Well the holidays are over and things are turning back to normal (whatever that is) around the house. I guess it’s time I jump back onto the blog and give it a little love. During the week between Christmas and New Years I took the family back to Kansas. Usually I go back during the summer months, so this allowed me the opportunity to take in a University of Kansas basketball game. I’m a huge Jayhawks fan, but I haven’t seen a home basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse since 2002. The place holds just as much electricity and charisma as I remember. There may be a few venues that rival it, but I cant imagine a better place to watch college basketball. This was taken from the rafters with my fisheye lens.

Adidas has picked 4 NBA players who skipped college and entered the draft to cheer on an adopted college team during this year’s March Madness Tournament. I believe they are releasing a shoe in conjunction with the ad campaign for each school. You can see Dwight in his #12 home Kansas Jersey  here.

Kevin Garnet - UCLA

T-Mac – Louisville

Josh Smith – Pitt

Dwight Howard – Kansas

I don’t like to play the “what if” game; however,  this would have been our starting lineup during the 03-04 season if this fairytale were true:
G. 6′4 215lbs Keith Langford
SG. 6′3 215lbs Michael Lee
PG. 6′1 175lbs Aaron Miles
PF. 6′9 255lbs Wayne Semien
C. 6′11 265lbs  Dwight Howard 
 
Bench: David  Padgett
 
 

This was the view from the television last Saturday morning as my Jayhawks played the Vols from Tennessee.  Since my brother and sister in-law both graduated from UT with their masters; you could say  everyone had a little bit riding on the outcome of the game. Even Kian broke out the orange and taunted me prior to tip-off.  Fortunatly though we played one of our better games of the year and won 92-85. I have had apprehensive tendencies  watching the Jayhawks play this year, but I saw a different team on the court during this game. Instead of running our offence like preprogramed robots I felt like we were streaking to open spots, moving the ball well and pursuing fast breaks. They are young, but its nice to see improvement. Things are tough again for both the Jayhawks and Vols as we take on Michigan State  in East Lancing and Tennessee has Gonzaga at home. (should be a good game)

We hung out at the hotel and got some work done Monday morning before again returning to the river walk. Everyone was fairly subdued. It could have been the combination of beer and BBQ from the night before, but I believe nerves played into it as well. It’s tough to get to the National Championship game. Think about it, 64 teams play in the tournament and only one gets to end their season with victory. We had a chance to be that team. I was going to have a chance to experience it.
 
A bonus to the day was that one of my favorite musicians, Bob Schneider, was playing a free concert. He put on a good show; played some of the favorites and threw in a few new songs as well. 
 
We arrived at the Alamo Dome about 80 min before tip-off. I wanted to grab the tivo remote and just fast forward to the start of the game, but it just wasn’t an option.
 
First Half: I was a little surprised that we didn’t play nervous. I had seen us do it in other games this year against defenses that weren’t nearly as good as Memphis. We ran our offence, worked the ball inside, and got great pressure and even a few steals with Chalmers and Collins. I believe we were up by 5 at half, but it didn’t matter. We were up by 29 at one time on North Carolina and I knew it didn’t matter. When you’re playing teams like NC, and Memphis no lead is safe. Right Billy Packer?
 
While I’m on the subject, I would have paid twice as much for my tickets not to have to listen to him during the games.
 
Second Half: I really don’t know how we got ourselves into a 14 point swing in the second half. We played fairly good and neither team was hitting from the parameter, it just kind of happened. I have watched the game several times on TV and it still surprises me when I look at the score and we are down by 9. Everyone credits Mario Chalmers for sending the game into overtime, and they should. He hit a well guarded, clutch 3 point shot. But if you watch the crowed, the vast majority of Kansas fans, including the bench, weren’t in hysterics when he hit it, they expected it. Sherron Collins is the one who gave us a fighting chance. In the final two minutes he created offence when they clamped down on us. He had an impossible steal on the inbound play and then managed to get the ball to Rush as he is falling out of bounds with two Memphis players in front of him. He then calmly rose, took up residence on the 3 point line and waited to deliver again with a 3 that cut the lead from 9 to 4.
 
