The road to Indianapolis continues this week as the final 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament tip off on Thursday and Friday. While the Arizona Wildcats “Bear Down for Indy” I, along with KVOA coworkers Danny and Bret, gear up for LA. Danny and I spent the majority of last week in Portland, following the Wildcats as they rolled past Texas Southern and Ohio State. The City of Roses was kind to us, raining only once and offering some much more friendly temperatures than the Arizona desert. But covering the NCAA Tournament as a television journalist isn’t all fun and games. There were six games played in Portland, four on Thursday and two on Saturday. We spent a combined four minutes sitting courtside watching actual basketball and that was only because Danny finished a story for our newscast and there were four minutes to play between Utah and Georgetown. We may not have the glamorous seats of a Jim Nantz or Kevin Harlan, but there are still perks to covering Arizona in the NCAA Tournament. In Tucson, media is limited to weekly press conferences for interview opportunities with the Wildcats. We are not allowed at practice or inside the locker room. With the tournament considered an NCAA event, those restrictions are lifted. For the first time we are able to interview future NBA players such as Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in front of their lockers. We, along with fans, can witness Arizona’s practice before the weekend’s first game. The atmosphere changes in March. Our television coverage can as well. Danny and I produced stories for every 4pm and 5pm newscast, while adding two stories each in the 6pm and 10pm shows. Thankfully the hard work does not go unnoticed. Wildcat fans back home appreciate this “seen only once a year” content from inside the locker room and on the court during practice time. As we continue to approach LA and the Staples Center we will be upping our coverage even more. Bret is a reporter on our morning news and will be offering stories from the fan’s perspective. Adding an extra member to our postseason team also means extra stories from the Sweet 16 and potentially, the Elite 8. We will also be sending features back for the Tucson Today morning newscast as well as the noon news. There will be a lot of Arizona Wildcats (and a lot of Richie and Bret) throughout the day in Tucson, Arizona. While we up our coverage, the teams up the ante on the hardwood. The storylines are endless. How will Sean Miller fare against his former team, Xavier, which happens to be coached by his former assistant, Chris Mack? Can Wisconsin, a newcomer to basketball’s elite, get past a perennial power in North Carolina? If so, how much would revenge play a factor in an Arizona/Wisconsin rematch? Like the rest of the country, we will also keep our eye on the rest of the Sweet 16. Can Kentucky continue its pursuit of perfection? Will Gonzaga last until the round of eight? Who takes over the East Region with the top two seeds, Villanova and Virginia, both gone? There is no better time to be a sports fan than mid-March through early April. It’s exciting as a media member to watch these student-athletes and coaching staffs in the wake of victory or even defeat. We can’t wait to touch down in LA as 16 teams pursue the round of eight. I just wish this damn drive didn’t take that same number of hours.
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AuthorRichie is a small-town boy chasing big-city dreams. When he's not involved with sports, he's spending time with his wife, Fallon; their yorkie, Tinker; and their Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rosie. Archives
April 2016
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