How cute is that little guy?
Showing posts with label KU Basketball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KU Basketball. Show all posts
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Jayhawk Wannabe
In honor of today's awesome Jayhawk comeback against Iowa State, I wanted to share this fantastic version of the Rock Chalk chant that can be found on "Page 2" of ESPN.com.
How cute is that little guy?
How cute is that little guy?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Same Old Sadness
I guess it's time I finally address the elephant in the room: our very disappointing early exit from the NCAA tournament on Sunday. As the whole sports world knows, KU got knocked out of the Big Dance yet again by a much lower seed. Ugh. While I was obviously broken-hearted, I wasn't really that surprised. Although we do have the 5th most wins of any team in the NCAA tournament, we definitely have a long history of getting upset, starting with the painful loss to UTEP in 1992 after which I laid on my bed in the Jayhawk Towers bawling my eyes out. It just happens over and over--we can't seem to handle the pressure of being favored big against teams that feel absolutely no pressure to beat us. In fact, I feel like I could almost just copy and paste the blog post I wrote last March, replacing Sherron with Tyrel and Northern Iown with VCU. So many of the game problems were similar--missed free throws, tense play, lights out shooting by the other team--and the bad weather was similar right down to the snow. Thankfully, this year on loss day we only ended up with an inch or so and not the 6 or so inches we had last year!
Although it was rough getting knocked out by an 11 seed this year, I was proud of our boys for making it to the Elite Eight and for being the last of the number 1 seeds to go home. It makes me feel so much better when other number ones fall early. This year Pittsburgh got knocked out in the second round like we did last year and I was so excited! It's not just the Jayhawks who have off days during the tourney!
Speaking of off days, we could not have had a more off shooting day on Sunday. We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. We were awful from the charity stripe, from the 3-point line, and even from inside the paint! While it's not unusual for one or even two Jayhawks to have an off night, rarely have we ever had practically every guy on the court go cold in the same game! It just wasn't our year, clearly, and VCU was definitely feeling it.
Since I hadn't watched nearly as much of the tourney this year as I normally do, and since I was sort of preparing myself for the possibility of another upset, I really and truly believed that I would be able to better control my emotions in the event of a loss. Um, yeah...not so much. I really really thought I wouldn't cry this year, and I can't believe that after 19 years of crying after every tournament loss I still do. It just never ceases to be gut-wrenching. Looking at the faces of those players, especially a terrific kid like Tyrel, and thinking of how hard they've worked all year, and then thinking about how sad I am and multiplying it by a thousand to imagine how sad they must be--it just makes me cry every time. For us, there's always next year, but for those seniors, they'll never get the chance to dance again!
I hope they know that even when they lose we still love our Jayhawks!
Although it was rough getting knocked out by an 11 seed this year, I was proud of our boys for making it to the Elite Eight and for being the last of the number 1 seeds to go home. It makes me feel so much better when other number ones fall early. This year Pittsburgh got knocked out in the second round like we did last year and I was so excited! It's not just the Jayhawks who have off days during the tourney!
Speaking of off days, we could not have had a more off shooting day on Sunday. We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. We were awful from the charity stripe, from the 3-point line, and even from inside the paint! While it's not unusual for one or even two Jayhawks to have an off night, rarely have we ever had practically every guy on the court go cold in the same game! It just wasn't our year, clearly, and VCU was definitely feeling it.
Since I hadn't watched nearly as much of the tourney this year as I normally do, and since I was sort of preparing myself for the possibility of another upset, I really and truly believed that I would be able to better control my emotions in the event of a loss. Um, yeah...not so much. I really really thought I wouldn't cry this year, and I can't believe that after 19 years of crying after every tournament loss I still do. It just never ceases to be gut-wrenching. Looking at the faces of those players, especially a terrific kid like Tyrel, and thinking of how hard they've worked all year, and then thinking about how sad I am and multiplying it by a thousand to imagine how sad they must be--it just makes me cry every time. For us, there's always next year, but for those seniors, they'll never get the chance to dance again!
I hope they know that even when they lose we still love our Jayhawks!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Sweet and Elite
I'm so embarrassed that we are smack in the middle of March Madness and I haven't even blogged once about basketball. Even more embarrassingly, until yesterday the only full game I'd even watched was the KU/Illinois game last weekend. Even more embarrassingly, this was the first time in about the last 20 years that I didn't enter a bracket pool, and the first time since the invention of online pools that I didn't even fill out an online bracket!! I know this sounds like complete insanity, since obviously all my friends I love love love the Big Dance. I feel like I should turn in my superfan card.
It's kind of like I'm living in the basketball bizarro world this year. Normally I do tons of research and study each matchup carefully before picking my teams. Since the week the tourney started was also the week I was busy getting ready for the party, I just never had a free moment at the computer. I kept thinking I would at least fill out a bracket at the last minute, but Wednesday night when the online brackets were due, Eric and I were at Mom's until after midnight going through old photo albums, trying to find pictures for the slideshow!
The Thursday of the tournament I did actually fill out my annual "dream" bracket and "reality" bracket on paper before I looked at any of the scores, just so I could take more of an interest in any of the games I was able to watch. The problem with that is that I picked the games so poorly, by the time I was able to watch this weekend I barely had any teams left in my bracket! As the Elite Eight games started today, I seriously had two teams out of eight still on my reality bracket and one team out of eight on my dream bracket. I always wondered if my research was really doing me any good, and I guess this year we've answered that age old question. Without studying I completely stink--with research I only stink as much as the rest of the country.
Ultimately though, it doesn't really matter how crappy my bracket is overall, because the one team I have left in both brackets is the only one that counts. It was so awesome to watch our Jayhawks manhandle Richmond yesterday in the Sweet Sixteen and we're hoping to another win tomorrow against VCU for a trip to the Final Four!!!
