History Made!!
It was wed,Jan 30th,2008 the day of the most hyped KSU-KU basketball game. We were ranked 22 and KU #2. We have never beaten KU in over 24 years at home.
I got up very early it was just around 7:40 when I was driving towards my workplace. My drive to work usually has to go through our football as well as our basketball stadium. Unusually that day, i saw an umpteen number of cars parked near the stadium. It didnt strike me much and i got to work after picking up the collegian on the way. We had our usual Wednesday meeting and obviously people were excited about the game and most of the people thought, this could be the year that we are going to beat the Jayhawks..I was as usual skeptical, but was admiring the optimism of our colleagues, who never till that point made a convincing prediction favoring k-state.(at least that i know of..) .I also heard that the students were standing in line from early morning (2:00AM) to get the best seat..(that explained the crowded parking lot..)
Anytime, ksu-ku games are played, its a big rivalry game, no matter which team is better. Students are charged up, the ambiance ecstatic, and its a game you would want to be, if you are a ksu or a ku fan. Unfortunately, at the time, i didnt have tickets to the game and was quietly continuing to hunt one for a reasonable price. As i was reading news news about this game, for some reason i felt that maybe we will win today against a team thats ranked #2.I felt we will make history...
Through some luck, i was able to get a ticket and to go with it, it was a reserved ticket and so i dont have to stand in line in the cold to reserve a good place. This gave me enough time to goto the gym and do some workout. As expected, the gym was almost close to empty with all the students already getting ready for the game or waiting in line.
As soon as i heard from someone that, they had opened the gates, i didnt want to be in the gym. I wanted to be in the stadium..So i wrapped up my little session and walked over to the court. I met my friends over there, but obviously and unfortunately they could not reserve a seat next to them because of the crowd and i was forced to sit in my reserved seat which was actually not far away from where they were..Nevertheless, it didnt bother me much, as i know once the game starts, there are going to be 10k+ friends cheering for the wildcats...
As i was watching the KU team during the warm-ups, i could see why they were #2. They never even missed one 3 pt shot during practice...It was nothing but net..i was concerned, but thought that maybe the destiny could take us for a win today..
The whistle blew with the crowd roaring at their feet..Both the teams started to shoot well after a nervous few minutes. The crowd was extremely loud and you could easily see how much every ksu fan hated ku...referees were booed very loud, irrespective of whether the call was wrong or not. KU defended well against our best player, but on this occasion, the rest of the players stepped up and was able to make perimeter shots. Whenever KU made a run, and was threatening to take the lead, someone stepped up and made a crucial basket. We never let ku off the hook and constant pressure, loud crowd, kept us in the game till the middle of the 2nd half, after which Ku could not sustain their efforts...I have been to several bball games here in the past couple of years,but i have never heard a crowd as loud as this one.we took a nice lead of 15 and within the 1 min mark, we were very close to winning..Fans realized that, and they were all walking towards the court side to storm. I joined them as well. As soon as the whistle blew, within a blink of an eye, i was in the center and almost the entire court was covered with ksu faithfuls..
i saw tears in some old people's eyes who had never seen a ksu victory at home..i was only here for a very few years and i could feel myself with lot of emotions running through my mind So i could very well imagine what they would have gone through..The delight in all of ksu's fans were indescribable and there was no doubt in my mind that this was the best basketball game that i had seen live in my entire life...
Later that night we celebrated the victory by going to aggieville with my friends.It was cold, but we didn't even feel it..
All in all, it was a memorable day and an unforgettable one.
Anytime, ksu-ku games are played, its a big rivalry game, no matter which team is better. Students are charged up, the ambiance ecstatic, and its a game you would want to be, if you are a ksu or a ku fan. Unfortunately, at the time, i didnt have tickets to the game and was quietly continuing to hunt one for a reasonable price. As i was reading news news about this game, for some reason i felt that maybe we will win today against a team thats ranked #2.I felt we will make history...
Through some luck, i was able to get a ticket and to go with it, it was a reserved ticket and so i dont have to stand in line in the cold to reserve a good place. This gave me enough time to goto the gym and do some workout. As expected, the gym was almost close to empty with all the students already getting ready for the game or waiting in line.
As soon as i heard from someone that, they had opened the gates, i didnt want to be in the gym. I wanted to be in the stadium..So i wrapped up my little session and walked over to the court. I met my friends over there, but obviously and unfortunately they could not reserve a seat next to them because of the crowd and i was forced to sit in my reserved seat which was actually not far away from where they were..Nevertheless, it didnt bother me much, as i know once the game starts, there are going to be 10k+ friends cheering for the wildcats...
As i was watching the KU team during the warm-ups, i could see why they were #2. They never even missed one 3 pt shot during practice...It was nothing but net..i was concerned, but thought that maybe the destiny could take us for a win today..
The whistle blew with the crowd roaring at their feet..Both the teams started to shoot well after a nervous few minutes. The crowd was extremely loud and you could easily see how much every ksu fan hated ku...referees were booed very loud, irrespective of whether the call was wrong or not. KU defended well against our best player, but on this occasion, the rest of the players stepped up and was able to make perimeter shots. Whenever KU made a run, and was threatening to take the lead, someone stepped up and made a crucial basket. We never let ku off the hook and constant pressure, loud crowd, kept us in the game till the middle of the 2nd half, after which Ku could not sustain their efforts...I have been to several bball games here in the past couple of years,but i have never heard a crowd as loud as this one.we took a nice lead of 15 and within the 1 min mark, we were very close to winning..Fans realized that, and they were all walking towards the court side to storm. I joined them as well. As soon as the whistle blew, within a blink of an eye, i was in the center and almost the entire court was covered with ksu faithfuls..
i saw tears in some old people's eyes who had never seen a ksu victory at home..i was only here for a very few years and i could feel myself with lot of emotions running through my mind So i could very well imagine what they would have gone through..The delight in all of ksu's fans were indescribable and there was no doubt in my mind that this was the best basketball game that i had seen live in my entire life...
Later that night we celebrated the victory by going to aggieville with my friends.It was cold, but we didn't even feel it..
All in all, it was a memorable day and an unforgettable one.
posted by Praveen @ 9:39 AM
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