Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I am delighted my colleagues granted me this special privilege to speak as in morning business on something so important. This is a bit personal if you are a Kansan. The sport of basketball was invented in Kansas by James Naismith in 1891, and last night it was perfected by the University of Kansas basketball team.
I don't know how many people got to watch it. What a fabulous game. I was able to be there, which was a great delight. It went into an overtime game with less than 3 seconds to play and a three-point shot by Mario Chalmers sent it into overtime. It was a classic of college basketball. The whole place was in pandemonium. There were great teams on both sides--Memphis and KU--playing this game. At the end of the day, Kansas came out with a victory. It was a fantastic night.
I congratulate the NCAA on the Final Four and the tournament. I think they do a spectacular job of bringing people together and having a great venue. This game was in San Antonio last night, a fantastic celebration of amateur athletics. These players are phenomenal in all they can do. It is certainly a great day to be a Kansan, a great day to be a Jayhawk.
My law school degree is from the University of Kansas. It is a great basketball school, with four national championships, one added last night. They have a great tradition of basketball at the school. I think we have one of the best mascots in the country, the jayhawk, which most people would recognize, being at the University of Kansas, but not knowing what it is. It has a civil war legacy in the fight over slavery, where Kansas was the State that started the fight on slavery, being settled
by abolitionists. One of the [Page: S2729]
things the proslavery forces were calling Kansas was jayhawkers, in a derisive way, but that then became a symbol much for the State and for the University of Kansas. I like the heritage of that symbol as well.
Twenty years ago was the last time we won a basketball championship. That one was Danny Manning and "the miracles.'' He was a guy who went on to play very well at the professional level. Danny Manning is now coach at the University of Kansas. I can't name anybody else on that team, but he was one who carried them forward.
Last night was a great team effort by a balanced team. I recognize as well coach Bill Self. This was his first Final Four, and he wins it. Along the way, he beat a rival school in basketball for Kansas. In North Carolina, there has been a long connection between North Carolina and Kansas. Dean Smith, a long-time coach at North Carolina, was from Kansas. Roy Williams, a long-time coach at Kansas, was from North Carolina.
There were a number of people in Kansas, in my State, who were not particularly forgiving of Roy Williams going back to North Carolina even though he had given us a number of good years. I think on Saturday there was a lot of forgiveness. This was the first match between Kansas and North Carolina since he had left Kansas, and we were fortunate enough to be successful in that game. It was a great tournament overall.
As a wise sportsman famously said: "It's never over until it's over,'' especially if Mario Chalmers has one more shot to take. Sometimes big games are disappointments, but last night was certainly not the case, as the Nation was treated to a classic in college basketball. From James Naismith, as I mentioned, who invented the game in 1891, to the Kansas Jayhawks of 2008 that perfected the game, our school has had a great history and a great legacy of basketball. Through players like Wilt Chamberlain
and Danny Manning, KU now has 13 Final Four appearances and 3 national championships. It is fantastic what they have been able to accomplish.
Again, congratulations to the University of Kansas men's basketball team for a great season, for a thrilling championship game, for writing another amazing chapter in the storied history of Jayhawk basketball. And what goes along with that rich tradition is a number of different chants, but the one that has the most lasting memory with Jayhawkers is ``Rock Chalk, Jayhawk,'' which we don't get to say on the Senate floor very often. Congratulations to a fabulous team and a fabulous effort.
Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
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