Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello, welcome to the roundhouse podcast. This is Paul Saul and tromp of Wichita state university strategic communications. It is March, so it felt fitting to bring on Brad Pittman. Brad is a senior associate athletic director at Wichita state and he oversees facilities and event management. And he is topical. He is in the news because he's the tournament manager for the NCAA women's regional round, which is coming to Intrust bank arena, March 25th through the 28th Wichita state working with visit Wichita Sedgwick county. And the city of Wichita will play host to the sweet 16 and the elite eight games. They will then send a school to the final four in Minneapolis. So Brad, that's a good place to start, uh, the prestige, I guess, and the newness, uh, of getting the regional rounds Wichita hosted the first and second rounds back in 2011. So now when you look at the bracket, it's Wichita, regional Bridgeport, Connecticut Spokane, and Greensboro, North Carolina, w what does that add, or what does that mean to this process?
Speaker 2 00:01:15 I think, uh, having a regional round, as opposed to a first, second, just, just adds a layer of prestige to this year. Now, you know, we're going to have four teams that are in theory for the top 20 teams in the country. Uh, so the quality of basketball will be higher. Uh, the stakes are higher. Uh, the winter goes to the final four and there's going to be a group of young women that get to realize the dream here, which will be pretty cool to watch. So I think when you add all that together, it's just, it takes March madness and it adds a whole new layer to it, which makes it special.
Speaker 3 00:01:58 Hi, this is Rick Myanmar, president of Wichita state university check out the latest episode of the forward together podcast. Each episode, I sit down with different guests from Shakur nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita state university. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker 1 00:02:26 I'll give you a little bit of the history of the NCAA tournament down at Intrust bank arena. The women's tournament, uh, came in 2011 for the first and second rounds, 2018, the men's first and second rounds came to Intrust bank arena. Uh, they were scheduled to return in 2021, and then the tournament moved to Indianapolis. And then the men's tournament is back in 2025. Uh, so you become well acquainted with the, you know, with the NCAA process for bidding, for landing these events. What's top of your mind what components are, are, have to be there, a successful
Speaker 2 00:02:59 Bid. Yeah, I think first of all, obviously you have to have a quality facility and, uh, you know, Intrust bank arena is, is that it's a, it's a great facility, modern, uh, has all the amenities that you could possibly want. Uh, you need to be able to travel to and from the city, uh, with fair, with a fair amount of ease and, you know, the, the new airport that was put in in Wichita and the 2015, I think, adds that component for us. Uh, you need to have quality hotels. Uh, they want full service hotels for the teams and officials. Uh, and I think Wichita has a nice mix of, of those. I mean, we don't have a tremendous quantity, but, you know, the, the six or seven that we do have are really quality hotels that are, have maintained themselves and have had recent renovations, which makes it a very viable for us.
Speaker 2 00:03:48 And then I think the last thing you need is fan support. I mean, obviously that's what this is about, and if we don't sell tickets, why would anybody want to come here? Uh, so I think from that perspective, that's a huge component. Uh, we showed an 18 that we could support the men's tournament. We showed an 11, uh, we were the highest ranked site without a host team at it, uh, and sold over 9,000 total tickets. So we have shown that we can support these types of events. And I think those are the crucial things that, that we need to keep doing if we want to keep attracting these events to our city. So over,
Speaker 1 00:04:22 Yeah, I guess a decade plus of doing this, what have you learned about the bid process? What have you maybe tweaked or changed?
Speaker 2 00:04:30 Yeah, I think the big takeaways I have taken away from this is when you get your opportunity, you need to do well on it. Uh, so we, you know, we always try to put our best foot forward, uh, through our planning, through our, our execution of the plans. Uh, I have a great team in place and I would be remiss if I didn't recognize Mike Ross. Uh, he always handles the media side for me and does a tremendous job of being a great ambassador for our city and, and, uh, the venue. So I think that's important. Uh, I think, uh, continuing to try to reinvent yourself a little bit. I think it's, you know, people want to say, well, you got it, why change it? You know, life is about change. So I think you need to be on top of the things that you do.
