Rock Chalk Jayhawk - Final Four Madness

"... Got a beak that's big enough to twist a (Memphis) Tigers tail...."

This is a snippet of the KU fight song - modified for Memphis, of course.  My boys and now girl have all learned this song along with the Rock Chalk Jayhawk chant from the time they were infants.  I'm not a fan of the lullaby.  Hey... if they can listen to Elmo and Veggie Tales, why not Dad?

Yes, It's the time of year here at the Burns household when Daddio wrestles control of the remote from the boys to watch college basketball.  I'm a big college basketball fan.  Denise likes college hoops - this is good.  If you go to the University of Kansas it's pretty much a requirement.  I have some great memories of watching games with friends at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas.  It's probably one of the best venues for college basketball in America.  The pundits usually give Duke's gym the edge, but only because it's smaller. 

Twenty years ago, I was a sophomore Journalism major at KU when Danny Manning led a rag tag team of Jayhawks to the National Championship against Oklahoma.  Several of us made a trek to Kansas City where the final was played for no other reason than to see the team off to Kemper Arena from their hotel.  I recall sitting in the back of my good friend, Ray Myers, Toyota Celica Coupe.  It was cramped but it didn't matter because we were college kids having a fun time.  We got to the hotel about the time a big "alumni" pep rally was ending in the ballroom.  The crowd cleared out and probably headed to the game and courtside seats.  The hotel had one of those huge screen TV's playing the game and they allowed us to sit in the ballroom with a small crowd and watch the entire game.  They played a great game mainly carried by Danny Manning.  Larry Brown was the coach at that time.  We stuck around in Kansas City until the team returned and celebrated for a while.  When we left for the hour drive back to Lawrence we had the radio tuned to the campus radio station and they had three songs playing in a loop - "We Are the Champions" by Queen, The School Fight Song and some other song I can't recall.  We got back to find Jayhawk Boulevard Closed and the celebration continuing.  School was cancelled the next day.  This was good.   

Tomorrow night KU will once again play for the NCAA Tournament Championship after beating North Carolina, led by former Kansas coach Roy Williams.  For last nights semi-final I drove the 1-2 hours to Atlanta to watch the game with fellow alum Phil Kopf.  I'll probably be watching the game here at the farm tomorrow night with Denise, but one thing is certain, there will be Jayhawk fans all over the world watching the game.  I received a congratulatory email last night from the Reads.  Mark and his wife, Amy (KU Alum) have been friends for years and are currently on a sailing adventure .  A Burger King in Costa Rica was their found venue for watching the game last night (probably a local alumni group meeting place).  And so, my fellow Jayhawks, there is only one thing left to say........

"Rock Chalk Jayhawk.... GO KU!"

Let's cut down the nets!