A Sunday at the Kansas National Championship Parade

Jayhawk fans finally got an appropriate end to the basketball season.

In the last two months of the season, my six-year-old son had begun getting locked into Kansas basketball. It was a point that I—like a lot of sports-fan parents, I would guess—had been waiting for; the point to really start sharing this love with him.

He was aware and rooted for KU before, but this was the first time he was really paying attention to what was happening on the TV. So when Kansas advanced to the national title game last weekend, I promised him if the Jayhawks won, we would go to the parade. His favorite player is Dajuan Harris—he wears a headband when playing because of him—and if Harris would be there, he wanted to be, too. His three-year-old little brother felt similarly about seeing Big Jay.

This adventure with two boys six and under is quite different from my celebrations along Mass street in 2008 as a college freshman. It was not an all-day affair. We had to be strategic and quick in our approach. We made it downtown a little after 1 p.m. and surprisingly found a spot to park along the street without much hassle. It was off to a good start.

The crowd was several rows deep near the intersections, but we found a surprisingly sparse gap outside of Raven Bookstore between 8th and 9th to claim as ours. The crowd looked deeper and more excited further down toward South Park, but we wanted to be close to the beginning. It’s tough enough to keep two young boys occupied for 40 minutes before the scheduled start. I wasn’t about to then explain that it wouldn’t reach us at the end of the route for even longer.

Six days had passed since the championship game. The raw emotion and excitement from the initial 24 hours after the win was gone, but the celebration was still in full force. Despite a large group trying to navigate narrow streets, everyone was content and if there was annoyance because of the crowds or parking, it didn’t show.

Don’t get me wrong, it was still a party. Fans walked around with beers in their hands, the outdoor seating spaces of Mass St. restaurants were packed, and men walked up and down the street selling shirts reading “Straight Outta Lawrence” and “B$tch I’m a Jayhawk.” Someone behind us lit up a joint and the parade was on.

A group watched from the roof of Raven, receiving points of acknowledgement from the parade participants. A guy in front of us was holding a wrestling championship belt and wearing a KU #1 jersey, while a boy next to the barrier held up a sign that it was his birthday, which became another focal point of those in cars creeping down Mass.

The pep band and cheering squads led the way, belting “Tequila” from the back of trucks, before various members of the university, Lawrence community, and athletics department got their moment.

Cam Martin and Zach Clemence kicked off the team section, followed by Joseph Yesufu and Kyle Cuffe. Freshman KJ Adams hoisted a Big 12 Championship trophy over his head, reminding the crowd that the last bit of hardware was not the only one of the season. Fan favorites Mitch Lightfoot and Chris Teahan made the most of the drive, with Mitch showing off his hands during his best Patrick Mahomes impersonation. But no car was feeling itself or the crowd more than Remy Martin and Jalen Wilson, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Dajuan Harris rode with Christian Braun, resting his own championship belt over his shoulder, which made the guy in front of us the most excited he’d be the entire parade. This was also my son’s favorite part, as he cheered while wearing his Harris-inspired headband. But you knew how it had to end, with David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji side by side, McCormack showing off the trophy that’s eluded Kansas for far too long.

The entire parade came and went by us in 15 minutes. But when so many seasons just end abruptly hundreds of miles from the city that supports the team so whole-heartedly, this was a rare and appropriate way to send this group out: with tens of thousands of supporters by their side for one final ride.