OPENING A CAN OF WORMS

Seems a group of Kansas University students are altering the "National Anthem" at Jayhawks basketball games and Coach Bill Self is calling, "Foul!"

This chorus of rebels is changing the final word of the anthem, "brave," to "Chiefs"--as in the Kansas City Chiefs. And not only is Coach Self upset; hundreds of subscribers to kusports.com have joined the bandwagon. Besides believing the switch is disrespectful to our country, many are downright insulted that anyone would even dare to compare the revered Jayhawks basketball team with the (gasp!) Chiefs!

First off, the pro football team is located in Missouri, for gosh sakes! And we all know that's the home of the %$#@! Missouri Tigers. Don't any of these youngsters know about geography and history? No faithful 'Hawk fan with a lick of sense would associate Lawrence, Kansas with anything coming out of that dreadful state. If these lyric-changing punks insist on playing with words, at least get it right and go with "....home of the 'Hawks."

Next, this is a basketball game....not a football game. If you want to be in the Home of the Chiefs then get your big mouths over to the real Chiefs Stadium and watch the home team lose. Relating Allen Fieldhouse to anything closely resembling a football is blasphemy.

And while we're at it, the complainers moan, these whippersnappers should stop messing with the "Rock Chalk" chant at the end of victories by adding "Woo!!" to it. "Morons." "Idiots." "Totally lame." "How dare they tweek with tradition?" And I have to admit, more than once I've moaned back to my television: "Quit adding the stupid woo!" We old-timers don't want anyone screwing up our Rock Chalk.

Jayhawk purists can only hope that before the next home game (tomorrow) Coach Self will get on the public address system and threaten to bench all the Chiefs woo-ers. If he won't, and I sincerely doubt he will, there are 321 posters on kusports.com who would be happy to do it for him and slam dunk the offenders out the door.