March Madness 2014

I’m so excited that March Madness is starting this week! While I grew up in Los Angeles around a family full of UCLA Bruin fans telling me of the amazing history of John Wooden, it was really my time in college in Lawrence, Kansas at the University of Kansas that solidified my love for college basketball. I had been to many college basketball games as a kid with my aunt and uncle as they were UCLA season ticket holders, and loved the atmosphere at Pauley Pavillion in Westwood during the O’Bannon brothers era. It was electric.

When I attended college at KU, the atmosphere was amazing all four years at each and every game. As a student, we stood the entire game and were engaged as a part of Allen Fieldhouse, giving our Jayhawks an advantage at every home game. When it was clear that we had put the game away we would all together let out the Rock Chalk chant, one of the most amazing cheers in college athletics. Pay heed all who enter, beware of the Phog.

​Now that the regular season is over and the brackets have been set, it’s time for us to remember all those great moments the NCAA Tournament has brought us over the years, and hope for another magical journey for the ages. How could you forget the moments when Jim Valvano and his NC State team ran the table, when Danny Manning and the Miracles danced their way into our hearts, or when Bo Kimble and Loyola Marymount made a run and honored Hank Gathers with a left handed free throw or when Chris Webber called a timeout for the University of Michigan in the final minutes of the National Championship, but his team didn’t have any left. You couldn’t write a script to match these memorable moments. I can’t wait to see how this year’s tournament plays out. All I can say is…Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU!