A Nation of KU fans
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No this isn’t KU Nation, I for one don’t like that moniker, but this about us as fans and where we are from and how we become Jayhawk fans.
I know a lot of us have stated it at one point or another in different threads, but now there is some down time and why not put it all in one place.
So let us know where you are living now, I know we have Wisconsin, Texas Missouri and Nebraska for starters, where you came from, if you went to school at KU or like me are just a huge fan.
I grew up in Central Nebraska by the largest man made forest in the USA. I was brought up a Husker fan because for one I wasn’t aware there were other schools I could cheer for. In 1986 my dad a HS basketball coach went to a Larry Brown coaching clinic and came back with some team photos and other KU stuff, but the stories he told me about this Manning kid and how good he was and is going to be. I was hooked! In 1993 I told all my Husker fans if Nebraska lost to FSU in the Orange Bowl I would never cheer for them again. 21 years later, I still haven’t. I live just outside of Omaha now and cheer on the Jayhawks all year round.
I’ve only been on KU’s campus twice once for a BBall game in Self’s first year and to a football game in Mangino’s last year. It’s a wonderful campus with so much history. Two out of my 3 kids have become Jayhawk fans and I’ll take that, my wife and youngest are slowly turning during the basketball season and that’s good too.Rock Chalk
I will enjoy seeing how you became a Jayhawk and where you cam from and where you are. Hope you do too.
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I was born in Phoenix, Az, but moved all over the country when I was very young. (we weren’t in the service, my dad just liked to move !!) We settled in Salina, Ks and I honestly think the reason I became a KU fan was because the biggest D-bag I ever knew was also the biggest K-State fan I ever knew. This was in grade school.
We maintained a mutual hatred through high school and the more I saw and heard him, the more I loved KU. I moved to Houston right after I got married and lived there about 9 years. I shouldn’t even say this (but I’m going to!) - one of the main reasons I moved back to Kansas is because I missed my KU sports so much. This was in 1987, so we didn’t have the sports world at our fingertips like we do now. There was no internet, no smart phones and the only real sports coverage in the Houston Chronicle was Univ. of Houston, Rice and some of the Big 8 and Southwest Conference teams.
I’m pretty sure I was personally responsible for introducing KU to Houston, Tx ! About every article of clothing I owned back then was KU related. I don’t even think some of those folks knew that Kansas was a state until I moved there. Really.
Anyway - I’ve loved KU as long as I can remember and always will. I’ve had several neices and nephews graduate from there, but ironically both my kids went to different colleges. Maybe they had enough crimson and blue crammed down their throats when they were young!!
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Born in Sioux Falls, So. Dakota, moved to Bloomington, MN at age 5 and lived there until 5th grade. Because they closed down Ft. Snelling, my dad became the Comptroller of Ft. Leavenworth (not in the military - civil service) so we were forced to live in Leavenworth!! It was then and there that I became a Jayhawker for life. My 4 older brothers all went to and graduated from KU but when it came time for me once I graduated high school in 1973, I instead went to work for an attorney there in LV and took paralegal training. In 1979 my husband had a friend he knew from going to school in Pittsburg, KS framing houses here in Austin and we came down here to check it out, saw the little city it was then and moved here 2 months later. So 41 years later I’m still working with an attorney in Austin, TX (32 with the same one). Today being Administrative Assistant’s Day, all us staff are being treated to lunch at a real swanky place that looks down into where they film the Austin City Limits.
Keepin’ It Weird.
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My parents grew up on the Missouri side with dad being a MU fan. We moved all over the USA until we settled in Overland Park when I started JR high. I had a little success in track and my father took me to watch the KU relays when I was 15. I dreamed about competing there and was fortunate to have a hall of fame coach in HS. That lead to a track scholarship, and that meant dad switched to a ku fan for life. He was a bigger fan than me, and kept me updated since I moved frequently including St. Louis, LA, Atlanta, Houston where it was very difficult to get KU info until the internet and our move to Houston just after the big12 made kansas somewhat relevant here in Texas. And FYI, there are thousands of KU alums here and LA as well.
On a side note of AFH history-back in the day there was a dirt track in AFH and we had practice and meets there during the indoor season. We all thought it was pretty special to compete in that building.