Speaker 2 00:05:11 I think one of the things that we did at 18 that was really successful was the fan Fest that we put on downtown. And for anybody that was in Wichita that weekend, if you didn't have a ticket to the game, that was still the place to be. Uh, and we're going to bring that back on a, probably a smaller scale for the women's tournament this year. Uh, but I think that's important is to add that flavor, because what you're looking to do is create an experience for the student athlete. You know, this, this will be an opportunity for them when they come here. Some of these young women may be playing their last game ever, and you want them to be able to remember your site fondly is, uh, something that was pretty cool. So those are the things that I really look at, um, you know, from a tangible standpoint that we can make a difference and make ourselves a quality
Speaker 1 00:05:56 Host. You mentioned Mike Ross, and if you're, if you follow them on social media, he's kind of seems like he's kicked it into high gear over the last couple of weeks, getting things ready, give people an idea of the scope of the staff, the volunteers, you know, kind of the manpower it takes to pull this kind of a thing.
Speaker 2 00:06:13 Yeah, sure. So, I mean, my, my main core folks, obviously Mike's my main media relations, um, contact. Um, I work a lot with, uh, Josh Holland visit Wichita. He kind of handles the hotel side of things for us, uh, the interest banker and has done a great job of marketing those events. Uh, Christine and her group, uh, have been really on the forefront of this and have kind of hit the airwaves for us. And, and I also have my folks, uh, that are a little behind the scenes that, uh, kind of have helped us and we'll be stepping up, but we're going to be, when we get into game day, we're going to have 50 plus volunteers, uh, that will be handling everything from the media side of things, to check in teams in, to, you know, getting officials to, and from where we need to get them to, um, you know, helping out hotels and those sorts of things.
Speaker 2 00:07:03 So there's quite an army of folks and, uh, we've kind of tried to tap into the sport management group here at Wichita state to get those folks involved as much as we can. Cause I think it's a great learning experience for, for young folks that want to, uh, be in the sport industry. So that's kind of a thumbnail sketch of the folks. I mean, we're gonna, I'll, I'll pull my entire staff down there, which is, you know, eight to 10 folks, uh, for game days just to make sure I have that experience and trusted hands that can help us. But, uh, it's a lot of bodies, a lot of coordination and a lot of moving parts that will be happening.
Speaker 1 00:07:38 Yeah. Have you been able to use the fact that Wichita state is such a frequent host? Is that helpful for prospective students coming in to say, well, I can put this on my resume. I get this experience of working in this kind of thing.
Speaker 2 00:07:51 I know that something that Mike, uh, preaches a lot over there, uh, in sport management. And actually if you go over to their office, they have some, some of the March madness chairs from the men's tournament that they, that they purchase and have just sit in their lobby. But yeah, I think it's something that they sell a lot of, it's something that we sell to, to gas and prospective students as they come through as this is an opportunity for you to experience something that not a lot of people get to experience and it's a great resume builder. So I think it's a great marketing tool and one that I'm hoping, hopefully we can continue to keep.
Speaker 1 00:08:22 So moving from hosting the first and second rounds to now the regional rounds, sending a school to the final four, what's the difference in preparations staging those kinds of,
Speaker 2 00:08:31 Yeah, the big difference is just the time delay. Um, you know, obviously we'll know on March 13th, the 16 possible teams that could be here. Uh, but we really can't do a whole lot at that point, uh, because we don't know who they are. Uh, and we'll watch as the games go on, you know, by March 20th or 21st we'll know our, our four teams and that's kind of when we hit high year. So we kind of get a, we kind of get a week where we're in flux a little bit and can still do a little bit of work, but we're just kind of also waiting. But I think from that aspect, it's hopefully the teams have been through around there too. So they, they kind of are on there or on their game when they show up in Wichita and they're a little more prepared and a lot of times you'll get teams that are tournament veterans. So these things are second nature to them and, and you have less issues to deal with. So I think those are the biggest things. That's just kind of the way to game at this point.