It's kind of like I'm living in the basketball bizarro world this year. Normally I do tons of research and study each matchup carefully before picking my teams. Since the week the tourney started was also the week I was busy getting ready for the party, I just never had a free moment at the computer. I kept thinking I would at least fill out a bracket at the last minute, but Wednesday night when the online brackets were due, Eric and I were at Mom's until after midnight going through old photo albums, trying to find pictures for the slideshow!
The Thursday of the tournament I did actually fill out my annual "dream" bracket and "reality" bracket on paper before I looked at any of the scores, just so I could take more of an interest in any of the games I was able to watch. The problem with that is that I picked the games so poorly, by the time I was able to watch this weekend I barely had any teams left in my bracket! As the Elite Eight games started today, I seriously had two teams out of eight still on my reality bracket and one team out of eight on my dream bracket. I always wondered if my research was really doing me any good, and I guess this year we've answered that age old question. Without studying I completely stink--with research I only stink as much as the rest of the country.
Ultimately though, it doesn't really matter how crappy my bracket is overall, because the one team I have left in both brackets is the only one that counts. It was so awesome to watch our Jayhawks manhandle Richmond yesterday in the Sweet Sixteen and we're hoping to another win tomorrow against VCU for a trip to the Final Four!!!
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Black and Gold to Crimson and Blue
Obviously, Chad and I were super disappointed in the outcome of the Super Bowl on Sunday, since our Pittsburgh Steelers were not victorious. I was super proud of my dear husband though, because he didn't let the Steelers loss upset his entire week--or even his entire evening! Since his Steelers had already won a couple of recent Super Bowls, and since they weren't really favored to win this one, and since their starting Pro Bowl center was out injured, and since the Steelers didn't really play well enough to deserve the win, I guess he was more prepared for the final score. He was able to take the loss in stride and not lament too much about it, which was nice for both of us.
We didn't actually get to watch any of the game together, since Chad was upstairs in our bedroom and I was downstairs entertaining our guests, which included our friends Nate and Leigh Ann, my friend Andrea and her family, and our friend Emily and her family, who were visiting Lawrence from Salt Lake City. It was great to see Emily and get to visit with friends and enjoy lots of good food, but needless to say, with 7 adults, 3 kids, a baby and some occasional dogs in the basement, I didn't get to focus on the game a ton. I didn't get to see many commercials either, but from what I hear they weren't that funny anyway.
While Chad and I were both decked out in our black and gold for the Steelers on Sunday, we definitely had to change our colors for yesterday's basketball game, since our Jayhawks took on the evil Missouri Tigers, who also sport black and gold. Thankfully this game went our way, and although it wasn't nearly as important as the Super Bowl, it felt great to stomp those Tigers by almost 20 points.
Speaking of awesome Jayhawks, a friend posted this video from last night's game onto Facebook today, and I think it's pretty darn cool. Just recently I was telling my friend Amber that it was my dream to be part of a flash mob someday--I just love the "spontaneity" and the joy they bring!
We didn't actually get to watch any of the game together, since Chad was upstairs in our bedroom and I was downstairs entertaining our guests, which included our friends Nate and Leigh Ann, my friend Andrea and her family, and our friend Emily and her family, who were visiting Lawrence from Salt Lake City. It was great to see Emily and get to visit with friends and enjoy lots of good food, but needless to say, with 7 adults, 3 kids, a baby and some occasional dogs in the basement, I didn't get to focus on the game a ton. I didn't get to see many commercials either, but from what I hear they weren't that funny anyway.
While Chad and I were both decked out in our black and gold for the Steelers on Sunday, we definitely had to change our colors for yesterday's basketball game, since our Jayhawks took on the evil Missouri Tigers, who also sport black and gold. Thankfully this game went our way, and although it wasn't nearly as important as the Super Bowl, it felt great to stomp those Tigers by almost 20 points.
Speaking of awesome Jayhawks, a friend posted this video from last night's game onto Facebook today, and I think it's pretty darn cool. Just recently I was telling my friend Amber that it was my dream to be part of a flash mob someday--I just love the "spontaneity" and the joy they bring!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Family Visit and Football
I've been a big blogging slacker the last few days since I've been enjoying lots of time with my visiting brother and mother. It's been great having Eric here, and I'm glad Mom was able to come stay with us so that she could have more quality time with him too. We've done lots of lounging and relaxing, along with watching a few movies and important sporting events. While the KU game didn't go as we had hoped (boo, Texas!!), the AFC Championship game had a much better outcome (yea, Steelers!)!!
While Mom, Eric and I watched the Steelers game downstairs, my obsessed and superstitious husband watched it up in our bedroom. Since he had watched the last Steelers win by himself on that TV, he decided it would be good luck to do so again. Seriously. Although the rest of us thought his decision was slightly goofy, we did kind of appreciate it since it made our viewing of the game lots more relaxing and enjoyable. As most of our friends know, Chad gets a wee bit intense and emotional when his Steelers are playing. Since he kept his stress and excitement contained upstairs, we enjoyed watching the win calmly and peacefully in the basement.
Thanks to the quiet and stress-free environment, Eric and I were even able to cast and complete the second installment in the Star Wars trilogy during the commercials! Stay tuned for our next exciting and entertaining adventure!
While Mom, Eric and I watched the Steelers game downstairs, my obsessed and superstitious husband watched it up in our bedroom. Since he had watched the last Steelers win by himself on that TV, he decided it would be good luck to do so again. Seriously. Although the rest of us thought his decision was slightly goofy, we did kind of appreciate it since it made our viewing of the game lots more relaxing and enjoyable. As most of our friends know, Chad gets a wee bit intense and emotional when his Steelers are playing. Since he kept his stress and excitement contained upstairs, we enjoyed watching the win calmly and peacefully in the basement.
