Very good and interesting discussion here this morning! Thoughtful conversation. Pat, would you please post the link to this New York Times story? Or maybe email the link to me? rob@lasvegassun.com.

Though the Las Vegas Sun can run NY Times stories in our print edition via our syndication agreement, we didn't understand until recently that we also had the rights to post a small number of Times stories on our website, as well. I will try to get that story posted to our site and attached to this story, if you all would like.

Everything about this iBooks textbook story has been enjoyable, at least for me, this morning. This discussion is great, and I thought Paul Takahashi's story was wonderfully done and super informative.

Big thanks to all of you!

Having grown up in Kansas -- and having my heart broken by more Roy Williams-coached Jayhawk teams than I'd care to remember -- I can throw out a few quick thoughts on this:

It was totally a part of a Roy Williams team's DNA at KU to get beaten by schools that in no way, shape or form should have beaten the Jayhawks. As one coach said, the Jayhawks are starting five McDonald's All Americans and we start five guys who happen to like to eat at McDonald's.

But that didn't always matter.

And if your school began with a letter "B" and played in conference no one has ever heard of, you were basically guaranteed a victory against Williams' Jayhawks.
:)

I'm not saying that to take away from UNLV's win over North Carolina, at all. I'm just saying that it was very much a part of Williams' M.O. to not have his teams prepared to play every night, especially against certain opponents.

As for Wichita State, they are extremely solid. And The Roundhouse (now known as Koch Arena) will likely be packed to the gills and absolutely the most hostile environment that the Rebels will have played in this year.
http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.db...

Kansas might be in the Bible belt, but once it gets cold outside, basketball is the state's religion, and that place will be packed like an Easter service.

And the Shockers, who thrive on being the underdog, would love to treat this as a statement game -- that they deserve more respect for having beaten a Top 25 team. It also might be the game that could get them into the Big Dance in March. They will likely come into their game against UNLV incredibly motivated. In some ways, this game will mean much more to them than it might mean to us.

I'm not even coming close to saying that this will be a harder game for UNLV to win than what beating UNC was. I'm just saying that Wichita State will be coming from a much different place than the Tar Heels were.

16238798: There is a window at Gold & Silver Pawn that is open during late night/early morning hours, but the main part of the store -- the part you see in the television show -- isn't open 24 hours. People line up in the morning to get into that part of the store. Good question!

@boftx -- I agree. I was just talking to someone in the office and we both agree that if we ever get to do this again, we *have* to include Oscar!

RIP, Steve Jobs. So sad.

VegasHope: We completely agree, except we're planning on more than just a few stories from the perspective of teachers, students and the students' families.
:)

The bulk of this series will be from the very perspectives you've suggested. Plus, we'll have lots of other great involvement from those at these turnaround schools that we're still working through the details.

There also will be lots of the other types of the stories you have suggested. When the Las Vegas Sun has done a project of this scale in the past, we've typically dedicated one writer to the project. But for this project, our plans are to dedicate two writers for the entire year.

We hope you'll continue to share your ideas and thoughts with us!
Thanks!
rob

There's a reason why boftx is one of my favorite commenters on this site. He's both logical and practical. Even when folks don't agree with him on here, it's hard to argue that he's not a pragmatist.

He just accurately forecasted the weather in Las Vegas for the next 90 days or so. And he did it with two sentences using fewer than 20 words, along with four pieces of punctuation, which is pretty dang impressive. On all accounts.

Motley Crue is playing out at Red Rock tonight and, of course, that band's lead singer -- Vince Neil -- has all sorts of ties to Las Vegas.

He lives here. He owns (or co-owns) a bunch of businesses here. And, he can get in trouble here from time-to-time.
:)

http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-re...

All of us here in the Las Vegas Sun newsroom watching the national spelling bee are very proud of you, Dakota Jones!