KU douses Flames

Fans at Kemper Arena recall glory days of 1988

Kansas City, Mo ? Mike Byrn walks into Kemper Arena and still feels the electricity he soaked up 16 years ago, back when he screamed and yelled and hugged and high-fived and all those other things that go with winning a national championship.

And Friday night, as his Kansas Jayhawks took the Kemper Arena floor once again for an NCAA Tournament game, Byrn couldn’t shake the good vibes emanating from the 18,000-seat arena in the West Bottoms.

“It was unreal back in ’88,” Byrn said just before Friday’s game against Illinois-Chicago, which KU would win, 78-53. “It was electric. There was a feeling of excitement. And everyone figured we had no business being there.

“I didn’t think we’d be here (this year), either. I figured we’d be a No. 5 seed and get sent to Denver. But we’re here, and that’s a good sign. I’m elated.”

Thousands of gleeful KU fans pulled into Kemper parking lots Friday, many of them dreaming of a third consecutive trip to the Final Four and a possible third NCAA championship.

But a relative few found themselves adding to their heightened visions by reveling in a return to their most joyous of basketball moments: April 4, 1988.

Kansas 83, Oklahoma 79.

Tony Guy was there. The former KU guard — he averaged 12.7 points from 1978 to 1982 — cheered from a suite at Kemper along with his wife, Jerri, and her mother, who at the time was a member of the Kansas City, Mo., City Council.

Kansas fans Dayna Richards, 8, left, and her sister, Madison Richards, 10, from Overland Park, cheer on the Jayhawks during the first half of the game against Illinois-Chicago at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. KU won its NCAA Tournament opener Friday, 78-53.

He’ll never forget it: Danny Manning carrying his team to the title, punctuating his domination by dropping 31 points and 18 rebounds on the Sooners.

Guy isn’t sure he’ll ever see such a performance again, but he isn’t sure he’ll have to.

“I don’t even know who the leaders are on this team,” said Guy, an insurance agent who has tickets in the stands this time around. “It was clear who it was on the ’88 team. If they win it this year, it would be a different way of doing it. When you look at the parity in college basketball, anybody that gets on a roll can go all the way.”

And embarking on the Road to the Final Four from Kansas City increases chances of KU rolling, he said.

“If they can win here and get to St. Louis, it’s a pretty nice setup,” Guy said. “A pretty nice setup.”

Ty Scheibler and Mike Monroe are counting on making the most of it. The two off-duty Lawrence Police officers prepared for Friday’s game by celebrating with some fellow off-duty officers — Byrn, Sean Franklin, Matt Sarna and Detective Jack Cross among them — and drawing parallels with the joy of 1988.

They’re counting on KU making it to San Antonio for the Final Four, putting some 120 officers on the street in Lawrence — themselves excluded.

“We asked (for time off) early — months ago,” Monroe said. “We’re going to the Final Four. That’s the plan.”

They just figured they’d start the journey in Kemper Arena, where a run ended in victory 16 years ago.

Justin Rush, 24, a Kansas University senior from Ellsworth, watches one of the several televisions tuned to the game at Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar, 1012 Mass. Fans were out in force at Lawrence eating and drinking establishments to watch Friday's game.