Mile High Sports Magazine March 2010 : Page 53
J n B Burianek only has limited mories of the actual games that re nt years e played during the prestigious t he helped bring to Denver 20 s ago. Despite the bright lights flaring throughout old McNichols Arena, despite the massive amount of talent that graced the floor that weekend, Burianek had a job to do. So when Burianek, chairman Roger Kinney and the rest of the Denver organizing committee brought the NCAA men’s Final Four to McNichols 20 years ago, Burianek spent less time getting wowed by the boggling array of talent during the games than he did keeping a radio pressed to his ear, making sure every finite detail of college basketball’s marquee event was operating smoothly. “Once the games start, from the management side, we always have a lot going on,” Burianek said. “The arena is open. Whatever food we have for the press, we have to make sure it is ready at the right time. The arena has to do that, but you still have to spot-check it. If cheerleaders don’t do what they are supposed to do, then someone has to go talk to them. We were constantly on radios. At that time, you couldn’t have cameras, so if there was a flash, someone had to go check it out. “It was constant all throughout the games. It was not a time that you relaxed until it was over. One of the nice things was that you got to sit courtside with the radio. You’re right there front row, so you couldn’t help but see a lot of the stuff.” IN AN AGE WHEN EARLY DEFECTIONS FOR THE PROS WERE MUCH LESS PROMINENT, EACH TEAM FEATURED A BEVY OF EXPERIENCED STARS THAT, COLLECTIVELY, IS RARELY DUPLICATED IN MODERN FINAL FOURS. milehighsports. com MARCH MA CHR 201020 01 53
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