Hydrahawk, Classless Wildcats and 903

Hydrahawk, Classless Wildcats and 903 by longdistancejayhawk

November 20, 2011, 11:00 am
Filed under: Recap | Tags: Allen Fieldhouse, Bob Knight, Champions Classic, Jane, Jayhawk, kansas, Kentucky, Schuyler, Tuesday, Wildcat

Schuyler and Jane made three massive Jayhawk heads for the Champions Classic. We had high hopes that Hydrahawk would become the token good luck charm of the season. Despite Schuyler giving him some love, Hydrahawk was no match for the Wildcats and their classless fan base.

Last year, when we went to the Dickie V Classic at MSG, there were so many KU fans that I renamed the stadium Allen Fieldhouse East. I’ll still call it that, but after Tuesday’s up and down night and the insane number Kentucky fans (more on that in a bit), I felt a little out of place. Wildcat fans were everywhere. We were tucked comfortably in a little enclave of Kansas faithful in section 337. Aside from the overwhelming number Kentucky supporters, I noticed something else that was considerably differnt from last year. Most of the fans didn’t do the student section traditions this time around. In fact, I think Schuyler, Meredith and I were the only people who threw confetti when they announced the starters for Kansas. It was kind of a bummer since that, along with Rock Chalking as Burrito Killah stood at halfcourt¹, were some of the highlights of last year’s trek to MSG. I mean, shit, Schuyler and Jane made giant Jayhawk heads that Justin dubbed Hydrahawk. I think we were the only people who went balls to the walls for this game. Oh, well. There were some incredibly nice Jayhawks sitting to Mer’s left. They asked us questions about being from Kansas in living in the city, remarking that there seemed to be a ton of us² in the city. We agreed. Once the game got underway, the lady sitting there pulled out the game program and a notecard, on which she began scribbling notes about the starting lineup.

What can I say? Kansas fans are rabid.

Let’s talk about the actual game shall we? I had a miniature meltdown in the second half, when the talented and far-more experienced Kentucky team stopped playing like they were trying for career bests in scoring and started playing like a legit team. What was so fucking frustrating for me was that we were actually guarding really well in the first half. Justin Wesley, of all players, was playing incredible, bulldog D during the first half³. He wouldn’t let anything go on the perimeter. Taylor was his usual self, but Tharpapalooza was absolutely impressive. Yes, he’s a freshman and he wasn’t 100% bad-ass, but he’s definitely got some promise. Toupee put Tharpe in early in the game and he handled himself impressively well. His play bodes well for my theory that we’ll be running more two and three guard sets with Taylor and Tharpe rotating on court between the 1 and 2 spots. Absolutely looking forward to more from him.

The guy that most impressed me on Tuesday, though, was Jeff Withey. Dude was a monster⁴ on both ends. His 7 points are a nice addition to the 4 blocks and 6 boards he ripped down. Last season, I really didn’t think much of Withey, mostly because I thought him being like a lumbering Pony Boy Aldrich would just slow us down. This season? He could be at the very least 80% Aldrich. If he continues to play hard and bang for boards and balls then he’ll get my vote of confidence.

Part of our inability to hang with Kentucky could be blamed on the Jayhawk on Jayhawk violence pictured here. Of course, three brawling UK fans in front of us didn't hurt their team all that much so I might be wrong.

All of this praise is clearly me trying to avoid talking about the fact that we lost. Here’s the thing: I figured we’d lose a couple of games this season. In fact, 6-8 seems like it would be a solid season for us, given the crew we’ve got. That said, this match up was absolutely on my list of games that we’re probably going to lose. Kentucky, unlike previous Calipari squads, actually has some continuity. They returned Lamb and Jones and added three star freshmen. Given Cal’s “let ’em run wild” approach to coaching, this squad is a buzzsaw of talent, with both depth and chemistry. They’re scary good when they get going. Which is what they did in the second half, peeling off runs and screaming after every dunk. The predominately Kentucky crowd exploded every fucking time and it became clear that the 2011-12 Jayhawks were out of their depth. The fact that we managed to close the gap to ten is victory enough for me.

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Unless you stumbled on here because you thought this was actually a blog about god’s team, you probably know that Coach K passed Bobby Knight as the all-time winningest Division-I head coach with 903 on Tuesday. Congrats to Coach K on so many years of dominance⁵! I’m happy I got to see it live. As I’ve mentioned before, seeing the records and milestones is part of what makes sports so much fucking fun. With this one, watching at home I would have had a reaction. Seeing it in person was much more meaningful, especially with Meredith the Duke Fan in attendance. The most touching part was when they showed on the Jumbotron Coach K walking over to the announcer’s table and hugging The General. Coach K teared up, clearly couldn’t get much out and tried to walk away. Knight said (and this is a pure guess) “Fuck that, Mike. Get your ass back over here before I throw a chair at you! I’m fucking proud, goddammit and I want you to know!” For Coach Knight, those are all terms of endearment. Anyway, great to see it in person⁶.

