Dear Wichita State Fans,
You’ve been on my mind quite a bit lately. I’ve been where you are and because of this, I’m going to share some valuable insight and advice, free of charge. I hope that at least one of you listens.
In 1988, KU won an NCAA National Championship. They were a Cinderella team, weighing in as a lofty six seed. It had been 36 years since their previous NCAA title, and although they made the Final Four in 1986, it had been over a decade since they had been there. We played the most powerful team in the country ….and beat them, in spite of the prognosticators and the odds.
Be ready, Shockers, because your special team this year could win it all as well. This is why I happily and freely offer this advice and why it is so darn impossible to avoid catching the Shocker fever and hopping onto the bandwagon.
It is HARD to make it to the Final Four. Just ask Coach K, Coach Williams, Coach Knight, Coach Izzo, Coach Pitino & Coach Self. Notice I’m not including Coach Calipari….he doesn’t have a hard time getting there (unless you include this year’s NIT single game “run”…no, I couldn’t resist), just a hard time keeping the banners. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you have the best team. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you have the best player. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you have the best coach. Coach V's NC State run showed it the best: you have to “survive and advance”. (and, by the way, if you haven't seen ESPN's documentary on Coach Valvano's team then watch it....THIS WEEK!!!). One weaker game, one outstanding opponent on just THAT one night, one insane three point shooter, one injury, one off night, one poor play, one missed shot, one made shot, one bad call, one foul, one missed free throw, one made free throw……any single one of these things can mean the difference between a team going home and a team advancing; regardless of whether or not you are North Carolina or Butler. It’s like running a gauntlet and dodging bullets.
Shockers, you’ve run the gauntlet and dodged the bullets. Here’s the thing, though. You haven’t been lucky. You aren’t a mid-major that just happened to have one insane night of shooting to knock off a better team only to get your butts kicked in the next game (yes, gulp, as a Jayhawk fan I’ve experienced this on more than one occasion). You are winning your games, against much higher seeds, decidedly.
So here’s my advice as a self-proclaimed expert on following a Final Four team. Get your butts off the couch and to Atlanta. I’m serious. These things are not a guarantee, they are rare and they are special. Do you want to be the fan who listens with envy when someone, ten years from now, talks about what it was like to see the Shockers cut down the nets in an epic National Championship upset???? Do you want to always wonder what it would be like to attend a Final Four…..when YOUR team is in it??? Final Fours are awesome and even more so when your team is the story, when your team is the underdog, and when your team hasn’t been there in 48 years. Drive, it’s easy. Go on Craigslist to find a hotel room (there are Ohio State fans dumping them, I’m sure, along with tickets to the semi-finals) or call an old friend/family member and crash on their couch. When you win on Saturday, Louisville fans will be practically giving away their tickets to the Championship. This is hot folks and it’s now or never.
Can’t make it to Atlanta? Okay, sometimes these things aren’t possible. Here’s some other advice: plan where you are going to be watching the games now. Not on Saturday morning, when you won’t be able to find a seat anywhere in town. Send someone to the bar to hold your table all day (send them with money, by the way). If you want to watch at home with friends, plan it now. These things can’t wait until the last minute, because this excitement and this fervor will be fleeting. This is the week folks. This is the one week where you get to bask in your team, bask in their run, and immerse yourself in this magic. Watch this game surrounded by other Shocker fans. You will high five, scream, curse, jump up and down, hug, cry…..all in the arms of fellow fans who understand you. It is exhilarating and you will feel alive.
Buy the Sports Illustrated edition with the Shockers gracing the cover. Buy several for those friends who don’t fully appreciate how cool this issue will be. Get the team’s autograph on it as soon as an opportunity presents itself along with Coach Marshall’s. Then, my Shocker friends, frame it and hang it proudly on your wall.
There will be at least one book published at some time on this amazing run. Watch for it and buy it. You will read back through it years from now and smile as you recall the rush of the 2013 March Madness. Buy the t-shirts. Smack talk KU and KSU fans because, after all, they were supposed to go further and for once in a very long time, you don’t have to hear about the Jayhawks this week. The national media and the Kansas media are talking about your beloved Shockers.
Keep the front page of the sports section and tuck it away. Go online and purchase the official Final Four poster from Atlanta so that you can frame it. If the Shockers bow out before winning a Championship, you’ll want the evidence of this monumental achievement. If they win it all, buy the National Championship poster and frame it along with your newspaper clippings. Oh, and get ready to buy another Sports Illustrated because your amazing Shockers will be gracing the cover again.
Above all, believe in them this week. Your team plays defense. They shut down Aaron-Freaking Craft!!! They have a sixth and seventh man who can hit clutch shots when it matters. And the Shockers, playing loose, believe they can win.
I don’t know what will happen this weekend. None of us does. That’s the crazy thing about the tournament. What I do know, is this: when it comes to my own beloved Jayhawks, I always plan for the best and on those rare occasions when the stars align and it all comes together in one beautiful blend, I’m always happy that I’ve made the absolute most of the experience by either being there or creating the most memorable environment possible.
They have given you this gift, now go out there and preserve it. After all, WSU may just have a few more shocks left in them.
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