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"Are you a fan, or do you just wear the shirt?"

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  • #1

    "Are you a fan, or do you just wear the shirt?"

    I was wearing my black "Survive/Advance/Play Angry/WuShock The World" shirt and checking into the gym for a typical Sunday morning workout. And that's what the lady at the front desk said to me. Word for word. In San Antonio, Texas. Football country.

    And for about 5 seconds I had no idea what to say in response since there were so many conflicting emotions - confusion, annoyance, and just a general "Huh?".

    After that pause, I found myself saying "Yeah, that's the only team I care about - been rooting for them since I was a kid back in the early 80s". After confirming that she wasn't from Kansas and had no connection (she was from SA), I walked off shaking my head.

    What a ride, huh? Three and a half years ago, nobody except college basketball junkies had an awareness of this program. And now it's at a point where random people who don't care about basketball - in parts of the country that don't care about basketball - are proactively commenting.

    High. Class. Problems.

    Anyway, I know that this topic has been covered in other threads, so no worries if the mods want to merge it but I think it's a decent topic for the dog days of August.

    So that's my question to ShockerNet - what are your most noteworthy moments like this? My top 3 are:

    1. Random people in airports pointing at my shirt and saying they love the team

    2. Kentucky fans in Cleveland (including one former player from the Rupp era) throwing sunshine on the style of play

    3. Alabama football fans at Augusta National telling me "we were pulling for you guys" and wanting to talk college basketball on the greatest golf course of all time. I am not making this up. Actually it should be #1 but I'll leave it here. I was dumbfounded - I'm not a golfer but it was surreal to be walking the most beautiful golf course in the world and have football fans want to talk about the program.

    How's that for some sunshine pumping in late August?!?!

    We've come a long way, baby.

    Peace and Chicken Grease,

    Good News
    Tags: None
  • #2
    2010 in Yellowstone park with my Shocker gear and the Ranger asked me if I was a Shocker fan....of course I said yes. He politely commented that he was a football player on the 1970 team. He was on the other plane. He stated that he was glad to see the basketball team doing well recently. That was it.
    Livin the dream

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    • #3
      I don't travel much, so I can only comment on wearing the shirt.

      I'm now seeing more WSU gear worn in Wichita than KU gear. That's a major change since Marshall got here. WSU gear is getting prime retail spots in non-sporting goods places.

      I was out with some friends earlier tonight, wearing my yellow "Fear The Wheat" shirt. When I came home I changed into my Final 4 shirt, which has seen better days and can only be worn at home. So, yes, I wear the shirt.
      The future's so bright - I gotta wear shades.
      We like to cut down nets and get sized for championship rings.

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      • #4
        I probably wear one of my 5 or so Shocker shirts once a week out and about...and there's been plenty of looks...double looks and the occasional "Shockers cool!!!" comments. I feel like most of the looks are quite positive.

        A couple years ago I was finishing up a show (entertainment biz) walking off a stage in North Scottsdale when a guy about my age approached me with a big grin on his face asking if I was just wearing a Shocker shirt for no reason or had a connection to Wichita St. I put out my hand to shake his and said "I went to school there and was the BIGGEST Shocker fan this side of the Rocky Mountains." He practically hugged me and said..."Awesome man...I played baseball there back in the late 80's." I was like..."nice that '89 team was the best" and we reminisced for some time about his time in a Shocker uniform.
        FINAL FOURS:
        1965, 2013

        NCAA Tournament:
        1964, 1965, 1976, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021

        NIT Champs - 1 (2011)

        AP Poll History of Wichita St:
        Number of Times Ranked: 157
        Number of Times Ranked #1: 1
        Number of Times Top 5: 32 (Most Recent - 2017)
        Number of Times Top 10: 73 (Most Recent - 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017)

        Highest Recent AP Ranking:
        #3 - Dec. 2017
        #2 ~ March 2014

        Highest Recent Coaches Poll Ranking:
        #2 ~ March 2014
        Finished 2013 Season #4

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        • #5
          I was in Chicago last year for business. Had some free time so I figured I'd catch a Cubs game. Grabbed some grub and booze at an establishment near the ballpark, and ran into a couple of guys from the KC area. One of them was a KU fan, but I'm not sure about the other. Think he was a Pirates fan. Anyways, had a great conversation with them as well as the gentleman I sat next to at Wrigley (His name was Lou, and he was a native Chicagoan). I always make sure to wear Shocker gear when I'm out of town or abroad.

