WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

Well, I can finally write about my team. I have wanted to for a while, but I always got nervous that whatever I would say would jinx them (I am very superstitious). But...........

WE ARE THE 2008 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!

I am SO excited and happy. I can't even express it appropriately in words. There must be accompanying hand gestures, leg kicks, and shouts of glee, none of which I can put here in my blog. So, I just have to say that I am thrilled.

Saturday was the final four and we played *drum roll please* North Carolina. This was significant for many reasons. Our schools have two of the most fabled and historic basketball programs in America. Their legendary coach, Dean Smith, is from Kansas and played and graduated from KU. Our last coach, Roy Williams, jetted 5 years ago to go back to his alma mater, UNC. There is just a lot of history there. Not to mention, Larry likes UNC, I love and worship KU. We were worried that we would still be married on Sunday. The girls went to my moms house so we could watch the game in peace (or yell horrible obscenities at each other without little ears overhearing). We got into our first little tiff when they were announcing the starting line-up. Larry thought our video was stupid, I thought his was. It was not a good start to the evening. But after that, things went surprisingly well. I could have been VERY mean when we took at 28 point lead, he could have been VERY mean when they cut it to four. But we kept ourselves in check and overall, we got along well, had fun watching the game, and celebrated like crazy people when KU won (ok, that last one was just me).
Yesterday was the BIG GAME! We played Memphis. I was scared of this game. Memphis is big and athletic and they like to run as much as we do. It was a great game, close from beginning to end. We were nine points behind with just a couple minutes remaining and you could see the Tigers thought they had it in the bag. But you could also see the Jayhawks were not about to give up. They pushed the ball, Sherron Collins had a big steal on a Memphis inbounds play and then hit a huge three, they basically played with heart and soul. And then, with 2.1 seconds remaining and three points down, Sherron handed the ball off to Mario Chalmers and he hit the biggest three pointer I can remember in KU history. At that moment, when I saw the ball hit nothing but net, I knew we could, and would, win. We hit the first six points in overtime and they just had no answer. We played the overtime like we had no doubt that this was our game. It was just wonderful to watch as a fan. Many of our players are seniors or are leaving early for the NBA. This was the absolute best way to say goodbye. We also may lose our coach, but I don't want to talk about that yet.
I will admit that I cried during Bill's pregame speeches, both on Saturday and yesterday, and also when we won. I am pregnant and hormonal and the biggest KU fan I know, so don't judge me! I have waited twenty years to see my team prove they are the best. Doing it the first time all four number one seeds made the final four was just the icing on the cake. We really were the best of the best.
What an awesome time to be a KU fan!! I wish I could be in Lawrence today at the homecoming celebration. What fun that would be. Larry and I went once when we made the final four and it was so cool to be in a place where everyone was so pumped and happy and excited.
So, if you are not a KU fan today, I'm sorry for your team, but only one can be the champion. And this year it is us!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK! GO KU!