The Phog is a special place
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Fellow Jayhawks: I have lived in another state for many years. I come back to the area about once a year to see family (not nearly enough). It took me a long time, but I finally made it back to see a game a few years back when we played USC (Selby’s first game) and the Michigan game (I forget which one was first). I missed a couple of years, but made it to the Georgetown game last year and I will be at the Lafayette game on Saturday. I can’t wait. I can’t explain the feeling I had while doing the Rock Chalk Chant. Unbelievable. Tears did not come to my eyes…but it was close. I feel so lucky that our basketball tradition is so rich and our program is so great. To be a part of the atmosphere at Allen Field House is hard to describe. I am lucky to have the life that I have with my family and I don’t regret moving away. But I am jealous of my old college friends who get to attend every game (or most anyway). So…don’t take what we have for granted. We’re all very lucky. RCJH!
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We are lucky and I think most if us get it. Certainly the media embraces it these days.
I may have posted this before-not sure but I have a story about AFH that I think is special-I did not play bBall at KU, but spent a lot of time in AFH as an athlete and bBall spectator during my KU days.
40 years ago I had an experience that still gives me chills. This time I want to touch base with a few teammates and see if they ever had the same thing happen before I elaborate further.
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The Cathedral of Basketball…enough said.
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Dead on JFT.
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I read posts on this site every day, but rarely post. I grew up a Jayhawk fan. My Dad was a Jayhawk fan. When I was young my dad got season tickets to KU football games. This was in the time of Fambrough (2nd stint), and they had a decent team. Went to a bowl in the early 80’s, before moving back down to the bottom of the league later in the decade.
My dad was also an usher at basketball games during the last of the Ted Owens era. He would take me with him, and at the time, I could sneak into the lower level and watch, because they just weren’t very good. But then Larry came, and as all of you know, there rest, as they say, is history.
After Mario and the boys won the championship in 2008, I felt pride, relief, exaltation, and many other emotions. But what I felt mostly, was lucky. Lucky that my dad became a KU fan when he was a child. I told a friend as much, and he completely agreed.
I asked may dad after the championship how he ended up being a KU fan (he wasn’t a graduate). He told me that he would listen to them on the radio while he laid in bed before going to sleep, and kind of just fell in love. He died three years later, and I think back to that conversation a lot. I think about what the Jayhawks meant to him, and how he passed the love down to his son.
So yes, we are lucky.
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@JhawkCB that’s an awesome story! Blessed!
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I became a Jayhawk fan in 1966 when Ted Owens and Bob Vanatta of of Mizzou came to our high school to recruit our star player. I was a junior on that team and realized that he was a player way beyond the mere mortals of the rest of us. My Senior year I listened to the Hawks on radio and sometimes they would be on TV sponsored by Phillips 66 with “Hot Rod” Huntley as the announcer. TV games were only on Saturdays and the rest were with Max on the radio. 1966 was the year that KU should had defeated Texas Western when JoJo hit the big shot but it was waved off because the ref said he had stepped out of bounds. “My Avatar show his heel clearly off the line” but I became hooked after that year. I later taught at KU during the summers and watched WIlt play against the KC Kings many times. Steve Woodbury and JoJo White have been my favorites for the last 49 years.
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@wrwlumpy great story lumpster.
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@wrwlumpy I also became a KU fan in 1966. I had transferred from St. John’s University in Collegeville Mn. Besides having the best coach in NAIA football it had a fantastic church and the world’s largest Benedictine monastery. When I attended my first game at the phog it was like going to church with the ritual of the Alma Mater and the Jayhawk chant. With the lights down and a spotlight on the flag it was awesome. The lights were one of the reasons I have never liked day games. I was reminded of this during the AFH celebration when someone referred to it as a cathedral for college basketball.
As my job for the school, I was lucky to be a manager for the track team. As Ted Owens pointed out at the 60th celebration, the track team practiced in AFH during the winter. Since the games during the week were after practice I was always there before any of the fans. I would stake out seats for myself, my girlfriend and some friends. With the raised floor the seats were about at the height that the cheerleaders kicked. When they would arrive I would take their coats to the track locker room. For games on Saturday I could do the same thing since I was on the list of people who could simply sign in.
Watching JoJo White and the rest of the team was fantastic. JoJo was about the most mature student that I have ever seen. Watching the 1968 NCAA regional with KU with JoJo, Louisville with Wes Unseld, and Houston with Elvin Hayes from about 5 rows behind the basket was more than exciting. Vernon Vanoy more that held his own against Unseld and Hayes even though he was only about 6’ 8". We were supposed to play Louisville for the finals but lost to Houston.
What memories in that building!.
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@sfbahawk thanks for sharing! Another cool experience!
