My State of MYSTATE

[WuDrWu]

Perhaps it's just the time of year......

I have to admit a mild case of deja vu' recently. I keep thinking back to Christmas 2006....my daughter was just starting school, the Shocks coming off a Sweet 16 run and on fire to start the 06-07 season, ranked in the top 10. We load up the family and friends and head out on vacation with a lot of excitement, confidence and the highest of expectations. The world is our oyster.

3 short months later and all that is distant memory. A season inexplicably lost, questions all around, dissent amongst the troops and our coach gone. The bandwagoneers have long since gone back to wearing their Rock Chalk gear and many of us are expecting Scott Sutton to be named the next coach.

Fast forward now 7 amazing years. The program is much stronger than it's ever been. The list of supporters is a who's who of successful Wichitans. The support is strong, the pockets deep, and the run of success is unmatched in Shocker history. Not only basketball, but especially basketball, is strong, deep, clean and poised to take even further strides upward and onward.

There are surreal moments. Coach Barnes and Coach Purnell in the lobby of the team hotel last night...SURROUNDED by Shocker fans. Rick Barnes, a man who has been successful for years, has taken the UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, who could list a guy like Tom Devlin on their "others who contributed" page, to the NCAA 14 out of 15 seasons, has been to a Final Four, been named Big12 Coach of the Year no less than 3 times and needs a team of accountants to process his checks each month that add up to approximately a gozillion dollars a year.....550+ career wins Rick Barnes,,,,can't find a friend in the world. Looking for any help he can find, and shaking his head at the support of SHOCKERNATION.

Coach Purnell seemed to be lobbying for perhaps an assistant's gig next season. Keenly aware that multiple Shocker assistants will be ripe pickings for upcoming job openings, Oliver would be interested in filling in for a couple of seasons while the ADs around the country forget (he hopes) how he was the most over paid coach in the history of sports at DePaul. Never have I seen a guy do so little with so much. I don't know if he's Catholic, but he should be required to say a couple thousand Hail Marys every time he cashes a check. At one point last night I wasn't sure that security wouldn't go over and cuff him for Grand Theft Coaching. To think he makes more than 3G.....sickening. I do think he was turned off at the end though. He seemingly was thinking he could get a nice soft position not requiring much work (as if he works now) but realized that all the WSU coaches bust their asses. He got someone to buy him a cold one and departed shortly thereafter,,,I'm sure to scout the Longhorns (insert sarcasm emoticon).

Neither of these 2 coaches can find a friend in the world. Our coaches are surrounded by love. Steve Forbes looks around and wonders what the hell is going on...why are all these people here? Are they all really WSU fans? They are, but even he seems surprised. Chris Jans smiles a wry smile as if to say, yeah, this is pretty good stuff. Go where you are loved folks.

There have been annoying moments too.,,,for instance, last night's game. A lot of new WSU fans around. I don't need to hear new fan Johnny scream at the top of his lungs, Johnny, who still wonders why we dropped basketball after X graduated and just started it up again last spring, yes, that Johnny, scream that he doesn't care for Carter not getting a rebound, Baker missing too many free throws or for WSU to "start taking care of the ball" when the team commits their 1st turnover in 7 minutes. These are the same people that spend more time heckling the opponents than cheering their own team.

You know what? Don't. Just be quiet, or better yet, stay home and iron your EcoKat tights or rehang your Coach Self fathead toupe in your Hawks Crossing mancave. Don't disrespect the 1000s of GREAT Shocker fans that have helped to make this program what it is today. You aren't wanted. Just be classy and cheer YOUR team.

Now, I say this with levity. Many times throughout the evening, I'm thinking about @pogo: and if he and his better half are able to enjoy the tournament like they should. I hope they are and I've prayed that they are and that they will be able to for so much more....because in the end my friends, that's all that matters. The rest is just a game. It's about our friends and our families and how we care about each other and enjoying the moment because you never know if or when the next one will come. EVER.

