Blogs
All in the Wrist
Order is almost restored
Where were you on April 5, 2003?
Were you at Memorial Stadium watching on the video board as Kansas manhandled Marquette, 94-61, in the NCAA Tournament national semifinals?
Were you on campus at Wescoe Beach moments after the game ended, crowd surfing along the top of a makeshift mosh pit?
Perhaps you were one of the thousands that turned Massachusetts Street into a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam, whether you were riding in the back of a pickup truck or weaving your way through the backup as part of a six-block long high-five line down the middle of the road.
Remember that spectacle. It was a circus without the clowns, ferris wheel and funnel cake.
It was organized chaos.
It was beautiful.
The four years since that night have felt like decades. A coaching change, an overtime loss in the Elite Eight, back-to-back losses in the first round and a series of negative headlines were daggers through the hearts of Kansas fans.
Yes, Kansas has won only .789 percent of its games under Bill Self since former coach Roy Williams took the Jayhawks to the brink of a national title and then bolted town. That winning percentage has had fans calling for Self’s head, complaining about the Jayhawks’ style of play and wondering what’s the matter with them. Of course, three regular-season Big 12 Conference titles and two postseason tournaments haven’t helped calm the hailstorm of criticism.
But that can all be put to rest during the next few hours.
By earning a 61-58 victory over Southern Illinois on Thursday night in a game that resembled a Big 10 barroom brawl more than it did a basketball game, Kansas earned a return trip to the Elite Eight.
A victory Saturday night against UCLA — which advanced by way of a 64-55 victory over Pittsburgh — would put Kansas back in the Final Four for the first time since 2003. It would get the proverbial monkey off of Self’s back and it would help restore order to the Jayhawk Nation.
And when order is restored, Kansas fans can take their celebration to the main drag of campus or to the middle of Massachusetts Street.
Yes, Kansas fans, we’ve weathered the storm and the Jayhawks are back among college basketball’s elite again. Now if all goes well Saturday night, fans will be dancing in the streets of Lawrence again and March 24, 2007 will be added to the list of memorable dates in the history of KU basketball fandom.
Moments like this matter, and it has been far too long since we've had one. It's time to live it up again in Lawrence.
The hour is almost upon us …
- When: Aug. 30
- Where: Memorial Stadium
- Football
- Schedules: KU | Florida Int'l
- Rosters: KU | Florida Int'l
- 2007 Stats: KU | Florida Int'l
- Last time: 2007: 55-3 KU win
- Series record: Kansas leads 1-0
- Nick Collison : C-F, Seattle Sonics
- Drew Gooden : F-C, Chicago Bulls
- Kirk Hinrich : G, Chicago Bulls
- Raef LaFrentz : F, Portland Trailblazers
- Paul Pierce : G-F, Boston Celtics
- Scot Pollard : C-F, Boston Celtics
- Billy Thomas : G, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Jacque Vaughn : G, San Antonio Spurs Julian Wright : F, New Orleans Hornets
- All-time list of 'Hawks in the NBA
- N. Collison — 4 points in W 109-98
- D. Gooden — 2 points in L 61-79
- K. Hinrich — 23 points in L 96-113
- R. Lafrentz — 2 points in W 85-78
- A. Miles — DNP in L 89-99
- G. Ostertag — 0 points in W 105-102
- P. Pierce — 22 points in L 74-79
- S. Pollard — 0 points in L 88-97
- W. Simien — 0 points in W 111-89
- B. Thomas — 0 points in L 120-121
- J. Vaughn — 3 points in L 105-106
- Watch this space as we track recruits for the 2007-08 Jayhawks.
- » North Mesquite WR Daymond Patterson named all-state
- » Ransburg leads Harrisonville to third straight 3A Missouri title
- M. Chalmers — 28 points in W 64-44
- M. Downs — 15 points in W 32-30
- J. Wright — 9 points in W 56-26
2003, 2004, and 2007 EPpy Award Winner. 
2003 and 2005 Digital Edge Winner
Comments
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Posted by JayCeph (anonymous) on March 23, 2007 at 1:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Stay focused, one game at a time.
The only thing between KU and the Final Four is UCLA. I think they'll have very little issue with getting 'up' for this game.
Dreaming of Atlanta~
Posted by cwrist (Chris Wristen) on March 23, 2007 at 3:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's what I like about this matchup. KU is coming off of the type of game that Roy Williams criticized the Big 10 for a couple years back (remember when the Wisconsin fans ragged on him for criticizing games being played in the 30s instead of the 70s and 80s?). Although the Jayhawks toughed it out and found a way to win, now they'll get to go back to the up-tempo running game that they prefer. That alone should have them pumped up after that last game. The style of game should favor guys like Sasha and Julian a lot more than the Southern Illinois game did.
Posted by sevenyearhawk (anonymous) on March 23, 2007 at 4:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
we put down like SIU Ol' Yeller ...
*bam*
ok, that was evil of me!
I think they'll have no problems getting fired up for UCLA, Russ Rob said as much after the Kentucky game ...
they'll see those four letters, and it'll be like red for a bull!
I also like a FF matchup with UNLV or Oregon better than Florida, because I think having to keep up for UCLA, UF and then likely UNC; that might be a tad too much to ask of these guys ...
but I could be wrong!
***
A&M got hosed, hosed, hosed!
Anyone think Gillespie is going to UK, or maybe the Wildcats make a run a Calipari
Posted by JayCeph (anonymous) on March 23, 2007 at 4:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
UK wants Donovan.
Posted by sevenyearhawk (anonymous) on March 23, 2007 at 5:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
would he really move within the conference?
and like someone said on the radio today,
he's already winning national titles at UF
and doesn't have the institutional expectations
or the crazy fanbase ...
Posted by cwrist (Chris Wristen) on March 23, 2007 at 7:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would argue that at the moment Florida is a more desirable job than Kentucky. It may just be for the moment, but by getting Florida a national title, Donovan has his stamp on the program and has all the job security he could possibly want. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see him entertain an interview simply to get the administration at Florida to throw another couple hundred thousand buh his way.
Posted by sevenyearhawk (anonymous) on March 23, 2007 at 7:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
back up the Brink's truck, baby!
wished someone would do that for us, eh Wristen? ;)
***
so today's Million Dollar Question:
do we want UNC to fall, or do we want a crack at them?
Posted by cwrist (Chris Wristen) on March 23, 2007 at 10:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, they're down nine at the half right now, but if UNC rallies past USC, I think they'll fall to Georgetown. That said, a Kansas vs. North Carolina game would be a ratings bonanza of the sort that CBS might extend its 20-minute TV timeouts to 45 minutes just to make some extra bank. All eyes would be on that game, but my money -- were I still in Vegas -- would be on Kansas. Hansbrough is the only player that Carolina has who I don't think KU can match up against, but Kansas has enough depth to throw at him to at least slow him down a bit. And the KU guards are good enough defensively to give UNC some problems and minimize their effectiveness from the perimeter and off the dribble.
Posted by cwrist (Chris Wristen) on March 23, 2007 at 10:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh, and do you think Tim Floyd (USC's coach) dug up some of his old scouting notes from Iowa State to prepare for tonight's game against Roy and UNC? Looks like it based on the first half result.