Thanks to the quiet and stress-free environment, Eric and I were even able to cast and complete the second installment in the Star Wars trilogy during the commercials! Stay tuned for our next exciting and entertaining adventure!
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Good Jayhawks and Bad Jayhawks
Tonight we watched our awesome Jayhawks beat the Memphis Tigers in the Jimmy V. Classic, and although they were quite sloppy in the first half, it was a much better showing than our one point win over UCLA last Thursday. That one was slightly embarrassing, although a win is a win is a win and we're still undefeated.Watching this game tonight made me think of the one and only game I've gotten to go to this year, which was thanks to my friend and former colleague Kevin, who provided me with tickets to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi game so that Chad and I could take Eric to a game while he was here. We had SO much fun because the Jayhawks were absolutely astounding, but also because last year Eric wasn't home for basketball season and he hadn't been to a game since 2008 at least. It was a fantastic evening with my two best guys!
The great thing about the timing of Eric's visit last month was that he also got to go with us to a KU football game. Although our football team left a lot to be desired this year, it still was a fun day at the stadium with relatively good weather. In a surprise turn of events, we actually got to see a good first half of football too, which wasn't expected since we were pl
aying the number 12 team in the nation--Oklahoma State. After scoring a couple of touchdowns in the first quarter and holding the Cowboys to just 20 points at halftime, our 'Hawks came unglued and completely derailed in the second half. We ended up getting slaughtered and leaving before the end of the game, but I was still glad Eric was able to see a tiny bit of good football and have the game day experience, even if it isn't the most spectacular of game day experiences! Maybe some day our program will get permanently turned around and it will be!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Worst Ever
Ugh. What else can you say about yesterday, which was pretty much the worst first day of spring ever. If you paid any attention to the news last night, you already know the the primary reason it was a horrible day for us. Our beloved Jayhawks got knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the second round, and as our friends and family can imagine, we were devastated. I spent much of yesterday evening in tears and have struggled all day to find any motivation to do anything. I know it sounds insane, but I just love KU basketball so much. My heart is broken for our players--especially for Sherron, who had a terrible game to end his college career.
I couldn't bring myself to actually watch any post game interviews or read any post game articles today--the wounds are just too fresh! I don't really know what the experts are saying about why we lost, but I just think those guys from Northern Iowa played an absolutely perfect game. They made shots they hadn't made all year, barely had any turnovers, made free throws, and played tenacious defense. Our guys, on the other hand, seem lacking in energy, tense, and unsure of themselves. They missed free throws, turned the ball over, and didn't defend as well as they should have. They certainly didn't play up to their amazing potential.
There's probably a lot more I could say about the game and about Bill's boys, but it's just too depressing. Maybe in a few weeks I'll be able to put the whole thing into perspective.
To make yesterday a little bit worse (if that were even possible), we had the most ridiculous weather ever for the first day of spring. It started sleeting and then snowing late Friday night, and when we woke up, there was 8 inches of snow on our back deck and it was still coming down hard. It snowed the entire day until about the time the game ended in the early evening. It may have snowed a little more overnight, because there was at least 12 inches on the deck, although I'm sure a lot of that was just drifting. There were probably 6-7 inches total at our house. I took a few pictures in the morning, way before it was finished, to commemorate the first day of spring.
The tiny bit of good news is that it was super sunny today and got above freezing, so a lot of the snow melted. We're ready for some happier weather and happier times in Lawrence!
I couldn't bring myself to actually watch any post game interviews or read any post game articles today--the wounds are just too fresh! I don't really know what the experts are saying about why we lost, but I just think those guys from Northern Iowa played an absolutely perfect game. They made shots they hadn't made all year, barely had any turnovers, made free throws, and played tenacious defense. Our guys, on the other hand, seem lacking in energy, tense, and unsure of themselves. They missed free throws, turned the ball over, and didn't defend as well as they should have. They certainly didn't play up to their amazing potential.
There's probably a lot more I could say about the game and about Bill's boys, but it's just too depressing. Maybe in a few weeks I'll be able to put the whole thing into perspective.
To make yesterday a little bit worse (if that were even possible), we had the most ridiculous weather ever for the first day of spring. It started sleeting and then snowing late Friday night, and when we woke up, there was 8 inches of snow on our back deck and it was still coming down hard. It snowed the entire day until about the time the game ended in the early evening. It may have snowed a little more overnight, because there was at least 12 inches on the deck, although I'm sure a lot of that was just drifting. There were probably 6-7 inches total at our house. I took a few pictures in the morning, way before it was finished, to commemorate the first day of spring.
The tiny bit of good news is that it was super sunny today and got above freezing, so a lot of the snow melted. We're ready for some happier weather and happier times in Lawrence!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Basketball Break
As you might have guessed, the last several days have been consumed by all things basketball and March Madness related. Sometime soon I'll hopefully return to regularly scheduled blogging, but for now, it's all basketball, all the time. I love this time of year so much. Yesterday I took a long lunch and watched games with Chad (who always takes these two days of the year off) at Jack's, and it was one phenomenal day of basketball. Two of the first three games of the day went into overtime, and the bracket was full of upsets galore. My favorite, which happened to be one that I picked, was Ohio (14) over Georgetown (3). We didn't get to watch it here at home, but I'm so excited for the Bobcats because my dad lives in the Ohio University college town of Athens. He'd told me how they'd won the MAC tournament as the number 9 seed, beating the #1, #4 and #3 seed, to make it to the big dance. I hope their Cinderella story continues!
