I am going to write a little bit about the University of Kansas…..and more specifically, about the K. U. basketball team. Usually, I more or less shy away from writing about a subject like this because everything I have to say is pretty subjective…..and I know it has a tendency to annoy some people….my friends….or to rub them in the wrong direction.

But, then I stop to think. When they talk about their own favorite team….yes, sometimes it annoys me; sometimes it rubs me in he wrong direction….but I know they are in the same position that I am in: they have a favorite team; they are proud of it; they are loyal to it; and they show their pride and loyalty by saying good things about it….and bad things about other teams, such as K. U.

 

 All of this back and forth banter and trash talk is done in “fun”…..and I haven’t lost any good friends over this issue….at least, not very many. There was one rather close call, and I will tell you about it later….if I think of it. Mostly, it is done in fun. I enjoy it….and they enjoy it. It’s just one of those things that friends do.

People pick their “favorite” team(s) in different ways and for different reason. A lot of my friends choose their favorite team because that was the college they graduated from…..or that their children or their parents graduated from. That makes sense. Some people simply jump on the band wagon…..and become “fans” of whatever team happens to be doing well at the time. They always want to be on the winning side, with no really long-lasting loyalties. They change team loyalty like they change their clothes. You have heard the expression: “He must have a clean mind, because he changes it so often.” And, some people cheer for teams for…..well, who knows what reason?: perhaps they like one of their player; or they like the color of their uniforms; or their friend likes that team. And…..some people…..well, they couldn’t care less.

As for me….yes, I do have strong loyalties. And, I do have some good reasons. It is no secret to anybody who knows me that I am a loyal and devoted fan of the University of Kansas. And, I always have been. I can remember lying on my bed in my room back when I was in junior high school listening to the play-by-play of K. U. games on my ancient radio….the kind with electric tubes that had to heat up before you could listen to it.

Now….if you would ask me why I chose K. U. back in those days….and, let’s face it….that was a long time ago….I am not really sure that I could give you a reason. Although one reason might have been…..they were famous. They were being coached by Phog Allen and Dick Harp…..two of the most prominent names in basketball coaching at that time. And, they were good! They won the NCAA title in 1952. Also….they were accessible. Their games were being broadcast on a radio station that we could get out in Sterling, Kansas.

And, the fact is: I have not changed my loyalty in all these many years. But, there is another reason, too. Maybe just as important. After I returned from South Vietnam and started teaching in Valley Falls in 1969, I decided to go back to college to work on a Masters Degree in school counseling. Of course, I chose K. U. I was lucky. My favorite university was within easy driving distance. I took classes every summer and every night after I finished teaching…..for three years! That’s a lot of time. A lot of effort. And a lot of money!

Yeah…..I go back a long ways with the University of Kansas. My loyalty runs deep. I am proud to be a Jayhawk.

I had season tickets for K. U. football games for four years…..up until we started building my house…..and my help was needed on the weekends. But, for those four years, I never missed a game….come heat or sleet, rain or snow. And, we had all four of them. I first started going to K. U. football games with Gene Hanson, who was our P.E. teacher at the time. We finished construction on the house later that year…..but I never did get back into the habit of going to all the football games. I was a home owner….and there were too many other things to do on weekends.

But….K. U. basketball. That is a different story. I went to my first basketball game in winter of 1970. I went with Bill Barnes, who was our high school basketball coach. We parked the car, walked into Allen Field House, walked up to the ticket window…..and bought two tickets! Just like that. The field house was only about half full….and maybe not even that much. We, for all practical purposes, could simply chose own seats. I don’t remember who K. U. played…..but I am pretty sure they won.

What I remember most about that first game was: Wow….here I am in the famous Allen Field House….watching players whose names I had heard only on the radio…..sitting in the same place where Phog Allen had coached and Wilt Chamberlain had played….seeing Max Falkenstein sitting behind a table calling the play-by-play….seeing the old “Beware the Phog” sign for the first time. Allen Field House was the largest building I had been in up to that time…..more than 16,300 seats. Even if the building was only about half occupied. I can remember going to the National Junior College Basketball Tournament in Hutchinson when I was in high school and college. It was held in the Hutchinson Sports Arena, in Hutchinson, KS. It seats 7,600 people. Man….I thought is was huge! We used to go to the top row and look down. We were sitting on top of the world! But it is small compared to Allen Field house…..and when I go to the Sports Arena today…..it still seems small in comparison.

