You need a big loan to get to the Final Four

By By Stan Torgerson / sports columnist
April 7, 2003
Things I learned in New Orleans this past weekend by talking, listening and reading the newspaper
There were only three ways to obtain tickets to the NCAA Basketball Final Four. Win some in the NCAA ticket lottery of a year or so ago. Get some from one of the participating schools, a method sometimes known as "increase your contribution to the athletic department." Buy them from a ticket broker.
If you obtained some from the lottery or a school, a book of tickets which covered the two semi-final games and the championship game, ranged from $100 to $160.
But if you bought them from a website broker the price was steeper, much steeper. For seats in the terrace section of the Superdome, commonly known as the nosebleed section because of the altitude, the broker charged $257.50 each. But if you wanted to sit courtside, take a deep breath now, the tickets were going for $5,135 a book. Take a date for only $5,135 more and hopefully, have a $10,270 evening.
An on the scene broker said he could give you a better deal, just $200 for the nosebleed seats, $1,000 for mid level tickets and several thousand for courtside, but the number of courtside $$$ depended on the demand…..
Former LSU coach Dale Brown, one of the most charming and interesting talking heads ever in the basketball business, set up outside the Dome and did a 60 minute Final Four preview show for Cox Sports Television, the local cable system in New Orleans. I'll bet it was a hoot. Dale talks as well as he recruited and that was pretty good considering Shaq played for him…..
NCAA President Myles Brand is apparently in support of an idea we first heard from coach Bobby Knight during his Indiana days. If your school's athletic graduation rate falls short of an NCAA standard, still to be determined, the school would lose a certain number of scholarships or even removal from postseason play.
Said Brand last week, "We have to make institutions responsible for making sure that while student athletes are under their care they are being educated and they have the opportunity to graduate. Those who know say if approved the new regulations could be instituted as early as the 2004-2005 season….."
Also under consideration is changing the present rule which prohibits men's basketball from giving more than five scholarships in any given year and limits them to no more than eight in any two year period. Most coaches are against it. Adminstrators have not yet announced where they stand…..
The National Association of Basketball Coaches is trying to work out a new rule with the NBA that would, in effect, keep high school kids from turning pro right out of high school. One idea calls for the NBA to keep hands off until three years after the player has graduated from high school. The NBA is said to favor a minimum age limit instead, saying perhaps 20 years of age. If anything is done it will be subject to approval by the NBA's management and the players union as part of the collective bargaining agreement…..
How good at their trade are Kansas coach Roy Williams and Syracuse coach Jom Boeheim? Combined they have racked up 1,068 victories while losing only 326 games. They've won at least 20 games in 39 of their 42 seasons, taken teams to the NCAA Tournament 36 times and made it to the Final Four seven times. But until this year neither one had ever won it…..
For the second consecutive season the New Orleans Saints did not get a game on Monday Night Football. They are the only NFL team of the 16 which had a winning record last year not to be selected. It is the eighth time in nine years the Saints have been passed over for the NFL's most important regular season feature.
The Saints did get two Sunday night games on ESPN. They will meet the Indianapolis Colts and former New Orleans high school star Peyton Manning at the Superdome Sept 28th and the New York Giants, also at the Dome on Dec. 14.
The games for television are selected by the NFL. It's four network partners, ABC, CBS, ESPN and FOX don't get a vote. Said Mark Mandel, vice president of media relations for ABC Sports, "We don't have the authority to pick the games we want."
I can assure you we have nothing against New Orleans. New Orleans is one of our favorite places to visit.
Can you spell r-a-t-i-n-g-s…..
The schedule makers didn't do any other favors for the Saints. Their 2003 opponents were a combined 131-123-2, last year, a 514 winning percentage. Eight New Orleans games will be against 2002 playoff teams. At one seven week stretch between Nov. 2 and Dec. 14, the Saints play five games against NFC playoff teams from last year.