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Sitting at the baseball game on Friday I started thinking about all the baseball games I went to growing up with my dad. Sitting in the old metal bleachers on the third base side behind home plate, or listening to away games with my dad when we were playing catch in the backyard or working on some project around the house. I started to think how much this university and their athletic program has meant to me, my family and friends. It also hit me how many people in Wichita have been blessed to have the same life experience. I have an undergrad and graduate degree from WSU that has served me well, and my father before me has a graduate degree from WSU that has served him well. I started to think how I have spent my life listening to Mike Kennedy and how blessed we are to have someone like him who has dedicated his life to broadcasting shocker athletics. The greatest sports memories of my life are the 1989 shocker baseball championship (I think i wore the VHS tape out rewatching the final as a kid), the 2006 Sweet 16, and being in the stands for Clint's extra inning grand slam in Stillwater in 2008. Hopefully we add a memory to this list today.
So why am i writing this? Because, admittedly I was one of the ones that booed with 12 minutes left during the Evansville game. Why? I was emotional as usual about the shocks and let my emotions get the best of me. It was the wrong thing to do, I lost perspective on the situation. I booed because I wanted the Shocks to win so bad at that moment I was upset and screwed up...Granted we had watched close to a month of something that did not resemble shocker basketball in the least, but this is no excuse. In the days following the game I realized something. In a sense HCGM was right to call the fans out. We have not had much success in the last 20 years. Whether we want to admit it or not, this is our 2nd best season in 20 years... I don't know about you guys but this has been a pretty fun year, win lose or draw today, and HCGM is correct to essentially tell us to enjoy the ride.
So what does this game mean for Wichita, Wichita St, and its fans today? I think it means a hell of a lot. I know many of you are, like me, a diehard lifelong shocker fan. I know many of you were there with me in the stands during the Cohen/Thompson/Smithson era. We plan our lives around shocker athletics. We grew up watching/listening to shocker athletics. I was suprisingly emotional yesterday when the Shockers won. Being 28, I don't remember the last time they won the conference tournament like I'm sure many fans that are under 30 do not.
HCGM, and this team has come under fire a lot this year, at times deservedly so. The other side of this coin is that we have a great fiery coach who can recruit well, and a stable full of young talent to draw on for years to come. Hopefully we take one huge step forward today.
:goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks:
So why am i writing this? Because, admittedly I was one of the ones that booed with 12 minutes left during the Evansville game. Why? I was emotional as usual about the shocks and let my emotions get the best of me. It was the wrong thing to do, I lost perspective on the situation. I booed because I wanted the Shocks to win so bad at that moment I was upset and screwed up...Granted we had watched close to a month of something that did not resemble shocker basketball in the least, but this is no excuse. In the days following the game I realized something. In a sense HCGM was right to call the fans out. We have not had much success in the last 20 years. Whether we want to admit it or not, this is our 2nd best season in 20 years... I don't know about you guys but this has been a pretty fun year, win lose or draw today, and HCGM is correct to essentially tell us to enjoy the ride.
So what does this game mean for Wichita, Wichita St, and its fans today? I think it means a hell of a lot. I know many of you are, like me, a diehard lifelong shocker fan. I know many of you were there with me in the stands during the Cohen/Thompson/Smithson era. We plan our lives around shocker athletics. We grew up watching/listening to shocker athletics. I was suprisingly emotional yesterday when the Shockers won. Being 28, I don't remember the last time they won the conference tournament like I'm sure many fans that are under 30 do not.
HCGM, and this team has come under fire a lot this year, at times deservedly so. The other side of this coin is that we have a great fiery coach who can recruit well, and a stable full of young talent to draw on for years to come. Hopefully we take one huge step forward today.
:goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks: :goshocks:
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