A Baker's Dozen at Barnhill South

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Today I continue my retrospective on the Arkansas Razorbacks' 1994 national basketball championship run.

Twenty years ago today, the Razorbacks defeated Michigan in the Elite Eight, 76–68, earning their third Final Four berth in my lifetime.

There is one thing you have to understand about the Razorbacks' relationship with Dallas' Reunion Arena, where the Midwest Regional semifinals and final were played in 1994. It was their home away from home.

Before they left the Southwest Conference, the Razorbacks played in Reunion Arena several times a year — the annual Southwest Conference tournament was played in Reunion Arena, and I think the Razorbacks used to play SMU there, too — and they won with such regularity there that it had come to be known among Arkansas fans as Barnhill South. Barnhill, you see, had been the name of the basketball arena on the Arkansas campus for four decades; in fact, the Hogs moved in to their new home, Bud Walton Arena, earlier in that 1993–94 season.

Coming into their game with the Wolverines 20 years ago today, the Razorbacks had won 12 straight games in Reunion Arena. They seldom played in Dallas after they moved to the Southeastern Conference, but they had dominated Reunion Arena when they were in the SWC — going back to their last loss in Dallas, to Baylor in the 1988 SWC Tournament.

In the NCAA Tournament, Reunion Arena was technically considered a neutral site, but, informally, it was regarded as a home court for Arkansas.

Dallas was within easy driving distance for most Arkansas fans, and the Razorbacks had a large, vocal fan presence that weekend. As I watched on TV, it didn't take much for me to imagine how loud the fans were with "Woo Pig Sooie!" rattling the rafters.

The Wolverines were nearly 1,000 miles from their campus. It might as well have been a home game for the Hogs.

Michigan had problems early. Junior Juwan Howard picked up two fouls in the first two minutes, and, thanks to the way that prevented him from being as aggressive as the Wolverines would have liked, the Razorbacks took a nine–point lead to the locker room, but they had to overcome an early deficit. They missed their first six shots, but a 17–0 first–half run propelled them to their lead.

In the second half, all the Razorbacks had to do was stay even with the Wolverines, and they would punch their ticket for the Final Four in Charlotte, N.C. They never looked back.

Howard was the leading scorer in the game with 30 points, connecting on nearly 65% of his attempts, but the Razorbacks had four starters in double figures.

The First Chapter in the Bird-Magic Rivalry

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I find it ironic that the college basketball national championship game in 1979 is still, 35 years later, the highest–rated college basketball game ever televised.

Because I didn't see it. I've never seen it — only highlights.

In those days, I was working at a self–serve gas station, and I had to work that night. I remember listening to the game on the radio at the station, but I didn't see any of it. I could only imagine what was happening in the host town, Salt Lake City, based on what I heard.

It was between Michigan State and Indiana State, the first matchup of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in what became a classic NBA rivalry. As USA Today observed five years ago, it was the start of something special.

But that is the sort of observation that can be made in hindsight. Those are easy.

For example, it is easy now to say that Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana were destined to be four–time Super Bowl champs, but I remember when they both broke into the NFL. All eyes were on others, but, in the course of their careers, Bradshaw and Montana turned struggling franchises into winners.

The same is true of Magic and Bird. At the end of the '80s, it was possible to look back at their epic postseason confrontations and realize that their rivalry had been the kind of thing you rarely find in team sports — a rivalry between two individuals. There were other players who played, of course, but Magic and Bird got the attention.

I guess every NBA team has been a rival of the Celtics since the days of Bill Russell, and every NBA team has been a rival of the Lakers for nearly as long, going back to the days of Wilt Chamberlain. Likewise, fans have to choose sides when the two teams meet, and most of them are likely cheering for a team they never support during the regular season.

I'm not an NBA fan — in fact, I'm really not much of a basketball fan — so I was spared having to make that choice and could simply enjoy watching them play.

You know, it is kind of amusing when I think back on that first encounter between Magic and Bird 35 years ago.

I don't recall the hype that preceded the game. I'm sure it was marketed as some kind of duel between future NBA legends, the kind of hype that accompanies many collegiate confrontations.

That kind of buildup doesn't always prove to be true. At the time, of course, it probably doesn't matter, and few probably remember it years later. Potential doesn't always coincide with reality.

But, in this case, it did.

A Bittersweet Anniversary

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It's been exactly a year since my friend Steve died of cancer.

