Is it really "Just a Game?"

Some might say that I am a competitive person. Okay, everyone would say that I am a competitive person. I love sports and teamwork and I absolutely love winning!! I grew up in a Dallas Cowboys house. My dad subscribed to the "Dallas Cowboys Weekly" and I would spend Sunday afternoons every fall curled up with him on the couch watching TV. It wasn't until I married Kelly that I learned the joys of college basketball! And not just any college basketball, but the birthplace of basketball where the inventor of the game himself, James Naismith, coached - University of Kansas! Rock Chalk Jayhawk! KU!

I have been a fan - avid fan - for 17 years. I learn the players names and their stories. I watch them in the pros and I've even seen Greg Ostertag in a movie! I remember the season when the Jayhawks were number one all season long and were on their way to the championship and then we played and lost to the Arizona Wildcats. (who, by the way, went on to win the championship. So at least they beat everyone else too!) It crushed me to the core. I cried and hurt and hated what Jacque Vaughan and Jerod Haase were experiencing. Later I bought Jerod's book "Floor Burns" which was written throughout this amazing season and I cried all over again as I lived it through his words.

I remember the feeling of betrayal and loss when Coach Williams walked away to coach North Carolina. It is personal! I take it personally. And yet, I find myself now telling my young, sensitive son that it is "just a game."

I used these words last night as we watched Memphis lead our Jayhawks by nine with about two minutes left in the national championship game. As I was preparing my son for the loss I told him that the sun will come up tomorrow, we will go to school, play with our friends and still be die hard Jayhawk fans. Nothing in our lives will change. I was trying to separate the feeling of being a member of the team to being a spectator, albeit a loud cheering one!

Even as I said the words, the score began to change. I put my son off my lap and started cheering! "What was I thinking?" I know how much time two minutes is! "Steal and Score!" (my mantra!!) And then the miracle occurred as Mario nailed a three to bring overtime and a national championship to the Kansas Jayhawks! We are the National Champs!

This morning, we celebrated with a stop at the donut shop for breakfast, wearing Jayhawk attire to school and work, adding National Champ photos to our computer desktop, ordering Jayhawk tshirts commemorating the victory, sending an email to the Kansas assistant coach who shared his address with my son and enjoying the accolades from friends. Friends who actually "congratulated" me on the win! Me! I was congratulated! See, I really am a Kansas Jayhawk and it is not "just a game!"