We had some friends over in the evening, to watch our Jayhawks and the ends of all the rest of the late games as well. Our Jayhawks definitely got off to a rough start, but after they got their acts in gear about midway through the first half, it was smooth sailing. Marcus had an incredible game, Sherron was pretty solid, and Tyrel has really come alive in this post season. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get off to a better start and handle Northern Iowa without too much trouble. I'm already a little nervous!
Today's day games weren't quite as exciting as yesterday's, but Chad and I still had a great time hanging out at Zig and Mac's for several hours eating and watching the madness. Only one of the upsets I picked actually happened today, so my brackets have both gone to crap, but oh well. That's what March Madness is all about, isn't it?
Right now we're taking a little break, lounging around while watching the only game currently being played. In less than an hour the madness will start up again, and there's lots more basketball this evening! I'm headed out for dinner and fun with some friends in a little while, and I can only hope that where we're going there will be TVs so I can keep up with the tourney!
We had some friends over in the evening, to watch our Jayhawks and the ends of all the rest of the late games as well. Our Jayhawks definitely got off to a rough start, but after they got their acts in gear about midway through the first half, it was smooth sailing. Marcus had an incredible game, Sherron was pretty solid, and Tyrel has really come alive in this post season. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get off to a better start and handle Northern Iowa without too much trouble. I'm already a little nervous!
Today's day games weren't quite as exciting as yesterday's, but Chad and I still had a great time hanging out at Zig and Mac's for several hours eating and watching the madness. Only one of the upsets I picked actually happened today, so my brackets have both gone to crap, but oh well. That's what March Madness is all about, isn't it?
Right now we're taking a little break, lounging around while watching the only game currently being played. In less than an hour the madness will start up again, and there's lots more basketball this evening! I'm headed out for dinner and fun with some friends in a little while, and I can only hope that where we're going there will be TVs so I can keep up with the tourney!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Number One Times Three
Congrats to our wonderful Jayhawks who beat the Wildcats for the third time this year to win the Big 12 tournament! It wasn't always pretty and we didn't always play our best, but we got the job done in the end, and the W is all that matters. Thanks to being the conference champs and the tourney champs and the number 1 team in the country with a phenomenal 32-2 record, we will likely be the number 1 overall seed in the NCAA tourney after tomorrow's selection show. Woohoo!
Obviously we love our champions, but we also love the amazing coach behind their success! My friend Emily sent me a link to this terrific article from Sports Illustrated about Bill Self and his incredible confidence and determination. You can't help but love him! The article is a good one too, albeit extremely long! When you have an extra fifteen minutes in your day, you should definitely check it out. Until then, I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite lines from writer Joe Posnanski.
"There really isn't a school in America that has quite the same basketball tradition of Kansas -- no other school that can say that its first basketball coach was James Naismith, who, you know, invented the game."
"Anyway, basketball tradition at Kansas is like air -- it's everywhere, it gets into everything."
Love it. ROCK CHALK!!!
Obviously we love our champions, but we also love the amazing coach behind their success! My friend Emily sent me a link to this terrific article from Sports Illustrated about Bill Self and his incredible confidence and determination. You can't help but love him! The article is a good one too, albeit extremely long! When you have an extra fifteen minutes in your day, you should definitely check it out. Until then, I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite lines from writer Joe Posnanski.
"There really isn't a school in America that has quite the same basketball tradition of Kansas -- no other school that can say that its first basketball coach was James Naismith, who, you know, invented the game."
"Anyway, basketball tradition at Kansas is like air -- it's everywhere, it gets into everything."
Love it. ROCK CHALK!!!
Saturday, March 06, 2010
I'm a Slacker
I'm seriously embarrassed that today was the last KU basketball game of the regular season and I've only blogged about the Jayhawks TWICE since hoops started last fall! What in the world is wrong with me? My lack of blogging is certainly not indicative of a lack of fandom, just in case you were wondering. I've been glued to almost every game this year--except for one when I was on the road and one when I fell asleep during the second half because we were ahead by so much. We also had the pleasure of actually attending four games at Allen Fieldhouse, thanks to our friends J and Julie, who split up their season tickets this year and let us buy a few of them. I can't imagine us ever having season tickets of our own because of the time commitment involved in going to all the games, but we've definitely enjoyed being "partial" season ticket holders!
Today's game was some awesome icing on the cake of our season. Not only did we put the hurt on our most hated rivals the "Misery" Tigers, but we also got to watch it with some wonderful friends at Leigh Ann and Nate's "Jayhawks and Jambalaya" party. Leigh Ann fed us all some incredible Jambalaya and other awesome snacks like peanut butter and jelly chocolate cookies! Thanks, Leigh Ann (aka the Most Awesome Hostess Ever)!!
Okay, as a total aside, speaking of Leigh Ann's incredible party-planning skills, you should have seen the amazing baby shower she and our friend Melissa threw a few weeks ago for our friend Amy. Seriously, every detail of this circus themed event was absolutely fabulous. You have to check out the pictures here.
Okay, back to basketball. What can you really say about this nearly perfect season? This year's 'Hawks are incredibly talented and incredibly deep. While they certainly haven't played perfectly in every game, they've most definitely gotten the job done the vast majority of the time. With their incredible 29-2 record, they've dominated one of the best conferences in the NCAA and locked up their 6th straight Big 12 regular season title. Hopefully next week they'll put another conference tournament title under their belt and get some momentum going into the Big Dance. I'm so excited, and yet I'm also so nervous because we could very possibly be the #1 seed in the entire tournament. The pressure is going to be huge! We've been #1 for so much of the season and we're expected to go so far, there's going to be such a huge bullseye on our backs! Hopefully we can play up to all of our potential! Let's go 'Hawks!!
