Casual Friday at the office. The day drunk, man-hungry Meredith, from sales, sports
a short dress revealing a panties-free lifestyle.
For me,
yesterday was ideal for wearing my Shox T-shirt. “Play angry.” Hoops. WuShock. Miss the days when his wheatshock hair looked
like children of the corn, but hey, the good ol’ days are here & now.
Jace, my
favorite co-worker, is also wearing a black and gold Shocker T-shirt. We pose for a picture, post it to Facebook
& Twitter. I knew she would be whooping it up later, unable to keep
emotions in check, while watching the game on her personal laptop.
Actually,
she graduated from Friends University, a small liberal arts college founded by
Quakers. It’s up the road from the Catholic school, Newman University.
I
graduated from WSU, located around Fairmount Drive and busy Hillside Street. Sure, my alma mater has had that “Hillside
High” image since the ‘70s. Yes, I majored in communications – you know, the
major where you can get fucked up every weekend and still make good grades.
There were
times some 30 years ago when my dad took me, my brother and sister to a few
Shocker games. Good times, but in the past.
My
supervisor, Matt approaches. He’s grown a reddish brown beard that makes him
look like a mess of Dwight Schrute- hip and leprechaun.
"How's
my favorite Shocker doing?" Matt says to me, while in a rare affable mood.
Sometimes I like him better pissed off, but hey, name me another time when I might
get the infrequent compliment and a fist bump.
 |
| Wife & kids |
That
afternoon while Jace watched the Shocker-Hoosier game in the office, I was at
one of my unofficial offices in town – Poetic Justice coffee shop. Kind of a
bohemian place. Last month, this gay poet who knew Allen Ginsberg took to the
mike.
Anyhow, I
was drinking a latte’, kind of working on my laptop and kind of watching the
game on the huge screen over the wall. My tight game face of work gave way to a
smile as I heard the announcer say the name, Shaq Morris.
Back at
the office, Jace and I would rave about how WSU and KU would play each other
Sunday for a shot at the Sweet 16. The schools haven’t played each other since
1993 when KU whipped the hell out of Wichita State. But there’s a rivalry going
back more than a hundred years to the days when Phog Allen coached KU and WSU
was little old Fairmount College, a small Hillside area school surrounded by
farmland.
The last
time the Shockers beat the Jayhawks was in 1981. I was in grade school, and
Jace wasn’t born yet. In a dramatic
moment, likely never to be repeated , Shocker guard Mike Jones made a 25-footer
, securing a 66-65 victory in the final four seconds of the game.
I’m happy
two Kansas teams made it to the dance, but I’m strictly for the Shockers. I
want to be with my wife and kids, watching Wichita State go to victory.
Yeah I’ve been uptight this weekend, but
really, this is a time for happiness. Gregg Marshall is the King of Wichita,
man. I mean, that’s why I haven’t written about stuff like dysfunctional sex, coming
down from drugs and suicide this weekend. It'll all be back soon, don't worry.
But such
things were not made for this time.
"Battle of New Orleans" 1981
