I thought Kansas was a hoops school
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Earlier this week, I spent some time in Lawrence working on a story about Kansas football.
Kansas football?
Yep, Kansas football.
Isn’t Kansas a basketball school? I think so, but folks are definitely keeping an eye on football this year. The Jayhawks are undefeated, one of only three remaining undefeated teams in the country.
A friend of mine, who’s a big enough KU fan to have basketball and football season tickets, told me that her husband had to remind her about the first exhibition basketball game.
I guarantee that’s never happened before.
Usually by now, thoughts among the Jayhawk faithful have turned to the hardwood. Football, after all, is often a grueling struggle of not just losses but beat downs. Kansas football has been a laughing stock, even among Kansas fans.
The long-standing joke among students has been that football season isthe time you perfected the chants and the cheers for basketball.
Mind you, basketball at Kansas is hardly dead. Students camped out earlier this week for the basketball team’s game. Its exhibition game, that is.
Still, there’s a whole new vibe around football in Lawrence. It wasn’t so many years ago, that the athletic department lured fans to the football team’s home opener with basketball. Back in 2004, it invited fans to come to the football stadium a few hours early. The reason? To watch the basketball team’s exhibition at the University of British Columbia live on the jumbotron. The idea, of course, was for folks to stick around for the football game. Instead, some came for the basketball but left before the football.
Fans aren’t leaving early anymore.
It just underscores what an amazing turnaround Kansas has made. What Mark Mangino, his staff and his players have done is quite an accomplishment.
Now, if KU could just have a basketball team that its football team could be proud of.
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Comments
Jenni is a Kansas grad and that’s the only reason she did the story and her columns are not very good. 75% of the time, they are full of lies, ask Mike Gundy and Mike Gundy was right to rip you for your inaccruate stories. You chose to be a journalist? That was the biggest joke you did in college. You should resign your post as a columnist ASAP, coz you will never ever write for any other newspaper in, not only the USA, but around the world.
It’s amazing how Kansas gets more favorable coverage than our own other major instate university.
Of course, Kansas has never publicly called you out for your lousy investigative and reporting skills.
I’m also wondering when you’re going to commend Gundy for doing the right thing by dismissing Chris Collins?
Seems you’re so eager to chastise him or the team at every opportunity, but so reluctant to praise.
I hope you like OKC, because you’re never going to get a good job staying a second-rate, high school journalist.