Miami ? For a sports fan about to see his program’s biggest victory in at least 40 years, and perhaps ever, the biggest sin is forgetting the tickets.
By that measure, count Adam Shaull, a Kansas University fan from Hattiesburg, Miss., as a sinner. The 2005 KU graduate left the two Orange Bowl tickets he purchased at home.
So, out of options, he purchased another ticket for both him and his wife, Abby, from a scalper. Small problem: The scalper sold him tickets in the middle of Hokie nation.
“We bought these at the last minute and managed to talk a scalper down to two tickets for $30,” he said.
Dressed in a Todd Reesing jersey, complete with a Trajan No. 5, he stuck out like a blueberry in a bowl of oranges. But it didn’t matter after Kansas beat Virginia Tech on Thursday night.
And the Shaulls weren’t the only ones to find themselves surrounded by the maroon and orange.
Kendall Talley, a KU fan from Kansas City, Mo., just wanted to upgrade the seat he’d purchased from KU. The ticket scalper who sold him the “better” tickets assured him he’d be moving from the upper deck of the KU section into the lower level of the KU section.
Not quite. Hokie maroon was all you could see from his seat.
“We’re winning, though,” he said shortly before half time. “That makes it a lot easier.”
Talley’s friend, Joe Courtright, however, said that they had no regrets about swapping seats. In fact, even if given the chance to swipe a couple of seats in the KU corner, both said they were just fine sitting among the Hokies.
“We have too many new friends from sitting over here to move,” said Courtright, of Little Rock, Ark.
And what about those original tickets, high in the Jayhawk section? Talley traded those for some blue-and-white beads that he and his friends were waving as the Jayhawks built their lead.
A who’s who
Governor? Check. Regents? Check. Chancellor? Check. Deans? Check.
Everybody who was anybody in Kansas or at Kansas University was at the KU Alumni Association’s pep rally on Thursday and they followed up with the Orange Bowl itself. In addition to KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway, KU Endowment Association president Dale Seuferling, KU football great Gayle Sayers, and KU Cancer Center Director Roy Jensen, several professors, other deans and members of the Kansas Board of Regents also made the trip.
For some, however, the journey was a little easier.
Both KU Provost Richard Lariviere and Kansas University Medical Center Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Atkinson already were in Florida with their spouses vacationing and visiting family, they said.
Hemenway, who spent a lot of the pep rally shaking hands with beaming alumni and posing for pictures with various students and fans, said he was impressed by how well the Orange Bowl committee put together a game.
“From all the planning for the events and the high quality of people that are a part of the game, you can tell this game is a big deal,” Hemenway said. “It’s a great honor to be at a BCS game, but you can really tell how much of a challenge it is to stay at this level.”
After the game, Kansas fans couldn’t stop smiling. That went for the big wigs, too. As they were leaving their suite in Dolphin Stadium, regents Christine Downey-Schmidt, Jill Docking and Janie Perkins had big smiles on their faces. When asked if she’d enjoyed the game, Docking, a KU alumna, had a very simple answer.
“Are you kidding!”
Ham’s in the mail
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine told Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius “the ham is on its way.”
Kaine and Sebelius had made a friendly wager on the outcome of Thursday night’s Orange Bowl between Kansas University and Virginia Tech.
KU won, 24-21, so Sebelius gets a Virginia ham. Had Virginia Tech won, Sebelius would have sent Kaine some Kansas beef.
Sebelius’ office said Kaine, who grew up in the Kansas City area, called her Friday to congratulate the Jayhawks and inform her of the incoming ham.
“Governor Sebelius said his Kansas values are shining through as he kept his word and followed through on his commitment,” Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said.
¢ Kansas University offensive tackle Anthony Collins said after Thursday’s game that there will be a press conference, probably on Monday in Lawrence, with him and cornerback Aqib Talib regarding the players’ decisions on the NFL.
The two juniors are contemplating skipping their senior seasons to go pro, and both could be high draft picks.
“I was supposed to go home to Beaumont (Texas), but I decided I was going to have a press conference,” Collins said. “I’ll let you know then.”
Talib insisted he was undecided, but did agree that a 12-1 season would be a nice swan song.
“If I did make the decision to go,” Talib said, “that would be a great way to go out.”
¢ Kansas donned the red jerseys at Thursday’s Orange Bowl, a surprise twist for perhaps KU’s most visible game in school history. The Jayhawks, knowing Virginia Tech was wearing whites, packed both the traditional home blue and the alternate home reds for the trip. KU coach Mark Mangino said the team didn’t know about the decision to wear the reds until showing up in the locker room Thursday.
With the victory, the Jayhawks are now 6-0 wearing red since the jersey was introduced in 2005.
¢ The Jayhawks are Orange Bowl champions for the first time in school history. Kansas lost Orange Bowl battles in 1948 and 1969.
¢ Junior cornerback Kendrick Harper returned from his November injury, but did not start Thursday. Harper played on the punt-return unit and as the No. 3 cornerback behind Talib and Chris Harris.
Junior safety Patrick Resby, who missed most of November with an injury, did not play.
¢ Virginia Tech linebacker Vince Hall did start at linebacker Thursday. He was considered questionable earlier in the week because of a knee injury suffered during the team beach party on Sunday.
¢ Senior wide receiver Marcus Henry became the third player in KU history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He finished with 1,014 yards this season. Bob Johnson (1,144 in 1983) and Richard Estell (1,109 in 1985) were the other two to surpass 1,000 receiving yards.
¢ Todd Reesing’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Henry in the second quarter gave him 36 career touchdowns throws, breaking David Jaynes’ school record for career touchdown passes. Reesing needed just 16 games to set the mark.
¢ Talib executed a rare play when he returned a missed field goal 39 yards in the first quarter.
VT kicker Jud Dunlevy attempted a 48-yard field goal that was on line but short. Talib caught the ball in the back of the end zone and, within the rules, returned it. He broke a tackle but was squeezed out of bounds at the 39-yard line. He gained eight yards KU wouldn’t have had if the kick wasn’t returned.
¢ Talib and Justin Thornton each intercepted a pass Thursday, finishing tied for the team lead with five picks.
One of them nearly had another pick when they both went up for a jump-ball near the Virginia Tech end zone. Thornton appeared to come down with it, but lost control when he hit the ground, and the ball actually ended up in the arms of VT tight end Greg Boone for a 37-yard completion.
¢ Kansas is one of four schools in the nation to have a 3,000-yard passer (Reesing), a 1,000-yard rusher (Brandon McAnderson) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Henry). The other schools are Boise State, Kansas State and Tulsa.
¢ Thursday’s game was the 74th edition of the Orange Bowl and the third in which Kansas has played. It was the 11th time the game was played in Dolphin Stadium, after being played for decades at the Orange Bowl stadium.
¢ KU senior Kyle Tucker blasted a 63-yard punt in the third quarter, turning potentially bad field position into no problem at all.
¢ A power failure at Fox, which televised Thursday’s game, caused the second-half kickoff to be delayed three minutes.
¢ Attendance was announced at 74,111, though many empty seats were seen in the upper deck. Virginia Tech was about 2,000 tickets short of selling its allotment, but those tickets are considered purchased.
¢ Temperature was, by Miami’s standards, a chilly 59 degrees at kickoff under cloudy skies. Winds were blowing out of the north-northwest at 15 mph. A light rain fell at times throughout the night.
