Thursday, January 14, 2010

Far above the Golden Valley...

...Glorious to view, sttands our noble Alma Mater, towering toward the blue! Lift the chorus, ever onward, Crimson and the blue. Hail to thee, our Alma Mater. Hail to old KU!

College basketball has been in full swing for a few months now but the real fun is beginning this week and The Big 12 enters conference play. I love this time of year. I am fortunate enough to be the fan of a good college basketball team. Not so much can be said for my picks in college or professional football or professional baseball, I’m afraid.
Growing up, KU was OUR team. I don’t know where the love originated but my folks instilled it in my sister and me. I don’t have a very good memory, but I have several childhood memories that revolve around those Jayhawks.

* 1988 – Danny and the Miracles. I was only 5 when they won the National Championship, but I’m pretty sure that I remember that game…I think.
* Watching KU play at the Golden Harvest Classic in Kansas City
* The first game that I ever attended at Allen Fieldhouse was KU vs. Colorado. I couldn’t tell you the year but I remember Poncho Hodges played for the Buffs and every time he had the ball, the whole crowd would chant “Tube Socks, Tube Socks” I couldn’t tell you who won that game, Tube Socks is all I remember.
* Our parents bought us KU Basketball trading cards a few years in a row. I remember spending a lot of time looking at those things and picking out my “boyfriends.”
* I’m pretty sure that the first time I ever heard my sister use the word “sexy” was in reference to Rex Walters – she was maybe 15 at the time. Weird.
* The annual photo roster calendar that my dad would get every year that I always thought was SO COOL.
* The time my dad didn’t want to let my friend Michelle into our house because she was wearing a Duke shirt. Can you blame him?
* Driving to Lawrence with my dad to watch Roy Williams’ “I’m Staying” speech on the jumbo screen at Memorial Stadium the first time he was offered the UNC job. I suppose that is pretty moot now though.
* Meeting Wayne Simien in the halls of Leavenworth High School two years before he ever sported the crimson and blue.
* Two words – Mario. Chalmers.

There are some not so great memories out there too, but why give anyone ammo! 

KU is fortunate enough to have two rivals on the hardwoods, one in-state and one just across the state line. I’m not a typical fan in that I don’t bask in the losses of these teams, the only time that I really even care about either team is when they are playing against us, or if whether they win or lose a game directly effects KU in some way (i.e. Mizzou beats Texas so that KU can clench the Big 12, etc.). I could go into my feelings about the fans of these teams, but I have loyal followers that I don’t want to lose by calling the majority of KState and Mizzou fans a bunch of trash talking, bandwagon jumping jerks who tend to find more joy in a KU loss than they do in their own team's win – but whatever. I should mention that that is a lump judgement and does not specifically refer to any known reader of this blog, thus far.

Onward and upward – Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU!

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