Speaker 1 00:09:28 So I, if you look at your, uh, ESPN or NCAA bracket projections today, Louisville was the top seat in this region. There were some familiar names Creighton's Southern Illinois and Nebraska. Baylor was the two seed Arkansas. How much are you and your team paying attention to, to that kind of thing. And in schools that, you know, may be, have a good chance of coming here,
Speaker 2 00:09:49 We're paying a lot attention to that. I think for them, from this perspective in this tournament, uh, that's going to determine a lot of our marketing strategy come March 13th is we're going to look at those 16 teams. We're going to see who's in a geographic location to us, and we're going to hit them with some, with some advertising communication about here's, how you can get tickets. And here's how you can be here. You know, we've had some communication with some schools already with, you know, the Kansas states and the Kansas and the Oklahoma states of the world or the Oklahomas of the world, um, already. But, uh, I mean, you just don't know who you're going to get and until the brackets announced and, uh, the final 16 revealed that was done on Monday, you know, we have Louisville, we have Baylor, we got to Arizona, we got an Iowa, which are four very quality teams, uh, and, and balers and in close enough proximity that they can bring a nice contingent. So we're hopeful, we'll get a nice mix. And, you know, um, our goal is to kind of fill the arena as much as we possibly can and, uh, put on a great event,
Speaker 1 00:10:51 I would think Baylor would travel well with the success they've had and Iowa and Caitlyn Clark, that would seem to be a real, a real gym, a real bonus for Wichita they would get.
Speaker 2 00:11:00 Yeah, I think that would, I mean, the, the teams that we've kind of been looking at, it's been the balers, the Iowa's the Iowa states, uh, the Oklahomas of the world are, are all quality programs that would have an opportunity to be sent here. And I think any one of them, uh, would be great additions to us. And what else?
Speaker 1 00:11:17 So you mentioned Kansas, Kansas state, Missouri state is another team. They all seem to be pretty solidly in the NCAA mix, but maybe more in a eight seed, nine seed kind of range, if two or three of those real local teams get sent, does that, how does that change your, your preparation?
Speaker 2 00:11:34 I think that what that does is it changes us from a, from a ticket sales and, uh, an, a strategy outside. Uh, you're now assuming you're going to have more folks in town, you're, you're hopeful, your auxiliary events will be bigger, um, more heavily attended, uh, you'll have more folks in town. So I think that changes a little bit, uh, those preparations that changes your marketing a little bit, uh, you know, if Kansas K state managed to get through the first and second round, we're going to hit those areas heavy with, with marketing and their alumni associations there through their athletic department. Um, and also maybe change a little bit what you do inside, uh, you know, the arena we'll have to probably staff up a little bit, you know, the goal, the goal, all along with this tournament and kind of what I've used as a tagline is I'd like to raise the curtain, uh, because the plan is to have the curtain down for just the lower bowl, which is about 6,500 seats. Uh, but it would be really nice to make them raise it. Uh, it would be nice to have that demand and have that number of folks there. So it's just kind of those small details that will change a lot.
Speaker 1 00:12:38 Describe the timeline. When do you, you know, when what's day one and preparations for an event like this and where are you now,
Speaker 2 00:12:46 You know, day one for the women's tournament was, uh, last summer. And really at that point, you were just kind of getting acquainted with, with kind of their operations manual, which is about a 200 page document that they send out and, uh, just kind of getting your feet wet on what the expectations are, what to expect and, uh, flowing through that. I think right now we're, we're probably in the, what I would call the hot and heavy phase, uh, cause you're, you're getting down. Um, you're starting to see a lot of deadlines with equipment that needs to be ordered signage that needs to be, um, printed and updated and supplies that need to get here and really honing in on those final touches as we did toward selection Sunday, which for the most part is kind of the kickoff to everything. So, um, that's kind of where we are right now. I think, uh, as you mentioned, Mike is hot and heavy in it and I've started devoting a lot of my time to this now was just kind of nailing down those details, uh, to make sure that everybody has a seamless transition to Wichita.
