Dallas ? It will be easy to reserve a table this weekend at the Golden Ox — the steakhouse located across the street from Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Kan.
It’ll be similarly simple to find a parking spot in Westport and on the Plaza.
And it should take little effort to find elbow room at the riverboat casinos in Kansas City, Mo.
March Madness has busted out in Dallas, not Kansas City this year, as the Big 12 Conference takes its tournament to “Big D.”
“It’s kind of bad,” Kansas University senior forward Nick Collison said, “because we had so many fans come watch us in Kansas City. But we’ve not won the tournament since I’ve been here (at KU), so maybe a change in venue will actually be good for us.”
Collison and his teammates — the Jayhawks lost in the tourney finals to Oklahoma last year after falling in the semifinals the previous two years at Kemper Arena — are looking at the bright side entering today’s Big 12 quarterfinal game against Iowa State, a 97-70 winner Thursday against Texas A&M.
Tipoff for ISU-KU is noon today at American Airlines Center with a live telecast on channels 4 and 13.
“It’s been nice having it in Kansas City all these years,” KU coach Roy Williams said, “but I’m sure the people of Dallas will work hard to do a nice job as well.”
That is a given, according to two Jayhawks who are downright giddy to be home — native Texans Keith Langford and Bryant Nash.
“The arena is really nice. Everything is top-of-the-line,” Langford, KU’s 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from Fort Worth, Texas, said of the home of the NBA’s Mavericks and NHL’s Stars.
“The fact my family and friends will be at the games makes it the best place for me.”
Added Nash, KU’s 6-6 junior forward from Carrollton, Texas, a Dallas suburb, “It’s going to be a lot of fun. Me and Keith are probably going to get some ‘hoorahs’ at the games. But I’m guessing the team everyone is going to be cheering for is Texas.”
Langford has been cheering since he learned the tourney would shift to Dallas this year and next before returning to Kansas City for a year, then likely departing K.C. for good.
“It’s better to do anything in Texas — eat, sleep, use the bathroom,” said Langford. “There’s just something in the air about Texas. I can’t even explain it to you. Kansas … any other state is different. There’s no state like Texas from start to finish.”
Langford is a walking advertisement for Texas tourism.
“I think people are more proud being from Texas than anywhere,” Langford said. “You never meet a person from Texas saying they don’t like Texas. I’ve met hundreds of people from Kansas who say, ‘I hate Kansas’ or ‘I don’t like it.’ You never hear people from Texas say that. There’s a pride thing being from the Lone Star.”
Nash agrees.
“There’s a lot of love in Texas,” he said. “Everybody from Texas is just proud of where they’re from.”
Langford and Nash have had a pair of good games in Texas this season. Langford scored 20 points off 10-of-13 shooting in KU’s 65-56 victory March 3 over Texas Tech in Lubbock, and potted 19 points off 7-of-10 shooting in the Jayhawks’ 79-58 victory Feb. 11 over Baylor in Waco.
He missed just six shots in Texas this season.
“I don’t know what it is, but my shots have been going in so far (in Texas),” Langford said. “I don’t know if it’s because you play better trying to perform in front of people that remember you from high school or what.”
Nash, meanwhile, scored four points and grabbed seven boards in 20 minutes against Tech after scoring five points with five boards versus Baylor.
Langford didn’t hesitate when asked to identify Texas’ most identifiable trait.
“Football,” he said. “Texas is a football state, but it’s starting to get more recognition for basketball. Six or seven guys on my AAU team are playing top-notch Division One basketball.”
Growing up, Langford was part of the football craze.
“I played football until I was a freshman in high school,” said Langford, who gave up the sport after he broke his foot. “I’m sure I could have played somewhere in college, maybe nowhere major but some smaller school somewhere. I broke my foot and that was it.”
Nash also played football as a youth.
“I was a wide receiver and safety. I kind of wish I’d kept playing,” Nash said. “I was pretty good. Football is big there, but I like track and basketball, too.”