Ku buckets is a godsend as I’ve learned a lot and enjoyed the posters here a great deal.
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@JayhawkRock78 you would really appreciate Rock Chalk Park. I wasn’t a fan of moving it there, but it’s really nice and they do a great job of running it! I still can’t believe how far people parked to go, probably parents. I volunteer for it, always great people to work with!
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I was back for a ku relays reunion last year. Most of us weren’t happy they didn’t put it behind and south of AFH on campus where it belonged. But that ship sailed and I keep reading great things about the new facility.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Thanks for your time and effort.
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@JayhawkRock78 I enjoy every minute of it! I just hope they find money to bring back the elite athletes. Even though the girls won a National championship, the powers-to-be, don’t give it much attention!
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Those ladies sure meant a lot to me. I was able to attend Late night at the PHOG this year and all the athletic teams got to walk the floor. The place went nuts when the girls track team came out. Better yet the crowd knew which girls scored the points to win it-and then they presented their championship rings including the seniors who had already graduated.
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@JayhawkRock78 it was a huge TEAM effort! Classy kids and Coaches! Didn’t see all events last week, but watching Stigler and Clemons run was exciting!
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Born and raised in the SEK. In my hometown most of the residents were staters. We had a kid from our school playing football for them so that led most people to wear purple. Well that and it was a small FARMING community. But my fandom was with the Jayhawks because my grandfather was a Jayhawk back in his day. Plus my aunt would take me and my friends to the Barnstorming games at Neosho CC in Chanute. There was a time that I thought about attending KU for my profession but on my college visit to KU Med my buddies car got stripped in broad daylight two blocks from the hospital. Decided Springfield Mo was a better option. Worked and went to school in Springfield for 10 years. While in Spgf I attended one late night when it was actually late night. Currently I’m still stuck in sec country but close enough to the border to pick up Big12 games on local stations but not close enough to be blacked out on ESPN Full Court games. My wife and I try to get to a couple a games a year even though it’s a 4 hour drive. We make it worth our while though and stay after to meet the players.
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@JRyman I was born, bred, reared, and educated KU. I’ve been to Missouri, Texas, and now Oklahoma. I grew up in Wichita and I followed WSU and the MTXE very young, grade school. That crap was drilled into my brain during many bball camps. I married a girl from Oklahoma and she is born, bred, reared, and educated OU. So, it’s a nice tradeoff. During football, we watch a lot of OU and during bball, watch a lot of KU. We fight during the KU/OU games. But it’s all good later
Our three kids love Rock Chalk Jayhawk, Big Jay and Baby Jay. They don’t get Boomer Sooner either. Once I explained what the Boomers and the Sonners were, they decided that being a Jayhawk was much better. She’s in education and I’m in a medical field. We now live in the OKC area.
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I was born in Philadelphia and moved to KC so my mom could be with her father that was ill. My parents weren’t big into sprots so I never really watched them until I got to grade school adn then everything changed. My best friend in Kindergarten was a huge Jayhawk fan as his dad was an alumus. The first game his dad took us to was the second part of kindergarten year, I can’t remember the team we played but I do remember it was Paul Pierces Freshman year and thinking I wanted to be like him. Ever since then i’ve been hooked on the Jayhawks. I didn’t go to KU like I wanted to ( I grew up on the MO side and didn’t want to payout of state tuition.) I settled for being a Roo. But my love for the Jayhawks has never wavered. Half of my wardrobe is KU gear, I travel all around the country to see them. Hell I even have gotten my Slaver(MU) fiancee to go to the Fieldhosue and around the country with me. She is slowly comnig around and wiping the filth and haze from her eyes. Even caught her singing the slow chant at a couple games(though she denies it). I go to a few games a year when I can and plan family and social events around the games. RCJH always and forever.
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@truehawk93 My wife went to KSU. We tried watching KU-KSU in the same room. Not good. We tried different TV’s upstairs and downstairs which was better. Now we just DVR the games, check the results after and one of us is happy to see the replay and the other doesn’t have to watch a loss.
