by Kevin Burton Ron Baker, the shooting guard who helped usher in the greatest era of basketball at Wichita State, turns 30 tomorrow. Some of us may not be ready to hear that. Some of us overlooked, downtrodden people clung tightly to those Wichita State teams, underdogs who routinely slayed giants (I’m …
Tag Archives: college basketball
Why Do We Love March Madness So Much?
by Kevin Burton In the bad old days, being without a girlfriend, or a date, or even a prayer, on Valentine’s Day was a sharp searing pain to the psyche. Now by comparison, being without a basketball team for the big dance, or even the little dance, is a dull ache. March Madness is …
SI: North Carolina’s NIT Decision Was Lame
by Kevin Burton North Carolina head basketball coach Hubert Davis, hurting after his team coughed up a 16-point lead and the NCAA tournament final to Kansas last April, nevertheless had gracious words for his players. “I can’t be more proud of the group that I just coached this year,” Davis said in a …
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Hey Baseball, Get Off My Lawn!
by Kevin Burton The seasons are changing, calendar and sports calendar; the time is changing (spring forward Saturday night, kids), too much is changing. Any number of poets have rhapsodized about the beginning of spring and all it symbolizes. OK, I’m good with that. But as a sports guy in the man cave, …
Quibbles And Bits: Leftovers And Hoops
by Kevin Burton For most people, but not for me, today is Black Friday. To me it should be National Leftovers Day. There is a leftovers day, Nov. 29. Leftovers Day should be a holiday falling on the Friday after Thanksgiving every year. If you are hosting you have your own leftovers. If …
Goodtime Shockers Got The Blues
by Kevin Burton Hope to be wrong on this, but…. It appears to be over for Wichita State. The Little Program That Could, could compete in a small conference, but still have a senior class graduate having won nine NCAA tournament games – nine happy NCAA press conferences – now can’t even …
The Shocker Desk Enjoying A Second Life
by Kevin Burton The man cave downstairs is certified glorious. I should know, I’m the proprietor and I’m certifiable. The man cave houses, among other things, the Shocker desk. And in that Shocker desk, among other things, is a prescription pad. That I will explain later. I told you yesterday about …
March Madness Best Spectacle In Sports
by Kevin Burton You know how you sometimes smell something that might be smoke? You’re pretty sure it isn’t but you have to check it out. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. That would be a bad thing. Better find out. I feel a little bit like that now. It’s March Madness time …
Famous People I Have Met Along The Way
by Kevin Burton In the newsroom we called him “Governor Gopher.” Fred Grandy who played Gopher on the ABC series “Love Boat” also ran as a republican for Governor of Iowa in 1994. That’s how I met him, doing an interview. His birthday was yesterday, June 29. That’s why he leads my …
More Hoops Notes: Midtgaard Comes Alive
by Kevin Burton Wow, shame on me! I did a story about the players who left Wichita State’s basketball program after last year (“Ex-Shockers Prospering With New Teams,” Feb. 7) and didn’t even mention Asbjorn Midtgaard. He averaged just 2.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in his three seasons at WSU. …
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