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> Chuck,Aren't the KU Jayhawks named after an abolitionist group?
Yes, a fact which I learned, or, re-learned several weeks ago while reading Wikipedia or something else on the web.
I'm a dysfunctional Kansas fan. I won't even bother watching a KU basketball game until they get in the playoffs. There have been several years when I haven't even watched them (the men's team) in the NCAA Final Four when I've been busy with activism, travel, conferences or whatever.
These days I take secret pleasure when other schools beat Kansas in men's basketball. My father is a beyond rabid fan who you have to steer clear of when the KU games are on. He watches every game twice, which leads me to kid him if the outcome of the rebroadcast has changed from the live broadcast. It's widely known around here that the University of Kansas has become the playground of wealthy kids from Johnson County. Combine Yuppie scum, their kids and basketball fans who expect KU to win every game by 30 points and you have what amounts to "Duke on the Kaw."
Needless to say, this arrogant "we win everything" attitude has soured me on KU sports and all of NCAA basketball. There are just more important things to do in life than screaming at referees on the TV during some November nonconference game when KU is up by 25.
I've also concluded that American sports play a key role in disempowering the American working class. Sports teaches you to be passionate about your little team and to swallow the inevitable disappointment. The process doesn't matter, only the winner of the championship. You can't fight city hall, because your teams never win it all.
I was fortunate to attend Kansas before men's basketball became super popular. I was a freshman in the Fall of 1983 and bought a ticket for all sporting events. When you are a freshman you still have time to go to all of the football and basketball games. It was also fairly easy to get a good seat at the basketball games, provided that you waited in line for 4-6 hours on a Saturday morning (this was when games were on Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons, before ESPN fucked up scheduling).
I was a basketball nut, so I waited on line for hours. Me and my friends were awarded with seats a few rows back from the KU bench. I ended up with good seats for all of Larry Brown's first season coaching Kansas. There were high hopes for Brown as coach, but the fan base hadn't yet recovered from the Ted Owens years. KU did fairly good that year--I still remember the big game against Kentucky.
Danny Manning showed up the next year. We graduated in the same class, but I never met him. I went on the five year plan, so I was around when Kansas won it all in 1988. Damn! That was an exciting two weeks!
It was really fun this year when KU finally beat Nebraska.
Chuck