March 22, 2007

A1 story: Jayhawks' real road warriors
These hardy KU fans will know all of the 1,800-mile way to San Jose, and back, after this tournament weekend.

By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star

SAN JOSE, Calif. | The group is down to three now.

Five raised their hands the first time the idea was mentioned. But even then, it sounded absurd: Spend spring break in a minivan while driving 1,800 miles from Lawrence to San Jose, Calif., for the Jayhawks' NCAA Tournament West Regional.

Perhaps the two dropouts came to their senses. Or maybe it's the other way around. Perhaps they're missing out on one of the greatest road-tripping tales ever told, the type of story that's just crazy enough to keep marginal actors like Tom Green employed.

Only the fearless threesome -- KU students Becca Fitzgerald and Kevin Tran, and lifelong KU fan Michael Wagner -- will know the truth. They'll know what it was like to drive Wednesday from Lawrence to Denver to Cheyenne, Wyo., to Salt Lake City to Reno, Nev., to San Jose without stopping overnight for a game that starts at 6:10 p.m. our time against Southern Illinois.

"Wherever the road takes us is where we'll end up," says Fitzgerald, a KU freshman from Wichita. "It's a long haul, but it's all worth it. Not many people can say they drove to California for a basketball game."

Most KU students can only say that they went to Mexico, Europe, Colorado or back home to visit family this week. But some went out of their way to follow the Jayhawks to the Sweet 16 in Silicon Valley -- for a cost similar to what it would have taken to find a beach and an umbrella drink.

According to STA Travel in Lawrence, the going rate for an all-inclusive spring break trip to Cancun was around $1,500. Jayhawks fans -- if they pay for flights, lodging and tickets to the game -- will certainly approach that amount this weekend in San Jose.

"To be honest," says Chris Scott, a second-year KU law student, "you don't even look at costs. You just kind of put that thing on the credit card and then you worry about it when you get your bill in the mail."

But, offers Scott, who is to fly to San Jose this morning, "When they win, that makes spending the money a lot easier. When they lose, you think, 'Wow, I spent a lot of money on this.' "

When the brackets were announced March 11 and KU learned its March dreams went through San Jose, KU coach Bill Self immediately said he expected his team's fans to travel well. Also, the Jayhawks have about 4,000 alumni in the Bay Area, some of whom were at the team's shootaround at the HP Pavilion Wednesday afternoon.

KU's placement in the San Jose bracket was great news for fans such as San Francisco native Bill Boggs, who has traveled to Las Vegas and Lawrence this year for games. This time the Jayhawks came to him.

"I'm going to bring my friends on Thursday," says Boggs, 57, a lifelong KU fan, "and you can bet they're going to be wearing Kansas sweaters."

Andy Edwards, watching the KU practice with his two sons, didn't think the Jayhawks would make the trip west.

"I about fell out of my chair," says Edwards, a KU grad. "I thought UCLA would be the No. 1 seed out here. I was very happy."

So, many of the fans wearing blue and crimson tonight won't have traveled far. Others, like Fitzgerald, Tran and Wagner, would have followed KU anywhere -- including, Fitzgerald says, Hawaii. Maybe they'd rent a pontoon boat and cross the Pacific. That's about the only thing that would be nuttier than what they're already doing.

"This is probably the craziest thing I've ever done," says Tran, also a freshman from Wichita.

The group acquired game tickets on eBay Wednesday morning. They pondered flying to San Jose, but after seeing that flights were upward of $400 apiece, decided they would drive instead. The plan was to drive in shifts of three hours and, at any given time, one person should be trying to sleep.

Reached just after noon on Wednesday, the trio was feeling chipper, listening to music from their iPods while driving through Hays, Kan.

"There's pretty much nothing around us," Fitzgerald said as the gold Chrysler van barreled past mile marker 140. "I can look every direction and there's nothing but grass."

It was certainly different from Florida, where Fitzgerald considered going for her first college spring break. It's a decision most KU students have to make: Go to a traditional hot spot or follow the Jayhawks.

"I can go to Mexico at any time," Scott says, "but rarely do you get to follow a national-title caliber team through the tournament. There's nothing more fun than following KU on a run through the tournament in March. You have to be there to know what it's like, and then you're hooked after that."

To reach J. Brady McCollough, call (816) 234-4363 or send e-mail to jmccollough@ kcstar.com.

J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell)