Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!

Whoops! One more game left in the April phase of 2008's edition of March Madness, and my 'Hawks are in it!

It's rough being a Kansas alumna and fan out here in the Valleys of western Pennsylvania. If it doesn't wear black and gold or start with a P or a WV or maybe an O, nobody bluddy cares. The lead-scoring student athlete on a KU team could discover a sure-fire cure for cancer, and the Pixburgh area news wouldn't say word one about it.

I find out how KU is doing when my sister Lynne* calls me late at night from Kansas City and yells, "Turn the game on!!! The Jayhawks're beatin' the crap out of [fill in the blank]!!!"

"Lynne*, I don't have cable!"

"Well, turn on the radio, then!"

"The local stations don't carry KU sports!"

But last week I discovered that I can go to http://www.ncaa.com/ and they have live streaming video of all the men's basketball tournament games. I admit I got distracted and forgot to turn it on when KU beat Davidson in the Elite Eight last Sunday. But tonight I was upstairs at my computer and had the feed going in time.

Got the customary call from my sister at the start, of course. Wouldn't be a KU tournament game without it.

Gosh, it was weird to see Coach Roy on the opposing team's bench. I don't carry the hard feelings some Kansas fans do, but I wasn't thrilled to see him looking so happy when North Carolina made that run in the second half.

But Coach Roy didn't look happy for long and Coach Bill started looking more and more satisfied and relieved. Final score, 84-66, and let the singing from the stands begin!

But now I've got an unhappy problem. The championship game against Memphis is at 8:21 Central, 9:21 Eastern time Monday night. Monday night is choir night, and I'll be lucky if I get home by 10:10. Our Coach Linda will hardly excuse an absence if you're at death's door with pneumonia. How's she going to let me off for a basketball game-- especially one involving a non-Pittsburgh area team?

Unless-- unless I tell her I have to stay home and do some really special singing practice?