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Monday, April 1, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
March Madness, Jayhawk style
Joel Stuart, employee of Benchwarmers Sports Bar & Grill, 1601 W. 23rd St., fills a pitcher during the Jayhawks-THeeagels game.
KU fans enjoy rally at Indianapolis Zoo
Rv Karen Park
Special to the Kansan
INDIANAPOLIS - Jubilant KU fars from the past and present attended a pep rally yesterday at the Indianapolis Zoo.
About 700 well-wishers ate fried chicken and barbequed ribs as the KU pep band and spirit squads chanted fight songs.
Lance Smith, Wichita sophomore attended the rally.
"The game was incredible." he said. "A lot of experts are out of a lot of money now."
Smith said he would rather be in Indianapolis than in Lawrence during the Final Four.
Smith left Lawrence late Friday afternoon and arrived in Indianapolis about 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
Travis Edenfield, a 1969 KU graduate and marketing director for the zoo, said he was glad that he could be placed for the KU fans to celebrate.
"I'm just trying to give something back to a place that has given so much to me," he said.
Edendif said he had planned for about 1,000 people to attend the pep rally. About 1,500 pieces of chicken, vegetables and beer were ordered for the occasion.
Sean Williams, Lawrence resident, who is a sixth-generation KU alumnus and co-sponsor of the rally, said he had called several marketing companies in Indianapolis that told him there was not any place avail
"We did something that people said
that we didn't. "It's just like
our basketball team."
able to hold the rally
Duke University fans attended a pep rally for their team at the zoo on Saturday. Williams said leftovers were being served at the KU rally.
"We're eating Duke's leftovers today, which is appropriate because tomorrow we're going to eat their lunch," he said.
Michelle Strader, Girard senior,
and several of her friends, who
bought tickets through the KU lottery
to attend a trip from Lawrence to Indianapolis.
“It’s wonderful,” she said referring to being at the Final Four. “There’s no place better to be.”
Strader said she liked being in Indianapolis more than staying in Lawrence because she had met a lot of new people.
'Hawk fans jam local bars
"Everyone is a stranger here even though we go to the same school, but we all have a common bond," she said. "We know what's on back there, but know what's on back there."
"You can always be at school, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
This year, Bliss held on to his ticket.
"I sold my tickets in '88 for $750,
he said "That's a lot of money to a
business."
Matt Bliss, St. Louis senior,
traveled with Strader.
"I wouldn't trade this for anything," he said.
By Nedra Beth Randolph
When KU scores big, so do Lawrence bars.
Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
The staff at the self-proclaimed largest sports bar in Kansas, Benchwarmers Sports Bar & Grill. 1601 W. 23rd St., had record-setting crowds Saturday.
John Hetler, Benchwarmers co-owner, said before Saturday that he would bet that the bar would fill to capacity for the Kansas-North Carolina game.
If he had needed to be in line that formed at the door before 9 a.m. Saturday,
If he had bet, he would have won.
Several groups of Jayhawk fans had card games going to open the hours until the bar opened. Others worked in the backroom,
When the doors opened at noon, it was only a matter of minutes before all the tables and booths were occupied by the revelers. More than 550 cheering Jayhawk fans crowded into the bar.
By 12:30 p.m. all of the beer pitchers were gone. They were all in use. The waitresses had trouble wading through the masses of basketball fans
"I didn't get a seat but I'm not disappointed. I came here for the atmosphere," she said. "It's a nice place."
Keith Potter, Lawrence senior, got in line at 11 a.m. and received number 50.
milling around the bar.
Pep bands are another basketball tradition, and Benchwarmers was right in with the tradition. A pep band consisting of a bass guitar, a trumpet and an accordion is the screening fans cheer the Jawhavors to victory.
The band played KU fight songs before the game, during commercials and half time, and the band played it in a movie.
Shirley and Larry Verbon, parents of Leigh Ann Verbon, Kansas City, Kan., junior, were sitting on the bar's bleachers with their daughter singing the fight songs with the rest of the rowdy crowd.
The whole family was wearing a multitude of KU paraphernalia. Shirley had a Jayhawk painted on her face and her daughter had a Jayhawk beak on her head. Larry was wearing a Jayhawk baseball hat.
"I'd rather be here watching the game than be at the actual game in Indy," said Larry Verbon, who
Jerry Neverve, owner of Kanaa Sports Bar, 701 Massachusetts St., said a line formed outside the door.
"It was nuts. It was packed. It was standing room only. It was absolutely crazy here," he said.
Kelly Driscoll, owner of the Yacht Club, 530 Wisconsin St., said he knew from experience that he should stock the bar with more beer than usual.
"Our sales were two to two-and-one-half times more than a regular Saturday," he said. "We did
Yacht Club bartender, Ryan Manecke, Prairie Village senior, said Driscoll told him that he did not ever remember making so much money in one night.
"It was so crowded here you could hardly walk through the bar," he added. "The crowd got wilder as the night went on."
Manecke is scheduled to work tonight, the night of the championship game.
"It will be the biggest night ever here," he said. "We've stocked up with extra kegs."
Benchwarmers Sports Bar & Grill patrons cheer wildly as the Jayhawks score in their 79-73 victory against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Kansan staff writer
After party's over, someone has to clean it up
By Patricia Rojas
After Saturday's celebration on campus, there were some who stayed behind to clean up after their fellow fans.
Mike Richardson, director of facilities operations, said about 30 people worked to clean up campus after about 25,000 people celebrated the Jayhawks victory against North Carolina
Richardson said crew members worked from about 10 p.m. to midnight Saturday and from about 6:30 to 10 a.m. yesterday picking up garbage.
David Copp, maintenance crew member, said they filled up at least 300 large bags with garbage include toilet paper, broken glass and cups.
He said the most difficult part of the job was cleaning up the pieces of broken glass.
"We're all for the Jayhawks, too," he said. "But if they are going to drink. I wish they'd drink from cans
instead of bottles. The broken glass takes a lot of our time to clean up."
Larry Grammer, crew member,
said the smell of beer and the broken
wheel of the truck. He too is a Jayhawk fan and celebrated the victory Saturday night.
"I had partied a little bit," he said. "The way I felt and the way it smelled didn't combine. But it was glass that looked really got in the way."
Grammer said it was sometimes hard to deal with picking up everyone
else's mess.
"But we manage," he said. "It's monotonous, but it's a job, and somebody's got to do it. You can't just get and let others do all the work."
Clarence Rayton, crew member working yesterday on campus, also said he worked without anger.
"It can be tiresome, but it's OK," he said. "I'm a true KU fan, so I believe in the party afterwards."
"A little partying and screaming? That's no biggie. If they dirty it up, we clean it up."