Viewers blame loss on officials

Roma Kennedy summed up the Kansas Jayhawks’ loss to Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon with three words.

“We was robbed,” the 80-year-old said moments after the game ended.

Former Lawrence City Commissioner Marnie Argersinger, 81, agreed. “It was the refs’ fault — any dumbbell could see that,” she said.

Kennedy and Argersinger were among 16 residents of Drury Place at Alvamar, 1510 St. Andrews Drive, who gathered in the lobby to watch the NCAA Tournament game on a big screen television. The independent living center residents turned the sound down on the television and instead listened to a boom box stereo carrying the KU radio voices of Bob Davis and Max Falkenstien.

KU fans who watched the game at sports bars in downtown Lawrence expressed mixed emotions of disappointment and happiness for a wild ride with the Jayhawks. Many of them also thought the game’s officials were overzealous in blowing their whistles against KU.

“I felt like everything was going against us,” said Garth Berg, of Lawrence. “That’s the breaks of the game.”

Disappointed fans found their plans for after-game celebrations dashed.

“We were hoping to go crazy — but … ” said Amy Connolly, Lawrence, a Kansas University employee.

“They played really good,” said Tristan Penn, a KU freshman from Lawrence. “It’s depressing, though. They’ll do better next year.”

Sixteen residents of Drury Place at Alvamar watch the Jayhawks' final game together. The men's basketball team lost to Georgia Tech in Sunday's Elite Eight round.

At Drury Place, optimism reigned, even when KU was down by 10 points in the first half.

“I’m not worried about this team,” Kennedy said. “They are going to go all the way.”

Argersinger admitted to feeling some nervousness, however.

“I’m very worried, but we can do it if they play like they did the other day,” she said.

Joe Goodwald, 84, the only man in the Drury Place audience, was much calmer than the women sitting around him. “They are going to win; we’re here rooting for them. I just take them as they come.”

Kansas University juniors Amanda Lewis, left, and Anna Krasuski, both from Rose Hill, and Sarah Townson, right, Shawnee, watch the end of the Jayhawks' loss to Georgia Tech. The three watched Sunday at The Granada, 1020 Mass.

As the game went into overtime Esther Corbett, another Drury resident, held up her hands and crossed her fingers.

“It’s nerve-racking, but we are going to win,” Corbett, 86, said.

Argersinger wore a sweatshirt with several Jayhawks printed on the front. It was the same shirt she wore while watching KU win Friday against the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She had since washed the shirt.

“I hope I didn’t wash the luck out of it,” she said.

When the game ended some of the Drury Place residents left their chairs almost as quickly as their younger counterparts filed out of the downtown bars.

“They had a great season, and I love every one of them” Kennedy said as she got up to leave.