Friday, May 1, 2009
If you feel left out of this column, I apologize ahead of time, but I want to take some time and recognize my senior class. This is the last column I will be writing as a student at Kansas, so color me a little sentimental. The senior athletes always get their special recognition days during their seasons, so I want to borrow that idea and recognize the senior fans, and what they’ve been able to witness the past four years at the University.
Let’s talk about their contributions first. Allen Fieldhouse has always been a big draw, but Memorial Stadium has grown on KU fans over the past four years and the senior fans have helped with that. They’ve kept the atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse electric, which has helped the Jayhawks keep up the nation’s longest current home winning streak. The seniors have also been part of the record sell-out crowds at Memorial Stadium over the past couple years.
The seniors have seen banner years from many sports in their time here at Kansas. Most notably, the football team progressed extremely well over the last four years. The senior class saw three bowl games — including a victory in the Orange Bowl — in four years, something no other class has ever done. They also saw the first national championship in basketball in twenty years. Heck, they almost saw the basketball team win the Big 12 Tournament every year they were here.
I don’t want to forget the other sports though. Baseball and softball both won Big 12 championships in the past four years. The volleyball team made it into the NCAA Tournament. The soccer team made it into the NCAA Tournament and got a win in the first round. The rest of KU athletics have had their ups and downs.
The senior class has seen some great athletes pass through Kansas as well. Current member of the PGA Gary Woodland, spent time on campus with these seniors. These seniors have seen some of the best softball players in Kansas’ history as well, including Serena Settlemier and Kassie Humphreys. They saw some talented football players, such as Charles Gordon and Aqib Talib, rebuild this Kansas program. And let’s not forget the NBA talent that helped lead Kansas to its national championship: Darnell Jackson, Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur, as well as Julian Wright.
Personally, I’ve been extremely lucky to witness some of Kansas’ sporting greatness firsthand. I went to all three bowl games and followed the Jayhawks twice on their road through the NCAA tournament (unfortunately not on their championship run though). This senior class has been lucky to witness some great Kansas teams over the past four years. I won’t forget the past four years, and the rest of the senior class can take these sports memories with them and look back on them fondly as a part of their time here at Kansas.
— — Edited by Casey Miles
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