Nothing But Iron: Rock Talk Jayhawk July 12, 2008 (written May 28) by Guest Columnist, Mark Hamilton I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the recognition as the 2008 Pride Pool winner in your May 10, 2008 edition. I am proud to add the 2008 Pride Pool winner to my resume of supporting college basketball for almost 45 years. My first memory of attending a college game was the annual Big 8 Preseason tournament in which I worked up the nerve to ask Jo Jo White for his autograph. After that, I was hooked. The Kansas Jayhawks have one of the most storied traditions in college basketball and feature a legacy of icons such as James Naismith, Phog Allen, Wilt Chamberlain, Dean Smith, JoJo White and Danny Manning to name a few. The only time they have had a losing record is when James Naismith was the coach and when I was a student there in the mid-70s. My loyality to this program, win or lose has continued from my college years in Lawrence to the present. In fact, since I am a Charter subscriber I think I saw more Jayhawk games this year on ESPN then Badger games on the Big 10 Network. In addition to the Pride Pool win, the second best thing about this victory is that a colleague at the University who is from North Carolina had to wear my Jayhawk tie for a day and start each meeting with that famous phrase "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" after they destroyed Roy's Boys in San Antionio. I recall that most Badger fans don't like the Jayhawks because of the comments made by Coach Williams when the Badgers played in the tournament a few years ago. In fact, I was sitting behind the Kansas bench for the 2002 Sweet 16 games at the Kohl Center when my alma mater was booed by the home crowd primarily consisting of Badger season ticket holders. Things do seem to have a way of righting themselves. Living with a family of Minnesota Gophers and a wife who graduated from Indiana, I was alone in predicting that this would indeed be the Jayhawks year as nobody in the country was playing better as we moved into February. I also recall a conversation we had last December where I predicted that if the Jayhawks put it together consistently for 6 games they would hoist the trophy come NCAA time! When you have 8 McDonalds high school All Americans on the same squad it does make for some exciting hoop action. It would have been a joy to watch them play the Badgers, blame that for not happening on Davidson! The day after the victory I was on the Kansas Bookstore website stocking up on souvenirs from their dramatic overtime win. Looking forward to the next time I see you, I will be sure to wear my 2008 NCAA Championship shirt. I am still waiting for my 2008 Sports Illustrated Souvenir Book, but the demand has been so great for this literary work that it won't arrive until July. While I am a big Badger fan, like you I am also a bigger college basketball fan, which brings me to the topic of this letter. Hearing the recent news from Dallas, Texas that the Jayhawks second leading scorer, Darrell Arthur, might have been ineligible in high school, I was wondering if you plan to place an "*" next to my name as the 2008 Winner. Has there ever been a forfeit of the Pride Pool Trophy? After checking my sources in Kansas, including my father who is a proud Kansas State alumni, it seems the the University only admitted Mr. Arthur after he was cleared to play by the NCAA. No matter what happens with this investigation, this was one of the best tournaments I have watched in years. And again next year I will pick the Jayhawks in the Pride Pool, although with 4 new starters it will be more of a reach then 2008. Keep up the insightful work and thanks again for allowing me to participate in the Pride Pool. Signed, a Satisfied Jayhawk. Editor’s note: I replied to Mark that there would be no asterisk affixed to his title as long as he passes random drug testing. –S