Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!

Posted by Jamie

As a 5 foot 1 inch female from Louisiana, I must admit I did not have much interest in basketball growing up.  Baseball and soccer were more my speed.  However, this all changed in an instant once I stepped foot in Lawrence, Kansas.  Before I realized what happened, I became a Jayhawk and now bleed crimson and blue.  The University of Kansas simply oozes basketball.  I mean, how could it not, the Jayhawks first coach was the inventor of the game, James Naismith, and the Hawks play in Phog Allen Fieldhouse, which has been declared, "the best place in America to watch college basketball."

I must admit, my success as a Jayhawk fan started with a few hiccups.  During my two years at the University of Kansas, the Jayhawks were bounced from the tournament in the first round both years.  The Jayhawks were huge favorites in their opening round games but lost to Bucknell (a 14 seed) and Bradley (a 13 seed).  However, in the 2006-2007 season things started looking up.  Bill Self began to hit his stride and the Jayhawks made it to the Elite Eight.  The Jayhawks rode this wave of success in the 2007-2008 season.  Boy, what a year!  The Hawks had 37 wins and only 3 losses.   

In dramatic fashion, the Jayhawks were able to out duel the Davidson Wildcats and Stephen Curry in the Elite Eight.  Finally (after 3 long years of waiting), my team had made it to the final four.  (Trust me, three years without a final four was viewed as a lifetime for Jayhawk fans).  

At the buzzer of the Elite Eight game, I clicked “buy” for my airline tickets straight back to Lawrence.  We knew there was nowhere else we wanted to watch the Hawks go up against our arch nemesis Roy Williams and his North Carolina Tarheels.  All we wanted to do was beat Roy.  The National Championship game was simply an afterthought when compared to beating our former coach who after 15 years of coaching at KU betrayed us and left to go coach at North Carolina.  

The Final Four game did not disappoint.  The Jayhawks took a 40-12 lead in the first 15 minutes and after that point North Carolina never held the ball with a chance to take the lead.  From the opening tip off, it was a party in Lawrence.  The energy was amazing and the result was more than anyone could have even hoped or dreamed.  Here is a picture of Mass Street shortly after the Final Four victory.

I’m pretty sure that first night went by with not many people even focused on the fact that there was another game to play.  Oh, but there was!  The Jayhawks were in the National Championship game against a little known NBA team named the Memphis Wildcats.  Memphis was favored by 2 at the start of the game and to be honest, at this point winning a National Championship seemed like icing on the cake.  Once the game started; however, that all faded and we wanted to win.   

With 2 minutes left, Memphis was up 9 and it wasn’t looking good.  But, we soon figured out Memphis’s weak spot, free throws.  Memphis missed 4 of its last 5 free throw attempts and the Jayhawks’ Mario Chalmers hit a three-point basket with 2.1 seconds remaining to tie the game at 63, sending the game into overtime.  Kansas dominated overtime and became the 2008 NCAA Tournament National Champions!

The trip back to Lawrence to watch the 2008 Tournament is one of my fondest memories.  It was a great time and finally vindication for me after my horrible record as a Jayhawk fan.  In 2012, the Jayhawks again made it to the National Championship game.  The Final Four was held in New Orleans and I was able to attend the games.  It was an exciting game, but the young Hawks were not match for the Kentucky Wildcats. 

The 2012-2013 has also started out very promising.  With our overtime win against Iowa State, the Hawks are 13 and 1 to start the season and are moving up the ranks.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!  And, if you are still not a Jayhawk fan, watch this gif and enjoy the amazing-ness.