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Born in Wichita, grew up in a suburb just outside the city. Attended Wichita public schools. When I was 10 years old it was 1988, and this proved to be the definitive year in forming my sports allegiances. That March, my grandfather (a die hard KU fan) sat me down and we watched the KU-OU championship game. From then I was hooked. (also that year I became a Dodger fan due to Kirk Gibson, and a Raider fan as Bo Jackson was the coolest thing in cleats). I attended WSU after graduating high school, with the intention of getting a few pre-reqs out of the way while saving some money and that after a year or two I would transfer up to Lawrence. It never happened, and not going away for college remains one of my bigger regrets. I lived in apartments since graduating high school (which is to say I did not live with my parents), but commuting to WSU in no way provided a genuine “college experience.”
I’ve had the opportunity to attend a handful of Jayhawk games in person. One in Kemper, 3 in AFH, and even one during a bus road trip with my aforementioned grandfather up to Nebraska, back when they had Cookie Belcher. All Jayhawk wins.
I don’t possess a lick of basketball talent (the small athletic ability I do have went towards baseball), have never played on an organized basketball team nor coached a basketball team. I did spend one year covering high school sports for a small weekly paper, and spent a lot of time at both boys & girls basketball games. This gave me a different perspective on the game that I had loved from afar. Wish I could have kept doing it, but the pay was crap.
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I celebrated my 60th birthday, 6 years ago, with my daughter in NYC. She took be to a place called the Back Page to watch a Big 12 Tourney game. It looked like every other bar and grill in the city until you walked to the back and found a miniature Allen Field house with the Championship Banners, Beware the Phog sign, and a list of all the retired jerseys. It is only one of twenty seven Jayhawk bars in Manhatten. The place was packed, loud and of course happy at the end of the game.
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I never comment on here but am a daily reader. Thanks for starting this after LJW kind of went nutso. I really enjoy the comments here. LJW is now pretty much like Bizarro world in Seinfeld.
But I digress and to your question. I went to Wichita State back in the early 80’s when we were great. Moved to Houston and lived there in 88 when KU won the title and became a KU fan then. Then married a KU grad and lived in KC and the rest is history.
I do hate to see the bickering between KU and WSU fans but I understand it.
Best KU game I have seen at AFH was the game when Durant came in and scored 20 in the first half with defenders hanging on him. There was a quiet reverence at halftime as it seemed everyone knew we were watching greatness. Of course great second half by KU and we won.
Thanks for all your interesting comments.
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I’ve been in San Jose for almost 20 years, but I was born in Lawrence, grew up on a farm about 10 miles outside of town and got my undergrad from KU in 88 and grad in 94. Between 89-91 I worked in Vermont and worked with a Mizzou grad that kept the fire burning. After grad school, I worked in Boulder for about a year before moving to silicon valley.
I went to a rural high school but spent a lot of time in Lawrence where my grandparents lived and many friends lived. I have many fond memories of football games at memorial stadium and basketball games at AFH when there were lots of empty seats and you could walk around and find a different place to watch the game during the game. I was a casual fan through high school, because there wasn’t a lot to celebrate. The football and basketball programs were firmly situated in mediocrity.
Of course, everything changed when Larry Brown came. My affiliation with the Greg Dreiling fan club was the beginning of fandom that went a bit over the edge. It’s continued, uninterrupted, with periods of greater intensity, ever since.
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@JRyman Was a Husker fan back in 69-71 because my first cousin was an all-star award winning defensive lineman. Went to several games there and the Orange Bowl.
Larry Jacobson
College Career •1971 Outland Award Winner •1971 First Team All-American •1971 First Team All-Big Eight •Member of 2 National Championship Teams [1970-71] •Jersey (#75) retired by school •Inducted into Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1994
After College
•Selected in the 1st Round (24th overall) of the 1972 NFL Draft (New York Giants) •Played in NFL (1972-74) with New York Giants
A standout on Nebraska’s 1970 and 1971 national championship teams, Larry Jacobson became Nebraska’s first major award winner, capturing the Outland Trophy following his senior season. Jacobson became the first of seven Huskers to win eight Outland trophies, symbolic of the nation’s top interior lineman.
Jacobson’s No. 75 was retired along with Trev Alberts’ No. 34 and Will Shield’s No. 75 at the 1994 Spring Game, marking the only time in school history that three jerseys were retired at the same time.
