Hoops hysteria revisited
I think it hit me when I saw Goessel hoops player Daniel Silbereisen guarding Jeff Boschee.
And it was definitely apparent in the way the autograph line snaked out from the auditorium lobby, around the corner to the trophy case, and down the hall toward the technology center.
What was this stunning revelation of mine? Just that Sunday afternoon, I got one of the coolest experiences: watching KU basketball players in person.
Maybe I should have been more jaded. I think I was a little too excited for our sports writer, Ryan Richter. Lucky him, he was taking pictures during the game. He got to be on the same court as the KU players!
But Ryan's been to these barnstorming games before, so he wasn't as pumped as I.
My mom might tell you that I didn't have the right to have so much fun — I'm not the die-hard fan she is. Until a few weeks before the Final Four, I probably couldn't have identified Boschee — or Dwight Gooden for that matter — if you'd handed me their team photo.
But I had a great time watching the KU seniors play Sunday — from the little hoopsters on the court to Ross Duerksen's personal cheering section.
And everybody else who enjoyed the afternoon owes a great big "Thank you" to the Hillsboro High School Booster Club, who organized the event.
It's too bad that Gooden won't be around next year for the 2003 KU barnstorming expedition. But I sure hope that the tour comes back to Hillsboro anyway.
— JENNIFER WILSON