          I also ran into a fellow Shocker in France at the Louvre, which was pretty cool.
          "In God we trust, all others must bring data." - W. Edwards Deming

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Kel Varnsen View Post
            I was in Chicago last year for business. Had some free time so I figured I'd catch a Cubs game. Grabbed some grub and booze at an establishment near the ballpark, and ran into a couple of guys from the KC area. One of them was a KU fan, but I'm not sure about the other. Think he was a Pirates fan. Anyways, had a great conversation with them as well as the gentleman I sat next to at Wrigley (His name was Lou, and he was a native Chicagoan). I always make sure to wear Shocker gear when I'm out of town or abroad.

            I also ran into a fellow Shocker in France at the Louvre, which was pretty cool.
            One was a KU fan and the other was a butt pirate? So 2 KU fans?
            People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. -Isaac Asimov

            Originally posted by C0|dB|00ded
            Who else posts fake **** all day in order to maintain the acrimony? Wingnuts, that's who.

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            • #7
              A few weeks after our latest FF I had to do several flights in and out of KC. I wore either a FF tee or a black polo with Wushock on it. I got lots of stinkeye from Ku folks but several were gracious and praised the Shocks. Non-hawks that noticed were universally positive.

              I have been wearing my Shocker themed Royals hat non-stop since that game last September. Been getting lots of positive feedback from it.
              One quick note before we present the rankings: With Wichita State’s move to the American Athletic Conference, the Shockers have moved out of the mid-major club. We wish the Shockers well against Cincinnati, UConn, SMU, and more.

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              • #8
                This last season when I was wearing a WSU shirt, I had someone accuse me of being a bandwagon fan. The person I was talking to was wearing a Golden State Warriors t-shirt.

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                • #9
                  I cannot even tell you where this occurred, but I was wearing my Sjhocker emblazoned dress shirt when someone asked me if I was a coach or professor at WSU. For a brief moment there, I thought, "Gee, do I look that dstinguished?" Then I came to my senses and said, "No, just a season ticket holder since 1980."
                  "I not sure that I've ever been around a more competitive player or young man than Fred VanVleet. I like to win more than 99.9% of the people in this world, but he may top me." -- Gregg Marshall 12/23/13 :peaceful:
                  ---------------------------------------
                  Remember when Nancy Pelosi said about Obamacare:
                  "We have to pass it, to find out what's in it".

                  A physician called into a radio show and said:
                  "That's the definition of a stool sample."

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                  • #10
                    I think I wear a shocker shirt 3 out of the 5 work days. It's come to the point my black shirts are getting gray! Lol my favorite one is my cleanthony Nike shirt. Even though its getting small holes in it. Lol I give crap to KU fans when I see them with their "fear the Phog" shirts here at work 😂

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                    • #11
                      I was going through the security lines at the Phoenix airport last year and was wearing a WSU shirt. The TSA officer took notice of it and said we have something in common -- a hatred of KU-- because he went to Missouri. He went on and on about how KU is a bunch of cowards for not playing the Shockers in the regular season.

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                      • #12
                        Wore one of my Shockers polos while in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. One of the greeters on the way into mass stopped me for a moment and said that as much as he hated WSU, he wished that his alma mater still had a chance to play us. After a brief discussion, I made him quite aware that I was not a fan of his beloved BJ's either.
                        "You Don't Have to Play a Perfect Game. Your Best is Good Enough."

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                        • #13
                          2005, Jamaica. I was wearing a hat that had WSU on the front, Wichita State on the back. The bartender looked at my hat for a while in his Jamaican accent,"Wichita... Wichita.... BTK!!" I looked at him and nodded disappointingly.

                          Needless to say, there was no bandwagon, or even blueprints at that point for the bandwagon at that point in time. But it was a solid hat.
                          "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Better have some sugar and water too, or else your lemonade will suck!

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                          • #14
                            Last year in New Orleans on Bourbon Street. I was walking down the street wearing a WSU T-Shirt and a random person on the top level just yells "Go Shockers"

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by ShockerGorilla View Post
                              I was going through the security lines at the Phoenix airport last year and was wearing a WSU shirt. The TSA officer took notice of it and said we have something in common -- a hatred of KU-- because he went to Missouri. He went on and on about how KU is a bunch of cowards for not playing the Shockers in the regular season.
                              The Chicken moniker fits well, but at least GGG sympathizes: "I wouldn't want to pay us either!" :beaten:

                              On the East coast back in '85, going to sports bar, I ran into a guy wearing a Wichita State basketball shirt. I asked him if he's a fan, and he said no it's his brother's shirt. I asked where he was from and he said Indianapolis. I always thought that was pretty cool.

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