Matt Tait / LJWorld.com

Staff

Matt Tait (KUsports.com football reporter)

The year was 1978 and on a warm day in late June, I entered the world at the base of the Flatirons in beautiful Boulder, Colorado.

Because I am a native of Colorado (yes, I used to have the sticker on my car) I instantly was granted membership into the fandom of any and all Colorado sports teams. Throughout the years, I've even been known to embellish the circumstances surrounding my birth to tell the tale that the first thing I remember seeing was glorious Folsom Field, home of the Colorado Buffaloes. Not true. Sue me.

My parents are both natives of Kansas, my mom attended Lawrence High and my dad is a Shawnee Mission South graduate. Because of that, and their love for Kansas University, I moved to Lawrence when I was 10, a few months after Danny and the Miracles made their run to the title (sweet timing, right) and have been here ever since.

I continue to call Colorado home and made many attempts at returning there after moving to Lawrence. I intended to return for high school.... didn't happen. I was certain that I would attend Colorado State University for college.... that didn't happen either, mostly because of the reputation of KU's Journalism School and my in-state status. After that, though, I was sure I would move back to Colorado for my first job. As you surely know by now, that didn't happen either. I used to wonder why I never made it back there, but then it hit me: Lawrence must be a pretty great place and I must like it here. Both are true.

During my time in Lawrence, I attended Pinckney Elementary School for two years, West Junior High for three and graduated from Lawrence High in 1996. After that I attended Kansas University and graduated in 2000 with a degree in Journalism.

During my college days, I covered the KU baseball and basketball teams for the University Daily Kansan. While I enjoyed covering baseball and learned a lot while doing it, basketball was the beat everybody wanted and I still remember my first hoops story for the UDK: Michael Jordan retires. There was something pretty cool about seeing my byline next to a mug shot of Jordan. Other highlights from my time at the UDK included my work following the death of Wilt Chamberlain and a great series that my roommate (Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star) and I did on the top 10 KU athletes of the century around the Y2K craze. The KU athletic department voted on the top 10 and Sam and I split up the names to do stories on five each. Mine: Wilt, Ray Evans, Al Oerter, Jim Ryun and Ralph Miller. What a great time.

In addition to working for the UDK, I was the publisher of a KU sports web site run by Rivals.com — JayhawkTalk.com — which I continued to operate for a little more than a year after graduation.

I joined the World Company in June of 2001, when I was hired to become the sports editor of the Bonner Springs Chieftain and Basehor Sentinel weekly newspapers. In 2004, my position grew to include becoming the sports editor of the Shawnee Dispatch, another weekly, which I helped start from the ground up. In July of 2007 I got the call to the big leagues when I was named High School Sports Editor at the Journal-World.

It was an awesome feeling covering high school sports in the town I grew up in. Many of the coaches who were around when I was at LHS still are there today and it has been an absolute blast reconnecting with them.

In February of 2010, my job title changed again when I was promoted into the role of KU football beat writer. After helping out with our football coverage during Mark Mangino's final couple of seasons, I covered the entire Turner Gill era and lived to tell about it. I never played football — unless you count games in the snow or flag football with friends — but have made it my daily goal to dig as deep as I can into the KU program to help explain how and why things happen while also analyzing the players, coaches and trends surrounding the Kansas football team in a basketball-crazed town.

In May of 2007, my wife, Starr, and I were married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, where we were anointed by the natives as "Jamericans."

In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, basketball, golf, tennis, yard games, playing guitar, fantasy sports and cheering for any and all Colorado teams.

Recent stories

Carolyn Davis to miss rest of season with dislocated knee, torn ACL: By Matt Tait; 01:12 p.m., February 13, 2012 Updated 12:00 a.m.; Kansas forward Carolyn Davis will miss the rest of the 2011-12 season after suffering a dislocated knee and torn ACL in Sunday’s game Kansas State, KU coach Bonnie Henrickson announced Monday.
Report: Speedy running back commits to KU: By Matt Tait; February 13, 2012; It appears Kansas University’s football recruiting class for 2012 grew by one over the weekend.
KU women lose Davis to injury, fall to K-State, 47-43: By Matt Tait; 02:08 p.m., February 12, 2012 Updated 12:00 a.m.; Playing without leading scorer Carolyn Davis, the Kansas University women’s basketball team took Kansas State to the wire in a 47-43 loss on Sunday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
Sunflower Showdown looms: Kansas eager for women’s basketball rematch with KSU: By Matt Tait; February 12, 2012; When Kansas University’s women’s basketball team played host to Kansas State in early January, it marked the second Big 12 Conference game of the season for both teams. Each was coming off of an upset of a traditional power in its conference opener (KU beat Texas, and K-State topped Texas A&M) and it looked as if the winner could be headed for a memorable season near the top of the league standings.
Slow beginning leaves OSU at a loss: By Matt Tait; February 12, 2012; The blank stares on their faces as they ran to the locker room said it all. Sure, Oklahoma State’s men’s basketball team had made the trip to Lawrence for Saturday’s match-up with No. 7 Kansas University, but, when the final horn sounded, the Cowboys were left scratching their heads about their failure to show up during the first half of Saturday’s 81-66 loss.
KU football still working on ’12 class: By Matt Tait; February 10, 2012; Saturday marks the first of a handful of “junior days” for Kansas University’s football program this offseason. However, as the program’s recruiting attention starts to turn toward the Class of 2013, there remains some work to be done in the Class of 2012, most of which officially signed with the Jayhawks on Feb. 1.
KU women crush Texas, 85-61: By Matt Tait; 10:07 p.m., February 8, 2012 Updated 11:53 p.m.; The Kansas University women’s basketball team improved to 17-6 overall and 6-5 in Big 12 play with an 85-61 blowout of Texas on Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse. The victory gave the Jayhawks the season sweep of the Longhorns. Aishah Sutherland led the Jayhawks with 24 points and 12 rebounds and point guard Angel Goodrich set an Allen Fieldhouse record with 16 assists.
LHS boys start, finish strong against SM West: By Matt Tait; February 8, 2012; In a game as tightly contested as Lawrence High’s 54-51 victory against Shawnee Mission West on Tuesday night at LHS, to say one play mattered more than any other would be unfair and inaccurate.
Henrickson: Kansas, Texas both ‘desperate’ for a win: By Matt Tait; February 8, 2012; The last time they met, in early January, the Kansas University women’s basketball team knocked off then-No. 23 Texas in Austin for its first road victory against a ranked team since 2000 and moved to 12-1 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play.
Ex-KU LB Johnson gets NFL combine invite: By Matt Tait; February 8, 2012; The Kansas Jayhawks are back in the NFL combine.

Full story list

Recent photos

The 2011 Kansas University football media guide, first unveiled at the Big 12 media days in Dallas.

The lobby of the Westin Galleria in Dallas is buzzing with Big 12 flavor as the conference's 2011 football media days gets set to begin Day 1.

Markieff and Marcus Morris hug backstage after each were selected in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Markieff Morris sits with his mother, Angel Morris, at the 2011 NBA Draft after Markieff was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 13th overall pick. Angel will receive a "Life Saver" award on Friday from Headquarters Counseling Center in Lawrence.