OKLAHOMA CITY ? Conversations, observances and curiosities noticed Wednesday at Ford Center, where Kansas University’s men’s basketball team will take on Utah State at 8:40 tonight.
Or at least that’s the plan…
Don’t have too much imagination when you’re watching tonight’s game.
CBS’ play-by-play man Kevin Harlan, you see, is a 1982 KU grad. And he’s working the Oklahoma City first-round site with Jay Bilas, a color commentator best known for his work on ESPN and most infamous in Lawrence for, well, playing on that Duke team that shoved Kansas out of the 1986 Final Four.
OK, so what’s it like working with Harlan?
“I’ll have to deal him down a little bit during the game I’m sure,” Bilas said, as the pair took notes during practice. “Look at him — he’s wearing his KU boxer shorts.”
Not exactly, Harlan said.
“I’m not wearing any boxers,” Harlan shot back. “I’m goin’ smokeless.”
Yikes.
Nick and Kirk, your future wives are here.
Brittany Bedene and Amy Goodwin, high school sophomores from Pittsburg, are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance to follow their favorite hunks on the court.
Brittany’s the one in the Nick Collison jersey, complete with signatures from the man himself and coach Roy Williams. Amy’s in the Kirk Hinrich jersey, likewise adorned with signatures from her favorite Jayhawk and coach.
And just to make sure nobody mistakes their allegiances, Brittany came to Wednesday’s practice with crimson-and-blue ribbons in her hair; Amy went with streaks of red-and-blue hair color.
| Can KU coach Roy Williams win it all? And will he?Asked of Jay Bilas, CBS color commentator, at practice Wednesday evening in Oklahoma City:“Yes. And yes. He probably could have three or four, but he’s going through the same thing that (Duke coach Mike) Krzyzewski and Dean Smith went through at one point, where people are questioning them. …”You know, his first one will probably come in a year when he’s not expected to win.” |
Between them, they’ve got KU bedspreads, KU scrapbooks, KU signed basketballs and even a KU coat-hangar Christmas tree with KU garland and a KU hat on top.
“When we heard they were coming to Oklahoma, we cried,” Brittany said.
Added Amy: “Kirk and Nick: They’re our guys.”
No word yet from the grooms-to-be camp.
Bob “I’m a Legend” Gomez, freelance ticketmaster for ticket-poor KU fans, sauntered into Ford Center with a satchel filled with three dozen or so sets of tournament tickets.
And while he’s happy to be in town, he wouldn’t mind seeing a little more green.
“The market is soft, because Oklahoma’s playing in one session and KU’s playing in the other session,” said Gomez, who acquires and sells tickets for an undisclosed client list of Jayhawk faithful. “There will be plenty of tickets.
“Now Saturday’s will be a tough ticket, because KU and OU are both playing. But traditionally, first rounds are the weakest.”
KU received an allotment of 550 tickets for the first- and second-round games.
Jay Hinrichs, director of the Williams Educational Fund, said the university received an extra 30 tickets because a media-overflow area was not used.
Teddy Faulkenberry has been around for some of the biggest events at Ford Center, now 8 months old.
But Cher, Toby Keith and other superstars don’t match the overwhelming size and popularity of the NCAA Tournament.
“This tops all of ’em,” said Faulkenberry, the center’s operations manager. “All six games are sold out. This one’s got to take the cake.”
It’s been plenty of work, and not only because Cher swooped through town early last week. The Oklahoma City Blazers play hockey in the arena, and all that ice — covering 17,000 square feet, up to one inch thick — had to go.
“We do what we have to do,” he said. “That’s our business.”
