Step Back From That Ledge, My Friend

Source: KU Sports

So here we sit, 1-4 and (0-2) in conference, coming off a 56-16 loss at the hands of the No. 7 Kansas State Wildcats. Our Hawks will be odds-on underdogs the rest of the way, and could be staring down the barrel of a 1-11 season.

Just down the road, Manhattan has its hopes set on a Big 12 Championship, a BCS bowl game, and a Heisman trophy. Here in Lawrence, however, interest in the football team is waning. Late Night in the Phog is just a few days away, and (sadly) Charlie Weis's boys will soon be an afterthought.

As the colors start to change, and the leaves and grass begin to die, so too does the fan support at football games. It comes and goes with the season, and, by some unspoken rule, it's basketball season now.

Check that, it's always basketball season in this town, and football is back to its rightful place in the rear-view mirror... (Cue the applause)



I'm not going down that easy, and I sure hope you don't either. We cannot quit on our team. We cannot quit on ourselves. Alumni, students, patrons alike, I implore you! Keep cheering the Hawks, because you know what? Believe it or not: basketball can wait. To the surprise of no one,  Bill Self will have his team playing well into March once again. I'll bet the farm on it--don't worry. You won't miss a thing.

But for now, it's football season. It's October. What do you say we go and pack Memorial Stadium to its capacity and rock somebody's world? We may not make a bowl game, but who says we can't piss in somebody's Cheerios before its all said and done.

College Football is a hallowed event, not just because of the the game, but because of the atmosphere, the pageantry, the pomp and circumstance, the camaraderie, the tailgating, and the brotherhood. High-fiving your friends. Losing your voice. Making memories.

Our boys will not lay down this year. They have pride in what they do. Our seniors have been through three coaching changes and their fair share of turmoil. I expect to see resiliency out of them. We can't stick a fork in our own team now just because everyone else has. We are all they've got.

I know you're embarrassed  and I'm as sick and tired as you are of making mountains out of molehills. I am sick and tired of patting the team on the back despite allowing 50+ points in just 36 plays. But Rome wasn't built in a day.

I have spent countless hours reading, watching, reflecting, and writing about this team. I do it not because it is easy, I do it not because they win all the time (Lord knows that isn't the case), but I do it because I love football and I love this University through and through. If you call yourself a Jayhawk, then cut the charade, go to the football games, scream your head off (win, lose, or draw). Otherwise, hit the road. Get lost. You are either with us, or you are against us. Hop on the bandwagon now, while things are in the toilet, or don't expect to hitch a ride when we are coasting off into the sunset without you.

You see, our "fans" have no problem pontificating about the basketball team every winter, but when somebody says the loathsome, forbidden word--football-- suddenly, and quite magically, people get up and walk away, or laugh and poke fun.

Either they take offense, they find themselves superior, or nobody knows of such a sport. Try it. Seriously. Surround yourself with "Jayhawks" and just throw the word out at leisure. You would think you had said something rebarbative or outlandish... or farted in church.

I don't want to tell you how to be a fan. I'm not here to tell you who to cheer for. But sports are a lot like life. You live and die with your team. You live and die by your morals and values. You don't cherry-pick who you hold ties with based on wins, just like you wouldn't compromise your beliefs, and you certainly don't run from a challenge.

Life is full of hardships, and I know you want to watch your team have success, but do you actually get joy from watching a team you have little or no connection to win games because of unmatched talent? Valor and bravery are glittering generalities and nothing more, I guess.

I don't mean to generalize, but at this point, that is all I am left to do. Most all KU "basketball fans"that I have come across, really give me cause to question their character. You may think, 'what gives this jackwad the audacity to judge my character based on a petty sporting event?' Well, when things are unpleasant or slightly uncomfortable, for that matter, our fans jump ship! Even just last November, I heard boo-birds raining down on Jeff Withey and Tyshawn Taylor. KU BASKETBALL PLAYERS! Winning glistens over a lot of blemishes, birds chirp and flowers bloom. If you lose, though, duck and cover. Complaining and whining will solve the problems.

Life is more than sports, but what takes place on this campus, and what takes place on game-days transcends the athletic field. Show your heart. Show your tenacity. Show your perseverance.

I know I am getting sappy, but, truth be told, when you have died with your team, when you have been through hell and high water, through heart-breaking losses and merciless blowouts, it makes the highs that much better. Trust me. Words just can't quite describe the feeling. You have to live it.

Being a KU football and Kansas City Royals fan for all my life, I have done a lot of dying. The Royals have not made the playoffs in 27 years, and KU lost its status as a winning football program on Saturday, having won only 6 of its last 36 games. But they have both had their moments, although rare... and they were mesmerizing. I don't just have memories of the games and the great plays, but of being with my friends, family, and COMPLETE STRANGERS who wear the crimson and blue, relishing the moment.

And that, lads and lasses, is what makes sports so fun to watch. At least for me. Mark Mangino went 2-10 his first year out of the box, and it was a long, arduous process to get Kansas competitive again, but it was a program on the upswing, and they were an absolute joy to follow. Coach Mangino took Kansas to 4 bowl games, winning 3 of them, and rattled off a 6-6, 12-1, and 8-5 record consecutively. Nothing awe-worthy, but for Kansas Football, that is a hell of a run, if you ask me.

Kansas is in the dumps right now, but please, please, please, please, please, please ride this one out. This team is a few lucky breaks away from being 3-2, possibly 4-1. They are moving in the right direction. They were within a score of K-State at halftime. Our best days are ahead of us, and we are just starting the climb. Be there on Saturday, be there on every Saturday, enjoy the experience, watch them grow, and you will thank yourself later. Rock Chalk.