As I observed on that occasion, it was 19 years exactly since Steve's — and my — beloved Arkansas Razorbacks won their Sweet Sixteen encounter with Tulsa in the 1994 NCAA Tournament here in Dallas.

That day on the calendar has come around again. It is a year since Steve died, and it is now 20 years since the Razorbacks won that game and advanced to the Elite Eight for only the third time in 15 years. They beat Michigan two days later to earn a spot in that year's Final Four, where they would defeat Arizona in the national semifinals and then Duke in the national championship.

That is something that will live in Razorback fans' minds and hearts forever, and my guess is that Steve would prefer that his friends remember that — and not think of this day last year.

Today I am thinking of both. I miss Steve, and I am sorry he is gone. If he could somehow come back today, I would want him to know that he was not forgotten. The Razorbacks are part of that memory. I watched many Razorback games with Steve, including a Cotton Bowl that he and I and a mutual friend, Mike, attended together.

The Tulsa game was one part of a memory that I cherish and always will. That game is often the forgotten piece of the puzzle for Razorback fans, though. Victories over Georgetown, Michigan, Arizona and Duke get more attention, probably because those basketball programs have enjoyed more success over the years.

But Arkansas and Tulsa are natural rivals. The campuses are only about 100 miles apart. When I was growing up, the football teams met every year. Arkansas usually got the best of Tulsa — but not always.

To top it off, Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson coached at Tulsa before he went to Arkansas. The game was loaded with regional significance. Frankly, I was hoping for a classic game. Most Arkansas fans probably hoped for the same thing. We all hoped Arkansas would win, of course, but we hoped Tulsa would make it memorable.

Twenty years ago tonight, the game wasn't competitive. Arkansas simply outclassed Tulsa. The Razorbacks led by 15 at intermission and won by nearly 20.

This year, the Razorbacks made it back to the postseason — NIT this time, not the NCAA Tournament — for the first time since 2008. Last night, they played in the second round against California.

Unfortunately, the Razorbacks lost that game. They fell behind early and, even though they made a few runs at the Bears, they still lost. Ironically, if they had won, their next game would have been here in Dallas — against old Southwest Conference foe SMU.

Steve and I didn't watch that Tulsa game together 20 years ago, and I'm sorry about that. I was living in Oklahoma at the time, and he was back in Little Rock. I'm sorry he didn't live to see the 20th anniversary of that national championship. It probably would have pleased him to reminisce about those days. If I live another two weeks — and I certainly expect to live another two weeks — I will get to do that.

And I will raise a glass to Steve when I toast the Razorbacks of '94.

The End of UCLA's National Title Streak

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It's hard to explain how much things have changed in college sports since this day 40 years ago.

When this day dawned in 1974, the UCLA Bruins had won seven consecutive national basketball titles. They had won 38 straight NCAA Tournament games under coach John Wooden since their last national tournament loss, to Arizona State in the spring of 1963, and they had won national championships every year but one — they didn't qualify for the 1966 tournament.

The Bruins were about to play North Carolina State in the 1974 Final Four. If they won, they were likely to be favored to win their eighth straight national championship against the winner of the Kansas–Marquette game. There was no reason to think they wouldn't.

The Bruins owned the NCAA Tournament in those days. When they were in the field — which, admittedly, was smaller in those days, but it excluded teams that were borderline so the talent wasn't spread as thin. Every game was challenging — you could pencil them in for the Final Four every year. Heck, you could go ahead and pencil them in for the national championship game. They had only missed one in 10 years, and they won all the rest.

The only mystery was which teams would join UCLA in the Final Four city — which, in 1974, was Greensboro, N.C., about 70 miles from the North Carolina State campus.

I don't recall anyone from UCLA expressing concern at the time about the game being so near N.C. State's campus. Between 1971 and 1974, UCLA won 88 consecutive games, many of which were road games. You just don't win that many straight games by worrying about playing on someone else's turf.

The Bruins didn't just beat teams. They overwhelmed them. In the late '60s, they were led by 7–foot–2 Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul–Jabbar), then, in the early '70s, by 6–foot–11 Bill Walton, who had perhaps the most amazing national championship game performance ever against Memphis State in 1973.

As great as his performance was (21 of 22 from the field), Walton, playing in his final NCAA Tournament, was about to participate in what Mike Douchant of The Sports Xchange, in 2002, rated the 13th–greatest NCAA Tournament game ever played.

