Gregg Marshall Named WSU Men's B-Ball Coach

Gregg Marshall (left) has been named the 25th head men's basketball coach at Wichita State University, WSU Director of Athletics Jim Schaus (right) announced Saturday.
We had the KFDI Listener Appreciation Show at Charles Koch Arena (home of the Shockers) on Saturday night. I was there all day Friday setting up for the show and saw Schaus giving Marshall a tour of the arena.
This guy is a good coach. He has been at Winthrop. They have made the NCAA Tournament 7 times in 9 years. Go Shox!

Wichita's Phil Stacey Still On "American Idol"

Wichita's Phil Stacey made the cut Thursday night on "American Idol." He was in the bottom two, but made the cut. He will make it another week. Another Kansan will be on next weeks show. Martina McBride from Medicine Lodge, KS is the guest star on "American Idol" next week. She is coming to Wichita in May for a big concert. You can find out more about Phil at www.idolonfox.com.

Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007

NEW YORK - In books such as "Slaughterhouse-Five," "Cat's Cradle," and "Hocus Pocus," Kurt Vonnegut mixed the bitter and funny with a touch of the profound.
Vonnegut, regarded by many critics as a key influence in shaping 20th-century American literature, died Wednesday at 84. He had suffered brain injuries after a recent fall at his Manhattan home, said his wife, photographer Jill Krementz.
Vonnegut's more than a dozen books, short stories, essays and plays contained elements of social commentary, science fiction and autobiography.
He was sort of like nobody else," said fellow author Gore Vidal. "Kurt was never dull."
A self-described religious skeptic and freethinking humanist, Vonnegut used protagonists such as Billy Pilgrim and Eliot Rosewater as transparent vehicles for his points of view.
He lectured regularly, exhorting audiences to think for themselves and delighting in barbed commentary against the institutions he felt were dehumanizing people. Vonnegut was born on Nov. 11, 1922, in Indianapolis, and studied chemistry at Cornell University before joining the Army. His mother killed herself just before he left for Germany during World War II, where he was quickly taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge. He was being held in Dresden when Allied bombs firebombed the city.

Fire destroys longtime Johnny Cash home

Johnny Cash's longtime lakeside home, a showcase where he wrote much of his famous music and entertained U.S. presidents, music royalty and visiting fans, was destroyed by fire on Tuesday.
Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived in the 13,880-square-foot home from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003.
"So many prominent things and prominent people in American history took place in that house — everyone from Billy Graham to Bob Dylan went into that house," said singer Marty Stuart, who lives next door and was married to Cash's daughter, Cindy, in the 1980s.
Stuart said the man who designed the house, Nashville builder Braxton Dixon, was "the closest thing this part of the country had to Frank Lloyd Wright."
When Cash moved there, the road was a quiet country lane that skirts Old Hickory Lake. Kris Kristofferson, then an aspiring songwriter, once landed a helicopter on Cash's lawn to pitch him a song. Roy Orbison was his next-door neighbor for a while.
Parts of the landmark video for Cash's song "Hurt" was shot inside the house.
"It was a sanctuary and a fortress for him," Stuart said. "There was a lot of writing that took place there."
Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys lives on the same road as Cash. "Maybe it's the good Lord's way to make sure that it was only Johnny's house," Sterban said.
The property was purchased by Barry Gibb, a former member of the Bee Gees, in January 2006. Gibb and his wife, Linda, had said they planned to restore the home on Old Hickory Lake and hoped to write songs there. They had not yet moved in to the home, which they bought for a reported $2.3 million.
Gibb's spokesman, Paul Bloch, said the singer and his family are "both saddened and devastated by the news."
Dixon built the three-story house in 1967 for his own family, but Cash fell in love with it. Dixon was reluctant to sell, but Cash kept after him.
"It was a very, very unusual contemporary structure," said Cash's brother, Tommy Cash. "It was built with stone and wood and all kinds of unusual materials, from marble to old barn wood. I don't think there was a major blueprint. I think the builder was building it the way he wanted it to look."
The younger Cash said many holidays and family get-togethers were spent at the house. And while Johnny and June also owned a house in Jamaica and a second house in Tennessee, they considered this one to be their home.
"Johnny and June lived there the entire time they were married," Tommy Cash said. "It was the only house they lived in together until they both passed on."
The fire, in this suburb about 20 miles northeast of downtown Nashville, started around 1:40 p.m. Fire trucks arrived within five minutes, but the house was already engulfed in flames, Hendersonville Fire Chief Jamie Steele said.
Just a few hours later, there was almost nothing left except stone chimneys.
The cause is unknown, but Steele said the flames spread quickly because construction workers had recently applied a flammable wood preservative to the exterior of the house. The preservative was also being applied inside the house.
No workers were injured, but one firefighter was slightly hurt while fighting the fire, Steele said.
Cash's long career, which began in the 1950s, spanned rock 'n' roll, folk and country. His hits included "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line."

Family Time! Free Time! It's Here!

Well, it just happened. The Wichita Thunder just lost in the playoffs. They got beat 4-1 by Bossier-Shreveport tonight in Game #6 of the Central Hockey League Playoffs.
I am upset that they didn't win, but this does mean more time for me to spend with Madison, Zach, Kris and her kids. I am very excited about this. I enjoyed doing the games, but I have been so busy for the past few months that my health has been paying for it. I just went to the doctor yesterday and was diagnosed with a Severe Respiratory Infection, Bronchitis and fatigue, so the timing is perfect.

Sad Day For Wichita and Shockers Fans. Mark Turgeon is Headed South.

Turgeon leaves Wichita State for Texas A&M job

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Mark Turgeon was introduced as Texas A&M's basketball coach Tuesday, just five days after Billy Gillispie left for Kentucky. Turgeon comes to Texas A&M from Wichita State, where he led the Shockers to a 17-14 record in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2007. He was introduced at a news conference in a conference room above Reed Arena before being welcomed by about 2,000 A&M fans at a pep rally style event in the arena. The band played and fans whooped and hollered and some displayed signs that said things such as "Howdy" and "Welcome Turge, Gig Em."

I had the honor of having Coach Turgeon on the air with me a few times and he was a very nice guy. He even gave me his cell phone number. I just called him and congratulated him on the job and thanked him for everything that he did for Wichita. We will miss him. Good luck Coach!

Will He Stay Or Will He Go?

A source close to the situation said Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon has been contacted by Texas A&M and he will talk with athletic director Bill Byrne today.

This would really stink for us WSU fans. Turgeon is a great coach and a very nice guy. He was on the air with me numerous times at Magic 92.3 and was always nice when I saw him around town. We'll see what happens. It's all about the money and I would take it if it was the right amount.