TUESDAY,APRIL8,2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5B
Kansanstaff remembers 1988 game
The Kansan staff looked back on the last NCAA Championship won by Kansas. Below are some of the stories staff members chose to tell.
The Jaf Hawks may not have won last night's game, but we want to hear your stories about that game. Where were you? What happened? What made it a night you will remember? Selected memories will be printed in the Kansan sports section through the end of the week.
If you would like to share your memory, e-mail sports editor Jessica Tims at tims@kansan.com
I remember sitting in the dugout after baseball practice in the cool, Las Vegas, desert air. I was pondering the meaning of life, what my career plans were and why girls had cooties. What can I say? I was a 7-year-old, future third-generation Jayhawk. My second-generation KU alum father had neglected to pick me up. He was too busy watching the 'Hawks take it to the Sooners. I spoke to him about that memory yesterday, and he asked me if I understood now.
Yeah Dad. I do. Rock Chalk
Jayhawk.
— Copy editor Todd Rapp
Where was I on April 4, 1988?
Hill
Campus editor Sarah Hill
For the first half of the champion s h i p game, I was in the basement of my
house in Great Bend, watching my Dad pace back and forth in front of the TV, pausing occasionally to express his extreme frustration with the officiating.
"What are those refs doing?" he would exclaim. "Can't they see what's happening?"
At halftime, my mom decided it
was time for her little eighty-
year-old to go to bed. Pleas to
my father fell on deafears.
"I can't believe this!" he kept saying. "I think we're going to win!"
Jackson
I spent the second half of the game crouched at the top of the stairs, listening to the television commentary (played at top volume) and more from Dad.
I don't think I'll ever forgive my mother.
Growing up in New Jersey, far away from Lawrence's windy sidewalks, "Danny and the Miracles" still managed to captivate a future Jayhawk. In fact 1988 is the first national championship game I remember. Specifically I remember my father, a Marquette graduate, turned to me and said "Danny Manning, he's something special." A few minutes later, he turned to his six-year-old son and said "He'll be something special in the NBA; watch him." Danny Manning didn't have the NBA
career anybody thought he would, but the image of his smiling face stayed with me. When I left for school in the fall of 2000 I
game."
Tims
reminded my dad of Manningand the 1988 game. "Right," he said. "Well, let's hope they've got another Danny Manning for you." Dad, I think we've got 13 of them.
— Kansan staff writer Henry C. Jackson
My parents had a work party to go to that night, so I was sent to Grandma's house where my aunts were watching a "big, important
I remember jumping up and down doing cheers I made up about the jayhawks. I remember my aunts, both elementary
Carr
school teachers, excited because they got to wear KU shirts and jeans to work the next day. But my best memory was of Danny Manning's amazing show.
That was the first Kansas basketball game I ever watched. The first time I ever understood the importance of "Rock Chalk," a phrase my dad said often. I still get chills watching highlights of that game and my heart races just reading about that game.
That night I knew I wanted to be a Jayhawk. I don't think I have ever thanked my grandma and aunts for the best night of baby-sitting ever. That night, as corny as it sounds, really did mold me and lead me on the path that I'm on now. Thanks girls, love ya' always.
—Edited by Amber Byarlay
Liquor sales spike with championships
By Lauren Bristow
lbristow@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Two items many students hold dear were affected by the NCAA Championship: liquor stores and cellular phones.
Liquor stores saw an increase in traffic over the course of the day as students prepared to watch the game at various locations.
"We didn't stock up on anything extra, we just acted as if it were a holiday," said Courtney Kimple, Ellinwood senior. "The busiest time was about an hour to an hour and a half before game time."
Kimple is an employee at Cork & Barrel Wine and Spirits, 2000 W. 23rd St. Other area liquor stores including Alvin's Wine & Spirits, 905 Iowa St., and Myers Retail Liquor, 902 W. 23rd St., experienced brisk sales prior to game time, said store representatives.
"I think we ordered some extra kegs," said Eric Gasper, Hoxie senior and employee at Alvin's. "I came in around 5 p.m. and the store was packed until the game started."
Some students using cell phones during and after the game, experienced problems connecting telephone calls.
"I kept trying to call my friend in Lawrence at halftime and it kept telling me my call couldn't be completed," said Angela Lappe, Orlando, Florida resident. "I finally got through after like trying 10 times."
Lappe was trying to call Jennifer Finn, Hutchinson senior on her Verizon cell phone.
"I didn't think there would be problem during halftime," Lappe said. "After the game, I got right through to her."
- Edited by Jason Elliott