Today's game was some awesome icing on the cake of our season. Not only did we put the hurt on our most hated rivals the "Misery" Tigers, but we also got to watch it with some wonderful friends at Leigh Ann and Nate's "Jayhawks and Jambalaya" party. Leigh Ann fed us all some incredible Jambalaya and other awesome snacks like peanut butter and jelly chocolate cookies! Thanks, Leigh Ann (aka the Most Awesome Hostess Ever)!!
Okay, as a total aside, speaking of Leigh Ann's incredible party-planning skills, you should have seen the amazing baby shower she and our friend Melissa threw a few weeks ago for our friend Amy. Seriously, every detail of this circus themed event was absolutely fabulous. You have to check out the pictures here.
Okay, back to basketball. What can you really say about this nearly perfect season? This year's 'Hawks are incredibly talented and incredibly deep. While they certainly haven't played perfectly in every game, they've most definitely gotten the job done the vast majority of the time. With their incredible 29-2 record, they've dominated one of the best conferences in the NCAA and locked up their 6th straight Big 12 regular season title. Hopefully next week they'll put another conference tournament title under their belt and get some momentum going into the Big Dance. I'm so excited, and yet I'm also so nervous because we could very possibly be the #1 seed in the entire tournament. The pressure is going to be huge! We've been #1 for so much of the season and we're expected to go so far, there's going to be such a huge bullseye on our backs! Hopefully we can play up to all of our potential! Let's go 'Hawks!!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Half Court Craziness
This morning I was getting ready for work and had GMA on in the next room as I often do. I leaned out of the bathroom to see short video clip of a guy making a half court basketball shot blindfolded in front of a high school gym full of kids. The folks at GMA were so enthralled with the video they had invited the blindfolded shooter (who was actually a teacher at the school) to be on the program this morning. When they showed the live shot of him with some of his high school students in the promo, my mouth dropped open and I actually said "NO WAY" out loud (apparently to the dogs since there was no one else here at the time). The blindfolded teacher/shooter was actually an old friend of ours!
We first met Joel and his wife Christian over 10 years ago when they were briefly part of our small group at our old church. Having Joel in our group was kind of exciting for all of us because he was rather famous in Lawrence--he had played basketball as a walk on at KU just a few years before we met him. Several years later, when Chad and I were searching for a new church and visited Christ Community for the first time, we turned around to the pew behind us to greet our neighbors, and there were Joel and Christian! Our paths at CCC didn't cross for long though, as Joel took a job teaching in Olathe and they moved soon after we joined their church.
So anyway, when I saw Joel on GMA this morning I was completely flabbergasted, but even if I hadn't known him it still would have been a fun and terrific story! The shot is absolutely amazing and astounding! Joel is a great guy and the 15 minutes of fame (30 minutes total if you count his 15 minutes with the Jayhawks) couldn't have been bestowed upon a nicer person. You can watch the full interview from GMA here or check out a good article in USA Today that gives you a little more background story, but first, check out the incredible shot below!
This amazing half court shot reminded me of some other amazing half court shots that I never got around to sharing a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't already see this somewhere online, you have to watch this video. It's Cole Aldrich and some student managers/coordinators horsing around before practice earlier this month, and it's so amazing, many people thought it was fake--but it's not! Really!
You can read the whole story about their game of horse at the Lawrence Journal-World. Gotta love basketball season in Lawrence!
We first met Joel and his wife Christian over 10 years ago when they were briefly part of our small group at our old church. Having Joel in our group was kind of exciting for all of us because he was rather famous in Lawrence--he had played basketball as a walk on at KU just a few years before we met him. Several years later, when Chad and I were searching for a new church and visited Christ Community for the first time, we turned around to the pew behind us to greet our neighbors, and there were Joel and Christian! Our paths at CCC didn't cross for long though, as Joel took a job teaching in Olathe and they moved soon after we joined their church.
So anyway, when I saw Joel on GMA this morning I was completely flabbergasted, but even if I hadn't known him it still would have been a fun and terrific story! The shot is absolutely amazing and astounding! Joel is a great guy and the 15 minutes of fame (30 minutes total if you count his 15 minutes with the Jayhawks) couldn't have been bestowed upon a nicer person. You can watch the full interview from GMA here or check out a good article in USA Today that gives you a little more background story, but first, check out the incredible shot below!
This amazing half court shot reminded me of some other amazing half court shots that I never got around to sharing a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't already see this somewhere online, you have to watch this video. It's Cole Aldrich and some student managers/coordinators horsing around before practice earlier this month, and it's so amazing, many people thought it was fake--but it's not! Really!
You can read the whole story about their game of horse at the Lawrence Journal-World. Gotta love basketball season in Lawrence!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Basketball for Brother
Tonight we're watching our beloved Jayhawks on TV, and I have to say I'm thankful that we're not actually going to tonight's game since the windchill was about 15 at tipoff. Walking from the shuttle to the fieldhouse and back to the shuttle does not sound like fun at all in this weather. With that said, I'm actually a little sad about not being at the game for other reasons. If my brother had been able to come home for the holidays, tonight's game would have been the one that I tried to get tickets for, so that we could continue our tradition of going to a game together while he's in Lawrence for the holidays. If he would have been here then we would have be there!