Speaker 1 00:13:49 So how many ideas over the years have you picked up from visiting other sites, observing other sites, those kinds of things. Is there a kind of a collective, you know, swap of ideas in this world?
Speaker 2 00:14:00 Uh, a little bit, yeah, I think, uh, on the men's side of things, they always give you the opportunity to travel the year before you host. So we were in Tulsa in 2017 and saw them. And really for me, that's kind of the watershed moment, so to speak, uh, I'm a visual person. So once, once you see that action, you're like, okay, yeah, we can make this happen. Um, otherwise it, it can seem really daunting when you read 200 pages of information and it's just, wow. Uh, so that was helpful. Um, you know, before we hosted it in, in 2011, I went down and saw Oklahoma the year before, cause they hosted a first and second round. So that was helpful as well. So there's a lot of that, uh, seeing how others make it work, um, kind of picking up on both logistical items and there's also some sharing of ideas.
Speaker 2 00:14:49 I think somebody, you know, an idea forward, it was probably a little late for this, for this venue or in this go round, but you know how we maybe can enhance our bids, uh, you know, by, by soliciting local companies and maybe pre-selling of tickets and just kind of those types of things. So there's a little bit of that and I think it's always helpful. I mean, we're like everybody else, we kind of just take ideas from other people and try to implement them. And there's, you know, as always like to say, there's no makes no sense to try to recreate the wheel when it's already out there, let's just bring it to us and make it work for us.
Speaker 1 00:15:23 What's the most important thing that maybe goes on behind the scenes, in the, uh, you know, in the, in the bowels of interest bank arena that fans don't see, but it's really crucial to pulling this kind of thing off smoothly.
Speaker 2 00:15:34 Well, it depends on who you ask, but if you ask the media, it's making sure they have a hot meal ready to go and, and they're happy, but, uh, on a serious side, I think it's just really, for us, what I focus on is I want the student athlete, the moment they roll up to the arena, their journey through the arena as a seamless one, um, they get in fine, they get to their locker room. Everything's where it needs to be. They have what they need, they get to their media obligations or out to practice. And there's just no hiccups along the way. So there's a lot of those little details, making sure, you know, their, their coolers are stocked with drinks. They have, you know, something that's minuscule is still up in a shower. You wouldn't necessarily think of, but, uh, that needs to be handled. Uh, signage is where it needs to be. Uh, folks are there to direct them where they need to go. Basketballs are out for shooter rounds. Uh, those types of details are the things I focus on, uh, because really at the end of the day, that's what measures you have success or not successes, what their experience with.
Speaker 1 00:16:35 So you have Micross do the media because they're the crankiest fussiest people around and he's, he's well equipped to handle
Speaker 2 00:16:42 Well, Mike does a great job with them and, uh, uh, I'm, I'm blessed in that regard because I really don't have to deal with it. And not that I don't want to, but, uh, it's, he does a great job of managing that aspect, which takes a lot off my plate. So
Speaker 1 00:16:55 There is a lot of competition for these NCAA tournaments, both the women and the man, uh, we're in an area of the country where a lot of cities have invested in arenas, uh, Oklahoma city, Kansas city de Moines, Omaha. Well, what's that competition been like? And how is Wichita managed to, you know, elbow its way in and, and get in this rotation?
