Detroit sights and sounds, Day Three

By Ryan Wood

Saturday, March 29, 2008

6:08 p.m. — One more thing before I retire for the day and watch college hoops like the rest of ya.

I stopped by the locker of Sherron Collins during the media madness on Saturday. He still didn't seem 100 percent, but he said his temperature has gone down and he'll be OK.

As far as nuts and bolts, that's about all she wrote. Enjoy the game tomorrow. It could be pretty exciting, and certainly uptempoed.

4:52 p.m. — Here's how big of a dork I am.

Davidson's players took the stage for interviews on Saturday, and each had a name card identifying them at their seat. The Wildcats have a guard named Max Paulhus Gosselin.

Instantly, I think of Mark-Paul Gosselar. As it stands now, I've spent the rest of the day, between writing my stories, daydreaming about my favorite Saved By The Bell moments.

Three that come to mind:

— Zack believing the whole school has been subliminally brain-washed, with even his middle-aged teacher calling him "A blonde Tom Cruise."

— Zack's wrestler girlfriend beating up the bully at The Max (coolest hangout ever), then beating her opponent because radio play-by-play guy Zack screams "use the move you did at The Max!"

— Buddy bands.

Was this the worst blog post ever? Or the best? I don't think there's an in-between.

3:44 p.m. — He's the hardest working man in sports broadcasting. But finally, Bob Davis caught a break.

Davis is here studying up on Davidson prior to Sunday's Elite Eight matchup between the Wildcats and Jayhawks. He goes to all the press conferences, he talks to the players and coaches on his own and he digs every bit of insight out of the ground so that he can be an informed play-by-play guy for the Jayhawk Radio Network tomorrow.

But in his spare time, he's studying Justin Verlander, Edgar Renteria and Miguel Cabrera.

That's right. Davis doubles as a radio voice for the Kansas City Royals. With a stroke of luck, he's already in Detroit, where the Royals play the Tigers on Monday in the first game of the season.

Had KU gone to Houston for the South regional, Davis probably would've had to miss Opening Day. Kansas takes priority, only it didn't have to this week.

"The Royals have been really great to let me do this," said Davis, who doesn't appear tired although he has to be.

Davis will call tomorrow's game at Ford Field, then stay in Detroit through Wednesday calling the Royals-Tigers series. If KU beats Davidson, Davis will leave Detroit and head to San Antonio for the Final Four.

Then, he'll re-join the Royals.

His schedule doesn't give him much time off. He spent a few days in Arizona earlier this month — in between KU basketball games — getting to know the Royals and new manager Trey Hillman.

He'll take a week off in July from Royals broadcasts, and he'll miss some Royals games in September due to KU football.

I've sympathized to him about his 365-day schedule quite often. He's never once complained to me, and I'd like to say I know him well enough that he could.

But hey, not much to complain about this season. He called the Orange Bowl, he's on the doorstep of calling another Final Four. And the Royals fan in me is convinced he'll be covering a pennant race this year.

Ha.

1:06 p.m. — KU football and basketball this school year is a combined 46-4.

Soak that in. It's amazing.

I didn't look too hard, but I did find one season better: UCLA in 1972-73. The Bruins went 8-3 in football (led by former KU coach Pepper Rodgers) and 30-0 in basketball (led by some guy named John Wooden) to go a combined 38-3.

Of course, Florida has gotten the latest love for being awesome. The Gators won the national title and football AND basketball in 2006-07. Still those, teams were a combined 44-6.

But 46-4? At Kansas? Soak that in again. This is a dream season for KU fans.

Don't take it for granted.

How 'bout some links before all the interviews start:

Ken Tysiac, Charlotte Observer: Roy Williams and Rick Pitino downplayed that great Kentucky-Kansas game at Allen Fieldhouse in 1989. KU won, 150-95, and the two coaches meet today with a Final Four berth at stake.

Kevin Cury, Charlotte Observer: Davidson fans are having the time of their life. You've got to love Cinderella stories.

NCAA.com: Just because.

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Detroit sights and sounds, Day Three

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