Rock Chalk for Life

I graduated from the University of Kansas in May of 2010. I was born and raised a die hard KU fan and couldn't imagine going anywhere else for college. It doesn't get any better than Jayhawk country, my friends. If you haven't experienced a basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse, you need to add it to your list of things to do before you die. Even though I've been there more times than I can count, attending games in that venue will remain on my Bucket List forever as something I will never be able to cross off. I can't get enough of it. 

Graduation 2010. Once a Jayhawk, always a Jayhawk.

The atmosphere is roaring and haunting with history and tradition. The pre-game videos give me chills, and I find myself embarrassingly smiling and entranced while I'm watching. But I don't care if people see me gushing - I look around and rarely see people who don't share the same emotion that I do. This is the place where basketball and basketball fans were born. 


My Mom told me the story of when I was born and I use it in conversation almost too proudly too often. So, here it is, long story short: April 4, 1988. My Mom and Dad watched KU defeat Oklahoma 83-79 in the NCAA Championship game, with Danny Manning leading the team to victory. The game was over, and my Mom was ready to have me. 8 AM the next morning, April 5 (also my great grandmother Mimi's birthday) I was born. 


My parents didn't know if I was going to be a boy or a girl. Fresh off the NCAA win, my Dad was clearly still on a high and wanted to name me after Danny Manning. Daniel (Danny) if I was a boy or Danielle (Dani) if I was a girl. My Mom vetoed and here I am, a Traci. In my mind though, I always knew I was a Jayhawk baby. I still came home representing my team wearing my KU onesie. It was then and there that my Kansas love began. 

We could have changed into "going out attire", but true fans represent into the night.

Russ Rob - one of my all time favorites.

Cheering on our Hawks from Dallas.

20 years later in 2008 my beloved Jayhawks did it again. They captured the Title in one of the most memorable games I've ever nearly died of a heart-attack watching. My intensity during these basketball games I would say is unexplainable, but I know my fellow fans live and die with these games like me. I'm not a religious person, but boy was a I praying during that game. These title games are always right around my birthday and this had to have been one of the best birthday wishes I've ever had granted (yes I take all credit for that win...just kidding). 

On Mass Street after we won in '08!

Mario's Miracle shot will remained engraved in all of our memories until the day we die. Now, every three-point shot Mario takes in the NBA is reminiscent of that single shot that made Jayhawk history. I am most definitely not a Heat fan, but I can't help to cheer on one of KU's greats. 

Mass Street at its best.

Our team almost did it again this year as we made it to the Championship game and played against the top-dog team, Kentucky. We stayed right with them until the end, and although we didn't come out on top, I couldn't be more proud of our team. This team we had this year had the most fight and drive through the season. FOE (Family Over Everything) has become a team motto through Thomas Robinson's heartbreaking family tragedies and it's what we all feel when we connect to these players we don't even know. It's this unspoken bond and attachment we feel that only Jayhawk blood can understand. It's a KU thing.

2012 Final Four Game

On to the Ship! Mass Street was in full force once again.

All rivalries aside, I am not saying that KU is THE best at everything or even THE best at basketball (even though they are sometimes). I am just saying there's no place, no team, no atmosphere, no heart like KU's. And it all comes together in what can only be explained as awe-inspiring in a place called Allen Fieldhouse. Take it from these guys:


"Saturday night was another reminder that Phog Allen, not Cameron, is the best, loudest and most intimidating basketball arena in the country. The alma mater sound, the Rock Chalk Jayhawk chant, the swaying of the crowd, and the deafening noise at times, make The Phog a true treasure in the sport."
—Andy Katz, ESPN reporter


"I thought the atmosphere was unbelievable. I've been here before, but it's just such an unbelievable place. It has such character. I can't say I've ever been in a better arena."
—Jay Bilas, ESPN announcer


"I tell everybody there's not a place around—I know Chapel Hill, Pauley Pavilion, Cameron, you name it. They are pretty special, but there's nothing like this. All the guys who scout, I always tell them, 'You'll never have an experience like Allen Fieldhouse.' This is how a college fieldhouse is supposed to be."
—Larry Brown, former KU, UNC, UCLA, and NBA coach and Hall of Famer


"Best arena: Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas. Do you really have to ask? Few sports venues anywhere can match the tradition of Allen Fieldhouse."
—Jim Caple, ESPN, Journey to the Heart of Hoop


KU is my family. I will be waving the wheat, connecting to the strangers around me while singing the Alma Mater, cheering "Rock Chalk Jayhawk", crying when our Seniors leave, putting them in my bracket as the team taking home the Title every year even if they're the Number 16 seed (which isn't likely), and rooting for them no matter what. You non-believers (aka rivals and other school alum/fans) may not understand this insane fandom I have for my team and school, and that's OK. We just may not get along sometimes.

BFF and fellow die hard fan.