On the surface, it was about as close as a game can be. The score was tied, 35–35, at halftime, then it was tied again, 65–65, at the end of regulation. But, in fact, N.C. State scored in spurts. The Wolfpack had to battle back from an 11–point deficit in the first half and a seven–point deficit in the second half. It wasn't a tight game all the way through.

And, remember, this was more than a decade before college basketball started using a shot clock or added a three–point shot.

Walton wasn't as dominating as he had been against Memphis State, but he was still effective, hitting 13 of 21 from the field and hitting all three of his free throw attempts.

The eventual Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the tournament, N.C. State's David Thompson, was nearly as effective. He hit 12 of 25 field goal attempts and made four of six free throws.

Their duel 40 years ago today really was the stuff that legends are made of. N.C. State won by three in double overtime. In hindsight, N.C. State's 76–64 triumph over Marquette in the championship game two days later was rather anticlimactic.

Before the Wolfpack claimed the national title against Marquette, UCLA got back on the winning track with a 78–61 victory over Kansas in the third–place game.

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Wooden and the Bruins came back the following year to claim the national title one more time.

But an era, as Sports Illustrated proclaimed, was over. In the 39 years since Wooden's last national championship, the Bruins have won only one national title. In fact, what once was a routine trip to the national championship game has only happened three times for the Bruins since Wooden retired.

Perhaps that explains how much times have changed.

But who knows what will happen in the future — perhaps the near future? The 2013–14 Bruins won their NCAA Tournament opener in San Diego Friday night. They will face Stephen F. Austin in today's second–round game.

They might win their second national crown since the Wooden era ended. But two national titles in 39 years is a far cry from seven titles in seven years.

Marching to a Title

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"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Lao–tzu
Chinese philosopher (604 B.C.-531 B.C.)

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This year is the 20th anniversary of an important event in the history of the University of Arkansas' athletic program.

(I grew up in Arkansas — and I got my undergraduate degree at the U of A — so this is of interest to me. You'll just have to live with it.)

It was on this day that the Arkansas basketball team embarked on its first national title run through the NCAA Tournament.

I was living in central Oklahoma at the time, and, as luck would have it, the Razorbacks were seeded first in the Midwest Regional. The #1 seed in that regional was slated to play the #16 seed (North Carolina A&T) in Oklahoma City, roughly a 30–minute drive from where I lived.

I thought about making the drive to OKC to watch the game in person, but no tickets were available. Oklahoma State's basketball team was playing New Mexico State, and Tulsa was playing UCLA; fans and students of OSU and Tulsa had snapped up all the tickets they could as soon as they could. Local media had been warning fans for days that tickets would only be available through scalpers.

So I stayed home and watched Arkansas' tournament–opening victory over North Carolina A&T on TV.

Frankly, it was a little disappointing. I had been following the Razorbacks from afar all season, and I had been anticipating a #1 seed. It never occurred to me that they wouldn't be a top seed — although I did have my doubts when they didn't make it to the championship game of the SEC Tournament.

Having anticipated a high seed, it's probably obvious that I expected great things from that team — and the Hogs did live up to my expectations.

But their tournament draw was disappointing. I wanted to see them play — and beat — a series of the legendary college basketball programs en route to a national championship. North Carolina A&T hardly qualified, and I must admit I felt rather foolish staying up late on a Friday night to watch the game — which the Razorbacks won easily.

As things turned out, the second–round opponent on Sunday was Georgetown, not a legend on the order of a UCLA or a Kentucky or an Indiana but a latter–day legend nonetheless.

Arkansas went on to play Michigan in the regional final a week later, then faced Arizona and Duke on a Final Four weekend that I never could have imagined. The opposition did kind of live up to my fantasy, I suppose.

Arkansas' march to the national title began 20 years ago today. I wish the Razorbacks were playing for another shot at the national championship this year. For awhile this season, I thought they would be.

They didn't make the cut, though.

However, they are facing Indiana State in the NIT tonight, and that has the potential to be a pretty good consolation prize. Indiana State won their last encounter in the 1979 Elite Eight, 35 years ago yesterday. Arkansas fans have been waiting for a rematch.

That's a long time to wait for redemption. Too bad Bird and Moncrief can't play in it. Bird always said that Moncrief's defensive performance was the best anyone ever played against him.

It's Been a Long Time Coming

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I grew up in Arkansas, and I got my B.A. at the University of Arkansas so I was indoctrinated into Razorback culture early.

Initially, my interest was exclusively football, but then Eddie Sutton came along, and I — along with hundreds of thousands of Arkansans — began following college basketball as a result.