Overtime: They didn’t have a chance. We ran our offence, produced high percentage points in the paint and finished it off with a fast break and a clinic on how to shoot high-pressure free throws.  When the fireworks went off I really didn’t understand what happened. 10 minutes earlier I was being called into the boss’s office to get fired and I just walked out with a raise, corner office and a shiny trophy.  UTEP, Duke, Arizona, Maryland, Bucknell, Bradley, Rhode Island, Syracuse, UCLA, Illinois, Georgia Tech, Kentucky. Off the top of my head these are just a few of the teams that have ended our tournament run in the past 20 years. It’s something you have to think about for the next 7 months until the next season. But not this year.

 
This is probably my favorite photo from San Antonio. Time was always a subject matter during the weekend. Whether it was a flight time, wanting time to move along with a 28 point lead on North Carolina, wanting more time when we were down by 9, an answered prayer at 2.8 seconds or a championship in overtime. However in this photo, time surrendered to the moment for us. We were all given the opportunity to remember when we watched the Kansas Jayhawks win the 2008 National Championship.

I believe in the one point five rule for two reasons. First, I believe it’s true. Second, the one rule just doesn’t sound as good. It suggests that if you are counting sleeping hours while in transit, whether in a car, train or plane, you take your original hours slept and divide it by 1.5 to get an accurate time of rest. My plane for Houston left the damp runway of Portland International Airport last Friday night at 11:55 pm. Hank and I were on our way to San Antonio to watch our Jayhawks play in the Final 4. With my two hours of sleep in the air and an additional two hours of sleep in Houston’s airport I was up to 4  (2.6) hours of sleep; which is enough considering my mind was quickly becoming occupied with the thought of what I was going to witness that evening. After a short 30 min flight to Austin we rented a car and drove the 1.5 hour drive to San Antonio and arrived at around noon on Saturday.. We met my Brother and His wife, Angie, at our Hotel before heading down to the River walk.
 
That afternoon and had a couple of beers at one of the multiple restaurants that cover either side of the river. Each of the Final 4 teams had their share of fans wondering around. We immediately determined defining characteristics of each of them.
 
UCLA: Tan or Asian, likely wearing team jersey with facial hair that is well trimmed, 
UNC: Old
Memphis: Speaking in an unrecognizable English accent and eating some form of meat.
 
As I was reviewing my photos when I got home I noticed the Gentleman in the bottom right of this photo. He looked a lot like KU’s Athletic Director Lew Perkins. It would make since with the huge ring on his hand (Orange Bowl Ring). After sending it to my brother we both agree that it is him. I never knew he was there…
 

 
I love this photo because my brother is typically true to his “gut feeling” for the game. Angie and Hank = nervous, but Konan was expecting the victory, that or he was drunk.  

 
This was a great backdrop for a couple of frames. The problem was the doors in the background went into hotel and convention center, so it was difficult to get a shot with no one else in the background. I put the original photos up too… before I took care of the problem. (sounds so mafia-ish)
 
    
 
 
 
 
 
We got to the arena about an hour and a half before the tip off of the first game. I didn’t take many photos inside of the Alamo Dome because they weren’t allowing lenses longer than 4 inches. For some reason they let me in, but I got several looks from staff when I had it out shooting, so I put the camera away most of the time. I was probably more nervous about the final 4 game against UNC than I was the national championship. I have wanted to play Roy Williams since he left KU over 4 years ago. Every year when the tournament brackets are released I look at our first match up and then I find North Carolina to determine what it will take to play them. You could tell who was picked to win the games. UCLA fans were lethargic before their game with Memphis and UNC fans didn’t even show up for the first 10 minutes of the UCLA – Memphis game. I enjoyed being the underdog; we just seem to play better. The first 15 min of the game against UNC was probably the best I have ever seen a Kansas basketball team play. I have seen individual performances that I will never forget, like Nick Collison vs. Texas on Big Monday, or Julian Wright vs. Texas at the 07’ Big XII Championship Game. But as a team; I have never seen a better performance. And what a better time than with Roy on the other end of the court. It was like seeing that ex-girlfriend for the first time in 4 years…. and then destroying her on a basketball court. I knew what the UNC fans were feeling. I have seen many Roy Williams high octane offence teams struggle against tough defense. One in particular was in 2000 when KU played Illinois in the Midwest Regional Semifinals. Roy had our team averaging 82 points a game. Bill Self’s Allini held us to 64 points to win the game. By-the-way, that game was played in San Antonio.
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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