And They Shall Gather At Kelly's

Ah, it's Tournament Time. The time when the nuttiness that is Iowa State men's basketball truly comes to the fore.

Of course, being good little Iowans, people like to partake in this nuttiness away from their homes, working under the assumption that you do not poison the well out of which you drink. It's one thing to get nutty at home, where everyone will be talking about your antics for months---perhaps years---on end. It's entirely another thing entirely to gather in a bar that has acted as a veritable home away from home for years, and then get crazy. It's safe, it's familiar, yet it's also somewhat dangerous because there's no threat of neighborly scorn to keep you in line. A good time to be had all around, no?

Well, that and they can get some shopping in at the same time.

No doubt, you are wondering what the hell I am talking about. The Big XII tournament begins today at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. We used to call this tourney, "Big Eight's." We can't do that any longer, unfortunately, but it's still an excuse to go to KC to get ripped. Because, most of the time, this tournament is as close as our beloved Cyclones get to the "actual" madness that is March for basketball fans and we feel we must take advantage of the opportunity while we've got the chance. KC is about a five hour drive from Ames, four if you're coming from Des Moines, and every March, right about this time, thousands of Iowa State fans descend upon KC like a swarm of locusts. Some of them, invariably, wind up at Kelly's.

Kelly's is the unofficial Iowa State Bar in Westport. If you want the Mizzou bar, you go here. I have no idea where the other teams' fans do their drinking, but I'm sure they have their own venues, with their own legends, sorted out. It's just the way things work. Kelly's, to be blunt about it, is about two steps up from a dive. It's in Westport, which, in the contrary notion that always seems to surround fine drinking establishments, resides in a dump of a neighborhood. Westport, not to put too fine a point on it, is not someplace you want to get lost late at night. But, if you're with a group of people, who have a. no tickets to the games and b. nothing better to do over a long weekend than scope out a booth early and then sit in said booth for the better part of a weekend, well, this is the place for you. Of course this doesn't mention the fact that you're bound to run into people you knew in school. It's sort of like a mini-homecoming, or VEISHEA, only you don't have to go anywhere near Ames to see these people.

It should be particularly exciting at Kelly's this year. I'm sure the fans are rarin' to go, and there is probably one guy who's is staking out the entrance to Kelly's as I write this, just waiting for the clock to strike eleven, so they can get in there and snag a premium viewing spot. After all, we did knock off Kansas this year---at the Fieldhouse. We got close with Oklahoma and Okie State. It could happen and it's best to scope out prime territory while they've got the chance. Considering the competition, the Clones haven't done too badly for themselves and I'm thinking that they'll make it through Baylor and Texas Tech today and tomorrow, and will then be summarily trounced by Oklahoma (#1 seed and Big XII regular season champion) on Saturday. Some say they're on the bubble for one of the 64 slots that will be awarded come Sunday, but I doubt it, unless by some miracle they manage to win the tournament. But that would mean knocking off the likes of Kansas or Oklahoma State but only after they knocked off Oklahoma. There's Cinderella potential with this team, but not that much Cinderella potential, if you get what I'm saying.

So, it should be interesting. For the next two days anyway. Saturday will, no doubt, be a heartbreaker for all of us ISU fans. But there's plenty of fun to be had in the meantime and I wish I was in KC this weekend, slurping shitty beer at Kelly's with everyone else.