Since I didn't get to take Eric to a game this year, when Chad and I were at the game last week I decided to take a few pictures especially for my bro, so he would at least feel like he was at the game virtually. There have been a lot of changes at Allen Fieldhouse in the last year--the biggest change being a new lounge area for all of the important donors that looks through to the practice gym. The far ends of this lounge area have these awesome and huge see through murals with a picture of Mario's shot from 2008. It's hard to describe, but hopefully you can kind of see what it looks like from the slideshow below. There's also a new hallway with a long timeline of our best players--a hall of fame of sorts. It's all pretty darn cool! If no one else enjoys the pictures (and the videos that you can watch if you click on the slideshow), hopefully my brother will!
Since I didn't get to take Eric to a game this year, when Chad and I were at the game last week I decided to take a few pictures especially for my bro, so he would at least feel like he was at the game virtually. There have been a lot of changes at Allen Fieldhouse in the last year--the biggest change being a new lounge area for all of the important donors that looks through to the practice gym. The far ends of this lounge area have these awesome and huge see through murals with a picture of Mario's shot from 2008. It's hard to describe, but hopefully you can kind of see what it looks like from the slideshow below. There's also a new hallway with a long timeline of our best players--a hall of fame of sorts. It's all pretty darn cool! If no one else enjoys the pictures (and the videos that you can watch if you click on the slideshow), hopefully my brother will!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
An Evening of Favorites
This evening was a good one. I enjoyed a whole lot of favorites.
1. Watching some of my favorite KU basketball players (Big W, DJ, BT and Russ Rob) play in a benefit basketball game, which involved absolutely no defense but a ton of dunks, threes and showboating.
2. Hanging with friends from our church small group (although we missed you Pat and Kristin!).
3. Going out to eat after the game, where I had pizza, one of my two favorite foods, covered in three different kinds of olives (YUM!), supplemented by a few of Chad's french fries, the other of my two favorite foods.
4. Getting home and watching an all new episode of Burn Notice. Love it. I heart Michael Westen.
1. Watching some of my favorite KU basketball players (Big W, DJ, BT and Russ Rob) play in a benefit basketball game, which involved absolutely no defense but a ton of dunks, threes and showboating.
2. Hanging with friends from our church small group (although we missed you Pat and Kristin!).
3. Going out to eat after the game, where I had pizza, one of my two favorite foods, covered in three different kinds of olives (YUM!), supplemented by a few of Chad's french fries, the other of my two favorite foods.
4. Getting home and watching an all new episode of Burn Notice. Love it. I heart Michael Westen.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Making Basketball History
Today Chad and I made Luce family history while helping to make KU basketball history. We went to Allen Fieldhouse to attend our first ever KU women's basketball game. Most people who don't live in Lawrence or follow KU sports probably had no idea, but today our Lady 'Hawks played in the finals of the Women's NIT. Our women's team has never been especially successful, so this was a huge step forward in the building of the program.
Although Chad wasn't especially excited about going to watch women's basketball at first, he decided that it would be a good idea to support the team in this historic game. We ended up having a really good time, because the Allen Fieldhouse atmosphere was absolutely incredible! It was so great to see so many people turn out to support the KU women! They annouced a KU and Big 12 record crowd of 16,100 (the Fieldhouse holds about 16,300), but it looked like there were actually at least 500-1000 seats near the rafters that were empty. Still, it was an absolutely incredible crowd for a women's game! Check this out!
This was during the first half, when KU made a run to tie the game about 3 minutes before halftime after being down by as many as 10 early in the game. They ended up falling back down by eight before halftime and then trailing by as many as 13 in the second half, but then made another run late in the second half to cut it to just 3 points with under a minute left to play. Unfortunately, they weren't able to come up with the 3-pointer at the end to tie it, but they definitely made it a great game down the stretch. I think South Florida was really just the better team in the end. It was really pretty amazing that they were able to hold on and win when KU had this kind of home court advantage!
I can only imagine what a thrill it was for the KU women, who generally don't have very many fans in attendance during regular games, to have a crowd like this today. It made me so happy for them and I'm so glad we were able to be there to show our support!
Although the atmosphere today was almost exactly like a men's game, I have to admit that the play itself is so incredibly different. Personally, I think it's all about genetics. If you think about it, the tallest girl on KU's team is 6'5", which means that she's only about as tall as a shooting guard or a small forward on a men's team. She can't be expected to rebound and shoot like the male centers simply because she's not nearly as close to the basket as they are! The girls are great ball handlers and great shooters in general, but none of them are aggressive in the same way that the men are. Many of them seemed tentative in their shooting and reluctant to take the open shot. The other way that their genes betray them is just in their general overall strength. There were so many missed layups simply because the girls couldn't take the ball up strong enough. They aren't gifted with enough upper body strength for powerful inside games and they don't have enough leg strength to jump high for the rebounds! It's just physically impossible for the girls to be as exciting to watch as the boys!
With that said, it was still a fun time today and we were very proud of the women. We have several really great players that are coming back next year, so I have high hopes that our women will make the BIG dance next year!
Although Chad wasn't especially excited about going to watch women's basketball at first, he decided that it would be a good idea to support the team in this historic game. We ended up having a really good time, because the Allen Fieldhouse atmosphere was absolutely incredible! It was so great to see so many people turn out to support the KU women! They annouced a KU and Big 12 record crowd of 16,100 (the Fieldhouse holds about 16,300), but it looked like there were actually at least 500-1000 seats near the rafters that were empty. Still, it was an absolutely incredible crowd for a women's game! Check this out!
This was during the first half, when KU made a run to tie the game about 3 minutes before halftime after being down by as many as 10 early in the game. They ended up falling back down by eight before halftime and then trailing by as many as 13 in the second half, but then made another run late in the second half to cut it to just 3 points with under a minute left to play. Unfortunately, they weren't able to come up with the 3-pointer at the end to tie it, but they definitely made it a great game down the stretch. I think South Florida was really just the better team in the end. It was really pretty amazing that they were able to hold on and win when KU had this kind of home court advantage!
