Coach (Roy) Williams does not change too much whether it’s an open or closed practice,” Haase said.

Perhaps all they need to change is the good-luck charm. Is the big bronze statue of Phog Allen in Lawrence road-worthy?

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 15, 2002

? At the Jayhawks’ closed practice at Saint Louis University’s gym, the team rubbed the belly of a Billikens statue for luck.

If Thursday’s narrow escape from Holy Cross is any indication of the statue’s influence, the Jayhawks ought to throw a blanket over the university’s mascot.

Jerod Haase, an administrative assistant for the basketball program who played for the Jayhawks from 1995 to 1997, said KU probably would practice behind closed doors for the rest of the tournament.

It’s not wise to let the world in on adjustments the team might make to foil a foe, he said.

During the regular season, KU practices in Allen Fieldhouse generally are open to the public on Mondays and Fridays.

The Jayhawks ran through a one-hour public session Wednesday at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. It was a rare opportunity for KU fans living far from Lawrence to get a glimpse of practice. There was lots of sweating, running and shooting.

“Coach (Roy) Williams does not change too much whether it’s an open or closed practice,” Haase said.

Perhaps all they need to change is the good-luck charm. Is the big bronze statue of Phog Allen in Lawrence road-worthy?

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 15, 2002

? At the Jayhawks’ closed practice at Saint Louis University’s gym, the team rubbed the belly of a Billikens statue for luck.

If Thursday’s narrow escape from Holy Cross is any indication of the statue’s influence, the Jayhawks ought to throw a blanket over the university’s mascot.

Jerod Haase, an administrative assistant for the basketball program who played for the Jayhawks from 1995 to 1997, said KU probably would practice behind closed doors for the rest of the tournament.

It’s not wise to let the world in on adjustments the team might make to foil a foe, he said.

During the regular season, KU practices in Allen Fieldhouse generally are open to the public on Mondays and Fridays.

The Jayhawks ran through a one-hour public session Wednesday at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. It was a rare opportunity for KU fans living far from Lawrence to get a glimpse of practice. There was lots of sweating, running and shooting.

“Coach (Roy) Williams does not change too much whether it’s an open or closed practice,” Haase said.

Perhaps all they need to change is the good-luck charm. Is the big bronze statue of Phog Allen in Lawrence road-worthy?

Postcard from St. Louis

By Kendrick Blackwood     Mar 15, 2002

? At the Jayhawks’ closed practice at Saint Louis University’s gym, the team rubbed the belly of a Billikens statue for luck.

If Thursday’s narrow escape from Holy Cross is any indication of the statue’s influence, the Jayhawks ought to throw a blanket over the university’s mascot.

Jerod Haase, an administrative assistant for the basketball program who played for the Jayhawks from 1995 to 1997, said KU probably would practice behind closed doors for the rest of the tournament.

It’s not wise to let the world in on adjustments the team might make to foil a foe, he said.

During the regular season, KU practices in Allen Fieldhouse generally are open to the public on Mondays and Fridays.

The Jayhawks ran through a one-hour public session Wednesday at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. It was a rare opportunity for KU fans living far from Lawrence to get a glimpse of practice. There was lots of sweating, running and shooting.

“Coach (Roy) Williams does not change too much whether it’s an open or closed practice,” Haase said.

Perhaps all they need to change is the good-luck charm. Is the big bronze statue of Phog Allen in Lawrence road-worthy?

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