Bill Self looked like the cat who inhaled a canary at the end of the Big 12 Tourney…
And no wonder; Self turned a good-not-great Kansas squad into a champion winning his 14th straight title. While capturing a ONE SEED in the Big Dance with a real shot at the Final Four, Self proved he’s the area’s all time best coach.
KU faces Penn tomorrow afternoon in Wichita.
MU faces Florida State and K-State faces a tough Creighton team in game one.
To reach the Final Four Kansas may have to conquer Michigan State – that will be a tough one. However with the much improved play of Malik Newman – now a weapon with his offense – and Devonte Graham on fire and the return of Doke and some added help from an improved De Sousa, KU is a tough out today with a real shot at the prize.
On a sour note…
The usual bar, shopping and dining crowds that come in for the Big 12 were way down.
The Plaza, downtown, Westport – even P & L were way down.
Yes, the games were full and fun, but there was less traffic all over the city.
Why?
No Mizzou and Nebraska and the big crowd from Iowa State were missing in action.
During a typical Big 12 tourney Iowa State fills bars like Kelly’s in Westport by Wednesday night…not this year.
They were here – but just not in big numbers.
Then Iowa State lost game one Wednesday, so many of the ones who did come left early.
I drove through the major areas of the city where the numbers used to be huge for entertainment, dining and shopping and they were pretty quiet.
The Plaza looked average all week; Westport got some crowds after the games Friday and Saturday but far less than years past. Other reasons for the shortfall include, ticket prices and lack of interest in coming to KC from Texas fans.
It seemed all about KU.
The Jayhawks live here, so being in town is not a big deal to KU fans.
Another sign of the times was fewer younger people watching the games on TV.
So the restaurants and bars took a hit. Other than game time and shortly after Power and Light was far from packed all day.
Still it was a fun tournament, and better to have it than not.
Westport bar owners told me it was the slowest ever Big 12 week.
And usually it’s their biggest week of business all year, but not so this year.
Remember, in years past coming to KC was kinda like going to the big city and seeing all the sights…today not so much. Maybe we can make it better in the future. Still loved seeing KU get it done.
Mad because no one is going to your shoot em up shack? Ever area I was in (P&L, Brookside, Downtown) was full with people. Are you even aware of what you’re talking about? P&L was packed inside and out? In what world do you live in? Just because you want it to be so, doesn’t make it true. You are failing doesn’t mean everyone else has to as well. Crabs in a pot brother.
Knew we could count on Dick for hate and trolling as always…Dick what have yu ever done in life? Nothing I’m sure…who are you to question anything? What are your accomplishments fake name guy?
I see in emails some think I was wrong on the low numbers for Big Twelve weekend in the main areas of Westport, P&L and Downtown…I got that from seeing it and our beer, bud and liqor, Glazer, told me it was way down…in fact many had small or no orders for this week due to having surplus left from the big twelve numbers…also bar owners and restaurant folks told me the same thing.
heard south bars (nick and jakes/tanners has some of their biggest nights in months last night.
I noticed a huge dip in activity… I cruised in and out of the arena on two days with no issue. If KU was not playing the arena was half full. There is a huge shift happening in major athletics and the NCAA, NFL, MLB better start figuring it out or they will not exist in 10-20 years.
Kansas City MO and the state of Missouri would like to thank all of the Big 12 fans for all the tax revenue they bring in. Especially since the Big 12 doesn’t even have a team residing in the state.
I know P&L sales were way down from last year. No idea about Westport, Plaza, etc.
It doesn’t hurt that it’s a poor year for college basketball either.
KU handles Penn. Not a great game by Kansas but a win and they covered the 16 spread..all Dante…now round TWO.
Thanks guys for backing up what I wrote…yes it was a down attendance for the Big Twelve and it hurt our entertainment and shopping economy cause so many in KCMO expect a big week but it wasn’t…maybe next year will be better and we do appreciate the out of towners coming to KC….it was still a fun week.
More people are watching the games on alternative media…tablets…smart phones…cutting the cord so the ratings won’t pick those people up.
I did notice less excitement this year. It’s time to move the tournament from kc.
Unless iowa state and kstate have good records all that’s left are ku fans…and they
already went thru a tough season.
Kansas bars were packed by ku fans. Why travel down to p and l or the ok corral
or the plaza to watch a game.
If you’re from texas why travel to kc for the tournament….its a ku home game and the
texas teams (outside tech) and oklahoma teams were not good this year or fell apart in the second half of the season.
This is typical of most events in kc. People don’t travel here. Would you come
from the filthy hills of west virginia to watch huggie and his team? Probably not.
And there were no big stories in college basketball. KU won their league (yawn)…
k state was mediocre….iowa state crapped out….and people would rather go somewhere else for a vacation with pricing on vacations as low as they are today.
So glaze….you jinxed the city again. What’s with your predictions?
With a new generation consumed with their smartphones and computers, that’s
what the major sports leagues need to figure out.
I’d say they need to speed everything up. Too many replays and time outs. Cut the games to 2 hours somehow because americans attention span is so quck now that dragging on these games is BORING!
I noticed we would turn off the ku games early….just too much crap on spectrum…too many time outs….poor play….few really big stars….and you all are right…if major league sports don’t readjust to fit their audiences….they’ll be singing the blues.
Even the parade crowds this year were slimmer….interesting to see what happens
saturday.
Maybe we have too many bars/people aren’t drinking as much/the move from beer to higher wine sales/and the health kick people are now on.
Things are changing rapidly.
Oh and Don Trump Jr. got caught with another lady and his wife filed for divorce.
Like father…like son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see Shawnee Mission East took down number 1 seated Virginia last nite…lets get it done KU!
ST. PATS MADE UP FOR THE DOWN BIG TWELVE IN WESTPORT..RECORD DAY..THE AREA DID WELL OVER ONE MILLION BUCKS IN ONE DAY..NICE I HEAR RECORD DAY FOR THE KELLYS, JAMES WEESTFALL AND OTHER BARS…NICE.
it was on a saturday and weather was decent. Ask one of the kelly boys to show the pic of westport in i think 1988 when westports streets were packed on a st. pats saturday. Its a great pic.
BILL GETS IT DONE FINAL FOUR…GREAT YEAR FOR KANSAS
Well it came crashing down against Villanova still a great season for Bill and a team most didn’t believe in much…fun run.