I can only imagine what a thrill it was for the KU women, who generally don't have very many fans in attendance during regular games, to have a crowd like this today. It made me so happy for them and I'm so glad we were able to be there to show our support!
Although the atmosphere today was almost exactly like a men's game, I have to admit that the play itself is so incredibly different. Personally, I think it's all about genetics. If you think about it, the tallest girl on KU's team is 6'5", which means that she's only about as tall as a shooting guard or a small forward on a men's team. She can't be expected to rebound and shoot like the male centers simply because she's not nearly as close to the basket as they are! The girls are great ball handlers and great shooters in general, but none of them are aggressive in the same way that the men are. Many of them seemed tentative in their shooting and reluctant to take the open shot. The other way that their genes betray them is just in their general overall strength. There were so many missed layups simply because the girls couldn't take the ball up strong enough. They aren't gifted with enough upper body strength for powerful inside games and they don't have enough leg strength to jump high for the rebounds! It's just physically impossible for the girls to be as exciting to watch as the boys!
With that said, it was still a fun time today and we were very proud of the women. We have several really great players that are coming back next year, so I have high hopes that our women will make the BIG dance next year!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Par for the Course
Although I'm still a little bummed about last night's loss to Michigan State, I must say I'm not nearly as distraught this year as I've been after previous tourney losses. I will admit that I got a little teary at the end, but that was only because we were so close to winning that game! We played so confidently and so solidly in the first half I just can't believe we blew it at the end. Well actually, I can believe we blew it because we've blown so many other big leads this year! Somehow, our guys just never quite figured out how to play a full 40 minute game this entire season. I'm hoping that the loss will leave such a bad taste in the mouths of the players that they'll all be doubly motivated to come back next year and redeem themselves!
For most of the game last night we had a fun time watching with a few of our friends at Jack's, which is always crazy and loud and raucous during KU games. However, I'm positive that the change of venue was definitely not worth jinxing the win! I promise that next year we're sticking to the same viewing location as long as the winning streak continues!
Overall, I'm very proud of our Jayhawks, who should be proud of their standing as the Big 12 regular season champs. As it turns out, the Big 12 was a pretty darn good conference, seeing as we had 3 teams who made it to the Sweet Sixteen and 2 who made it to the Elite Eight. Although I'm super happy that Mizzou lost today and isn't headed on to Detroit next weekend, I'll be cheering for OU to make it to the Final Four tomorrow!
For most of the game last night we had a fun time watching with a few of our friends at Jack's, which is always crazy and loud and raucous during KU games. However, I'm positive that the change of venue was definitely not worth jinxing the win! I promise that next year we're sticking to the same viewing location as long as the winning streak continues!
Overall, I'm very proud of our Jayhawks, who should be proud of their standing as the Big 12 regular season champs. As it turns out, the Big 12 was a pretty darn good conference, seeing as we had 3 teams who made it to the Sweet Sixteen and 2 who made it to the Elite Eight. Although I'm super happy that Mizzou lost today and isn't headed on to Detroit next weekend, I'll be cheering for OU to make it to the Final Four tomorrow!
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Game
I'm already so nervous about the game tonight and tipoff isn't for about 8 more hours. Missouri's win over Memphis last night has created SO MUCH MORE pressure for a Jayhawk victory! I can't handle it!
In honor and in support of our Jayhawks I'm posting a video that I found today on KU's YouTube page. It's short but sweet! One game at a time, Jayhawks!
In the horrible event that we lose tonight's game against Michigan State, you can blame me entirely. I suggested that Chad and I needed to go somewhere other than our basement to watch the game, which is where we were for the first two rounds of the tourney. Chad is convinced that us hanging out at our house with our friends Cara and Dillon is good luck, but he reluctantly agreed that we could venture out into the world this evening anyway. We're at least going to wear the same shirts as we did last weekend in hopes of continuing our winning streak! Say, that reminds me--I need to go start some laundry!
In honor and in support of our Jayhawks I'm posting a video that I found today on KU's YouTube page. It's short but sweet! One game at a time, Jayhawks!
In the horrible event that we lose tonight's game against Michigan State, you can blame me entirely. I suggested that Chad and I needed to go somewhere other than our basement to watch the game, which is where we were for the first two rounds of the tourney. Chad is convinced that us hanging out at our house with our friends Cara and Dillon is good luck, but he reluctantly agreed that we could venture out into the world this evening anyway. We're at least going to wear the same shirts as we did last weekend in hopes of continuing our winning streak! Say, that reminds me--I need to go start some laundry!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sixteen Is Sweet
I have to admit that our weekend was pretty darn unproductive. We ran a few errands, did a little laundry, walked the dogs a couple times and worked out, but other than that we pretty much just watched basketball. I can't explain how much I love March Madness!
While my brackets are pretty much tanking (the best one is only in the 53rd percentile in ESPN's Tourney Challenge), I totally don't care because KU is still alive and dancing. Today's game was an incredible effort by Sherron and Cole, with Cole getting the first triple-double in KU school history (or at least since they started keeping track of blocked shots and assists in the 70s). The rest of the team actually played pretty poorly, but thankfully Dayton wasn't at the top of their game either. It might not have been the prettiest win ever, but it felt like we were fairly well in control the entire 40 minutes. All that matters is that we are headed on to the Sweet Sixteen in Indianapolis next weekend! Maybe Chad and I should look in to getting tickets!
I did actually miss the games yesterday evening because I was hanging out at my friend Leigh Ann's sampling some scrumptious sangria, but today we enjoyed watching all the games--especially Missouri/Marquette. Of course we were cheering hard for Marquette and it was a heartbreaking loss at the very end, but it was some great college basketball none the less. My dream bracket would have looked really good if Mizzou had lost and Siena had been able to pull off the upset against Louisville!