Speaker 2 00:17:16 Yeah, the competition is fierce. Uh, and I think that's evident by the fact that, um, as you look, you see a lot of new venues coming online and you see the NCAA go into a lot of places they haven't been before. And that's kind of, one of their things is they want to experience new places. Uh, and they want to get out and fortunate or unfortunate. We're in an area of the country that has a lot of venues. So it it's, it can be tough sledding. I think what the consent a part and what I've tried to drill down, uh, with, with our folks, as we've worked on this is we can make a difference in two areas. One is fan support. Uh, if we continue to have the crowds, we have the support we have from our fans, whether it's inside the arena or outside the arena, um, there's no reason why the NCA wouldn't come back. And I think the other area we can make a difference in is our preparation and our execution. Uh, it's ultimately, it's the student athlete experience. If they have a great experience, if people rave about what you've done, if you make it as easy as possible for this tournament to be a success they're going to come back. Um, those are, those are the two areas I always focus on that I think really can set us apart and really have set us apart. Uh, so far as we've done this
Speaker 1 00:18:30 Fact college basketball is a big deal here. You know, you got the Wichita state fans. In addition, you've got Kansas, Kansas state, other schools pretty close. You think that's a, that's a significant factor in helping Wichita?
Speaker 2 00:18:42 Well, it, it is without a doubt, I think, um, I go back to 2011, the fact that we had 9,000 tickets sold for a first and second round, and we didn't have a team in it, uh, speaks volumes about the city and the support that they give, uh, to our programs. Uh, and, and just to basketball in general, uh, we were the highest ranked side of anybody that didn't have a host team. And we were seventh overall of all the sites. And I think nine of them had host teams. We even beat some, some areas that had a host team at it. So that's important. They noticed that stuff, uh, because ultimately, if you're a student athlete, you don't want to play in front of an empty arena. You want to play in front of people and you want people to have a good time. So I'm, I'm hopeful. You know, I set an unofficial goal of 10,000 total tickets for this, uh, tournament. I'm hoping we can blow that out of the water and, and, and show the NCAA that we are truly basketball fans that we care about. Women's basketball. And this is a good event for us. Do you
Speaker 1 00:19:39 Know where you are at this point with
Speaker 2 00:19:41 Tickets? I think last I looked, we were right around 4,000 total sold. Um, you know, the challenge is we don't have a local team. Uh, so we don't, we're not fortunate like Bridgeport has Yukon right down the road and you kind of traditionally always really good. So if it's going to be important for us to latch on to whoever is in our region and really focus on them and, and I'm hopeful is as it gets closer and the average basketball fan of Wichita hears about this, they'll want to get out and watch, uh, this event. I mean, it's really high quality basketball and, and, and fun to watch. So I'm hope I'm hopeful. We can gather some of those folks to
Speaker 1 00:20:20 4,000 without knowing the field would seem like that's a pretty good place to
Speaker 2 00:20:24 Start from. Yeah. I'm very happy with that. I think obviously it always slipped out more, but I think, um, you know, we're, we're in a situation where we're, I think we're in good shape and it's just going to be a matter of who we did and, uh, I'm hopeful we can appeal to some other folks and get them out with,
Speaker 1 00:20:41 So the men's tournament will return in 20 25, 20 18 was a big success supposed to been back in 2021. Describe that process and maybe how it's changed over the time you've been working on the, on the men's side of it.
Speaker 2 00:20:55 It just gets more and more competitive, um, is really kind of the big difference and kind of what they have preached over the last, uh, handful of years is student athlete experience. And how can you set yourself apart as a host? Uh, there's a lot of folks that have a building and consult tickets and habit of, uh, have a basketball game. Um, but there's not a lot of people that are able to put on a high quality of that and that, and that is more than just basketball. So I think that's the biggest difference that I have seen is how do you keep making yourself relevant? I think one of the huge things we did at 18 that I think still gets a lot of buzz. It's 14,000 people for practice tech. I mean, that was, that was huge. Uh, I think it surprised a lot of us, but trying to recreate that is going to be difficult. Uh, but I'm, I'm looking forward to that challenge in 25. Cause I think it'll be, uh, I think it'll can be done again. So just, you know, looking at those things, I think, uh, you know, in terms of the specifications, they don't really change a whole lot. It's still the same, but it's just, how can you put on a high quality of that? How can you differentiate yourself from your neighbor because we're all in fierce competition for these events.
