Still Rock Chalkin'

Nearly a week after the Kansas victory over Memphis to win the National Championship, I am still absurdly excited about it. I wore Jayhawk gear for at least the first four days after the game, sometimes in multiple layers, sang the Rock Chalk chant to Marti and maybe even did some “We’re No. 1” fingers in the mirror. Maybe.

I won’t pretend to be a lifelong KU fan, but attending the University of Kansas ingrains Jayhawk spirit in your blood very quickly. After my initial aversion to the Rock Chalk chant at freshman orientation, I started embracing the red and blue and have loved the university and Lawrence ever since. I’ve wanted KU to win the championship so badly, and when they lost in the finals to Syracuse my senior year, it was a disappointing end to a great basketball season. I always knew that a championship title would be sweet, but I didn’t anticipate it being quite this awesome.

I lost two pretty good work days to the excitement of the game. Monday I was too nervous to work very productively. And Tuesday I was too busy reading stories, looking at photo galleries and watching video of the game to get very much work done.

I’m still in disbelief whenever I think about that 3-pointer that tied the game. I came across this video of KU fans in Allen Fieldhouse, taken when Mario Chalmers made the shot heard round the world. The crowd's reaction gives me chills every time. Even though we still had overtime to play, to me, this was the moment KU won.