Battle of Alumni

Senator Dole is a Kansas Grad

Of course the NCAA Finals are tonight and people are debating chances of each team. I would like to take a different approach in breaking down the game. Instead of studying x's and o's, backcourt size, and free throw shooting. let's take a look at the notable alumni from each school. My reasoning is as follows: Whichever team has the most distinguished alumni, has the most power, and therefore will hold the deciding X-factor in the game tonight. (So maybe the reasoning doesn't work)

Politics - Fred Thompson (Memphis) vs. Bob Dole (Kansas). A Republican Presidential Candidate verse the Republican's actual nominee. Fred was definitely a disappointment in this years race, but he was in Law and Order and Die Hard. Anybody that stands with Bruce Willis gets the victory.

Business - Ken May (Memphis) vs. Alan Mulally (Kansas). Ken brings quite a bit of money to the table in being the CEO of Fedex Kinko. Alan , as CEO of Ford Motor Company is no slouch either. In the end, we must give the slight victory to Mr. May. As much as I love a good American company like Ford, I would buy a Honda if it was up to me and Fedex Company made us less reliant on the governmental post office.

Non-basketball athlete - Isaac Bruce (Memphis) vs. Gale Sayers (Kansas) - As much fun as it was to watch the greatest show on earth featuring Kurt Warner and Isaac Bruce, you must go with the Hall of Famer here. Some mention the Kansas Comet as the greatest of all time had it not been for his career ending kee-injuries.

Movie/Television - in perhaps our most important category - Wink Martindale (Memphis) vs. Scott Bakula/Don Johnson. What a matchup of TV legends. Scott starred in the unforgettable series of the early 90's Quantum Leap, and Don Johnson dazzled the ladies in Nash Bridges. However, even Scott and Don can't compete with the legend of Wink Martindale. His gameshows Tic Tac Dough and Trivial Pursuit brought years of entertainment to all ages. The value of Wink in the hearts of Americans is just too much for Scott and Don to handle.

There you have it folks. Both schools are loaded with legendary alumni, but the scales are tipped in Memphis favor tonight. Should the Tigers win, an immediate thank you call to Fred Thompson and others should be in order. Tonight, just remember, you might be interested in the game...but not as much as Wink Martindale.

Lastly, I had never seen this before. Classic moment in college basketball.