Speaker 1 00:22:12 So something like the crowd for the practice day, are you able to highlight that in the, in the bid, are you able to use pictures, those kinds of things to show?
Speaker 2 00:22:21 Yeah, we, we, uh, we have used that and we will continue to use that as much as we possibly can and, you know, unfortunately the women's regional, all the practices are closed, so we didn't have an opportunity to, uh, to do that for this, but that certainly would have been something we want to, if, if we have been able to,
Speaker 1 00:22:37 So Intrust bank arena opened in 2010, you would have been here for the kind of the community discussion. What direction were you going to go? There was a vote on the sales tax and opened up. Uh, and again, there's so much competition in this region for these tournaments where you were you confident in 2010, that Intrust bank arena was going to work and that Wichita was going to be able to get into this rotation.
Speaker 2 00:23:00 You know, you're not, it's hard to say. I mean, you just never know until you're in it. Obviously the venue is, is a high quality venue and you hope with, uh, with a brand new venue that you will be given an opportunity, but a lot of folks don't know is we went through two bid cycles and bid and we did get it. And I, I really think one of the huge linchpins for us as a community, uh, was the successful shocker basketball and our 2013 final four. Um, that basically kind of put us on the map in terms of fan support and open the eyes. I think to the NCAA on how much basketball is loved here. Uh, I can re I can remember in their post final four visits that they do every site, they actually went down to the arena and walked around it and spent some time there.
Speaker 2 00:23:51 Uh, and I think it was the first time they had seen it a while it had been built and an operation and it kind of gave them, uh, eyeballs on it. And, and they were, I remember the takeaway was, yeah, this, this building can work. This building can work for what we're trying to do. And, and you look at, I think it was right around that time. The new airport was coming online and, uh, our hotels were making investments in themselves. So there was kind of a nice shift and dynamic in the city at that time that I think really helped us. But, uh, you know, the venues want peace. You can have the greatest building ever, if you don't have the support and the other infrastructure in your city, you're not going to go far. And I think, um, I think Wichita did a really nice job of getting on the map with this
Speaker 1 00:24:34 2017, the arena upgraded the, what I will call the old town insurance that side was that a significant factor is that
Speaker 2 00:24:42 It has, yeah, I think they did that. And that was more trial and error, you know, as you open a venue, you think, you know, traffic patterns, but they didn't realize that half of their patrons were going to enter from that side of the building and the old entrance just didn't fit in. And I help, I think that's helped them with, uh, engross of folks and making it a more enjoyable experience instead of standing in line. So that's just lessons learned that you kind of go through as, as a building operator and I think they've done a good job adapting to it.
Speaker 1 00:25:10 So the men's tournament in 2025, when do you, what's the timeline for beginning preparations for that?
Speaker 2 00:25:16 Typically if they stay on there on what their schedule has been, we will get communication probably late 23 with, um, the option to go visit a 24 site. And, uh, I, I, off the top of my head, I don't know where those sites are. Uh, but usually they assigned you as a future host to go look at one of those sides and just hang out and see how they do things. And you're usually included on some of the communication that goes on just so you have eyeballs on it. Um, so that's typically one that will start. And then once that, uh, 24 tournament is over, um, that summer it'll start pretty hot and heavy with information flowing back and forth, uh, for the men's side of things.
