Why I’m a fan of the Kansas Jayhawks

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5. Don’t let this distract you from the fact that Kansas beat Texas in football.

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But enough about that. More about me! Why am I a fan of the Kansas Jayhawks?

A lot of RCT regulars probably know that I didn’t even go to KU. I’m the kind of KU fan that K-State fans love to hate, right? I live in Johnson County, I didn’t go to KU, so I must be a KU basketball fan.

Well, you couldn’t be more wrong. Surprisingly enough, football made me a fan of KU, although the easy answer is, my grandpa was a big fan of Max Falkenstein, and he really enjoyed listening to KU games. Additionally, my mom worked for KU Med in Wichita for a time when I was growing up.

However, I had my first KU experience in 1993 at the age of 13 when my parents got tickets to the KU-Nebraska game. Nebraska was a top-10 team that would eventually play for the national title later that year, but first they had to get out of Lawrence, which turned out to be much more difficult than expected.

On a day when June Henley rumbled for 148 yards, KU closed to within 21-20 with 52 seconds left in the game. The two-point conversion attempt was a pass play that failed, and Nebraska escaped.

However, I was hooked.

I was a pleasant surprise for me to begin learning about Kansas basketball and all of the amazing tradition there, but to this day, I consider myself much more of a KU football fan than a KU basketball fan. That’s an incredibly difficult burden to bear, by the way.

How many winning seasons has KU had since 1993? Five. Since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996, that number is just three.

I remember the 1995 Aloha Bowl. I remember Mark Mangino’s first game - a 45-3 loss at Iowa State. And yes, even though they lost by six touchdowns, I remember thinking to myself, “this is a different program now.” And by golly, it was:

The 2003 Border War. (LOL @ Brad Smith)

The 2004 Sunflower Showdown. Mark Simmons! John Randle!

The “Dollar Signs” game. Oh, Nick Reid. If only...

The 2005 Border War. (LOL @ Brad Smith again!)

Taking out 40 years of frustration on Nebraska in 2005.

And then nearly doubling that output against them in 2007.

Todd Reesing’s debut in 2006 against Colorado.

The 2006 Sunflower Showdown, aka the Jake Sharp game.

OMG, 2007.

2008 was still fun.

Bob Davis’ call was better, though.

Since then? Mostly heartbreak. But David Beaty appears to be recruiting well and hopefully has the Jayhawks on an upward trajectory once again. After all, they did beat Texas last year.