MyState is ENJOYING THE RIDE. And I'm enjoying the living hell out of things right now, and I hope you are too.


Go Shocks!

[DwShock]

That was probably the best post I've ever read on Shockernet. Thanks WuDrWu for all your insights. You seem to be a great man. MTXE!

[ShockBand]

Well stated, Doc. And yes, while it is just a game and entertainment and a diversion for us as fans, it does have one higher meaning than just playing the game. Together, with friends and family, we share wonderful common memories that become the glue of the fanbase. I think that is why we still drew 5000-6000 during the worst of the 1990s. We had the memories of where we had been, we knew it was possible again, and most importantly, we knew that we still believed. The reason this coaching staff and players resonate with us is because they have to work hard and earn everything they get, much like most of us in our lives. Most of us have spent our lives getting up every day, working hard, playing hard, and earning our keep because nothing was handed to us on a silver platter. My inheritance was a belief in getting callouses on your hands and sweat on your brow and earning your day's pay. Every. Single. Day. My thanks to everyone in all of Shocker Nation - players, coaches, admins, and fans - for a lifetime of memories, with more to come.

It is why I think this video from last year sums it up so well for me. Remembering that the constant pursuit to be better transcends just winning.

[Shoxfan11]

When we played in this tournament in 2009, Texas was the team everybody wanted to play and the best team in the tournament. We lost to Pitt (although without our point guard) and went on to lose in the first round of the NIT that year.

Four years later, we're coming off a decisive win in the NCAA Tournament against Pitt (oh yeah, and a Final Four, which the commentators made sure to mention a million times last night, and it never gets old). Texas is falling apart, we're #12 in the country, the team everybody in the tournament wants to play, and the team the commentators simply won't stop talking about.

Times have definitely changed, and easily for the better.

[shock]

Damn. I guess I'll follow that.

MyState is growing up as one of those baby's carried into the game, and then growing into one of those kids that runs around the top of Henry Levitt while the basketball team is lost in the nineties. MyState is clinging to a ratty black shirt because it's the only wsu shirt sold outside of the bookstore in 5 years. I went to a basketball camp proudly donning my number 5 because while other kids idolized superheroes, my idol was Randy Burns. Randy was supposed to be at that camp, but Kyle Wilson came instead, and he taught me how to shoot left handed. I didn't even play basketball. Never have played more than a pickup game. But when I did, I was Randy or Matty B or PJ or Jamar. MyState is being ridiculed by teachers and classmates alike, one going so far as to wrinkle her nose when I told her that Koch was louder than phog. That same year WSU went to the Sweet 16. I cried the next year when the team slipped off into oblivion. When Turg left my world was turned upside down. I was prepared for another nineties run of mediocrity. Then this guy with the personality of a jack Russell gets hired and the team won 11(?) games. Then they got into very minuscule post season play. Each year they got better. Each year they got a little more, a little further in the post season.
Now, this is MY STATE. It's capital is not in Topeka. It's heart does not beat in Lawrence. Saturday nights aren't lived in Manhattan.
MY STATES capital is in the ICT. You can dial it up, but you gotta dial 316. MY STATES heart beats at 21st and Hillside. Who cares what's going on in Manhattan. MY STATE IS WICHITA STATE, and no matter where I earn my degree from, I will ALWAYS be a shocker.

GO SHOCKS

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

Because every good story needs great background music http://youtu.be/7OcPtD3TQrI

[wsushox1]

Because every good story needs great background music http://youtu.be/7OcPtD3TQrI

Really..... Just Blaze produced that?

It's good though.

[Dan]

we all come from different generations and have stories to tell. Those of us that cheered through the 90's and came out the back end still cheering can probably appreciate the present that much more. Never take this program or Coach Marshall for granted. What he's done in the past 7 years is not an easy task an we need to do whatever it takes to ensure he never leaves.