Undoubtedly, seeing this was the highlight of Meredith's night. Her favorite coach surpassed one of my favorite coaches and re-upped on his subscription to the Tony LaRussa Hair Club for Men in Athletics.

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One final thought about the Allen Fieldhouse East experience 2k11. Kentucky fans, on the whole, seemed to be a rather classless lot. Obviously, there are plenty of Jayhawks out there who drink too much and get rowdy. The Kentucky fans took that to a whole other level. At one point, we saw three Kentucky fans that seemed to be fighting each other. They got escorted from the building, but shit. You’re not Jets fans⁷. Show some fucking class.

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Since you’re probably reading this because of some love of Kansas, college basketball, or sports in general, I’d like to send out my sincere condolences to the Oklahoma State family. Losing a pair of coaches to a plane crash just over ten years after the plane crash that devestated the men’s basketball team is unfathomable. Around the Long Distance Jayhawk offices⁸, we spend a lot of time making fun of players and teams. Sometimes in a hurtful manner. But this is something that there is no humor or reason to fire shots over. It sucks and that’s all there is to it. I can’t imagine what the families and the teams are going through right now. Don’t worry, it’ll get better. Meredith and I went to Stillwater in the East Village to watch some of the OSU/ISU game. I wanted OSU to win it for a lot of reason, but the primary one was that, sometimes, winning a game can mean more than just a victory, more than just a shot at the BCS Championship game, more than another notch in Weedon’s Heisman campaign. Sometimes, a win means something to everyone who cares about their team and school. But more often than not, the victory doesn’t come and that’s probably the hardest thing to deal with⁹.

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FOOTNOTES

1 – I mentioned it at the time but I’m still confused about why he did that. We had the ball with about 50 seconds left on the clock. He just stood there, ball tucked under his arm grinning like a maniac. Memphis had already fallen but we still needed to, you know, make a play to avoid turning the ball over on a shot clock violation. Additionally, why was Markieff so high on the court? Why wasn’t Taylor doing this so that we could at least run a quick 10 second play? Second most baffling thing about last year’s squad after the Cal melee. Back

2 – Meredith and Patrick are not actually Jayhawks but we’ll let that one slide. Back

3 – So much so that the following day, my search results were stuffed with “justin wesley kansas profile view”. I’m not sure what these people (though it may have just been one person 30 times) were looking for. Also of note: write the phrase “God’s Team” 13 times an article and you’ll start getting hits for that too.Back

Turns out someone LOVES Justin Wesley. Also, one person wants to know how to get in God's Team. The answer is apparently 20 minutes of strong defense and two first names.

4 – Or as much of a monster as one can be when faced with Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and the three freshman that started and could be in the NBA right now probably. Back

5 – I have conflicting loyalties regarding Coach K, Duke and the Tar Heels. Suffice it to say that, for that one night, I was 100% rooting for Duke with no caveats, backpedaling or “only if Ryan Kelly hits the game winner with 3-seconds, then awkwardly tries to chest bump Rivers before jogging over to the bench, grinning like he just won the lottery” stipulations. Back

6 – Would have been nice if the game had been a little less Big Ten GrinderBall and more Acc/Big XII FastBreak-o-rama. Back

7 – Speaking of Jets fans, a buddy of mine went to the Pats/Jets game at the Meadowlands. While there, he rocked a Pats jersey and hat. Naturally, some Jets fan started some shit with him. According to my buddy, he was riding the escalator and the guy was basically dropping some of the m0st vile shit on him. The Jets fan also threw his hat off of his head. When my buddy told him to knock that shit off and knocked the Jets fan’s hat off, the guy got livid. My buddy said “Let me know when you have five Super Bowl rings” to which the guy replied “I’ll let you know once I get done raping your girlfriend.” The story ends with both guys in handcuffs. Needless to say, that’s the epitome of class. Back

8 – Okay, the desk in my bedroom with my computer on it. Back

9 – Think back to the Texas game last year and how much you wanted God’s Team to rip Texas’ throat out after Robinson’s mother died. Think about how deflated you felt when, after one half of dominance, the Hawks wilted from physical and emotional exhaustion. Sometimes, you just can’t win one to heal. Back

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