Fanthropology: What Makes You a Die Hard Jayhawk!

"Do you know why Hyundai is awesome? Because they love college football. And they love college football fans. So much that they're going to send one of you and a companion to the game of your choice, with airfare and hotel. How do you enter? Easy: just do what you do best - be a fan in the comments.

The topic here is simple: why are you such a loyal, committed, die hard Kansas Jayhawk fan? College football fans are the most dedicated and loyal fans there are; tell us your story, and if your comment is the best one, you'll be selected as a finalist for the contest. As a finalist, we'll talk about why we're crazy about the Jayhawks, except we'll take it to the front page next week. And if our conversation is selected by the judges as their favorite? You're going to whatever game you want.

Now this might seem a little off considering how down the football team is at the moment, but why not check out how the other half lives while we wait for our RETURN TO GLORY!! Point is, this doesn't have to be a Kansas game that you choose to attend. In fact with the timing, a Kansas game probably isn't going to be an option so you get the chance to select some other great college football game to attend. With that, I'll give you my story and I apologize if this goes a bit long, it's just fun to talk about.

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My Jayhawk craze goes back a couple of generations to my grandfather who called the small town of Waverly Kansas home growing up. Both my grandparents are from Waverly and both of them went to the University of Kansas. My grandpa was a pretty decent athlete and a tall guy so he tried out for the basketball team. He's told me two stories from his time that always stick with me. The first is about Bob Kenney a starter on the '52 team. As the story goes Kenney was having a tough time during his early days at Kansas and worked up the courage to tell his father that he didn't think KU and basketball were for him and he was going to leave. Kenney made this declaration in front of a few including my grandfather. Long story short, Kenney's old man looked at him and said, no I believe it is for you and that was that. Kenney wins a National Championship and a gold medal.

The second story is a pretty simple one. My grandpa tried out for the Kansas team as a freshman and at that time you played on the junior varsity team because freshman couldn't play. He made the final cut and who knows what would have happened had things worked out, but as the story goes he was beaten out by some other kid from Kansas in a close race for the final spot. That kid turned out to be Dean Smith.

So there's the way back connection and after that all four of his children would attend Kansas, my mother and father both went to Kansas and as the oldest grandchild Kansas was sort of always the choice. I don't really know where it came from but I do distinctly remember the '91 championship game against Duke being the catalyst for taking my fanhood to the next level.

It started with basketball, it morphed over to football behind the running game of LT Levine and June Henley and for better or worse it's never really subsided. I try to take the good with the bad and I'm better at that with the football team, but I've had the opportunity to experience some incredible Kansas moments in my life ranging from last year's Final Four, the Insight Bowl in 2009, Big 8 and Big 12 tournaments in Kansas City, attending home games in 2008 and seeing the hill and surrounding neighborhoods filled with fans tents and just thinking how great good football was, and of course the taking in of a good chunk of games in Allen Fieldhouse.

College sports is full of highs and lows. Hopefully the highs are better than the lows but at the end of the day it's almost impossible to change allegiances when you're born into something. That's why I'm a die hard Kansas fan, because I truly feel like that was part of me from the beginning. That might sound cheesy, but that's where I'm at and Kansas football or basketball is still one of the few things in the sports world that can get a rise out of me and send chills down my spine on a regular basis. Rock Chalk!

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So let's hear your story. What makes you the most die hard fan, how did you get to that point and why should you be the best of the best here at RCT!

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