Mario's Miracle - KU Storms Back from 9 Pionts Down with 2:12 to go to Win the 2008 National Championship!!!! - April 7, 2008
For anyone who knows me or at least paid attention to how the countdown has gone so far it was pretty obvious this would be the Number 1 sports moment of my life. With a bullet. Seriously, nothing else comes close when it really comes down to it, I mean, could it get any better than this? This transcends even "Sports Moments" and is one of the greatest moments of my life. Getting my college degree? Not better. Getting my masters? Not better. Passing the CPA exam? Not better. Seriously, most likely it will take my marriage to finally get a moment that will top this.
As KU fans we have spent our entire lives being told of how elite our program is. We have been showered with praise about our ability to recruit and dominate the Big 8/Big 12 greater than any other team has dominated any other conference. However, my generation has very little to show for this. We were teased with a championship when we were not old enough to care and have since been brought to the brink so many times only for it to end in heartbreak (see: 2003 National Championship). This was the moment to validate our fandom and to finally realize just how great our program is.
Everyone had high expectations going into the year. KU returned a very experienced team and could go as deep as anyone in the entire country. Led by the junior class of Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and helped by Russell Robinson, Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson, and elite sophomores Sherron Collins and Darrell Arthur (not to mention some help from big time freshman Cole Aldrich) KU was able to put together the season everyone thought they would.
Racing out to a 20-0 start KU hit a bit of a snag during the middle of the season and found themselves at 24-3 and at a crossroads of the season. Some off the court issues had affected the play of this team and they had to decide if they wanted to give up or band together as a team and make a run at this thing. Thankfully, they chose the latter and banded together to make a championship run.
KU did not lose another game the rest of the season and made their way through the Big XII tournament defeating a fiesty Texas squad in the championship to solidify their number 1 seed in the tournament. KU cruised through the tournament until the Elite Eight where they were met by the upstart Davidson squad that was the darling of the tournament. After dispatching the Wildcats they moved on to the Final Four, but you had the feeling this team was not done yet.
In fact, they were not done. Their opponent in the Final Four was every KU fan's dream Final Four opponent, the Roy Williams coached UNC Tarheels. KU came out gangbusters and destroyed the Tarheels 84-66 to move on to the National Championship (see picture of me celebrating in Lawrence after ther victory). As KU fans we had been here before in 2003, so we had the feeling, as did the team, this was not over. KU was to meet the Memphis Tigers in the National Championship, and what a championship it would end up being.
The first half played out just like you thought it would with two great teams battling it out and playing a very evenly matched game. However, KU had control of the scoreboard at half 33-28 as they were able to shut down Memphis' two best players, freshman sensation Derrick Rose and junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts.
The second half was a different story. Memphis came out prepared and dominated the Jayhawks from the starting whistle. Derrick Rose got going as did the rest of the Tigers. This was bad news for the Jayhawks. Memphis took control and KU was brought to their knees as they were down 9 points with 2:12 seconds to go. I remember this moment very vividly. I was slumped on my couch in my apartment in Kirksville as my other friends were all in despair as well. Our one female roommate who had become a KU fan as a result of our rabid fanship was the only one telling us not to give up.
She did not understand. We were not giving up, but as KU fans we had been through this too many times before. We have had the teams and we have been close but never able to put it together (see: 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 seasons). "Come on," she said "you can't give up hope now!" That was when I explained how we had been through this before as fans, but almost on cue, Sherron Collins made a steal off an inbounds pass and nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to make it six points. Wait a tic, we have a chance now...
Eventually the score got to 62-60 Memphis leading, with precious few seconds remaining. KU's only hope was to foul, which boded well for them as Memphis was one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the country. However, they had been shooting better than 80% as a team in the tournament, so if they made two free throws this game was over. They had not yet had to shoot free throws under this much pressure before. First, Derrick Rose stepped up to the line making one of two free throws. Score 63-60 Memphis. Then Douglass-Roberts stepped up, missed the first one, there was a faint glimmer of hope at this point. He had to miss this free throw for us to have a shot. He did! KU got the rebound and got the ball to Sherron Collins with about 10 seconds remaining. Collins took the ball up the court, avoided a foul, almost fell over but kept his balance, dished the ball off to Mario Chalmers who was coming off a screen and Chalmers put up a 3-pointer with Rose's hand in his face and....IT WENT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO WAY!!!! THE GAME WAS TIED!!!!! Memphis chucked up a half court shot with seconds left that bricked no good and the game was on its way to overtime, where everyone in the arena, including Memphis, knew KU was going to win.
And win they did!!! KU outscored Memphis 12-5 in the over time to win the National Championship 75-68. This was it! Was this really happening?!?! KU had won the national championship almost 20 years to the day of their last NC. And what a way to win! A game like this being won is great enough but winning it in such dramatic fashion, to be remembered by all fans, not just KU fans, is something greater altogether.
Why this made the list:
I dont know that I even have to explain why this is on the list. If I could describe this is one word it would be: Validation. This win validated my fanship of KU for my entire life and made all the previous heartbreaks worth it cause this win was so sweet.
If there is one thing I have noticed it is that over the years it's that I have seen myself becoming more and more of a rabid fan of the teams I love. Specifically, the Chiefs and the Jayhawks. Even the Royals I find myself following more and more closely as the years go by, and I don't even like baseball that much. It was this realization that made my plight up to this point so difficult. Besides a couple near misses in the early decade by KU none of my teams had come close to winning anything. At one point during this season I remember remarking to my dad "You know, I just need one. One championship, by the Jayhawks or Chiefs and I will be completely satisfied. I could die a happy sports fan and won't get antzy for another championship for at least 5 years, maybe more." I desperately needed something to show me that being a fan for all these years was worth it.
As fans we go through heartbreak after heartbreak, especially with a team that comes as close as KU often does. Up to this point I could understand how Boston fans felt before 2004, my championship drought had not been as long but I could sympathize what it would feel like to be in my 70's and never having seen a championship. This was something I did not want to have to deal with at that point in my life. Not to mention, all things considered this would possibly be the apex of my fandom. After this year I was graduating and moving into the real world where eventually things like jobs, wives, and kids get in the way of enjoying every moment of a sports season with your friends like I enjoyed this one.
Before this team, never had I followed the players like I had these. I knew all the players since they were recruited in high school and had seen their progression since their freshman years. I felt like I was a part of this team, I watched all the games (save for a couple early season ones) and was on the edge of my seat for every game from February on. You just had a feeling if it was going to happen, this was the year.
Everything came together perfectly. The 'Hawks were a #1 seed in the tourney, and they made it to the best, on paper, Final Four ever. The only Final Four to have all four #1 seeds in it. Not only that, they got to play UNC and Roy Williams in the Final Four. After demolishing them it was only one more game to go before the glory was back in Lawrence.
You know your fandom had reached epic levels when people were calling you to congratulate you on KU winning. I didn't even go to school there and people were doing this. This is how dedicated of a fan I have been and this was the payoff for all of us extremely dedicated KU fans and let me tell you it was more than worth it. This epic, amazing, miraculous end to this dream season could go no place other than #1 on my list of greatest sports moments of my life.
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