So will we see you tomorrow night, Bill? @BillWalton @hottunaband @leonrussell #ArizonaWildcats pic.twitter.com/Cd37jSlY8A
— Rialto Theatre (@TheRialtoTucson) January 25, 2014As if you needed another reason to watch the Arizona men's basketball game tonight, how about this enticement: thanks to the rambling interests of former college and NBA great/color analyst/space cadet Bill Walton, our very own Rialto Theatre is going to get some love during the ESPN broadcast.
ESPN cameras spend time at the Rialto this afternoon to shoot footage of the concert venue, which drew Walton's attention a few weeks back when he was in town to work the Arizona-Colorado game. He mentioned, during one of his many random segues, that was excited to see the Rialto was playing host to jam acts Hot Tuna and Leon Russell on Jan. 25.
That prompted the Rialto to adjust their marquee, noting that the show had the "Bill Walton Seal of Approval." Walton and the ESPN folks caught wind of that, and with Walton working tonight's game against Oregon it turned into the perfect chance to promote the theater on national television, Rialto executive director Curtis McCrary said.
"We hope to get as much mileage out of this as we can," McCrary joked.
The 30-second spot will air at some point during the UA-Oregon game, likely as the broadcast comes out of a commercial, thus giving Walton ample time to compare the theater to a sweat lodge he'd visited in Grand Forks, N.D., or to a sweet VW bus he owned in college.
