Two factors indicating how Kansas University football enthusiasm has blossomed are: (1) People want to know when the Jayhawks will have an open practice so they can watch, and (2) season-ticket sales seem sure to top the all-time record level of 27,700 in 1969.

When KU was groping along under Terry Allen, about the last thing that even devoted sports fans wanted to do was watch a practice. Now with the emergence of Kerry Meier as the quarterback messiah, Jon Cornish and rookie Jake Sharp seemingly exciting running backs and evidence that the defense will be potent again, people really want to know what’s happening.

But let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself with record ticket sales following a bowl appearance. KU went 7-5 last fall and capped the campaign with a Fort Worth Bowl victory. In ’68, Kansas (9-2) tied for the Big Eight title with Oklahoma, lost a heartbreaker to Penn State in the Orange Bowl and seemed poised for another fine season.

There are parallels.

Pre-1969 ticket sales set a record. Media pollsters selected KU to finish third in the league behind Oklahoma and Missouri. Grid fever was about as high then as now. But the fecal matter hit the fan. Pepper Rodgers’ club was blanked 0-7 in the league and went 1-9 overall. College football was observing its 100th birthday, but KU got left behind the barn door for the celebration.

KU fan excitement for ’69 was understandable. Several heavy-hitters had departed from the Orange Bowl squad – among them Ken Wertzberger, Keith Christensen, Bobby Douglass, Donnie Shanklin, John Zook, Vernon Vanoy, Orville Turgeon, Bill Greene, Mickey Doyle, Pat Hutchens, Rick Abernethy. Tommy Ball, Dave Morgan, Bill Hunt and Tommy Anderson.

But, glory be, returning were guard Mike McCoy (now a world-class orthopedist), center Dale Evans (an all-leaguer), tackle Steve Lawson, tight end John Mosier, fullback John Riggins (pro hall-of-famer), tailback Ron Jessie, wingback Willie Amison, ends Steve Carmichael and Larry Brown (Larry won four Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers), linebackers Emery Hicks (an all-leaguer) and Kenny Page, defender-receiver George McGowan and super place-kicker Bill Bell. Sweet picture, huh?

Kansas opened with a 38-22 loss at Texas Tech but seemed to get back on track with a 13-0 win over Syracuse in Lawrence. A 16-7 defeat at New Mexico was followed by a 26-22 loss to Kansas State at Lawrence. Then came a 0-6 slide into oblivion capped by that 69-21 humiliation by Dan Devine’s Missouri Tigers here in the season finale. KU’s Pepper Rodgers said he signaled the “V” peace sign to Devine near the end, and Dan, an all-time score-runner-upper, flashed half of it back.

Devine was always ultra-sensitive about his tendency for overkill. When I asked him afterward about his dearth of mercy, he indignantly changed the subject and noted he not only resented the allegation but also the allegator, me. A noted whiner, he loved to victimize himself. But he never answered the atrocity question.

Don’t know what went wrong, but those 1969 Jayhawks were 50 times better than their 1-9 record. What a terrific bunch!

This fall, KU is rated all the way from 4-8 to 8-4. Interest is high, as in ’69, sales are way up and prospects look good. Let’s hope for a reversal of that other post-bowl season.