Monday morning, March 21
After spending Thursday-Saturday watching wall-to-wall hoops, I grab my traveling companion and set out for Tulsa, OK, site of Sunday action featuring Kansas, Texas, Arizona and Illinois. I feel the need to cheer on my Jayhawks and move into a live setting versus staring at a 57" TV screen all day.
- The BOK Center in Tulsa is a nice building but they spent the majority of their money on the exterior of the arena. And, what is up with the brand identity--BOK is short for Bank of Oklahoma but rare is the company who can successfully pull off an acronym as the identity for one's brand.
- Tulsa is, by my estimation, about four-five hours from Dallas and about seven hours from Austin. But, once again, the Longhorn faithful show that they have one primary interest--football. The Texas fan base does not travel for basketball.
- On the other hand, the arena is filled with Kansas blue, as usual. There appear to be about 1,200 members of the Jayhawk Nation at the pre-game pep rally. In the arena, about one-half seem to be cheering for Kansas during the KU-Illinois game.
- The end of the Texas-Arizona game runs counter to the night before when "a foul is a foul" and fouls were called at the end of Butler-Pitt. And, surprise, none other than veteran ref, and Big East Tournament punchline, Jim Burr is involved.
- Bruce Weber and Bill Self shake hands before and after the Kansas victory, but little is said between the two. Self was miffed at the way Weber handled year one of his tenure at Illinois, after Self's departure. Weber's very public mock funeral, imploring the Illini faithful to accept that Self was gone, didn't set well with the Kansas coach.
- If you're a Kansas fan, there are two things to take away from the first two rounds of action--the Morris twins are imposing their will and leadership upon this team and Tyshawn Taylor is playing his best basketball of the season. Taylor showed his value yesterday when the Jayhawks stagnated on offense once he left the game with two fouls. Fortunately, KU kept the defensive intensity up, forcing Illinois star Demetri McCamey into 2-9 shooting, including 1-5 from behind the arc. Overall, the Illini were held to 38% shooting for the night.
- By the way, I refuse to accept the NCAA's insistence that the four play-in games are "round one." It's not--it's the "play-in round." Round One has to be Thursday-Friday when all remaining 64 teams are in action.
Week one of the greatest three weeks in sports is over. And, if there is one headline, it's that no one can predict this tournament. Every year there is a load of analysis and, every year, wacky things happen which is the beauty of the NCAA Tournament.
Let the madness continue...
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