Totally Random

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There are 9,314 seats in Cameron Indoor Stadium -- not counting the ones Coach K, Dick Vitale and the players sit in -- and some people would sell their souls for tickets to Wednesday night’s North Carolina-Duke showdown.

Then there is Eddie Goodall, the Republican state senator who offered on EBay to trade his seat in the North Carolina Legislature for tickets. In jest. We think.

‘I’m not sure how it works, but I’m just going by what Gov. [Rod] Blagojevich did as a guideline,’ Goodall told the Charlotte Observer, referring to the former Illinois governor. ‘He made me aware that these seats are valuable.’

Goodall bought his chair -- literally -- when the Senate chambers were renovated several years ago. State law, however, prohibits him from selling the furniture, much less his legislative post.

If Goodall somehow makes it into Cameron for the game, it doesn’t sound as if he’ll be pulling for Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s lads. Goodall attended North Carolina in 1965 before transferring to North Carolina-Charlotte.

He expected to watch the game from his hotel room in Raleigh, he told the Observer. And he said he really was kidding.

‘If politicians could laugh at themselves more,’ he said, ‘people would laugh at them less.’

Trivia time

Between them, North Carolina and Duke have appeared in 31 Final Fours. Which year did they reach the Final Four together?

She signs autographs too

The par-tay for NBA All-Star weekend in Phoenix is going to be big, but even an All-Star can get lost in the crowd.

Amber Reedy, an Arizona State senior who works as a party hostess at area events, will toil at the VitaminWater Nash Bash hosted by Steve Nash at the Mondrian Scottsdale on Friday. (Minimum donation: $1,300. Dinner: $13,000.)

Reedy told the Arizona Republic about the time she ran into Phoenix Suns star Amare Stoudemire at an event and asked the NBA All-Star to take a picture -- of her, posing with her friends.

‘I had no clue who that was,’ she said. ‘He looked at me weird. And everyone was like, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘

He’s the butt of the joke

In an opportunistic bit of marketing, Gurkha Cigars announced that it had made the first endorsement offer to Michael Phelps since the publication of a photo of the swimmer holding a bong.

Gurkha is offering Phelps $25,000 to be its official ‘smokesperson.’

In a letter to Phelps sent to his agent, Peter Carlisle, Gurkha Cigars CEO Kaizad Hansotia mentioned the ‘picture of you allegedly engaging in ‘extracurricular activities’ ’ and ‘the unfortunate news of your endorsement deal with Kellogg’s.’

‘We would like to provide you with the opportunity to do what you do best -- smoke and swim.’

Trivia answer

In 1991. Duke won the NCAA title, defeating a Kansas team that had beaten North Carolina in the semifinals.

And finally

Arizona State Coach Herb Sendek graduated summa cum laude from Carnegie Mellon, but he didn’t sound like the campus genius Tuesday as he wrapped up a lengthy answer to a question about choosing a conference most valuable player.

‘The debate will always rage, Kobe or LeBron. In college, there will be those names every year,’ Sendek said.

Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, of course, never went to college.

-- Robyn Norwood