Basketball: up close and ageless

I'm  not a huge football fan. I'm just not.

It may stem from never having a great team to cheer for. KU football has never been awesome, and then you have the Kansas City Chiefs. Please. The Chiefs are literally the worst team in the NFL. Without good teams to cheer for, I just have never been transformed into a football fan. Cory has his K-State football team, and I don't begrudge them any wins, I just have very little interest in watching it.

I don't even watch the Superbowl unless we happen to be at a party with delicious snacks to eat. (FYI, delicious snacks include, but are not limited to chips, dips, cookies and cupcakes. Yum.) And, even then, I'm probably paying more attention to the commercials.

Buuuuuuut, if you want to talk about basketball, and specifically, KU Basketball. I'm your gal. I love it. I know it may sound cliche to say that I love KU basketball but not football, but, it's the truth. I find basketball more exciting to watch and much easier to follow. I'm not going to apologize for that.

So, when my dad called me up a couple weeks ago to tell me that he had tickets to the KU basketball game that he couldn't use, I jumped at the chance to go. Even if it was a to a pre-season exhibition game. I still love going up to Allen Fieldhouse and getting the experience of college basketball in person.

I had four tickets to the Monday night game, so Cory and I made it a date night with my friend Terah and her husband Nathan. Terah and I met at KU and always went to games together as students, so it was a fun time to reminisce.

Well, it turns out the tickets that my dad had but couldn't use were INCREDIBLE. Fourth row back, right across from the home bench. We could actually hear the words Bill Self used when he was yelling at the team. (A lot of "Wake up!") Even as a student, I was never that close to the floor.

Dang! Look how close we are!

One thing we noticed being so close: everyone else seems so young. The cheerleaders, the dancers, the players. They all look like babies up close. I sure don't really feel like I've aged all that much in the 14 years since I was a freshman living in the dorms camping out for basketball games, so I'm not sure why the students look so much younger now.

It's like the reverse of the Fast Times of Ridgemont High effect. I feel the same age, but everyone else keeps getting younger.


Despite the profound sense of feeling old, the game was great. I mean, the game itself wasn't awesome, but the experience was a blast. Terah and I got to talk about all our college times while our husbands tried to act like they were interested.

Turns out, basketball at Allen Fieldhouse is still wonderful, even if we aren't 18-year-olds anymore. It's is good for the young and the young at heart. And, one thing that has gotten better over time? Allen now sells McAlister's Sweet Tea in the Fieldhouse. Sweet!

The whole gang. We're still youngish looking, right?

I made sure to get a couple pictures for the girls. I may be old, but that means I get to influence the next generation coming up. Gotta keep indoctrinating the Rock Chalk love ...

Big Jay.

Thought Molly would like the cheerleaders.

Seriously, look how close we were!

So, thanks Dad for the awesome seats. We felt old, but had a great time. And, if you ever run across fourth row basketball seats again ... keep me in mind.