Feb05-Contest3_unive..

KULTURE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2005
12A
HAPPY GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY, ALLEN FIELDHOUSE
Coming Monday in the Kansan don’t miss 50 Years of the Phog, a 32-page full-color
magazine. It presents the history of the fieldhouse through Kansan headlines,
articles and photos from the last 50 years.
Some features of the magazine include:
✦ Reprints from old Kansan issues
✦ Max Falkenstien’s favorite basketball memories
✦ Quotes from past KU greats, such as former coach Ted Owens
✦ A list of renovations the fieldhouse will soon undergo
The magazine has been contributed to by many great Kansan writers and includes
background information on each decade the fieldhouse has existed, plus three great
feature articles and a fieldhouse timeline.
Phog Allen’s son,
Milton Allen,
shoots the ball
in a mid-1930s
basketball game.
Half a century
STRONG
Allen Fieldhouse has a lot to celebrate after 50 years of success
N
o matter who you are, where you are from or where
you may be going, if you are a part of the University
of Kansas, you are connected to one of the most elite
basketball programs in the country. You are a part of one of
the most tradition-rich, passionate and spirited fan bases of
any university.
Perhaps the craze started with the legendary Phog Allen,
coach of the Kansas Jayhawks for 39 seasons and also the
most dominating coach in college-basketball history. In his
39 seasons, Allen won 590 games and led Kansas to the
National Championship in 1952.
Allen Fieldhouse, named after Forrest “Phog” Allen, is
the home of the Jayhawks, and a time capsule of the traditions and successes of the Kansas basketball program. The
building, a landmark on campus, is located on Naismith
Drive. The street’s name is attributed to James Naismith, the
inventor of basketball who was also a University graduate
student and the first basketball coach at the University in
1898.
This year, Allen Fieldhouse turns 50 years old. The history,
atmosphere and traditions of the fieldhouse are just some of
the reasons why the aging building is arguably the greatest
place to watch a college basketball game. People come hundreds of miles to simply step inside the doors of the fieldhouse to experience the aura of the Phog.
The venue is one of the most challenging places for opposing teams to visit. The Missouri Tigers and Kansas State
Wildcats would probably agree. Kansas is a basketball powerhouse, especially when it’s playing at home with fans
behind it.
More than 50 years ago, before the idea of the fieldhouse
kansan
.com
What is the best Allen
Fieldhouse tradition?
✦ Singing the Rock Chalk chant
✦ Singing the Wheaties foul-out song
✦ Making newspaper confetti for team line-ups
✦ Singing “The Fighting Jayhawk” faster and faster
before each half
✦ Big Jay crowd-surfing
was even conceived, Jayhawk basketball was played in Hoch
Auditorium, or present-day Budig Hall. In 1955, the walls of
the fieldhouse went up, consisting of 650,000 bricks and a
seating capacity of 16,300. The first game to be played in the
fieldhouse was on March 1, 1955 when the Jayhawks defeated the Kansas State Wildcats 77-66.
Allen Fieldhouse is most closely associated with basketball. In its earlier days, the fieldhouse was home to track,
football, volleyball and even softball. Numerous famous
faces like that of Robert Kennedy have spoken in the Phog
as well.
Aside from the history of the actual building, the basketball
history of the fieldhouse rises above the rest. Kansas is the
alma mater of basketball legends including Wilt Chamberlain,
Danny Manning and Lynette Woodard. Then there are the
more recent superstars like Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich,
both 2003 graduates. The Kansas basketball program has
been the home of winning coaches like James Naismith, Phog
Allen, Ted Owens, Larry Brown and do we dare mention Roy
Williams?
Kansas men’s basketball has seen seven NCAA
Championship games since 1939, and has brought home the
National Championship twice, once in 1952, and the most
memorable in 1988 when Danny Manning was a member of
the team.
Behind the talent of all Kansas basketball teams is a devoted and passionate group of fans and supporters. Hundreds of
students camp days, and sometimes weeks before a game in
hopes of getting a good seat to cheer the Jayhawks to victory.
Until the 1990s, camping for a basketball game had a different meaning. Students would pitch tents and air mattresses
and literally camp out all night and day on the front lawn of
the fieldhouse in order to watch the Jayhawks rock their
opponents.
With thousands of enthusiastic fans roaring in the fieldhouse, home losses are rare. In fact, in 1998 when Kansas
Basketball turned 100 years old, the Jayhawks rallied to win
62 consecutive games at the fieldhouse. So what makes
watching a game in Allen Fieldhouse so special? Most students and fans would tell you that the traditions that go on in
the fieldhouse during games are rituals that no one but a
Jayhawk fan could ever understand.
Maybe what makes the experience so exhilarating is the
deafening noise elicited by a full house. It could be singing
the alma mater before a game or the newspaper confetti that
covers every student in attendance after the team introductions. It could be the Rock Chalk Chant or waving the wheat.
Maybe the atmosphere of a KU basketball game comes from
the sign hanging from the rafters that reads:
“Pay Heed, All Who Enter: BEWARE OF THE PHOG.”
Once you are connected to Kansas basketball, you’re a
Jayhawk forever, whether you’re a fan, coach or player.
Perhaps the sense of family at the fieldhouse is what brought
both Danny Manning and Lynette Woodard back to the
University after their collegiate basketball careers as
Jayhawks. Woodard became a part of the women’s coaching
staff in 1999, and then served as women’s interim coach in
2004. Manning is now the Director of Basketball Operations,
and has been a part of the men’s coaching staff since current
coach Bill Self arrived in Allen Fieldhouse.
SEE
FIELDHOUSE ON PAGE 10A
SAMPLE PAGES FROM THE 50 YEARS OF THE PHOG MAGAZINE
TO VOTE, SEE THIS STORY UNDER THE
FEATURES LINK ON KANSAN.COM
Results of the Feb. 9 poll:
Have you ever attended a campus event celebrating a culture
outside your own?
60% said Yes
26% said No
13% said I didn’t know about the celebrations on campus
Results based on 15 votes