A night to remember

So patient for 20 years, Kansas had no problem working an extra five minutes to bring a long-awaited championship back to the heartland.

-- The Associated Press

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.

The thoughts are barreling through my head so fast right now, I’m not even going to try to keep up …

I had never felt more confident going into a Kansas game than I did tonight. I've been so impressed with their play throughout this year's tournament, most of all their defense, and Saturday night’s win over North Carolina had me really believing there was something special about this team …

Once tonight’s game started, I was parked. On the couch. Wearing the same KU shirt and cap I’ve worn for every one of their tournament games. And a blanket to hide under when the going got rough …

My confidence only got heavier as Kansas took the first half lead … But I started using that blanket again in the second half.

Finished with her school work, Kates -- wearing a Jayhawks T-shirt, too -- joined me midway through the second half. Together, we yelled and screamed and scoffed at the TV as the Jayhawks appeared to be letting it slip away …

They were down by nine points. Nine points! With barely two minutes left to play …

Then Memphis started missing free throws. Kansas grabbed the rebounds, and they turned those into points … and then. Then. Mario Chalmers hit the three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to send the game to overtime …

When the shot went down, both my feet and my arms shot straight up in the air, while my butt remained planted in the couch cushion -- and the blanket probably hit the ceiling. I spent the ensuing commercial break lumped over our coffee table in exhaustion …

It was all Kansas in overtime …

And then, as the final seconds ticked away and the championship was in the Jayhawks’ grasp, I raised my arms once more and rose to my feet … I could stand for only a few seconds before I fell back into the couch crying. Tears streaming down my cheeks. Overcome with the emotion of finally living that moment …

Remember I had Kansas in Baby’s bracket -- for luck … And as the weekend began, I said the ultimate scenario would have been Kates and I having the baby and then being able to watch the Kansas game with him/her tonight …

That didn’t happen. But I’ll take what I got.

And figure this: Kates started having her first significant contractions during the waning minutes of the game.

Truly, a night to remember. Truly, one of the best games ever.

I'll be checking the Lawrence-Journal World a lot in the the next few days ... There's some great photos here and here.

And how great was it to see Roy there with a Jayhawks sticker on his chest!? We still love'm ...