KU basketball
By Bill Meyer
Publisher
Let's hope this column doesn't jinx the Jayhawks, but they are bound to drop at least one game before NCAA March Madness (written prior to the Texas Tech loss).
In Kansas, basketball reigns for winter months and has for decades. Tradition is rich, not to be repeated here — coaches James Naismith, Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Bill Self, and others including players Wilt Chamberlain and Danny Manning.
Jayhawkers love windmills, sunflowers, sunsets, the Flint Hills, and basketball.
Sixty-odd years ago Dr. Allen (he was a licensed osteopathic surgeon) would sit on the front porch of his home during evening hours to entertain all young buck students gathered. A group of 17, mostly World War II veterans, lived in a house at 801 Indiana, a short two blocks away. They often joined the group and have many memories of Dr. Allen, and the stories he could tell — truthful of course, he didn't need to embellish.
He was the prime mover for KU's new football stadium in the '30s, and was criticized for it. At that time he swore he'd never enter Memorial Stadium until the day it filled. Those in the audience that day, it was a Missouri game, will never forget the loud greeting when Dr. Allen was received at the 50-yard line.
In those days the basketball games were played in Hoch Auditorium (named in jest after the former Marion editor who was no supporter of KU).
Allen Field House didn't open until the mid-1950s. There were only 10,000 students (today there are 30,000) and they had to share Hoch's limited seating on an every-other-game basis. Those who had seats on the stage, along with the teams, thought we were fortunate, and were. One night, during a Missouri game, Allen and Sparky Stalcup of MU got into a fistfight in front of our seats. The Kansas City Star reported it as a "short shoving match." News reporters are not so kind today.
If you can wangle a ticket to an upcoming home game, (there are only three left this season) don't miss the thrill of Allen Field House. Sports writers say it's the most feared court in the nation, with furious fans and the spirit of Dr. Allen floating in the rafters. "Beware of the Phog" is more than a slogan.
Rock Chalk.