He certainly made it interesting — and it wasn't as if we fans were doing much between football seasons, anyway.

A couple of years after his arrival, he had the Razorbacks in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nearly 20 years. They were one and done, but that was enough to give Razorback fans a taste of the Big Dance.

The next year, Sutton coached the Razorbacks to the Final Four for only the third time ever. They lost to the eventual national champion, then beat Notre Dame in the third–place game, and Razorback fans were hooked. Expectations the next season, in 1979, were higher than they had ever been in my lifetime, even though many of the stars of that Final Four team had graduated.

It was because of those absent stars that national expectations weren't high at all. In fact, Arkansas was unranked when the season began.

But the Razorbacks still had Sidney Moncrief, who became the school's all–time leading scorer and was a consensus All–American in 1979. Larry Bird was an All–American, too, and his undefeated and top–ranked Indiana State Sycamores were waiting for the Razorbacks 35 years ago today in the Elite Eight in Cincinnati.

The winner would face DePaul in the Final Four in Salt Lake City.

You would be hard pressed to find a tighter ballgame than the one that was played on that St. Patrick's Day. Arkansas led by two points at halftime, then late in the game with the score tied, U.S. Reed was called for walking, and Indiana State was in position to take the final shot.

Everyone expected Bird to take that shot. He had scored 31 points that afternoon, more than double anyone else on his team, but, as the seconds ticked off the clock, teammate Bob Heaton took the shot, made it and sent Indiana State to the Final Four.

It was a heartbreaker for Arkansas fans. Indiana State went on to beat DePaul a week later, then lost to Michigan State in the championship game (which was the first meeting in the now–storied rivalry between Bird and Magic Johnson).

Arkansas and Indiana State haven't faced each other in a basketball game since that day 35 years ago.

Expectations were for the Razorbacks to return to the NCAA Tournament, thanks to a season sweep of Kentucky and a strong finish to the regular season. But that finish was marred by a season–ending loss at Alabama and a loss to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament apparently knocked the Razorbacks out of the NCAA Tournament.

Not long after the pairings were announced, it was announced that Arkansas had accepted an invitation to play in the NIT. Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that their first opponent will be Indiana State tomorrow night — 35 years and a day since that disappointing defeat.

Razorback fans have memories that are longer than elephants'. One wrote on Facebook today that Heaton walked just before making the game–winner. It wasn't called and, to be honest, I don't remember it. But it just goes to show how raw that wound is.

How different would that game have been if college basketball had a shot clock and the three–point shot, neither of which existed at the time? We'll never know. This is a different era with different players and different coaches.

But the fans are the same. Some have died and others have been born since that St. Patrick's Day in 1979, but the loss lives on in the collective memory of Razorback fans. They want revenge.

The game will be televised by ESPN at 8 p.m. (Central). I'm hoping for a more satisfying finish this time.

A Bold Suggestion

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Randy Galloway had an intriguing suggestion to make to the Dallas Cowboys this weekend in the Fort Worth Star–Telegram.

His proposal? Trade quarterback Tony Romo to the Houston Texans for the #1 pick in this spring's NFL draft.

Houston, Galloway says, is a club that is ready to win ... except it needs a veteran quarterback. Romo is a veteran quarterback — who might benefit from a change of scenery. (Sometimes that is all it takes. Witness Alex Smith in Kansas City after an unproductive career in San Francisco.)

"Tony can play," Galloway writes. "Don't give me any back talk on that. Tony can play."

(A disclaimer is necessary here, you see. There has been some disagreement in these parts about Romo and whether he actually can play, at least at a level that is worth that huge contract that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gave him nearly a year ago.)

Jones, Galloway writes, "knows he's not going anywhere with Tony. Not anywhere except the proven 8–and–8. Mr. Jones needs new blood at QB. And he needs out from under that stupid contract he gave Romo last summer."

I'll admit, it sounds pretty fantastic, doesn't it? But, with Romo's contract, Galloway observes, "he's already the second–most powerful person at Valley Ranch." That's second — behind Jones, ahead of the coach.

I've been observing Jones since he bought the Cowboys in 1989. I even covered Jimmy Johnson's first press conference after he was named Tom Landry's successor — by Jones.

And I have reached some very definite conclusions.

One of which is this: Jones is all about power and control. His ego demands frequent stroking — and his preferred form of stroking is to be told that he alone is responsible for all the good things that have happened to the Cowboys since he bought the team — the three Super Bowl wins in the '90s in particular — and anything bad that has happened is someone else's fault.

