They’re flush with nostalgiaIt took a national...
They’re flush with nostalgia
It took a national title and a semifinal victory over North Carolina, but Roy Williams is finally out of the outhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
Williams had been vilified in Lawrence ever since he left Kansas for North Carolina in 2003, but a Lawrence barbershop let it be known that all is forgiven by removing a photo of Williams from the men’s room and placing it back on the shop walls among other Kansas athletics memorabilia.
The photo now hangs next to a photo of Wilt Chamberlain after spending five years above the urinal in what had become known as “The Roy Room.”
“The hatchet is buried,” shop owner Jon Amyx said. “I think most people would tell you that now.”
Trivia time
Williams coached Kansas for 15 seasons. How many times did he take the Jayhawks to the NCAA tournament?
Hoop dream
Barack Obama appeared on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” Tuesday night, and the former high school player discussed his basketball prowess.
He also revealed some remodeling plans for the White House, telling Gumbel he planned to build an indoor court there if he became president.
“Would that be a priority, putting an indoor hoop in the White House?” Gumbel asked.
“Relative to getting our troops out of Iraq, no,” Obama said. “Relative to potential remodeling inside the White House? Sure, why not?”
Food fight
Professional eating competitions have trickled into the amateur ranks as CBS College Sports Network and the Assn. of Independent Competitive Eaters announced this week the first College National Eating Championship to be held Saturday in San Diego.
The top eight collegiate eaters will compete in a “picnic-style” competition eating plates of “college food,” which includes cheeseburgers, hot dogs and French fries.
“Students have been challenging each other in food competitions for a long time, and this event will determine the nation’s best collegiate food warrior,” said Arnie Chapman, chairman of the eaters’ association.
Hey, anything to avoid that cafeteria food.
Larger in life
They call David Ortiz “Big Papi” for a reason, as one Cleveland Indians employee found out Monday.
Ortiz was walking toward the batting cages at Progressive Field in Cleveland when a stadium employee approached wanting to shake Ortiz’s hand.
“Excuse me,” the worker said. “You look a lot bigger in person than you do on TV.”
Ortiz, listed at 6 feet 4, 230 pounds, smiled. “I guess it depends on how big that TV is,” he said.
From supporting to lead
Jason Segel is the lead actor and writer of the new comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” coming out this week, but his previous claim to fame was playing backup to Jason Collins, an eight-year NBA veteran, on Harvard-Westlake High’s 1996 state championship team.
The 6-4 Segel was nicknamed “Doctor Dunk” after an East Coast dunk contest in which he made a two-handed dunk with the front of his jersey pulled over his head.
“I love getting up in front of people,” he said at the time.
He gave up basketball the next year for acting, and now he’s about to replace Collins as the most famous Jason from Harvard-Westlake.
Trivia answer
Fourteen. The only time Kansas missed was in Williams’ first season, 1988-89, when the Jayhawks were on probation and ineligible for the postseason.
And finally
Chicago Cubs Manager Lou Piniella is animated enough without the help of caffeinated energy drinks, he told the Chicago Tribune.
“I’ve never had Red Bull in my life, but I’ve actually seen people at a bar order Red Bull and vodka,” Piniella said. “I can’t comprehend that. If I had a couple of those things, I’d be like the malt liquor bull [from the old TV commercials] leaving the bar. My Lord.”
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