Backstage at the Final Four

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

It’s around 11 a.m. the day before the 2012 Final Four begins at the New Orleans Superdome, and fans of Ohio State, Kansas, Kentucky and Louisville are teeming along both sides of Canal Street, some with Mardi Gras beads in school colors. There’s friendly trash-talk as they duck in and out of shops glutted with Big Easy-themed Final Four T-shirts, hats, glassware. In the lobby of the Marriott, the media hotel, fans gawk at famous college coaches in track suits -- and there goes CBS color announcer Bill Raftery, who could pass for any silver-haired businessman in a suit, except he’s Bill Raftery, famous for shouting “Strokin’ a little nylon!” (when the ball swishes through the net) and “The kiss!” (a successful bank-shot). Former Ohio State All-American Jim Jackson greets Buckeye fans, and as I ride up the escalator to get my media credential, down comes Missouri coach Frank Haith, the national coach of the year.

The player who connects Kentucky basketball and Ted Kennedy

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Wearing cargo shorts and a Kentucky basketball T-shirt, he walks with a slight limp through the cement underworld of the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, site of his team’s first stop along the road to their goal of an eighth NCAA tournament championship. A freshman listed at just 5-foot-11, Sam Malone looks more Sigma Chi than Kentucky Wildcat.

His super-elite, super-tall teammates stroll silkily along in Nike practice uniforms, a lustrous assemblage of future NBA players. Up close and in person, these are majestic human beings, particularly freshman player of the year Anthony Davis, the presumptive No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft and he of the 7-foot-4 wingspan, and fellow All-American Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a lethal blend of strength, speed and energy.

During Kentucky’s two wins here, Malone cheers on his soon-to-be millionaire teammates, and sets up the stools they use during timeouts. Watch your TV closely enough when Kentucky plays this weekend in Atlanta, and you might catch a glimpse of him as the camera pans to the huddle and coach John Calipari. If the game gets tight, there will be a reaction shot of Malone at the end of the bench, clutching a towel and holding onto a teammate. And you might ask: What's he doing there? Calipari's a master at grooming young talent for the NBA, so how did this kid with his two bum knees get a roster spot on the best team in college hoops? It turns out that his story manages to connect the slick millionaire coach with the Massachusetts Republican who once lost a Senate election to Ted Kennedy.

Salon.com > Brian Weinberg

Backstage at the Final Four

The player who connects Kentucky basketball and Ted Kennedy