[kcshocker11]

I have followd my Shocks since 1974, the first yearI attended WSU. I remember Dave the Rave playing daily pickup games in Levitt arena. I loved Cheese, Bruton then AC, Cliff,X. Zark was a personal friend. I watch my Shocks beat KU in NO and (at Fuzzys sport bar in KC) when Henry Carr was their. I felt the pain when Coop broke his leg and suffered through the 90's. I cheered Randy as our savior and excepted Turg as the real deal. I have never been prouder of my Shocks than I have today but I have never been ashamed our shied away from my association with WU. Just felt I needed to say this. Go Shocks!

[pogo]

In answer to Docs wondering how my wife and I did at the tournament...We did very well thank you. Except for an incident at the Depaul game ( more about that shortly) the entire trip and stay was great. We stayed at the Hilton President which was a pretty cool place on its own. I checked in and took my wife to the lobby where the concierge asked if Debbie would require anything additional. I explained what she was facing and he said if there was anything at all just ask. I thanked him and parked the car myself. When I returned to the lobby the concierge told me the hotel upgraded our reservations to a suite for us. This really turned out to be great because when people came by to see her we could visit in the living portion of the suite that had a sofa and chairs as well as a large table and chairs. The walk to the Sprint was easy and manageable. We stayed for most of both games but she tires easily and we made it back to the room in time to see the win over BYU. Friends came by and visited and we got to see our Shocks win the tournament and had a nice drive home. One of Debbies friends that lives on Olathe said she was so proud to see so many WSU fans in the KC area all at one time. Now about the incident. The first night we sat in the handicapped area across from the WSU bench. We were at the far left of the seating area and had about 4 empty chairs between us and a man filming the game for the longhorn network. I sat to the left of my wife and her friend (I let the friend sit next to Debbie so they could talk if they wanted) and when Debbie wanted some water I would move towards the camera and walk around behind to help her sip her water. There was probably about 4 feet of open space between the last chair and the camera and I made sure I would not interfere with his shot. After the third time I got up to give my wife water he yells at me to walk the other direction because my footsteps caused his camera to "jiggle". I told him if he had told me that before and had been less of an asshole I would have been glad to accommodate his request. His voice was raised and most certainly mine was and an usher came over to see what was going on. I explained to her that if he wasn't such a JERK that there would not be a problem and said he was just probably being a JERK because texas had just gotten their ass kicked. He just stood there like an ass and acted like he was trying to concentrate on filming the WSU game. I was more than a little annoyed at this person and later he moved his camera box (a 3x4 aluminum case) from the left side of the camera to the right side to block any attempt I might make to go around on that side. I stood up and walked towards him and said if you really want to block this off you need to move this last chair and set it like this (which I did) and set it down very hard in the hopes that it jiggled his camera. I couldn't read his ID credential since he had it facing his body and I asked him what his name was because when I filed a complaint I wanted to make sure I got the right jerk and not some other jerk by mistake. He just looked at me and I thought I didn't want to cross the threshold of grabbing the lanyard and turning it to read it so I let the moment pass. As we left the game I told him that I hoped with all of my heart that he would be afflicted with some horrible disease and all of the teams at texas would see nothing but defeat. Other than thise incident we had a great time.

[DUShock]

Pogo, I am glad that your stay at the Hilton was good, I especially like the part about the upgrade! My dad and I stayed at the Hilton also, other than the hours of operation for the Starbucks I have no complaint about the hotel. We stayed at the President when the Shocks last played in the CBE. I did have to work a little so I enjoyed the Starbucks or work and caffeine Tuesday morning.

I'm glad you and Debbie had a wonderful trip and I will continue to keep Debbie and your family in my prayers.

Go Shocks!!!

[TheYeti]

I'm glad you and Debbie had a wonderful trip and I will continue to keep Debbie and your family in my prayers.

Go Shocks!!![/QUOTE]. As will we all. Anyone who wears the black and gold is family in my book.