As a senior, Jacobson recorded 73 tackles , including 28 solos, and added 12 tackles for 73 yards lost and an interception en route to earning All-Big Eight and All-America honors. One of two All-Americans (along with Rich Glover) on the Husker defensive line in 1971, Jacobson helped the Blackshirts to top-five national rankings in rush defense (85.9, second), total defense (202.9, fifth) and scoring defense (8.2, third) en route to a 13-0 record and a second straight national title. He also was lauded for his efforts in the classroom, earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors following his senior campaign.
Jacobson broke onto the national scene during his junior season, helping the Huskers to their first national title. The 6-foot-6 inch, 250-pound, Sioux Falls, S.D., native finished with 49 tackles, including 33 solos, nine tackles for 61 yards lost and a team-best three fumble recoveries.
One of three Huskers selected in the first round of the 1972 NFL Draft, Jacobson was a first-round selection (No. 24 overall) by the New York Giants. He played with the Giants for four seasons before retiring following the 1975 campaign.
In December of 2012, Jacobson received the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award, which recognizes outstanding college players from the past 40 years.
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I was born in New Jersey, and grew up there for 19 years, initially attending St. Joe’s for 2 years. Parents moved to KC (job). Went to visit them, and drove out to KU for an afternoon. Fell in love, and felt it was the right place for me.Finished last 2 yrs undergrad at KU, then attended medical school and residency in KC. Moved to PA in 1987, where I remain an avid fan. My son is a diehard KU fan, even though he graduated from Penn St. Also, my younger sister played ball for 1 year under Coach Washington. She was on the team with Lynette Woodward. She was the “11th player” for PT, and ultimately left to be a 3 yr starter for Liberty. She still loves KU.
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@imajayhawk really cool story!
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Good topic My quick story -
“You don’t pick teams… They pick you”
Grew up in Denver, went to small liberal art college in CT, moved to Boston same year as bird and magic entering the NBA - was a NBA fan for 10 years then kinda lost interest… Met my wife in '94 - she went to KU and always told me how incredible her college years were and how much she loved going to basketball games… Her senior year Danny and the miracles won it all… So she really wanted me to watch Kansas games with her, so being a good spouse i did, desite thinking that college basketball was inferior to the pros… After two years of watching games, i was completely HOOKED and saw the light (cue dramatic music
(Now I could care less about the National Boring Association)
i cant imagine a full life without the prospect of Kansas basketball… I simply cannot WAIT for each season to start
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Born in Kansas City, KS. Spent a great deal of my childhood growing up in Florida. Moved back to Kansas City when entering my teen years. I’ve done a great deal of traveling over the years. Always amazed to see KU fans in the oddest places :D. Currently hanging out in Iowa, but will be making a move back to Kansas City or Lawrence area. Not sure yet. I have a kid that has chosen to attend KU. We’re still in the planning stage.
It was 1988 season that I really became aware of the Jayhawks. It was the 1988 championship game between KU and OU that tattooed me has a KU fan forever. Danny and the miracles taking on the high scoring sooners. That first half I’ll never forget, and Danny running down and blocking Kings shot form behind was just classic.
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I was born in Topeka during a short period of time my dad was a civilian after being a SEABEE on Saipan during WWII. He returned to the Navy with the Korea thing and served until he retired in 1968. Needless to say with dad’s service time and my 20 years in the AF, I spent little time in Topeka.
But that didn’t keep me from being a Kansas fan. I now live in Bush, Louisiana, which you may or may not find on a map. It’s general location is about 55 miles north of Nawlin’s and midway between Covington and Bogalusa. Bush consists of 3 gas stations, 1 grocery store, a post office and an all you can eat seafood place that’s only open Thur thru Sunday.
I’ve been in AFH twice. First when my youngest son attended Roy’s camp and once when we lost to Iowa St. When my son and I walked out of the tunnel onto the court I actually got goosebumps. It was awesome. My son is still a KU fan as long as they never play Clemson. A bad habit he picked up when we lived in South Carolina.
We’ve been in the dome for the disappointing '03 and '12 FF’s. Looking forward to the next one cause they say “the third time’s the charm.”
RCJH! Laissez les bons temps rouler! (beer)
