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Houston Chronicle Jerome Solomon column: CommentaryMar 29, 2010 (Houston Chronicle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Baylor coach Scott Drew felt the roar of the crowd and almost involuntarily lapsed into jumping jacks in front of the bench. He was asking the crowd at Reliant Stadium to make more noise, but it couldn't. It was that loud. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was so excited after he yelled at Nolan Smith to take a shot and the junior guard drilled a 3-pointer for a four-point possession, that he slapped Nolan on the back. Seconds later, when Baylor called for a timeout, he leaped into the air and pumped his fist. It was that electric. CBS announcer Jim Nantz was in a sprint through the stadium back to his midcourt perch near the end of halftime, but took a moment to accept a high-five from former President George Bush, who was seated near the Duke band. This was that much of the place to be even if you were in upper-deck seats that are pretty much about just being here. Reliant was rocking There were moments during Sunday's regional final, won by Duke 78-71, when the crowd was so pumped, the building so juiced, that you would think it could not get any better. But it can, and it probably will. Next year. As spectacular as the atmosphere often was -- thanks to the 93,000 who came to Reliant over the weekend -- the stakes will be higher and many more fans are expected to be here for the 2011 Final Four. The 47,492 in attendance Sunday made for the second-largest gathering for a regional final in NCAA history. (Ford Field in Detroit set the record in 2008, and holds the Final Four record.) Of course, should a Texas school such as Baylor or Texas A&M advance to the Final Four, there will be a strong home-crowd feel in Reliant next April, as was the case Sunday. Final Fours don't require local flavor to be huge events, but the odds of selling every seat at Reliant will be affected by the proximity to Houston of the teams that make the national semifinals. (Ford Field set the Final Four record with Michigan State.) Though it seems unnatural for basketball games to be in football stadiums, Reliant has proved to be a solid venue where big-time basketball is right at home, even with plenty of room in the upper deck. There were no complaints from players on any of the four teams that were here -- Duke beat Purdue and Baylor topped St. Mary's before 45,000 in Friday's semifinals -- about depth perception. "This was a great event," SMG-Reliant Park director of marketing Nina Jackson said. "We had a great crowd and of course we couldn't be happier that we had the second-highest total in attendance for any preliminary round session in Tournament history." This football town knows how to throw a basketball tournament. The NCAA is pleased. Good thing too, with the Final Four also scheduled to be here in 2016. Local flavor No. 3 seed Baylor and top-seeded Duke provided a good taste of what we might expect next year, as the two teams engaged in a thriller. And it was a decidedly pro-Bears crowd, with at least three-fourths of the crowd backing Baylor. "It was crazy all the love and support that we got from our fans all weekend," Baylor sophomore Anthony Jones said. "Our stadium only holds a little over 10,000, and to see 20-25,000 of our fans was unbelievable. They were great." Bears senior point guard Tweety Carter said he wished he could thank each Baylor fan individually for the support. Many Baylor players probably didn't know the school had that many followers. Unfortunately for the Baylor backers, Smith, who scored a game-high 29 points, and Duke weren't too bothered by noise. "That was a great atmosphere," Krzyzewski said. "We won an outstanding basketball game. I thought it was a great college basketball game." And it was a good taste of what we will see next year. [email protected] To see more of the Houston Chronicle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.HoustonChronicle.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Houston Chronicle Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |