Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Jessica Bush was still seething from Kansas’ 1-0 loss to No. 14 Texas as she trudged across the soggy Jayhawk Soccer Complex turf. Menacing storm clouds loomed above her head and raindrops fell steadily at her feet.
When the senior midfielder saw her boyfriend, Andrew Crocker, walking out on the field toward her, she had no idea that Crocker was about to do something that would change her life. Bush was more concerned with venting.
“He had to stop me and shut me up so he could talk,” she said. “The first thing I said was, ‘I am so pissed off.’”
Crocker didn’t let her disappointment faze him. He dropped to one knee and popped the question to his girlfriend of a year and a half as the rain came down around them and her teammates let out a tremendous shriek in the background.
“I didn’t even hear it,” Bush said of her teammates’ reaction. “I was crying, but I think I might have screamed, too.”
“I thought it was pretty neat that it was raining,” Crocker said. “Apparently, it’s supposed to be a sign of good luck. I guess I have luck on my side now.”
Crocker has Bush’s 27 teammates on his side as well after insisting they be a part of his proposal. He said he couldn’t imagine a more appropriate place to propose to the woman who has made KU soccer her life since arriving on campus in 2005.
“It’s a huge part of her life,” he said of the role Bush’s teammates play. “That’s why I wanted to do it in front of them. Trying to keep it from them and surprise them too was pretty fun, too.”
Bush said the gravity of it all hadn’t quite hit her yet. She will graduate with a degree in community health in May and join her future husband in San Diego, where Crocker is almost four years into his commitment to the Navy.
Only six days into their engagement, the couple said they hadn’t had time to think about specific dates or plan any wedding details, but one thing was certain: The wedding will definitely not be during soccer season.
Twenty-seven potential bridesmaids would have had plenty to say about that.
PLAYING DRESS UP
Even though Kansas will be in Columbia, Mo., on Halloween night for the season finale against Missouri, the team will have its own Halloween party tonight at coach Mark Francis’ house.
Junior Estelle Johnson said not many costumes could stack up against last year’s juniors dressing as the cast from “Saved By the Bell.” Other classics include Oompa-Loompas and Francis’ maraca man.
— — Edited by Mary Sorrick
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