In the ever-present talk about points, patronage, seating, unseating, assignment and reassignment for Kansas University basketball tickets, another word has emerged that concerns both happy and unhappy fans: blackout.

Would the new “suits” running the Jayhawk show ever blank telecasts for games that are not sold out? Even the “haves” have discussed it in view of the new high-dollar approach to operation of the heavily staffed KU athletic department. Some ticket-holders can’t make all games but are able to turn to the tube for backup. Everyone, prince or pauper, would miss that option.

With coach Bill Self’s 2004-05 team capable of dominating the Big 12 Conference and maybe even capturing an NCAA title, it seems almost impossible Allen Fieldhouse wouldn’t be sold out all the time. Even with four key seniors gone prior to 2005-06, Kansas with its wealth of talent could remain boffo.

Doubtless you know people who currently hold KU tickets who say they won’t renew them if too much money is mandated or if they are assigned to one row short of the roof. No problem, say others, who think they long have been entitled to better placement on the basis of long-term giving and involvement. Same with people of means who are willing to pay whatever is required to stay well-put or get better off. Fans may give up tickets but the lines waiting to snatch them are long and eager, no threat to the cash drawer.

But suppose some lean years come, or a wartime economy creates losses?

It remains to be seen how many perturbed people who say they won’t renew will stick by their guns. Original emotions may fade; Jayhawk devotion might prevail. They’ll take what they can get, even if isn’t what they’d prefer. But what if enough people chuck it in and there aren’t sufficient pointsmiths to plug the gaps?

Recently, a friend joked that he had “just moved about 50 feet closer” to the fieldhouse court … abandoned his tickets and spent the money on a big, fat, major league television set. He admits it will allow him and his family to see the action better than they have been doing in person. No parking problems or stairs, either. We may be surprised at how many might pursue that route.

What if there’s a time when the Jayhawks are not the heroes of the hardwood they are now, down years when attendance falls off? Unlikely, but it could occur. Vulnerable are the new video mavens who once filled some seats?

Suppose the shekel-sharks on the Hill decide no-sellout, no television and black out games where the hall isn’t filled far enough in advance? Nothing personal, strictly business.

It could be a long time before such would occur, considering how Bill Self and Co. have the Jayhawks on a current roll and how bright the future seems. But don’t think folks aren’t discussing such an option.

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When the Kansas women basketeers were struggling so excruciatingly in recent times, I got a perceptive note from Jim Hays of KASB Research. His observations about Kansas State’s women painted the kind of picture that new coach Bonnie Henrickson is hustling to approximate.

Jim wrote:

“If you’d ever been to one of their (Wildcats’) games in Bramlage (Coliseum), you would realize that the program is one of the great public relations things the university has going for it. There are now literally thousands of girls all over Kansas who go to bed each night dreaming of being a Wildcat.

“Student recruitment is a BIG issue in higher education today, and those dozens of school buses parked in the Bramlage lots for weekend Lady Cats games are exposing lots of kids to the idea that KSU is where they want to go to college. Tickets are still cheap enough that a junior high basketball coach can give his/her team a great field trip and a terrific lesson in how to play basketball, not to mention a heavy dose of KSU enthusiasm. It all matters. And (president) Jon Wefald sitting there at courtside cheering on the Lady Cats knows that.”

KU is spending big money to help Henrickson create such an atmosphere in Lawrence. It won’t be easy. KSU has become the dominant women’s program the way Wildcat football has established ownership of its rivalry with Kansas. But Bonnie and Co. will take a good run at it.

Women’s ball at KU has been losing a million dollars a year, not to mention its low esteem among potential spectators. Athletic director Lew Perkins bet a bundle (I’m guessing around $1.5 million) to establish a renaissance following Marian Washington’s tenure. Even if KU could average crowds of 10,000 or more, could there be a profit? Even KSU doesn’t nudge very far into the black. But the PR is priceless.

Nobody knows better than Henrickson that KU, because of neglect, long has ignored great high school programs such as that at McPherson and has let people like Jackie Stiles get away. There might never again be any Lynette Woodards in the state, but there could be Stiles-types to bring here. (Lynette one-on-one would have eaten Jackie for breakfast).

Just imagine the annual jolts of electricity and enjoyment if Kansas should build its women’s program to K-State’s level and send girls to bed with Jayhawk fantasies. Doing that won’t be any easier than getting KU football where it can start beating K-State again. But both are possible and if they should occur Perkins might be able to run for governor (although he’d have to accept a helluva pay cut).