The Garden City Telegram

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Hooked on hoops

Published 3/20/2010 in Features

Tourney time: From living rooms to bar stools to barbershops, local fans obsessed with the madness of March.

Hope Beach, 11, stared intently at a corner television at Jax Sports Grille last week as her Kansas State Wildcats opened postseason play in the Big 12 Tournament.

Beach, of Pierceville, was joined by her father, Garet Beach. The pair had just dropped off Hope's little sister, Britlyn, for gymnastics practice in Garden City and had to find a place to watch the big game. Beach said he usually doesn't take his daughter to a sports bar to watch games. But this one was big. And after all, it's March.

The Beaches, like a number of southwest Kansas basketball fans, will go wherever they can to cheer on their teams. The success of both of the University of Kansas and Kansas State University men's teams this year have forced fans to go where they must -- be it work, the barbershop, the bowling alley, or wherever to catch the hoops action they just can't miss during the magic and madness of the NCAA Tournament.

Hope's Wildcat ties run deep. She is a lifelong KSU supporter who has attended numerous K-State athletic events and basketball camps. She hopes to someday follow in the footsteps of her idol, KSU women's legend and the area's first WNBA player, Sublette's Shalee Lehning. But with the Kansas State women not in the NCAA Tournament this year, Hope will focus on the KSU men as they try to make a run in the tourney with their No. 2 seed in the West Region. Hope says she is confident as the Wildcats enter into postseason play as she pulls for her favorite player, Jacob Pullen, who she calls "an awesome point guard."

But March Madness isn't just for the young. It is also a big draw for the young-at-heart.

Delores Hitz, 87 and a longtime hoops fan, watches all the NCAA action from her room at Homestead Assisted Living. Hitz knows that at times, March Madness fans need to have the ability to multi-task to catch all the hoops action they need. She recalls that last week during the Big 12 Tournament, she had to watch college basketball on television with the sound turned down so she could listen to "her team," the South Gray High School Rebels, on the radio at the Kansas Class 1A State Championships in Hays.

Hitz, also a Wildcat fan, said she wouldn't mind a KU-KSU Final Four matchup because "We haven't beat them yet, and KU will probably advance anyway," she said as she watched K-State whip North Texas Thursday's in its NCAA first-round game.

Many southwest Kansans also would like to see the No. 1-seeded Jayhawks and Wildcats battle it out once again on a national stage.

According to Cynthia Leiker, clerk at The Good Sport on Main Street, the overwhelming majority of their sales since the Big 12 Tournament began have been either Jayhawk or Wildcat gear.

Larry Jenkins, an avid KU fan who watched opening round action Thursday afternoon while pedaling away on an elliptical trainer at the Garden City Recreation Commission's Wellness Center, said he would like to see the Wildcats do well because he believes it would be good for the Big 12 Conference and good for the state of Kansas.

Amanda Staley, barber at MJ's Barbershop and proud KU supporter, also would like to see another KU-KSU match-up. The teams have met three times this year, twice during the regular season and then again in the Big 12 Tournament championship game.

"I'm rooting for a fourth time," Staley said.

Others have their favorite teams, but are drawn in by all the action of March Madness.

Tim Glaze, who watched Thursday night's games on a big screen at Garden Bowl, said he likes to see the differences between the teams from all the conferences, and of course the upsets, of which there already have been several.

Staley likes the Jayhawks' chances, she said, if they can just limit their turnovers. But she isn't just a 'Hawks fan. She said she likes to watch all the action, especially March Madness. Although, she admits that what really makes it enjoyable is that the "Hawks are in it."

Others, though, are more fervent about the support of one school.

Brandon Miller, who watched the first-round KSU game at Cash Fast with friends, is focusing solely on the Wildcats.

"I could care less about everyone else," Miller said. "I wish KU would lose in the first round."

KU did win its first-round game over Lehigh, so Miller will have to wait and see if the Jayhawks and Wildcats are indeed on a collision course in the national semifinals.

Miller is fervent enough about his Wildcats that he locked up his business, Miller's Taxidermy, put the closed sign on the door and went to Cash Fast next door to watch with friends on the big screen in the business' lobby.

Staley is fortunate enough to work in an environment at the barbershop that is sports-friendly, with multiple televisions and even a big screen tuned into the NCAA Tournament. The business is so sports friendly in fact, that a hairdresser from a near-by shop sneaks over to watch the games when she can.

Travis Green, manager of Cash Fast, said he likes the competition and excitement of March Madness. The lobby of his Mary street business houses numerous recliners and a big screen television to watch the games and plenty of KSU magazines to thumb through during timeouts.

Still for others, like Eddie Benitez, who watched the games on Thursday at MJ's Barbershop, the best thing about March Madness is the simple fact that if it's tourney time, then it must also be spring break.

Levita Bui, a KU fan visiting from Stillwater, Okla., and Katie Pearson, a Wildcat fan from Junction City, said their favorite part of March Madness was simply the chance to get together with good friends and watch the games.

Despite their different allegiances, Bui and Pearson enjoy watching the games together. The pair was part of a contingent of fans that watched the games Thursday night at Samy's Spirits and Steakhouse.

Bui said she is also an Oklahoma State fan, "when they're not playing the Jayhawks."

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