2008: Best Year Ever

Most people know that I'm a diehard Jayhawk fan. Well, I AM a Jayhawk. I received both of my degrees from the University of Kansas and spent a good portion of my adult life in Lawrence, KS. In my opinion, the only thing that could make Lawrence better is a mountain range. Oh, and more sunny (but not very hot) days. So here I am, living in Colorado.

Some might think I'm a fair-weather fan, because I watch KU basketball and not football. But I honestly do not like football. At all. The only thing I like about football is the tradition of eating a crap ton of junk food. I'm forced to watch it (or zone out) a lot because Nick loves the Broncos and apparently if you like even one football team you also LOVE to watch every single other football game too.

Photo by Mike Yoder. kusports.com

I know I was going somewhere with this but…oh yes, I was watching the KU/MU game this past Saturday. As you probably know, Kansas and Mizzou are bitter rivals. A rivalry that predates college sports. As MU is leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, the sporting rivalry is essentially coming to an end. Coming off a close loss to Mizzou in Columbia, our last conference game against them in our house (Allen Fieldhouse) meant a lot to us Kansans. I thought for sure, we would just dominate Mizzou on our home court. You can't really appreciate Kansas basketball until you attend a game at Allen Fieldhouse. The two words that best describe it are "tradition" and "noise". Jayhawks are fiercely proud of their traditions and they'll let you know it, at 120dB.

Photo by Mike Yoder. kusports.com

So I found myself at a total loss when the Jayhawks were down by 19 in the 2nd half on their home court. But despite my strong desire to look away, to leave the room, my eyeballs remained glued to the tv. And somehow the Hawks clawed (taloned) their way back into the game and squeaked (squawked?) by with a victory in overtime. I had never been so overjoyed by a win since that most awesome day, when the Hawks came back from a 9 point deficit with 2 minutes left in the game, to beat the Memphis Tigers IN overtime to become 2008 NCAA National Champions. In both cases, there was a significant amount of jumping up and down and hugging people.

Photo by Nick Krug. kusports.com

And remembering that wonderful day made me think about other cool things that happened in 2008.

1. Kansas Jayhawks are 2008 NCAA Basketball National Champions. (already mentioned)
2. Ran my first ultra. (Finally something about running!)
3. Met Nick. (Met Nick at a race so this is about running too!)
4. Went to grad school? Not sure if this was a good thing or not but it lead to receiving a cool piece of paper in 2010!
5. Met Nick.
6. Oh yeah, I met Nick.

So in conclusion, 2008 was the best year ever. I'm sorry it took the KU/MU game, which reminded me of the championship game, to remind me of meeting my Nickster. My friend Marti will understand though. We watched the 2008 game together and have our priorities straight. #1 KU basketball, #2 boyfriend. Well, bacon is probably her #2, but #3 ain't bad, Marti's boyfriend.

Photo by Dick Ross. seekcrun.com

Ah the old days. 25-year-old me, with short hair, a cotton shirt and that water bottle I don't use anymore.

This was taken the day I met Nick.