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March 22, 2007
Zac Hunter chips in his two cents while bloggin' from Boston.It was the under four-minute timeout at the 2002 Midwest Regional Final in Madison, Wisc., but Oregon may as well have been on the bus heading to the airport. The game was over.The band was playing We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister. The Rock Chalk Chant was in the bullpen warming up and my video camera was about to be confiscated by Kohl Center security. Ducks' coach Ernie Kent's plan to run with the Jayhawks backfired in every possible way. Roy Williams had a pair of scissors in his back pockets because those nets were coming back to Lawrence.Kansas was heading to the Final Four for the first time since 1993. It is my favorite Kansas basketball memory, but it wasn't just because the 'Hawks were in the Final Four. I'd seen that before. It was the journey that led up to that fantastic Sunday in March that created the lasting memory.It started with a cargo van in Overland Park and ended in a crummy hotel in the middle of Missouri after getting stuck in a snowstorm.Here is a list of the random events that happened over those four days:1) Three hours wasted at Great Mall of the Great Plains2) Purchased Israeli and Palestinian lapel pins from gas station in Iowa3) Navigational error leads to three-hour detour and dinner in Waterloo, IA4) Roulette and spitting in the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa (the spit was in honor of Roy Williams)5) Navigational error leads to adventure on County Road G6) Stopped to take a picture next to Farley, Iowa town sign on County Road G. It was 10 degrees7) 44-ounce beers8) Talked to former Kansas football coach Terry Allen while eating bratwurst at the Kohl Center9) Biscuits and gravy at a truck stop sidelined one of our crew for a night10) Nose bleed11) Yelling at Danny Clinkscale outside of Papa John's in Madison12) Former KUSports.com great Andy Samuelson wandering around the streets of Chicago with a foot-long sandwich (We drove to Chicago between the Kansas games)13) Watching two of my best friends fall asleep, head to head in the back of a cargo van with Time of My Life blasting on the radio14) Co-wrote and co-directed mini-movie depicting biscuits and gravy and the death of our intestinally-challenged friend Those are the special things. I don't think back to Kansas losing to Maryland in the Final Four, although I only cheer for the Terrapins when they play Duke. I suppose I'm thinking of years like '02 because for the first time I'm going to be away from my Kansas crew for the tournament run.But it's not just the Final Four runs that have the most meaning. I have a story to go with every NCAA Tournament since I started watching it. The 2005 loss to Bucknell was spent at the Ameristar in Kansas City. After listening to Kansas State fans run their mouths for a while my boys and I ended at a strip club. We thought it would make us feel better. We were right.The '99 loss to Kentucky was spent in an Omaha bar with my sister in our Raef Lafrentz jerseys.The 2003 Final Four win against Marquette was spent at some random house killing a 30-pack of Keystone. Two nights later our crew of six were huddled around a small television in a duplex on Missouri Street watching Roy tell the world he didn't give a s* about North Carolina.Alright, I gave you my best KU memory and all thinking of all these stories is making me a little nostalgic. Now it's your turn. I need to live vicariously through you for the rest of March. Give me you best KU story involving the Big Dance. Lay out all the particulars and what made it great. And be prepared to have some more. I have a feeling this year might trump all others. I'll keep the Twisted Sister CD handy just in case.
Comments
bg97 (anonymous) says...
Walking down Bourbon St during the FF in 2003 and yelling "rock chalk", only to have hundreds of other KU fans finish with "Jayhawk" while the natives kept asking "what the hell does that mean"?
March 22, 2007 at 12:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
leikness (anonymous) says...
Coming back from the trip to Madison, I gave my buddy the keys in southern wisconsin somewhere and told him to go west once he saw such and such interstate. Three hours later I woke up to lights on the horizon and we were cruising into downtown Chicago. But still, what a great trip.
March 22, 2007 at 1:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cwrist (Chris Wristen) says...
Same trip, since I was in Madison with you. Wandering down the frigid State Street about 3 a.m. after the bars had closed. Shouting the Rock Chalk chant at the top of our lungs, and then hearing other people saying it a block over. After a few minutes all of the KU fans from the different blocks convened at an intersection and ran around in the street yelling Rock Chalk while some disgruntled Illinois fans cursed at us.
That, and buying my Zac Wegner KU football jersey for $7 at the Great Mall of the Great Plains at the start of that trip.
March 22, 2007 at 2:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
EternalHawk (anonymous) says...
I remember watching the 1988 Championship game and everytime I got excited I ran up stairs and my mom screamed at me to go downstairs and stay there until the game was over.(Although I knew she was upstairs biting her nails over it). And when Danny grabbed that final rebound I threw my half full bowl of popcorn in the air and sprang backwards over the couch knocking it over. I will never forget the feeling of pure basketball euphoria I had that night.
March 22, 2007 at 3:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
karmaxs3 (anonymous) says...
My favorite is the championship win in '88. I watched it at the Hawk. My hawk barrel traveled up to the fountain and back and survived all the high fives and hugs after the win~only to die on my kitchen floor many years later...then back to the Hawk where I met a guy who was a Beta. Went to the Beta house to get a clean sweatshirt and made it out of the second floor without being painted green. Then we watched the sun rise over Clinton Lake with a bottle of wine from Mt. Tit. Ahh.....college days. :)
Wish I could be in Lawrence to witness this one, as I have a true feeling for the first time since '88 that it will happen again this year.
Rock Chalk!
March 22, 2007 at 3:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )