Quotes for a Shocker Story

[ShockerPhi]

As a die hard shocker fan since '04 now, I'm currently a student and have never been happier. I loved seeing the town turn yellow, flags on cars, hearing radio stations of every kind supporting the Shockers. It's almost like the urban town of Wichita turned into a college town. Granted, I wasn't on campus for the Final Four because I was in Atlanta! Best experience as I could ever hope for as a student of a D1 institution. Still on cloud 9.

[newshock1234]

Sometime I lay in bed and just think to myself and I say to myself "we were in the final freaking four"

[xazshox]

Shocker Fans welcoming the team back home after their Final 4 game

I wish I could paste the video I took with my cell phone of the crowd when the team walked onto the floor on Sunday the day after their Final 4 game in Atlanta. However, since that isn't technically feasible, here are some of the highlights of what Coach Marshall said at that time:

O - He said he felt Shocker Nation's wind behind the team's sails throughout their run to the Final 4.
O - He thanked the team for the incredible ride they took all of us on.
O - He said that when WSU reached the Elite 8, they were the only team W of the Mississippi to do so; the other 7 teams were all E of the Mississippi.
O - The last thing he said was best: "This is just the beginning".

Also, before the Final 4 game, our daughter drove to our house in Wichita to watch the game with us. When she drove by the Rolling Hills CC, she noticed that all of the golfers on the course were dressed in yellow & black outfit! Pretty cool, eh!

[Aargh]

This would make a good headline:

Tekele Cotton Paves WSU's "Easy Road" to the F4".

[calfan]

This run to the Final Four was nothing short of amazing.
This team preseason was picked to finish 4th in the MVC.

It has been 48 years since a WSU team went to the Final Four, 1979 for the MVC.
I watched Duke play Louisville the week before we played them, Coach K and Duke have been to about 13 Final Fours.
WSU was an underdog in every game, but 1.

On a personal note, I live in the Los Angeles area, about 90 miles north of Staples Center.
We couldn't afford to go to Salt Lake City.
My wife told me that if WSU won to get to L.A. we would go.
I saw NO CHANCE of that. WSU would have to beat a Pittsburgh team that all the "experts" said was underseated at 8, should have been a 4 seed.
If by some miracle they got by Pitt., they would have to beat a very good Gonzaga team practically on their home court.

They made it to L.A. and I was so happy to wear my Shocker gear around downtown.
They played a great game against a good La Salle team.
It was good to meet some friends of the Baker's. They were really nice people.
I felt so good for the people of Scott City and Western Kansas. They don't get much press.
I was scared to death to play Ohio State. They ripped by a good Arizona team.
The guys played well and won! There was so much emotion as the guys received the trophy and cut down the net.
I was yelling and screaming and crying. We got on the phone with my uncle in Wichita to tell him what was going on.
He remembers the 1965 team. It was a great feeling of excitement and shock.
My wife is making a scrapbook, and I still can't believe it happened.
This is supposed to happen to the Louisvilles and the Michigans and the Syracuse teams.
WSU isn't suppose to be there. WSU crashed the BCS party and I loved it.

If you want to do another story, I think WSU and the MVC being underestimated might be a good story.
The other is the "experts" know a good offense when they see it. They have no idea how to rate a good defensive team when they see it.

[MadaboutWu]

The other is the "experts" know a good offense when they see it. They have no idea how to rate a good defensive team when they see it.

QFT.

[im4wsu]

This run to the Final Four was nothing short of amazing.
This team preseason was picked to finish 4th in the MVC.

It has been 48 years since a WSU team went to the Final Four, 1979 for the MVC.
I watched Duke play Louisville the week before we played them, Coach K and Duke have been to about 13 Final Fours.
WSU was an underdog in every game, but 1.

On a personal note, I live in the Los Angeles area, about 90 miles north of Staples Center.
We couldn't afford to go to Salt Lake City.
My wife told me that if WSU won to get to L.A. we would go.
I saw NO CHANCE of that. WSU would have to beat a Pittsburgh team that all the "experts" said was underseated at 8, should have been a 4 seed.
If by some miracle they got by Pitt., they would have to beat a very good Gonzaga team practically on their home court.

They made it to L.A. and I was so happy to wear my Shocker gear around downtown.
They played a great game against a good La Salle team.
It was good to meet some friends of the Baker's. They were really nice people.
I felt so good for the people of Scott City and Western Kansas. They don't get much press.
I was scared to death to play Ohio State. They ripped by a good Arizona team.
The guys played well and won! There was so much emotion as the guys received the trophy and cut down the net.
I was yelling and screaming and crying. We got on the phone with my uncle in Wichita to tell him what was going on.
He remembers the 1965 team. It was a great feeling of excitement and shock.
My wife is making a scrapbook, and I still can't believe it happened.
This is supposed to happen to the Louisvilles and the Michigans and the Syracuse teams.
WSU isn't suppose to be there. WSU crashed the BCS party and I loved it.

If you want to do another story, I think WSU and the MVC being underestimated might be a good story.
The other is the "experts" know a good offense when they see it. They have no idea how to rate a good defensive team when they see it.

This would be a great opportunity, I would think, to attempt to expand the Shocker Radio network into western Kansas. With Baker from Scott City and a yound stud in St. John making some noise, there may be lots of folks interested in listening to WSU.

