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Thanks to ABC News for helping us out of a jam yesterday. We arrived in NYC, but FedEx lost track of our gear. It's hard to cover an event for television WITHOUT A CAMERA. A few calls to ABC News, and they let us use some of their gear for the day. It was a life saver! Thanks ABC!

Bumping around NYC, I'm still searching for Shocker Fans .. make that a Shocker Fan. Today is game day, so maybe I will see some black and yellow on the streets of NYC. A member of the Shocker staff told me yesterday that they expect about 500 fans to make the trip from Wichita. I also hear Wichita State's band is in town. I need them to beat a drum or blow a horn .. something to help me find them. I feel like I'm hunting big foot or jackalopes.. Shocker Fan has been very stealth on this trip.

I notice that the NIT gets very little attention. Which I should have expected because before the Shockers run to the NIT Final 4, I also paid very little to no attention to the NIT. There are no indications that a basketball tourney is even being played this week. No signs, ads, ..or fans. (yet).  The media coverage is on the low side. I ran into a TV crew from Alabama and some random newspaper guys, but that's about it.

Talking to some players and coaches yesterday, they get it. This experience is for the players and fans of the respective teams good enough to be here. All four of these teams could have played in the NCAA Big Dance, and in my opinion, all of them could have made a run like VCU or Butler. Could, would, should .. that's not going to happen. But it's still a treat, and the players I spoke with seem to be having a blast in the NIT.