Another of my earliest memories of K. U. basketball was in 1971 when I went with a friend of mine to the one and only Final Four that I have attended. We hopped into my 1970 orange VW Carmen Ghia on a Friday morning and drove to the Houston Astrodome where K U. was playing the following day. It is an all-day trip to Houston…..probably nine or ten hours. We arrived in the late afternoon….not having any idea where The Astrodome was located. By some turn of luck we found it pretty easily, probably by following the Interstate until we finally saw it. We parked the car in the parking lot and went inside to buy our tickets. We stepped up to ticket window, which was still open, and asked for two tickets. No questions asked…..the woman handed me two tickets: Aisle 221, Mezzanine Box D, Seats 2 & 3. Each ticket cost $8.00! (I know because I still have the ticket stub.) Can you believe it? Stepping up to the ticket window at a Final Four game the day before a game and buying a ticket for $8.00? Just for a laugh, try that today. Get into your car, drive 761 miles, walk up to the ticket window, ask for two tickets…..and see what happens! They are either going to laugh at you….or call for somebody to bring a strait jacket and take you away. Things have changed a lot. Back then….in 1971…..college basketball was a game. Now it is big business.

The first few years I attended K. U. basketball games, I bought individual tickets. I would choose the games that I wanted to attend and call the ticket office and order the tickets. There was never any problem. And, again, even after we got there, the place was seldom full…..and again, we could pretty much sit wherever we wanted. It was probably about the third year that I had been going to K U. games, that the woman in the ticket office finally asked me, “Why don’t you go ahead and buy season tickets?” By that time, she already knew me because she had talked to me so many times on the telephone. Actually, I had really never thought about buying season tickets. But, it seemed like a good idea….a practical idea, at least. So….I bought two season tickets. This must have been in 1972 or 1973. And……I kept them for the next thirty years…..until I retired in 2003.

The first ticket I bought to a K. U. basketball game cost $5.00. The ticket was for a specific seat…..specific row and seat. But, almost literally, I had the pick of the house in where I wanted to sit. Allen Field House was usually about only half full back in those early days. Except, of course, for games like K. State or Missouri, for example. I don’t remember how much it cost to park, but it probably wasn’t much more than a dollar or two. And, more than likely, it was free. Ticket prices stayed relatively inexpensive, and attendance stayed rather sparse until around 1984 or so. That was when Danny Manning enrolled at K. U. The story changed from that point on. Things were never the same again. A new era in Kansas University basketball had begun.

Starting somewhere in that era, attendance suddenly picked up. And certainly from 1988 forward, Allen Field House has been sold out for every game. That is quite a record. It is now 2014….so that is already more than 25 years. And, along with the increased attendance came an increase in ticket prices. A steady increase. The last year that I bought season tickets, in 2003, the price of a single ticket was $40.00. There are approximately 20 home games a year. A season ticket cost $800.00…..and I had two of them. Let me say a bit about season tickets. Many people are under the impression that if a person buys a season ticket, he gets a discount or lower price. Not true! The only advantage or value in having a season ticket is that a person is assured of a seat…..an assigned seat.

Back in the “old days”, you could almost be assured that when you entered Allen Field House, you were going to receive some sort of souvenir…..a sign to wave, a foam rubber finger, a picture, a magnet….something. Those days area also over. Believe me….nothing is free at K. U. any longer.

It is said….and by a lot of people who have been around….that Allen Field House undoubtedly is one of the best….if not THE best….venues to play basketball in the entire nation. It is loud….and it is raucous. And, it is loud and raucous because of the K. U. fans who fill its 16,300 seats game after game. K. U. fans are basketball-savy fans. They know the game. And, they are demanding fans. They expect their team to win. Winning is a tradition at K. U. Unlike fans of some other universities, K. U. fans do not show up to cheer “against” their opponent. They show up to cheer FOR their Jayhawks.

