SAN ANTONIO ? Apparently Kansas University fans are hams. A group of Jayhawk faithful performed the traditional “Rock Chalk” chant toward the end of KU’s practice Thursday at the Alamodome. The chant drew the attention of several television cameramen who rushed over to get footage.
One cameraman from Chicago missed the action. But the fans weren’t going to leave him empty-handed. They gladly performed the chant again just to promote their team for Illinois viewing audiences.
Amy Goodwin and Brittany Bedene were among the several hundred Jayhawk fans who attended Thursday’s open practice session. They were sitting on the front row.
The 13-hour drive to San Antonio from Arma near Pittsburg with Bedene’s parents, Bruce and Marty, was part of spring break for the middle school students. “But we’d still be here if it wasn’t spring break,” Goodwin said with a guilty grin.
Bedene was wearing a Nick Collison jersey, and Goodwin was sporting a Kirk Hinrich jersey. Goodwin’s e-mail address starts “crazyforkirk.” “She thinks he’s hot,” Bedene said.
Rob Merrill’s cell phone rang Thursday morning. It was Bob Beck, a friend who coaches Merrill’s sons in basketball.
Beck wanted to rub in the fact that he was in San Antonio to watch the Jayhawks and the fact that Merrill wasn’t there.
“He said, ‘I’m knee-deep in Jayhawks,'” Merrill said.
What Beck didn’t know was that Merrill and his family made last-minute plans to be in San Antonio, too. “I was going to call and ask where he was and whether he was in some meeting,” Beck said. “Turned out, the joke was on me.”
Both men are from the Kansas City, Kan., area.
Matt Cochran, a KU senior majoring in business communication, was planning a spring break trip to San Antonio to visit his father. It was just a bonus that he’ll get to see the Jayhawks in Sweet 16 action.
Cochran flew to San Antonio with his fraternity brother, Dennis Heier, a 2000 KU graduate who now lives in Blue Springs, Mo. They’ve been having a good time hanging out on the River Walk. “Too much fun, I think,” Cochran said. “I’m trying to recuperate from last night.”
Cochran said he felt good about the Jayhawks’ chances. “We’re playing about as well as we played all season,” he said. “We’ll have our hands full with Illinois. But if we beat them, we’re going to the Final Four.”
San Antonio has been a regular vacation spot for Lawrence residents Jason Ramirez and his father, Tom. They’ve come here about five times before, but never to watch basketball.
The Ramirezes flew down on the team plane Wednesday. Jason Ramirez works in the facilities for the KU athletic department, and his father is a maintenance supervisor at KU.
“We’ve run into several fans, and they’re already talking about Kansas making the Final Four already,” Tom Ramirez said. “That’s where Kansas expects to be, and us as fans expect it to be that way, also.”
