Lounge goes on the road

The Lounge spent most of Wednesday traveling, flying out of Oakland into Seattle before boarding a "puddle jumper" for Yakima, which by the way, was the first time I've ever flown on a propeller plane. The best way to describe Yakima is to imagine any of the little towns along Interstate 5 or State Route 99 through the Central Valley - dry, hot, a lot of "old" but with the new building up.

During the time waiting for flights, the Lounge made a couple of observations:

· It occurred to me that I have never seen these players out of uniform. Some of these players I have covered for several years and have never seen them in civilian clothing.

· It's easy to forget that these guys are just young men playing a child's game. When watching these guys, they look and act like their major league counterparts - just as intense and focused. But when you see the guys off the field, it's easy to see that these are just 18-, 19-year-old kids - goofing around, acting silly. At some points, I felt like a chaperon on a high-school field trip.

One of the players had to take a cab to Oakland after first going to SFO, thinking that where the team was leaving from. A couple of players also experienced some air sickness during the flight from Oakland to Seattle. Names have been omitted to protect the embarrassed.

· Quote of the day: "This is just like the Las Vegas trip."

"Yeah, but it's Yakima."

· According to the tournament director, San Mateo and the Washington state champion are the co-favorites to win the tournament.

· A pre-tournament meeting with that same director: "If you're out on the street and you see a low-rider, don't say anything. They're liable to just shoot you."

***

In Bay Area sports news, it was a sad ending to the whole Larry Krueger-KNBR saga. The radio station announced late Tuesday night that Krueger, along with a morning-show producer and a long-time manager, were fired in the wake of Krueger's "Brain-dead Caribbean" comments.

It really is a shame. Krueger, in the heat of the moment, made a stupid comment. It shouldn't have cost him his job.

The good news is, hopefully KNBR can get back to what it does best - sports talk.

***

Here's a reality show that's bound to end up a disaster, in one way or another.

Apparently, ESPN is going to show the six-episode series, titled "Knight School," in which 16 players will vie for a walk-on spot with the Texas Tech basketball team.

Can you imagine? Not only did you get the benefits of training under Knight, who is undoubtedly a great coach, having played on and coached a national championship team, but you also get the chance to be berated , belittled - and possibly assaulted - by one of the best.

I don't know if there really will be a winner with that series.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.