It Has Been a Moment for Cal to Remember

California guard Randy Duck has been filming the Bears’ run in the tournament--including news conferences and team meetings--with a video camera.

“I’m just trying to capture the moment,” Duck said. “I’ve wanted to go back and remember [NCAA tournament appearances] my freshman and sophomore years, but I haven’t had anything. It’s all upstairs.

“I mean, I can still remember. I’m not losing it. But when I am older and do lose it, I want to be able to pop a tape in and live it again.”

Cal guard Anwar McQueen is not only a part of Duck’s video but the star of a documentary shot by Kaleidoscope Productions of New York. For the last six years, Kaleidoscope has been recording McQueen’s move from Washington’s St. Albans School to Cal and will continue until McQueen’s graduation in June.

“We wanted to do a film about a kid from the inner city who went on to get a college degree,” Kaleidoscope’s Tom Walker said.

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Texas guard Reggie Freeman, who is from the Bronx, said about 22 friends and relatives would be traveling to Syracuse for the game in the Carrier Dome. But he said his mother may not make the trip from New York City. “She’s afraid of driving in the car,” Freeman said. “And my brother is driving and he drives like 100 [mph]. I don’t think she is going to make it.”

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North Carolina Coach Dean Smith said that the publicity he has received from breaking Adolph Rupp’s victory mark is a nuisance.

“It’s something that I don’t want to take away from this team,” he said. “Lately it bothers me that the article is on me instead of on a player. The story should be on the players and that’s what makes me uncomfortable.”

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The Texas players joked that they might have an advantage playing at Syracuse because the schools share orange as a team color. “That’s why I think people should root for us,” Freeman said. “We bleed orange, both teams.”

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Smith said that Cal forward Tony Gonzalez should consider a career in the NBA and not only the NFL, where he is a projected first-round pick as a tight end.

“I think he could play in the NBA,” Smith said. “I know he is good in football but basketball is a lot easier way to make a living. Of course, I don’t want him to [play like] a lottery pick against us.”