“Pay Heed, All Who Enter: Beware of “The Phog!” When a person attends a game at Allen Field House, they are attending truly big-time basketball. The atmosphere is electric and alive and dynamic. And, it is steeped with a long history of tradition. Of course, this, for all practical purposes, is where college basketball started. James Naismith, the man who invented the game, was the first coach at K. U. And, there was the long-time coach, the dean of basketball coaches, Phog Allen…..after whom the field house is named.

Allen Field House was dedicated in 1955…..and it has stood the test of time. The field house has been renovated, modernized and updated…..but is has never been basically changed. It is still the Allen Field House that is was in 1955….and probably will always remain that way. Other universities tear down their old field house and replace them with new, sleek, sterile buildings. But Allen Field House retains its history and its tradition…..the tradition that has developed over the years and has made the Kansas University basketball team the 2^nd most winning team in the history of the NCAA.

Kansas University is not a college that constantly changes its basketball coach….unlike the K. U. football team. Since I have been old enough to be aware of….and follow….K.U. basketball, and that is back in the early 50’s….there have been only six head coaches: Phog Allen, Dick Harp, Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, and Bill Self. And, before that….James Naismith, who, ironically, had the only overall losing record of any K. U. basketball coach. Not a bad lineup.

K. U. assistant coaches have gone on to stellar, important, high profile coaching and management position throughout the nation and the world….Bob Hill, John Calipari, and R.C. Buford, just to mention a few of them. And…..former K.U. Players? Wow….the complete list is too extensive to include here. But….how about these, just for examples? Tad Boyle, University of Colorado; Kevin Prichard, Indiana Pacers; Mark Turgeon, most lately at the University of Maryland; Danny Manning, University of Tulsa.

This has been a brief explanation of why I, along with thousands of others, are devoted Jayhawk fans. We know that we are a part of a team and a tradition that we can be genuinely proud of. Of course, I am very much aware that other people are also devoted to their teams….and are also proud of them. That is great. That is the way it should be. Many of my friends support other college programs…..mostly our main in-state rival. My adult professional friends support this “other” team mostly because they attended that university…..no matter how misguided that choice was!

The rivalry that takes place…..all the trash talk….is fun. Sometimes, fierce….but fun. We K. U. fans readily concede they have a better football team. But, we hold a vast superiority in the game of basketball. Jokes fly back and forth….along with friendly insults. Of course, we K. U. fans have a distinct advantage in the area of poking fun and making jokes. What did you major in? Cow milking? What did you get your Masters in? Hay baling? Where did you sleep when you were a student there? In a barn? What did they feed you for lunch? Hay? How do you get to class? On horseback? What is your major sport? Cow chip throwing? Or maybe pig racing? You get the idea…..and have probably even figured out which university I am talking about.

The most insulting thing they can say to us is that we are “snobs”……that we graduated from Snob U. If that is all they have to offer….I can deal with it. After all, we feel we have the right to be just a little bit “snobbish”…..considering that we graduated from K. U.

Like I say…..all this trash talk is fun…..and it goes on all the time. But, over all the years, I don’t think I ever lost a friend because of it. And, I doubt if we will ever stop doing it.

Well….I say that I have never lost a friend. That it is all done in good fun. But, there was one time….the only time…..that somebody took it seriously. One morning when I was still a classroom teacher, I was sitting at my desk when another teacher came into my room.

He/she said, “K. U. is playing Emporia State tonight.”

“Yeah,” I replied, “and they are going to get slaughtered.” Which, to anybody who knows anything about basketball, was merely a truthful observation. I didn’t think any more about it. Why should I?

But, at lunch time, this teacher came into my room…..crying and very upset.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“You’re a mean, hateful person,” she/he said.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, rather shocked…..and also somewhat mystified.

“You said some mean, hateful things about my college,” she/he said.

Wow…..I was speechless. I didn’t know how to respond. This had never happened to me before. I mumbled something about it being a joke…..this happens all the time….it’s all done as fun….while thinking to myself, “What a narrow minded person. They can’t even take a joke.”

Thank Heavens, this was an exception….the only exception that I can think of….to the rule.

What else can I say? It’s great to be part of the Jayhawk Nation. It is great to be a part of such a rich and time-honored tradition…..and to be associated with not only a great basketball program…..but also an equally great university.

In parting….Let me say, “Pay Heed, All Who Enter: Beware of “The Phog!”