Hello my fellow Jayhawks. My name is Max, and I, like the rest of you, am a die hard, crimson and blue to the core, Jayhawk. But something had just occurred to me. I have not been alive that long. 19 years to be exact. And I realize what big stories, or big news I may have missed growing up. So today I am starting a series, for fans young and old, to recall the times of a particular event, and inform us curious younger readers, and a time to remember for those who were there for it all.

So todays story, Where were you on September 25, 2000? The night of Paul Pierce's nearly fatal stabbing.

It took me a while to get to being a die hard KU fan like the rest of my family, nearly til 2005 when it finally began to hit me and I started breathing KU sports like I do today. So I wanna know how you took the news. How fans and the country reacted. And what your exact thoughts were the day this news broke.

Looking forward to seeing all your responses and continuing this series as well!

Rock Chalk.

I don't know what to say really. Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble. Inch by inch play by play till we're finished. We are in hell right now, gentlemen believe me and we can stay here and get the s*** kicked out of us or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell. One inch, at a time.

Now I can't do it for you. I'm too old.

You know when you get old in life things get taken from you. That's, that's part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is basketball. Because in either game life or basketball the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or to early you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that's going to make the f***ing difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING.

I'll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what LIVING is. The six inches in front of your face.

Now I can't make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him.

That's a team, gentlemen and either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's basketball guys. That's all it is.

Now, whattaya gonna do?

Here are a few recomendations that I am sure would be appreciated by myself and the fans as well.

1. KU sports is all about the fans. And we would like a place to talk. You already do a great job with the comments section on the articles. By why a so pushed to the side blog section on the main page? Lots of us would like to shout out our opinions and put in the effort to write something, but it is like nearly every post will go unnoticed. It is likely that this one will as well. All we are asking for is a new, glorified blogging system. It would be widely appreciated from all fans including ones like myself, who want to write big blog articles but feel it won't get the views.

2. A dedicated "Fan Photos" section. One of the biggest issues with the blog board is that it is being used for fans cough Jaybate cough to post pictures to. Drowning out any article that I'm sure someone put lots of time in to. And with only 5 blog posts per home page (an issue, see list item No.1) it takes no time at all for that to happen.

3. And 3... we need better profiles. Jayhawk fans want to connect with other Jayhawk fans. Maybe share recruitment rumors or even share opinions for a friendly banter. But other then the comment sections we can't even do that! I am calling for an update to the fan profile pages. More customization, a wall or some sort for other users to post on, and so on.

All easy requests that could bolster the KUsports.com fan experience by quite a sum. Please hear me out on this. And fans share your opinions below on anything else you would like to see. These are simple and needed changes to this website. Please follow up. Keep up the great work staff.

Hawksboy88

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

I have been thoroughly disappointed for the past year with the amount of quality, free, blogs we have at our disposal.

Obvious ones like RockChalkTalk.com which has a couple posts a week (not sufficient). And of course you have Phog.net and jayhawkslant.com which both require money to use. But where are our really good fan blogs? Where are our blogs that have many peoples inside ear making stories and telling us rumors that they have heard about anything from recruiting to remodeling? I am just disappointed.

Does anyone. ANYONE. Have an idea of what I am talking about? Anyone know of a blog I would love? It's sad cause I hate losing to Mizzou and one of my buddies just has all the inside scoop on his awful Tigers. I feel like they are beating us in the fan blog department. Please prove me wrong.

As always,

Rock Chalk.

Hawksboy88

We start this article at the KU Charity Golf event from this month. My father was there. So was the HR rep for Kansas Athletics. My dad asked a simple question. "How long is Sheahon gonna give him (Gill)?" and a simple response came. "Sheahon is gonna give him all five years."

That is a decision I could not be happier with. Sheahon understands what it takes to build a winning tradition. Trust in the coaches and for the coaches to have trust in him. Gill is here. 5 years.

As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. Or whatever. And Gill has a vision that will take time, but will turn this program into a college football dyanasty. In 5 years, Gill will have 3 top 40 ranked recruitinbg classes under his belt, a determined QB, and maybe a bowl game or two. And then the success will not stop. This is something that reminds me of Ron Prince. Not a very experienced head coach, but feeling the pressure immediately from fans and from his AD he knew he had only a short time to win. Such an atmosphere is not good in order to have a winning program. Thats how I always felt Lew was. A great AD for sure, but a "win or else" attitude always seemed in place. And for our lesser, not a successful sport teams, it wasn'[t good. Sheahon has brought trust. Almost like saying, "I need you to trust me. I'm not gonna pressure you. I will give you the time you are promised, and we will discuss at the end of that time about what will be the next move."

