| The Rock
Chalk Zone is a joint venture between Dave
Sieverling, author of Kansas Basketball History
(www.rockchalk.com) and John Steere, author of KUHoops--John's
Unofficial Kansas Basketball Home Page
(www.kuhoops.com). Dave and John each started their sites
during the 1995-96 season because of an interest in web
design and a love for KU basketball. Kansas
Basketball History picked up where KUHoops
left off and vice versa, so merger of the sites for the
1998-99 season was a natural evolution. Both sites have been honored individually, and we hope the combined effort continues to be well received.
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About the Authors |
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 John
Steere I am a former lawyer turned history teacher living in Wichita, KS. I grew up in Lawrence in sight of the Fieldhouse. I fell in love with the Jayhawks at age 9 during the 1970-71 season, when KU went 27-3 and made a trip to the Final Four behind Dave Robisch and Bud Stallworth. From then on, I went to every game possible and listened to all the others on my pocket transistor radio. In junior high, I got a job walking up and down the stands selling Cokes. I got into the games for free and after half-time was able to stop selling and watch the action. Except for being a ball boy, it was the best job a 13 year-old could get in Lawrence in the '70s. Watching the tremendous young men who have worn the Jayhawk uniform brought me both highs and lows that I might not otherwise have experienced during what was otherwise a placid and middle class childhood. It also taught me early the value of winning graciously, accepting defeats without blaming others and working hard. All in all I think it has been a good return on the investment of emotional energy I have made as a Jayhawk fan. I received a BA from KU in 1984 and graduated from the KU Law School in 1987. |
Dave Sieverling I graduated in 1986 with a B.A., majoring in Political Science and English. In 1992 I was living out of state, dying a slow death from Jayhawk-deprivation. In the dark days before the internet and DirecTV, I spent over one-seventh of my graduate-student income listening to games on TeamLine. With no KU news available, I purchased the Media Guide for the 1992-93 season. While I considered it one of the greatest books I had ever read (far better that Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man), I was dismayed by what it lacked. Only in passing did it discuss such all-time greats as Ralph Miller, Ray Evans, and B. H. Born. Even recent players such as Terry Brown were largely forgotten. Only 1000-point scorers lived on in the Media Guide. I decided to find the information myself. So, a couple of times a year I visited the University Archives and copied information. Once I had stats going back to the mid-50s, I laboriously entered the numbers into a database, generating career stats and dozens of record lists. As I was printing out the information, I realized that for the same amount of work I could publish the data on the internet. I launched the website in June, 1996. |
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