Happy Anniversary!

God that was a great night. I remember bundling up in about eight layers of clothing, and then shedding about six of them by haltime. We were going so crazy we warmed ourselves up.

To expand on the thoughts Panjandrum expressed in the post, let me tell you all a little story about being at this game that defined for me what K-State football is all about. I went with my roommate, a KCK native, and we were standing next to a gentleman who was about 65 years old and the superintendent of a small school just north of Manhattan. As I always enjoy meeting people and hearing their stories, I asked him questions on occasion. Turns out he had been a season ticket holder since forever. He sat through those games back in the Dark Ages of the 1980s. He saw K-State go 1-31-1 over a three-year stretch. He knew humiliation and frustration, and back in those days never thought he’d even see a winning season out of K-State. Even after we improved and became one of the powerhouses of the Big 12, he still had to endure the bitter disappointments of 1998 and 2000 and wonder, despite all the improvement, if K-State would ever win a conference championship.

I wish I could describe the look on his face over about three-and-one-half hours that night. It was like nothing I’d ever seen. He looked like he was going to cry, but mostly you could just see how proud he was. His eyes were wide wide with wonder. He high-fived and hugged all of us every time we scored a touchdown or made a big play. Kept saying “unbelievable, just unbelievable.” It mattered so much to him.