I'm a lifelong Jayhawk Basketball fan, born and bred. Generally speaking, that means living with the elation of dominating the Big 8/Big 12 conference, but living with heartache come NCAA Tourney time. Since 1988 (when I was 13), the 'hawks have come tantalizingly close to hanging another banner on several occasions. But, they always seem to run into a buzzsaw in the Final Four. Let's tick off some notables:
1991 Final Four: Lost in championship to Duke. Could only watch in horror as multiple replays of Grant Hill catching a lob with one hand and dunking over a Kansas defender (can't remember who right now). Good memories: Alonzo Jamison playing much bigger than 6'4"; knocking off Indiana, Arkansas, and North Carolina on the way to the Final Four.
1993 Final Four: Lost in the semifinal game to Carolina (coach stealin' sonsabitches). Good memory: "Downtown" Terry Brown, draining 3's with the most fucked-up release I've ever seen.
1996-1998: The most underachieving assemblage of talent Kansas has probably ever had. Paul Pierce, Scot Pollard, Jaque Vaughan, Raef LaFrentz, Jerrod Hasse All great college players, and an absolute juggernaut during Pierce and LaFrentz's junior year. Disgustingly talented. Consecutive early round exits to Arizona (eventual champion) and Rhode Island (eventual nobody). Good memories: Getting into a 25-point hole against UCLA at home during the regular season, and coming back to win the game.
1998-2001: Dark ages. Decent talent, but couldn't seem to get it together. Not too many good memories during that time.
2002: Roy turned down a preseason offer from North Carolina to stick around for this team. Right he was. Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, Nick Collison, and Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien, and Keith Langford as freshmen. Another wrecking crew, akin to the 1997-98 squad. Gave us a great run, but ran into a hugely talented and determined Maryland squad in the semifinals. Got down in the first half, and never really threatened. Good memories: Conference game at Mizzou, Drew Gooden gets a breakaway and rather than taking the easy layup, throws down a sick reverse dunk. Why? Because fuck Mizzou, that's why.
2003: Same squad, minus Drew Gooden (now carrying LeBron's jock on road trips). Great conference season. Best memory: Dusting Marquette in the Final Four by 33. (Dwayne Wade was on that Marquette team, by the way). Worst memories: Goddamn Syracuse grade-school 2-3 zone defense. Couldn't shoot around it, couldn't penetrate it. Goddamn Carmelo Anthony. Best freshman I had seen, until Kevin Durant this year. Goddamn Gerry McNamara shooting from three rows up in the seats and hitting everything. Boeheim finally hoists a trophy. When asked, Roy tells Bonnie Bernstein in a postgame interview that he doesn't give a shit about North Carolina, then after making everyone squirm for weeks, leaves for North Carolina on a powder-blue jet.
2004: Bill Self era begins. Elite Eight run, which was more than anyone expected.
2005-06: Bucknell. Bradley. 'Nuff said.
You get the idea. Much disappointment for die-hard fans. That's why what I'm about to say comes with great difficulty.
This is our year. This team has the perfect blend of talent, balance, and poise to win it all. They play stifling defense. They can take one on the jaw, and keep coming back. They've done it in big games all year. In yesterday's game against Texas, I saw all I needed to see. Against an ascendant team with the best player in the country hitting everything he threw up, they came back from 16 down to win. That's the kind of sack we haven't seen in recent years from a Jayhawk squad.
I hate to say it out loud, but we've got a great chance to hang another banner this year. Rock Chalk.