PAY HEED

Mike and I decided a few weekends ago that we were due new KU shirts. He chose one he liked, so did I and we got them just in time for last weekend's Big 12 Championship. I wore my new shirt last Friday. It's pale blue, has the old angry Jayhawk on the sleeve, and says "Pay Heed" on the front. We ordered pizza last Friday night and when I went into our favorite local pizza shop to pick up our pie, the guy behind the counter said "What does Pay Heed mean?" I looked at him a minute because I knew the long line behind me wouldn't appreciate the real answer….so I just said "It's a University of Kansas thing!"

The entire PAY HEED  phrase is this "PAY HEED ALL WHO ENTER, BEWARE OF THE PHOG." Most people have no idea what this means. First of all THE PHOG, refers to Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Phog Allen was the Jayhawk's second ever coach, one with a winning record. He was close with the inventor of the game, Dr. James Naismith, who as I've mentioned before, is the only KU coach with a losing record. The saying basically means, any other team that enters this fieldhouse, better beware of the whopping they'll receive! A replica of the real banner hangs in our game room…..it was one of the BEST Christmas gifts my husband ever gave me!

Today begins 4 straight days of the second & third rounds of the tournament. This week there were four games that were the "first round." I didn't really pay attention to those games, they were on our tv, but I didn't really care about them. I just finished filling out my bracket last night. I realized on Tuesday morning I was being lazy, because my Dad emailed me his picks and bracket. It kind of surprised me that he had beat me to it! Although, I'm pretty sure I owe my love of most sports to him. One of the first times my mom left me home alone with my dad as an infant/toddler, she came home to both of us sitting on the couch, watching football, and eating chips and salsa……….I didn't have any teeth yet! I GREATLY thank him for that day…….I love watching sports, and I love chips and salsa... so much so, Mike proposed to me using chips and salsa and during the month of March! Anyways, back to the point, I love college basketball. Not just at tournament time, but for the entire season. From that first official "Late Night" practice to the final big dance! Even though I didn't graduate from KU, I feel EXTREMELY blessed to have spent two years of my life there. Two years that involved some CRAZY BASKETBALL!

Yes, I have Kansas winning it all.....as my dad said "It's an emotional pick!"

My freshman year, the Jayhawks went to the final four! That was Roy William's last year to coach KU. I watched both those final games at the Granada on Mass St., horribly sick. I actually saw three doctors in one day trying to feel better before those games. Despite feeling terrible, I watched us kill Marquette and then lose against Carmelo Anthony and the Orangemen of Syracuse. It was after that loss that Bonnie Bernstein became invisible. She's the no-longer CBS sportscaster who asked Roy after that loss, "Are you going to UNC now?" To which he responded "I don't give a s*** about North Carolina!" We all know that wasn't true…he left KU and a new era began with BILL SELF.

My sophomore year was not as exciting, but still was a good basketball year. KU rarely has bad years…..there's such a thing as rebuilding…hence losing in the second or third round of the tournament. I attended every home game during the time I went to KU. I camped out with my sorority sisters, attended role calls so our spot wouldn't be taken, and stood for the entire length of the game, every game. That's what students at KU do! I dug up some old college picks and scanned them in…..you can tell which one I didn't feel well in!

In Allen Fieldhouse before the start of a game.

This is the first final four game of 2003...you can tell by how pale I am that I did NOT feel well!

So, as I finish this blog post, Young & The Restless will be on next week, because right now, basketball is what's most important! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK, let the madness begin, and PAY HEED!

Early family photo before on a game day!

Mike and I outside the PHOG

Inside the PHOG....the original center court

PS- KU plays tomorrow…..it's also tomorrow when I will finally bring back Friday pizza night!

PSS- CBS should hire someone who actually knows about college basketball during the tournament….Charles Barkley has GOT TO GO!!!!!!!!

pups & kisses,

  Tiffany