I have a confession to make: I am living a lie. For the past five years, I have pledged my allegiance to everything Long Beach sports. Above all, a supporter of any local athlete or team, with no exceptions. Except one.
The Kansas Jayhawks.
Still fits!
I can’t help it. It’s in my blood – born in Wichita – and has been engrained into my brain since their 1992-93 Final Four run, my first memory of the NCAA Tournament. Since my first taste of bitter defeat at the hands of the Tar Heels and the tender age of eight, I vowed redemption and used every ounce of my 75-pound body to cheer on the ‘Hawks.
This resulted in more tears and heartbreak than I’d care to mention, although I would like to point out a few of the more memorable pains along the way:
(I don’t know why, but KU is often overlooked as a college basketball powerhouse amongst the likes of UNC, Duke, UCLA, Kentucky and others. Here are a few reminders of how close we came many times during my childhood)
5. Jayhawks defeat heavily-favored Indiana to go to the 1993 Final Four, where they lose to Roy Williams’ alma-mater North Carolina and mentor Dean Smith. This loss was not a major upset but begat my hatred for North Carolina at the age of eight, as I was convinced that KU would certainly win the title.
4. Syracuse freak-forward Hakim Warrick deflects Jayhawk Michael Lee’s potential game-tying three-pointer in the closing seconds of the 2003 NCAA Title game – at the time, the only chance I assumed that I would ever have to see KU in the final. This team featured a freak lineup of Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich and junior Wayne Simeon, who sat out the end of the season with a devastating knee injury, without which the Jayhawks would have certainly won. Instead, Carmelo Anthony’s legend was born as the Orangemen stole the victory.
3. The #3 Jayhawks lose to #14 Bucknell in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. BUCKNELL??!!??!! Seriously? The culmination of my hatred for everything Aaron Miles – perhaps the worst point guard in KU’s history (it pains me to this day that he broke Jacque Vaughn’s Big XII assists record). Assuming the Jayhawks would dominate, I did not watch the game but heard the score and before checking the box score mentioned to a friend, “I guarantee Miles played like ****.” He finished with 4 points and did not make a field goal.
2. Following the Bucknell disaster, the ‘Hawks proceed to drop a first-round game to Bradley in 2006, leading to my instinctive hatred of mid-major programs beginning with the letter “B.”
1. In 1997, a veritable All-Star team of Jayhawks (Starting five: Scot Pollard, Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce, Jared Haase and Pasadena native Jacque Vaughn!) stay atop the nation’s rankings the entire season, mashing everyone in their way and with an NCAA Title all but certain before losing to eventual champion Arizona in the Elite Eight, one of the most overlooked upsets of all time and the one single moment that made me question the meaning of life at the age of 12.
Five moments that nearly destroyed my soul. Until…
REDEMPTION! SWEET SWEET REDEMPTION!
It didn’t sink in when the final buzzer actually sounded and the Jayhawks captured their first NCAA Championship in 20 years, and the first since I’d been feverishly following them. I just kind of sat there, staring at the screen. I’m not sure how you’re supposed to feel when your team wins it all.
I didn’t feel like jumping up and screaming. There was just this intense feeling of inner joy and reflection. All I could see in my head, as the Jayhawks climbed the ladder and cut the nylon, were Bradley and Bucknell, Carmelo Anthony and Mike Bibby. And the realization that none of them were able to stop Kansas tonight. It was serene, and my friends, grandparents, parents and girlfriend wondered what was wrong with me. I was overjoyed. It just hadn’t sunk in yet.
Then I got home and received a message from a friend who attends KU, and sent me pictures of the celebration in the downtown Lawrence streets.
Now it’s real, I thought. Now, we’ve finally done it.
And you know what? It was all worth it.