Speaker 1 00:25:58 So as important as these NCAA tournaments are, I'm not sure it's more important than your work on the rolling stones concert in 2006, it's now been 15 years. So you have any good rolling stones, concert stories that now you feel safe in, uh, in, in revealing,
Speaker 2 00:26:14 You know, that's a great question. I think I biggest takeaway from that was the whole night and day was just a blur from, um, everything that went on. And, and obviously I was way younger in my career at the time, but, uh, that was, that was definitely an experience I'll never forget. And, and, you know, you, I kinda wish you could go through it again just to kind of enjoy, enjoy it more, but I don't have any great ones other than, uh, you know, making the, in the guys hung out in the arena. And I remember they eat off, they were eating off nicer China than I have at my house. So, um, but, uh, there, their dressing room lady, she was very feisty and, uh, she got what she wanted and she was, I enjoyed dealing with her, but, uh, she was one of those that you don't question what she asked for. You just make sure you get it done. And, um, her job was to make sure those guys were happy, but, uh, definitely a, a great experience. And it's still the largest concert ever in the city of Wichita with 32,000 plus people. And I'm not sure that mark will ever be broke.
Speaker 1 00:27:17 That was quite an I definitely the thing, one of the things I enjoyed is they seemed the band seemed to get kind of the uniqueness or the improbability of the rolling stones playing in a football stadium in Wichita, Kansas. Did you get a sense of that from being around the, the, the rolling stones mechanism?
Speaker 2 00:27:36 Yeah. I mean, basically the whole mantra of that tour was we're going to places we've never been before, and we're going to these, um, areas that normally we wouldn't go to, uh, we want to expand our reach a little bit. So, you know, I can remember our athletic director at the time I brought this up to him and he was like, no way, they're not coming to Wichita. I'm like, okay, like you calling me. But, uh, um, you know, it's one of those that the stones say they're coming, they're coming. Uh, it wasn't, I will take zero credit on convincing them to come here because it certainly wasn't something I did. Uh, but I was happy to be on the end of that phone call.
Speaker 1 00:28:12 So they reached out
Speaker 2 00:28:12 To you. They did, yes. Yeah, they were, they were looking for places and they, they found us and it was kinda, it was difficult at first to get people to believe that they were coming. And I can remember, uh, because their presence on campus was about 10 days. Uh, there was significant conversation because we shut down one of the main parking lots that was south of, uh, Sustenna where shocker hall now is, and there was significant conversation about, do we want that disruption to our campus? And, you know, I'm glad we did it because I think it was the right thing for the city, but, uh, obviously understood those concerns. But how can you say no to the stones when they went off play in your venue? Yes.
Speaker 1 00:28:52 So when they called, did you think it was a prank call? Did it take them awhile to convince you that they were really from the rolling stone?
Speaker 2 00:28:58 I was probably naive enough at the time to believe them. It took me a while to convince other people that, uh, this was for real, um, you know, R R a D. He didn't believe me the first time. I'm not sure. He believed me the second time. And, uh, finally, finally, they're like, oh, okay, this he's actually serious about this. Maybe we should pay attention.
Speaker 1 00:29:18 The thing I enjoyed the most was the people that said they weren't going to go. The rolling stones are too old. They wouldn't enjoy it. And then they went and then they walked out of the stadium thing saying, oh, now I, now I get it. That was just, that was just a great Eve.
Speaker 2 00:29:34 Yeah, it was. I mean, it was amazing evening. I remember the weather, you know, that day, I think it was reached a high at 90, but it was a perfect night. You couldn't ask for, I've been very fortunate with the two largest defense I've put on. We had great weather that day, and I remember the men's tournament in 18. We had great weather. So, um, I'm hope I'm not due for bad weather, but I'm hoping we get, get another round of a wonderful weather in late March this year. Again,
Speaker 1 00:30:13 Thank you for listening to the roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita state university, strategic communications. We appreciate your time. We encourage you to rate review, subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts, such as on iTunes or Google play. You can find more roundhouse
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Speaker 4 00:30:35 And they let him pass it up court. And then it gets picked off a long free by Pango snow. Good. One second. It's over. It is over and what your tongue has beaten. The number one team in the nation to go to the sweet 16, go crazy. What Utah.
