ShawneeDispatch.com

So, I figured Kansas University had lost when I left my brother's house to take my mother home on Monday night.

There were six minutes left in regulation of the NCAA Men's Championship game.

By the time I had dropped her off, and gotten back into my car, I heard the game was in overtime.

I missed Mario Chalmers' shot, the one heard throughout Kansas and the one that people can't stop talking about. I will never forgive myself.

Some of you will remember where you were years from now when this team won the title. I am sure you will never forget it.

How could you.

The highlights I watched and the ensuing overtime were miraculous.

School rivalries and all of those things can wait for another day.

For now, though, let's focus on what the game meant to people. I got phone calls from people that I didn't even know were sports fans after the game.

Winning a championship brings people together and makes a community feel like anything is possible.

Honestly, it felt a little strange to see a local team win a title.

You just don't get used to it when you live in Kansas.

For one title, I have sat through 100 tough losses.

I have watched countless last-second efforts to win fail.

Kansas Citians have suffered through a two-decade streak of near misses and postseason strife.

As a K-State fan, I will never forget the 1998 loss to Texas A&M in the Big 12 Title game. I remember how close the school was to the title game. Shots like Chalmers's remind people why we always believe victory is plausible.

Why don't more of these moments occur in local sports?

Two decades is a long time. No high school student had seen a team from this area win a title until Kansas did it Monday.

Maybe, this win changes some of those things. Maybe, it tells the local teams that it can be done, and fans shouldn't feel cursed.

Or, maybe it just was a national championship for Kansas and nothing more than that.

Still, if you are a Kansas City sports fan who sometimes feels your team is cursed, on some level it had to feel nice to see a local team, who you might not even like, win a title.

Hopefully, you watched it all live. If not, well then you are kicking yourself, like me.