Big XII Tournament, Day 3

Day 2 of games.

Pun City had tickets for the games already, so this was nice. There wasn't much time to spare between waking up and going to the games.

For the second day in a row, Pun City went to Waffle House. That place rocks. For Pun City's Wisconsin readers, it compares favorably to George Webb's. One might call it George Webb's with better deals and better chili. Also, Waffle House emphasizes hashbrowns as a key menu item. They're magnificent. Pun City went with plain hashbrowns once and hashbrowns covered in chili and cheese another time. Both were great. Their cheeseburgers were pretty good too, typical greasy spoon fare. Highly recommended.

Getting to the game site, Pun City had some time to go to the Ultimate Big 12 Fan Experience across the street from the Sprint Center. This is always something that Pun City hopes for: Free Stuff! As the Big 12 has a big, well-attended tournament, they have well-heeled sponsors giving away free stuff to promote their product. Among the sponsors were: Chick-Fil-A, United States Census 2010, DirecTV, Sunkist, and Phillips 66.

Awesome free stuff included: DirecTV "net head" hat for hitting a reasonable number of shots on their worse-than-carnival rigged hoops; Phillips 66 keychains (of the conference tournament logo and mini-flashlight variety); United States Census 2010 Cups, Piggy Banks, Pins, Pencils, Pens, and Crayons; Chick-Fil-A Pez Dispensors, cans of Sunkist Orange or Lemonade (diet available as well), and Chick-Fil-A free sandwich coupons (and free actual sandwich).

If a certain Ohio reader is interested in the free Chick-Fil-A sandwich coupon, Pun City can send that your way (this blog believes it expires 4/30/2010).

On the far side of the Big 12 Zone was the Kansas City Power and Light District, which was the unofficial party central (read: closest place to get alcohol). This part of the area was sponsored by Miller Lite and Boulevard Brewing Company. Among free stuff here were: Miller Lite Headbands, Wristbands, and t-shirts (alas, Pun City didn't catch any t-shirts); Boulevard headbands and foam fingers; and Sprint "rally towels." The rally towels were extremely weak. You had to give a name and e-mail address, and then you got a flimsy one-color towel that had no logos on it at all. Basically just a small towel of whatever color you wanted. Weak effort, Sprint.

Local radio stations were set up around there, Pun City got some cup for the Jennifer Aniston vehicle "W" there. Random yes, but hey, free cup.

Only the Nebraska-Texas A&M game was especially compelling, with the rule kicking in at the 2:02 mark. The other 3 games had at least 9:41 left on the clock when the game was effectively out of reach.

Like a pediatrician's waiting room, here are your Highlights:

Kansas's band played The Hey Song and Ghostbusters. KU recorded their 2,000th win in this game. That's a pretty cool milestone for this blog to have seen.

Texas Tech's band arrived late (presumably having been at the women's tournament 3 blocks up the road), and played Hey Baby and the Land of 1000 Dances.

Nebraska's band played Come Out and Play, Living on a Prayer, and Slow Ride.

Texas A&M's band played Respect, Hush Hush, the CBS College Basketball Theme, and Someday (by Rob Thomas). Don't quote Pun City on the Someday song, it might have been a different pop song that's out now.

Oklahoma State's band played Basket Case, Hold On (I'm Comin'), Call Me, and Rubberband Man.

Kansas State's band played Crazy Train, Proud Mary, and Hey Baby. KSU's dance team is known as the Classy Cats.

During halftime of the OSU-KSU game, the final of Sunkist's national Dickie V impersonation contest was held. 3 finalists got on the microphone and did their best Dick Vitale impression. Contestant #1 was pretty good but messed up in the last part of his delivery. Contestant #2 was alright, not as good as #1 though. Contestant #3 was great throughout, winning it in Pun City's eyes when he said "I tell you one thing Mista Nessler..." The crowd liked #3 best, but cheered for #1 as well. It seemed to most in attendance that #3 had the loudest cheers. They announced the winner, of course as....#1! Huh? A giant cascade of boos descended on to the court. #3 actually took it pretty well for losing out on $10,000 though, he really just waved his arms to encourage the booing after it had gone on for 10 to 15 seconds already.

Baylor's band played the CBS College Hoops Theme, Zoot Suit Riot, Crazy Train, The Final Countdown, and Workout.

Texas's band played William Tell and Hold On I'm Comin'.

An unusual feature of the Baylor-Texas game was that the ball repeatedly got stuck in the bottom of the net when it went through, prompting a need for a dude to climb up on a ladder and "fix" it at the half, mainly by stretching the bottom of the net horizontally to create a larger gap.

A very cool Day #2 of games, and Pun City headed to Denny's to eat something, as it had neglected to do this after Waffle House in the morning.