Gill is a winner. Came from a winning program. Won in every sport he tried and was one of the best at his sports. The guy knows how to win. Instilling a winning attitude into a program that, well, hasn't experienced so much success will take time. But when he gets it done, we will come on the field as winners every game. The mindset of a winner. The players are already getting that mindset.

This is a very possible breakdown of the coming 5 years. Year 1 - Getting his feet wet. 3-8 Year 2 - His own players. His own team. 5 or more wins. Year 3 - Very young. Very talented. Brings in another top 40 class. Bowl game. Year 4 - More experience. Year 2 freshman are now Juniors. More young guys. Bowl Game. Year 5 - Bowl Game. Plain and simple.

Gill is here all 5 years wether you like it or not. All we can do is trust him and show up and root our Jayhawks on each and every game. Success will come guys. Trust in our Head Coach will ease the process. Like always,

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

Can you feel it? The football season is almost upon us. I can smell the tailgate goods now. Though last year was, well, a bit grim, to say the least, I'm still as excited as ever to see the Hawks take the field. And I truly believe Coach Gill has us in the right direction. With talent, comes success. And Coach has brought the talent. Now we will see his true coaching ability with how he implements that talent into this year. The team is hyped. The fans are hyped. Lets get it rolling. I just decided to take my time and highlight a few things fans can look forward to in the coming year.

The New Faces - Gill has assembled one hell of a recruiting class for his first full year on campus. And for coming off of a 3 win season. You know the only way to get recruits off stuff like that is to have a passion for your job and for the University. Which Gill obviously has displayed as he brings in the nations 35th ranked recruiting class. Heaps and heaps of talent people. Darrian Miller, Anthony Pierson, Dylan Admire, Brock Bergland, ect. Darrian looks to share a load of carries with returning RB James Sims, and Brock could arguably be our starting QB if he was here with the team through the Spring and the Summer. Gill literally stole one of the more prized recruits out of the state of Missouri right from Mizzou. And lets not forget Brandon Bourbon. RedShirted first year, hampered by injuries this Summer, and the kid still is stunning coaches and players with his size and speed. Excited to see him play. 27 new faces people. Get to know them. They are the future success of Kansas football.

Tougher Schedule - I know what you're thinking. "How can this guy think a harder schedule is something to look forward to?". "Yeah, I'm excited to see Texas and Oklahoma to light us up TV and embarrass ourselves more." And I say this. To be the best. You gotta be the best. I'm sick of KState saying "We always beat Texas. We have their number." Well its time for Kansas to be thrown onto the scene. What better way to gain national attention then to upset a top ranked team? It is a scary schedule, but man. I'm excited to play the big boys each year. Thats the best way to see improvement. And I believe the players are ready.

A New Season - We all have to be excited for this. Excited to see the improvement. Excited to see what our boys can do. Excited for those Saturdays. The whole nation has cast us down. Back to permanent underdog. I like that. We rose up once, and we'll do it again.

The Returning Players - They have got me the most excited. They see the most talent and what they can really do. Daymond Patterson, James Sims, Tyler Patmon, Bradley McDougald, Steven Johnson. They are the leaders. And they are gonna usher in the new era. And with that offense with a very experienced offensive line, I think we can do some things on the offensive side of the ball.

Just a few things I am excited for. And I hope as a fan base you are too. They need us like we need them. Let's go out and show support to our Hawk's and show the country no matter what the record we are still True Blue. No more leaving at half people. Stay the whole game. And lets go get it.

ROCK CHALK

All the work, struggle, and pain has all come to a head. Your work will now forever be remembered. When you first arrived, I did not believe this is where you would end up. A young, clumsy, big man is what I saw. But now I see, the leader of the Jayhawk Nation. And I can't think of anyone else who deserves a spot more then you.Welcome, Marcus, to the place where you will always be. The most heralded, glorious spot in college basketball that every player dreams of being a part of. The Allen Fieldhouse rafters.

But there is one thing you haven't accomplished, haven't achieved. The National Title. One more year Marcus. The Jayhawk Nation feels it. Something was stolen from us this year. And you know it all to well. This is not how you should be remembered. Come back and claim what is rightfully yours.

Reclaim it.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

*Well, I guess this was not posted way back before Marcus declared. But,if I do say so myself, this was a cool little entry. Glad I stumbled upon it.

Still the rafters for you Marcus!