Basketball Fever

It's that time of year again. March is here, and March Madness is right around the corner. I've been in full out basketball mode for quite a few weeks now, although I haven't actually developed basketball fever as of yet. That ailment won't be officially diagnosed until brackets begin to bust and tears begin to flow during the tournament. I can tell the fever is coming on though. Last weekend, when we lost in the finals seconds of the game in Stillwater, I despondently laid face first on the basement floor groaning in agony until my husband prodded me out of my misery by insisting that I pull myself together. He's much more immune to the fever than I am.

I almost blogged about that loss right after it happened, but I was afraid that me venting with such fresh emotion would probably just come off as just a whiny Jayhawk fan. It probably still will, but let me just say that there were a ridiculous number of fouls called in that game, which definitely hurt the Jayhawks' offensive rhythm. The Cowboys' pathetically boring (but clearly effective) offense consisted of dribbling out the clock and driving into the lane like a bull in a china closet to pick up the foul, which they usually did. I insisted immediately following the game that there must have been a record number of fouls called, which there weren't, but there definitely were a higher than average number called. Regardless, it was painful to watch and painful to lose to a clearly inferior team.

Thankfully, since that loss we've pulled it together and come back with three solid wins, the most satisfying of which came on Saturday against K-State. We played well against the Cats and won without too much difficulty, despite the fact that the refs called fouls on our players when they breathed in Michael Beasley's general direction. Okay, so I might be exaggerating just a little, but I still have to say that I think a completely objective person (which I am obviously not) could re-watch that game and tell that we did not have the home court advantage when it came to the officiating!

The most fun and exciting of our recent wins had to be tonight's game at Allen Fieldhouse against Texas Tech. In this Senior Night massacre, all five of our graduating players (only 2 of which are normal starters) were contributing scorers, as were about 10 other Jayhawks. Bill's boys looked liked they were playing a bunch of high school girls they were so dominant. Pat Knight pretty much admitted in the halftime interview that he was completely giving up. It would have been sad if it hadn't been so awesome. :)

I'm sure being at the Fieldhouse tonight would have been incredible. The Senior Night crowd is always amazing, but with such a huge win in the last home game of the year the fans looked like they were completely out of control. Allen is such an amazing place to be--and it's not just me who thinks so. Check out this great article by an Oklahoma Sooner about his first KU game at our hometown venue. His accomplice, who happened to be a grad of North Carolina, said that none of his experiences at the "Dean Dome" even could compare to Phog Allen Fieldhouse!

Obviously my basketball obsession is already a little out of control, and March has barely begun. If you need some help getting into the spirit of March Madness during these next couple of weeks, checking out this fun website. It's an unofficial page of KU related videos that my friend Brenda sent me a link to a couple of weeks ago. You can watch highlights of basketball and other sports, as well as a few classic games from years past. It will definitely get you fired up with some school spirit!