Final Four, Baby!

What a ride!

Our beloved Kansas Jayhawks, who many claimed would be resigned to a rebuilding year for the 2011-2012 season, made it all the way to the National Championship.  Needless to say, this family of Jayhawks enjoyed every minute of that ride!

Jackson is a Jayhawk fan (he really has no choice at this point in his life) but even he took things up a notch as March Madness continued to heat up.   He insisted on wearing a Jayhawk shirt daily and even requested that I do laundry when he discovered that his jersey was not clean on the eve of the Final Four.  Needless to say, I did the laundry.

Like most superstitious sports fans, we tried to keep our routine consistent as the team progressed throughout he tournament.  We wore the same clothes, sat in the same chairs and drank out of the same glasses (washed first, of course).  By the end, we had ordered a whole lot of Italian take out - rotating between pizza and spaghetti for every game of the tournament.

It was such an exciting time to live in Lawrence, KS.  Not only was I proud of the team, I was proud of our community.  Every where you went people were covered in Crimson & Blue.  Perfect strangers were high-fiving and striking up conversations.  Red and blue balloons lined the aisles in the grocery stores.  Even the celebrations remained under control.  An estimated 40,000-50,000 fans flooded Massachusetts St. after we made it to the championship game yet everything remained orderly and peaceful.

Even though we lost in the final game, this team was anything but losers.  And as emotional as things can get in our house during sporting events (the North Carolina and Ohio State games nearly gave me heart failure!), it was eerily calm during the Championship game.  Kentucky was clearly the better team - but we made a valiant run at them toward the end.

I said it on facebook that night and I'll say it again: One helluva ride, KU!  Still proud to be a Jayhawk!

We decorated the front steps after beating North Carolina to advance to the Final Four.

On our way to Mass St. to celebrate with the masses after the North Carolina victory. 
Unfortunately, Jack missed the party.

Jackson posing with the (lucky perhaps?) Jayhawk Grump made Drew for his birthday. 
The Jayhawk was proudly displayed all season long.