Omaha sights and sounds, Day One

By Staff     Mar 19, 2008

**9:41 p.m.** – Last post of the evening. Walking with the World Company crew to a restaurant when we passed a tent selling sports apparel, presumably for NCAA Tournament fans walking by.Among the items for sale? A **Todd Reesing** jersey.There you have it. KU football is BIG in the state of Nebraska. Something about [scoring touchdowns on 10 consecutive drives][1] earns respect.See ya tomorrow.**4:40 p.m.** – It was the most painful question they’ve ever been asked. I felt horrible.I decided to do a random survey of dressed-up fans sitting in the Qwest Center stands during the public practices Wednesday.To the KU fans, I asked: Will you root for Kansas State tomorrow?A painful grimace crossed about everyone’s face. Finally, KU grad **Shane Collins** spoke up.”Yeah, I will,” he said. “When it’s after the season, now you’ve got to pull for the conference.”He then corrected himself, slightly.”Now, if it’s Missouri?” he said. “It’s a different story.”It will be interesting to see how it plays out Thursday. Kansas plays at 11:25 a.m., while Kansas State battles USC at 6:10 p.m. in what easily is the most anticipated matchup in Omaha, if not the entire first round. Surely, Kansas fans with first-day tickets will be interested in sticking around to see phenom freshmen **Michael Beasley**, **O.J. Mayo**, **Bill Walker** and **Davon Jefferson** battle it out in a potential classic.**Trae Priest** and **Levi Brennan**, two 13-year-old KU fans living in Omaha and hanging out at Qwest, said they’d root for K-State. Sort of.”I’ll root for Michael Beasley,” Brennan said. “He’s the man.”Brennan became a KU fan because of the smooth game of **Mario Chalmers**. Priest’s father is a big Kansas fans and passed the gene on. Both are rooting hard for KU, and of course, both think the Jayhawks are winning it all this year.But pulling for K-State, too? The question is too unconventional to have a unanimous response. **Scott Slupianek** is a KU fan living in Omaha. Once he moved to Nebraska, he bought Creighton season tickets, bought NCAA Tournament tickets through Creighton and will be at every game this weekend – including Kansas State-USC.He won’t be cheering for the Wildcats, though.”Nope,” he said. “Can’t do it. I want to, but I just can’t.”We’ll see what side – if either – is in the majority Thursday night.**12:34 p.m.** – Portland State is finishing up its public practice at the Qwest Center. There are – I kid you not – 100 times more Kansas fans here than Portland St. fans.OK, so there are just two fans in the Qwest Center seats wearing PSU attire. One is Richard Fink, a 1973 Portland State grad who came to Omaha with a buddy.Here’s how dedicated they are to Viking basketball: They left Portland at 4 p.m. Tuesday and landed in Sacramento. They then left Sacramento and landed in Las Vegas. They then got out of Las Vegas and landed in Omaha at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning.”That’s only midnight at our house,” he quipped.Fink wouldn’t have done things any differently, though, saying Portland State’s NCAA Tournament berth is “beyond our wildest dreams.”That’s a neat thing to remember about the NCAA Tournament, which seems almost impossible to realize in Lawrence. As much as it’s expected – even demanded – by some programs, it’s an absolute thrill for others. **- Oh, by the way,** go check out [NCAASports.com][2] _all the time_. Don’t [ask why][3].**9:15 a.m.** – Heading over to the Qwest Center in a little bit to really get this blog rolling, so keep checking back throughout the day (and every day for that matter). But first, some Portland State links to keep you informed on KU’s opponent, and keep you unproductive at work:**Ian Ruder, Vancouver Sun:** Portland State’s Tyrell Mara and Scott Morrison were [high school rivals][4] in British Columbia before joining forces at PSU and helping the Vikings to the NCAA Tournament.**John Canzano, The Oregonian:** One of the finest players in Portland State basketball history [is struggling in life][5], now. A good read.**Jeff Eisenberg, Riverside Press-Enterprise:** No 16 seed has ever beaten a 1, but [it’s only a matter of time][6]. A good history of 16-versus-1 showdowns.Also, check out The Oregonian’s [Portland State blog][7] for other little tidbits.That’s all for now. I’ll go people watch at the Qwest Center soon and let you know what I see. [1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/nov/04/kansas_cruises_90/ [2]: http://www.ncaasports.com [3]: http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/resources/file/eb36304452f4ead/2008_blogging_policy.pdf?MOD=AJPERES [4]: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=823ddaee-d328-47b8-a485-68d965f1c2f5 [5]: http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf?/base/sports/1205906115297560.xml&coll=7&thispage=1 [6]: http://www.pe.com/sports/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_D_ncaa_feat_19.3fdd5e3.html [7]: http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlandstatevikings/

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