Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Before Kansas tipped off against Fort Hays State, there wasn’t a question about who would win the game (Kansas did, 93-56). So I decided to roam the halls and bleachers of Allen Fieldhouse and ask a different question, one that would make for a column vastly more interesting than anything taken from the game. It’s a question that’s relevant for the first time – well – ever.
Would you rather see Kansas win a national title in football or in basketball this season?
“You think you’re going to get me to answer that question?” said Max Falkenstien, the legendary announcer for Kansas athletics who has his own banner hanging among other KU basketball greats, as he walked from the media room to the court.
I have to try, right Max?
“Let’s say both,” he said. “For one school to have two teams in the top five is tremendous.”
That makes the question that much more difficult to answer.
“That’s tough,” said Jarred Godd, a Leawood junior. “Football … no one would be expecting it, and it would be cooler because we may not get another chance. Even if we don’t win basketball, we’ll still be a basketball school. And we’ll have other chances at basketball.”
Kim Degand, a Topeka freshman, said football too.
“It would be so out of the ordinary and would set a different standard for football,” she said.
How about both?
“Yes, it would be great to see both.”
But this is Allen Fieldhouse, and Kansas is a basketball school, right? Isn’t anyone going to say basketball? Someone finally did: Jerrin Thompson, a Lawrence sophomore.
“We get so close in basketball, and we never win,” he said. “Football is so new, it’s the first time we’ve been good in a long time.”
When I ventured out of the student section, the question remained just as perplexing.
“Whoa,” said Kay Dobbs, a Topeka resident. She paused for about eight seconds. “That’s a hard one. Wow.”
Before she answered, her husband of 43 years, Luther, jumped in and said, “Basketball is their bread and butter.”
“Yeah, basketball,” Kay said. “Football’s going to be too hard. But I went to the game on Saturday, and wow.”
Yeah, it was pretty amazing.
“The basketball team has a better chance because it’s decided on the court,” Kay said. “Because with football you’ve got to rely on a bunch of knuckleheads somewhere instead of on how you play.”
So husband and wife ultimately agreed. What about father and son?
“Basketball,” said Christian Huffman, Louisberg resident, who came to the game with his dad, Jim. “We’re more established in basketball.”
“Football,” Jim said. “I remember sitting on the hill in ’84 and ’85 and seeing the stands empty. It’s really neat to see KU in the national spotlight. But I’d take basketball if it’s North Carolina in the championship game.”
Now that’s an interesting hypothetical.
So after asking a number of true Jayhawks, neither answer was universal. But, again hypothetically, if some weird reporter came up to me and proposed the same question, I would have said football.
A national championship would establish consistency for KU football. A sold out Memorial Stadium every game means more success for all of Kansas’ sports, including basketball.
Second, to be sincere, I’ve always loved KU football just as much as KU basketball.
And third, there’s something about growing up in Texas and being at the games when Kansas lost for so many years – at Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Baylor, SMU, TCU and any other Texas school you could name – that makes me that much more thrilled about the football team’s success. It’s nice to gloat about Kansas football to Texans, a breed of folk who are extra arrogant about the sport.
Let’s see Kansas pull a Florida and win both national titles.
Either way, no matter how you answer, no matter where your loyalties ultimately lie, today is a great day to be a Jayhawk.
—Edited by Chris Beattie
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