[forevershockerfan]

During our Shocker trek to the Final 4, I have never seen our Community so thrilled about Shocker hoops. Everywhere I went, folk were discussing it and joining together to witness the games all over town and in their homes. Before each game except the La Salle game, the experts and oddsmakers told us we would lose and the party would be over. At halftime, we would listen to Commentators on the tube still say we would lose, even when we would be ahead at the time. Thus, the wins became sweeter as they increased. We were still very proud of our Shocks in the loss to Louisville and believed this was Louisville toughest game at the Dance.

With this all said, the question becomes, "how does a team picked 4th Preseason in the Valley make the Final 4? After all, our roster is not full of 4 or 5 star recruits as are so many teams that make the Final 4. Gregg Marshall and his Staff strive tirelessly to bring in solid recruits that may have 'flown under the radar' but yet fit the mold to our System. Ron Baker is a prime example of a player that was not highly sought out but yet really helped us at the Dance, despite being injured for 21 games. Each and every player helped us this Season along the way to overcome losing 5 of our top 7 scorers from the Season before to graduation along with injuries to 4 of our Starters that we dealt with all Season long. Coach Marshall recruits players that could all be called on to start or finish a game for us and contribute in their individual roles towards the team concepts.

Next, our players could be compared to the habits of the wise ants in the summer in that they are diligently preparing for the winter months to follow. They pump iron, condition, and work on both their strengths and weaknesses in search of improvements needed. We had a winter of adversity and injuries but yet other players 'stepped up to the pump' and assisted to deliver the wins along the way. Teams always strive to peak most around March and our beloved Shockers were still playing in April.

Last, but far from least, I give our Coaching Staff an A+ for the accomplishments we achieved this Season. We were so very prepared for each and every game at the Dance and our players executed these gameplans. It was a Banner Season for Shocker Nation to always recollect, point to, and tell our Grandkids about. The unfolding sharing of these fond memories are already in session and will forever continue. We also believe there will be new remarkable memories to add to this increasing collection as our Shocker Program moves forward in hopes that the best is yet to come.

[wushock27]

I live in Louisville, Kentucky, and have been a Wichita State fan for roughly 25 years... For I don't know how long, people here have given grief about how "weak" we are, and how UK,UL, or IU would destroy us... My only response to these over the years was "I hope we get to play you!" During this run, most of these people still didn't give WSU any respect until we beat Ohio State. The week leading up to the Final Four game was fun, as only a few people chose to talk trash to me as I wore my WSU gear around town and at work at UPS. After the game had concluded, I received about 20-30 texts from Louisville fans finally giving my team respect I had been looking to receive for years. At that point I realized how far WSU had come and how bright the future is for the program...

[wushock27]

Something else to add... A few days ago at a Derby function, the husband of one of my wife's friend talked to Pitino about the Final 4, and he told me that Pitino said the only time he was ever nervous in the tournament was during the game against us...

[Kung Wu]

Being in the Final Four, I felt like Pitino at a Hooter's waitress orientation.

[jpshocker]

Something else to add... A few days ago at a Derby function, the husband of one of my wife's friend talked to Pitino about the Final 4, and he told me that Pitino said the only time he was ever nervous in the tournament was during the game against us...

Pitino is a salesman and the master of hyperbole but that still gives me goosebumps.

[hoopsfan]

A group of us go to Las Vegas every year for the Final Four. We checked in at Mandalay Bay and saw they were selling WSU shirts in the gift shop. Then we saw them being sold at all the resorts up and down the strip. The day after the Louisville game, I wore a WSU shirt and everyone wanted to talk to us. First words out of everyone's mouths were "tough call". No one believed that was a held ball at the end. Families approached and wanted us to know they were cheering for WSU the whole way and they were so sorry how it turned out. After 3 hours of this I changed my shirt because I was tired of being the center of sympathy and attention for a thousand complete strangers.

[AndShock]

A group of us go to Las Vegas every year for the Final Four. We checked in at Mandalay Bay and saw they were selling WSU shirts in the gift shop. Then we saw them being sold at all the resorts up and down the strip. The day after the Louisville game, I wore a WSU shirt and everyone wanted to talk to us. First words out of everyone's mouths were "tough call". No one believed that was a held ball at the end. Families approached and wanted us to know they were cheering for WSU the whole way and they were so sorry how it turned out. After 3 hours of this I changed my shirt because I was tired of being the center of sympathy and attention for a thousand complete strangers.

I was in Vegas for the week leading up the tournament and then the day after the Pitt game. I always wear my WSU shirts when I'm out of town and I got a couple comments in the days leading up to the game, mostly from people around the Kansas area just wanting to talk a bit. People really started to take notice after the Pitt game and I had people stopping me every once in a while or even just a nod and "good game" as they walked by. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like during the Final Four.

I think my favorite WSU related thing from the trip was when we were taking a cab and the cabbie making small talk asked us who we had winning it all in our brackets. I, of course said Wichita State. He kind of laughed and said "yeah, well sometimes you have to be realistic" and said he had Indiana and thought it was between them and Louisville....so I guess he was sort of right about that. He's lucky it wasn't my turn to pay for the cab ride though....;)

...on the plus side, I'm sure he remembers that conversation and learned his lesson about what's "realistic" ;)

[pogo]

We were walking down Venice beach and there was a rescue vehicle parked on the walk when one of the firemen noticed our WSU shirts and said "Hey you guys really screwed up my bracket" and laughed. He then wanted to know why we hadn't called him to give him some insight into the Shocks. We told him he would not have believed us even if we had called him. Told him he would have thought we were as stoned as the stoner they had just loaded up in the rescue truck and he just nodded and smiled.