Anyone whose power rivals his own is a threat to Jones — on many levels — and he will only be patient for so long. His patience with coaches — even big–name coaches like Barry Switzer and Bill Parcells — lasts about three years at best.

He has tended to be a little more patient with players — but few players during Jones' tenure have been regarded as "the second–most powerful person at Valley Ranch." That designation usually is reserved for the head coach.

And Jones is jealous about power.

It's an interesting idea, this trade suggestion from Galloway. It's one that Jones should consider — seriously.

The Centennial of Baseball's Showman

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"I know it's the fans that are responsible for me being here. I've always tried in each and every broadcast to serve the fans to the best of my ability."

Harry Caray

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In ballparks in Florida and Arizona, spring training games are being played, perhaps as you read this — the perfect time for a man like Harry Caray to have a birthday.

In fact, March 1 was his birthday. If he was still alive, Caray would have been 100 years old today. And I think he would want to spend it at a ballgame where he could feel the sun on his face, smell the dirt and grass of the ballpark and hear the crack of a bat meeting a ball.

But he's been gone awhile.

When Caray was alive, watching the Cubs on WGN was must–see TV. It didn't matter how good or — more often — how bad they were. Having Caray to call the game was worth it.

People used to talk about how influential Ted Turner was in the early days of cable, and there certainly was truth in that. But don't underestimate Caray's contribution, especially in the days before cable coverage blanketed sports and it became possible to see one's favorite teams — in almost any sport — virtually whenever they played.

For awhile there, only the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves could be seen just about whenever — and wherever — they played. WGN in Chicago was one of cable's first superstations, along with Turner's WTCG in Atlanta, and their baseball coverage was one of their biggest selling points. As a Dodger fan, that meant that I could see the Dodgers play whenever they faced the Cubs or the Braves since all three were National League clubs (and, with the exception of spring–training games, the only inter–league games in those days were World Series games). It also meant that the Cubs and Braves gained new fans from all across the country every year.

The Yankees and Cardinals probably remained the two most popular franchises, but they suddenly faced competition from the Cubs and the Braves. Caray had a lot to do with that. He was the familiar face of the Cubs, and fans associated his seventh–inning renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with his Cub broadcasts. Folks were singing that song long before he came along, but Caray redefined that tradition while broadcasting White Sox games.

He was a homer, no doubt about it, and he embraced that role with relish. He didn't apologize for it, either. He didn't pretend to be objective. He seemed to understand that was part of the show.

When you work nights, weekends and most holidays, as I did when I worked on the sports desk of the Arkansas Gazette, you have to take your perks where you find them, and one of the perks for me was the fact that, when they were playing in the afternoon, I could watch most of the Cubs' games before I had to leave for work. I got to enjoy six, maybe seven innings of Caray and the Cubs.

In those days, I hoped to someday visit Chicago and take in a game at Wrigley Field, just to be able to watch Caray lead the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh–inning stretch, but I never made it. Sixteen years ago, Caray collapsed in a restaurant, reportedly struck his head on a table and died four days later.

Lots of folks probably thought that there couldn't be a show without Caray — but the show went on after he had a stroke that kept him out of the booth for a couple of months. A steady parade of celebrities, many with local ties, filled in as guests until he returned. Some were good, most were not, but I think nearly all viewers would agree that none came close to matching Caray.

Perhaps it was because he understood the mentality of the Chicago sports fan.

"Chicago people are kind of fatalistic, but they continue to hope that somehow some way the Cubs will shock even them and win it just one time," he said. "Their fatalism allows them to enjoy the team's success, knowing that one horrible thing will happen down the line to rip the rug out from underneath them."

There are some sports announcers whose voices you just associate with certain sports and/or teams. When I was growing up in Arkansas, that voice was Bud Campbell's; whenever I heard it and regardless of what the calendar said, I felt like it must be an autumn Saturday and the Razorbacks must be about to begin a game against a Southwest Conference rival.

National broadcasts on TV and radio have had their own announcers who were known and loved by millions. Whenever I heard Curt Gowdy's voice, I felt like it had to be a summer's day and NBC's game of the week must be on — even though Gowdy did work some football games from time to time.

Caray's voice was like that for me. It just seemed natural to hear him speak of the Cubs and Wrigley Field — even though he was born in St. Louis.

It's been too long since I've heard that distinctive voice.