I know certain friends of mine (who shall remain nameless) are extremely sick of hearing about KU basketball, but when you live in Lawrence and you love college hoops, this is what life is all about in March! Rock Chalk, Jayhawks!
While my brackets are pretty much tanking (the best one is only in the 53rd percentile in ESPN's Tourney Challenge), I totally don't care because KU is still alive and dancing. Today's game was an incredible effort by Sherron and Cole, with Cole getting the first triple-double in KU school history (or at least since they started keeping track of blocked shots and assists in the 70s). The rest of the team actually played pretty poorly, but thankfully Dayton wasn't at the top of their game either. It might not have been the prettiest win ever, but it felt like we were fairly well in control the entire 40 minutes. All that matters is that we are headed on to the Sweet Sixteen in Indianapolis next weekend! Maybe Chad and I should look in to getting tickets!
I did actually miss the games yesterday evening because I was hanging out at my friend Leigh Ann's sampling some scrumptious sangria, but today we enjoyed watching all the games--especially Missouri/Marquette. Of course we were cheering hard for Marquette and it was a heartbreaking loss at the very end, but it was some great college basketball none the less. My dream bracket would have looked really good if Mizzou had lost and Siena had been able to pull off the upset against Louisville!
I know certain friends of mine (who shall remain nameless) are extremely sick of hearing about KU basketball, but when you live in Lawrence and you love college hoops, this is what life is all about in March! Rock Chalk, Jayhawks!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Basketball Basketball Basketball
Can you guess what's been on my mind all day???
I had no time for blogging yesterday because I spent all my free time preparing for this most wonderful day in the world of college basketball. I did all my research, made all my picks, filled out all my brackets and entered all of my pools. Today was remarkably productive at work, despite the fact that I listened to CBS games from 11:30 on. It's so much fun to root for random players you haven't watched all year just to see the underdogs succeed. I love cheering for whoever is losing just so every game will be close and exciting. March Madness is just so darn fun!
As always, I filled out two different brackets (one dream bracket in which KU goes all the way and one reality bracket), but only after reading about 10 articles and watching many videos from "experts" who gave me the lowdown on all the teams. How is it that I can study the match-ups so carefully and still be at the bottom of all of my pools!? It just doesn't seem fair! In my defense, several of the big upsets that I picked to happen didn't happen, but they ALMOST happened (N. Iowa and American)! Does that count for anything?
I had no time for blogging yesterday because I spent all my free time preparing for this most wonderful day in the world of college basketball. I did all my research, made all my picks, filled out all my brackets and entered all of my pools. Today was remarkably productive at work, despite the fact that I listened to CBS games from 11:30 on. It's so much fun to root for random players you haven't watched all year just to see the underdogs succeed. I love cheering for whoever is losing just so every game will be close and exciting. March Madness is just so darn fun!
As always, I filled out two different brackets (one dream bracket in which KU goes all the way and one reality bracket), but only after reading about 10 articles and watching many videos from "experts" who gave me the lowdown on all the teams. How is it that I can study the match-ups so carefully and still be at the bottom of all of my pools!? It just doesn't seem fair! In my defense, several of the big upsets that I picked to happen didn't happen, but they ALMOST happened (N. Iowa and American)! Does that count for anything?
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Sad Day in Larryville
I can't believe it's March and I've barely blogged about KU basketball. I've obviously been following the season very closely and have barely missed a game all year, but I guess I just haven't had much to say about the team. If I were to describe this year's team in two words, they would be young and inconsistent. They've had flashes of brilliance and flashes of incompetence all year long--often all in the same game! They'll go on crazy a hot streak and then turn around and go ice cold for 10 minutes solid. If nothing else, they've been very consistent in their inconsistency! It's really quite amazing that they managed to win the regular season conference title when they're really not that great overall!
So today, when our #1 seeded Jayhawks lost to the #9 seeded Baylor Bears, I wasn't really that surprised. Disappointed, sad and depressed--yes, but surprised, no. Our two best and most experienced players, Cole and Sherron, both had pretty terrible games, and when your leaders aren't playing well you can't really expect much. That's really the good thing to me--I don't really expect that much! I know our boys have great potential, but you can't expect that much out of a bunch of freshman, a couple of sophomores, a junior and a Lawrence boy!
The other good thing is that today's tournament loss wasn't a tournament loss in the big tourney next week. We can only hope that Bill's Boys will learn something from their mistakes today and go into next week with a renewed sense of focus and determination! Bring on March Madness!!
So today, when our #1 seeded Jayhawks lost to the #9 seeded Baylor Bears, I wasn't really that surprised. Disappointed, sad and depressed--yes, but surprised, no. Our two best and most experienced players, Cole and Sherron, both had pretty terrible games, and when your leaders aren't playing well you can't really expect much. That's really the good thing to me--I don't really expect that much! I know our boys have great potential, but you can't expect that much out of a bunch of freshman, a couple of sophomores, a junior and a Lawrence boy!
The other good thing is that today's tournament loss wasn't a tournament loss in the big tourney next week. We can only hope that Bill's Boys will learn something from their mistakes today and go into next week with a renewed sense of focus and determination! Bring on March Madness!!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sports Reporter of the Future
Once again I can't take credit for finding this video--I found a link to it on someone else's blog today. This little kid is just so cute I can't resist sharing. He's a terrific reporter who had me cracking up at some of his hard hitting questions. My favorite is the exchange with Michael Beasley at about 3:30 in the video. So hilarious! If you have time, you have to check out this little sports reporter of the future!
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