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FEATURE
A LOOK INSIDE A KANSAS GAME DAY
Pregame spirit has never been higher for the football team after recent success
By Max Rothman mrothman@kansan.com
It's 8 a.m. on a Saturday and Lawrence begins to rise. Students pry open their eyelids and bite their lips to get out of bed. Alumni gather from afar, congregating with friends and family amongst a vast sea of crimson and blue. Local policemen close streets, clearing the way for gargantuan buses. Nearby, front yards become lots, advertised by simple signs that say "Parking, $20." Patios and decks have turned in their usual dormancy for beer pong and banter. With the sight of the stadium as the shepherd, everyone is walking together to one place and one place
only. It must be game day.
But it wasn't always like this. The Kansas football team used to play second fiddle. This used to be just a basketball
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school. Then a miracle happened and a historically paltry football team won the Orange Bowl. While there has always been a strong following for pigskin in Lawrence, regardless of record, these days something is a little different.
"It's just a good feeling in the air," said Conor Taft, Naperville, Ill. freshman.
Mediocrity is now a thing of the past. Instead, head coach Mark Mangino has elevated Kansas football to national prominence with top-tier recruiting and sophisticated game plans. With balanced doses of a graceful aerial assault and a bruising ground game, Kansas' offense can play with anyone, casually tallying 40 points per game.
Established NFL products such as Aqib Talbist, Justin Hartwig and Derek Fine bring external light to the program, and a talented core of Todd
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Reesing, Jake Sharp, Dezmon Briscoe, Kerry Meier and Darrell Stuckey prove that talent at Kansas has staying power. After all, there is a reason why Kansas is now a constant top 25 force to be reckoned with — this team has skills all over the field.
But as much as everyone loves a winning team, it's about more than a Reesing comeback or a Briscoe catch that makes game day truly special.
For the fans of the student ghetto, the morning is greeted with an army of fans hiking uphill, ogling the stadium once reaching its peak. Others must sluggishly travel by car or bus to get past the levels of insanity on their way to the game. First, main routes like Mississippi Street are loaded with traffic. Proprietors hover on the sidewalks, holding up signs for parking and cheap tailgate staples. Lights change, but cars trudge along at a snail-like pace. There's no choice but to take in the surroundings.
Once past the chaos of traffic, fans are instantly submerged in student life on intimate streets, shielded with a canopy of trees and decked houses. Sleepy-eyed students have miraculously become morning people, occupying every available space but the middle of the street with tailgating gear.
"No matter when the game starts, everyone is determined to have as much fun as possible," said Michel Rousseau, Golden Valley, Minn., senior.
But it's not exactly typical of college students to force themselves out of bed and beat the gradually rising sun to the streets. They don't get up because they are told to do so. No, it's just that it's a
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Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Top: Students get together along Mississippi Street in front of Memorial Stadium. The start of the season began with a win over Northern Colorado.
Bottom: The Marching Jayhawks march down the hill toward Memorial Stadium for a Kansas home football game. The hill by the Campanile is a popular place for fans to tailgate before home games.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE WAVE OCTOBER 23,2009