Hiebert and her hoopla
While expectant eyes watch as the 2003-2004 NCAA college basketball tournament gets under way this week, a pair of eyes will be enjoying basketball for almost a century.
Marion citizen Ruth Hiebert, a 99-year-old resident at St. Luke Living Center, will be tuning in Tuesday, and for the weeks to come, to cheer on the University of Kansas basketball team.
The longtime college basketball fan found herself watching basketball after her granddaughter attended KU, but said she stumbled onto basketball from less than convenient circumstances.
"On weekends there's not much on television other than sports," Hiebert said. "If you don't watch sports, you don't watch much else. I've always been a TV fan and have been watching (KU) for the past 16 years. I'm not a football fan, but basketball is kind of interesting. It's always nip and tuck. I'll usually shut the door and watch the game by myself."
And don't think for a minute that this 99-year old hoops fan is limited by her age — because Hiebert knows basketball.
"I started watching Kansas basketball back when Danny Manning was playing," Hiebert said. "He was a good player, and practically the whole team. They couldn't lose with a player like that."
Not surprisingly, Hiebert even shares her opinion about Roy Williams's decision to leave the Jayhawk faithful for North Carolina.
"I thought it was time for him to go," Hiebert said. "When they can go to the very end (of the tournament) and lose, it was time for him to move on. I enjoyed watching though, and he appears to be the same-old Williams."
Fourteen years after basketball was created by professor Dr. James Naismith in 1891, Hiebert was born.
She's been a fan of sports for almost her entire life. Hiebert enjoyed baseball in the early 80s during the Royals heyday, but has since shifted her interests toward basketball and even admits to taking in other Big XII games.
"I don't just turn on KU basketball, I'll watch Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, and Missouri," Hiebert said.
Last year, when Kansas played in the championship game against Syracuse, Hiebert and a close friend at the living center (both were 98 years old at the time) wheeled their way to the east wing of the center and stayed up to watch KU fall to the Orange men.
While her team didn't win last year, Hiebert said that the tournament is exciting even when the Jayhawks aren't competing.
"I like the tournaments," Hiebert said. "There's so many good teams that it's hard to pick just one. It's so close."
With KU scheduled to face the University of Illinois-Chicago Friday night in the opening round of the tournament, Hiebert said she hopes to watch the game.
"I'm pulling for them," she said.
