SE: K-State Fans Return with More Can’t-Miss "Cat Caves"
May 13, 2020 | Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
This spring, we asked K-State fans to show off some of the Cat Caves where they watch the Wildcats on game day and keep their favorite K-State memorabilia. They didn't disappoint.
We're excited to share two of our favorites in today's Sports Extra, but please keep sending us photos and videos throughout the summer. We hope to share more Cat Caves with you soon!
Norman Ruediger – Topeka, KS
What's the story behind your Cat Cave?
I went to K-State and graduated in 1968. Basketball was really good back then. I've got lots of stuff – It's sort of like a disease, I think.
When it comes to basketball, I've got autographs from Bob Huggins, Frank Martin and Bruce Weber. Football – everybody has Coach Snyder, but I've also got Ron Prince and Coach Klieman.
What's your most prized possession?
I've got two footballs with autographs from every member of the K-State Ring of Honor. They were from different auctions and CatBacker picnics.
I've also got a photo from a basketball game K-State 84, KU 75 that would have been at Ahearn Fieldhouse. My mother couldn't stand when people pronounced it "Ah"hearn instead of Ahearn. She went to K-State in 1939 with the daughter of Mike Ahearn, so that's how she knew for sure how to pronounce it and she drove that into me.
What's the most unusual thing in your Cat Cave?
Briggs of Manhattan had a contest back in 2006 for a purple Dodge Charger. I entered my wife's name in on Sunday night and the drawing was the next day. I figured I would never hear anything. I didn't tell her about it because I was sure she would notice any spam in her email.
The next day she called me up and asked, 'Did you enter me in a contest?' She won the purple Charger. It was fully loaded with everything on it. Briggs didn't spare any expense. We had the purple Charger for about 10 years and traded that in for a purple Jeep.
What's your favorite K-State sports memory, whether in your Cat Cave or Manhattan?
Any of the wins over KU. But I also saw when K-State Basketball beat the Soviet Union in basketball. It was at Ahearn around 1975. That place was loud. That was when the Soviets were really good and had like a seven-foot center. They were winning at the Olympics every time.
I also loved the Fiesta Bowl victory over Syracuse in 1997. We went to the two victories over USC, the first one was in California in 2001 and the next year USC came to Manhattan. Of course, the Big 12 Championship over Oklahoma at Arrowhead Stadium.
And then the other one I can remember is the victory over Nebraska in Manhattan when it was snowing. Willie was on top of the press box. It's amazing from 1989 to today, it's like a different stadium. Of course, when I was a kid it was the old Memorial Stadium. I remember when we played KU back when they had Gale Sayers in 1964 – he ran 90 yards for a touchdown, and we lost 7-0.
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Brad Drewek – Manhattan, KS
What's the story behind your Cat Cave?
All of my items have personal ties to them. We moved into a house in Manhattan where our neighbors across the street were Zach Reuter, Winston Dimel, Kendall Adams and Dalton Risner and after Winston transferred, Dalvin Warmack moved in. Zach was an Academic All-American, super smart, and every day if he saw me, we would stop and chat. There's something this program does with those guys, everyone is just so humble.
I wasn't raised in K-State purple, but my wife, Casei, is a true Manhattanite. We met in college at Emporia State University. At the time Casei and I started dating, I didn't understand why she left campus almost every weekend in the fall. K-State football games. Now this may not seem that strange to most K-Staters, but at the time we started dating I was Corky the Hornet, Emporia State University's mascot. So instead of coming and watching me she would come back to Manhattan and watch K-State play, so jealousy basically captured my attention.
What's your most prized possession?
Dalton, Zach and Dalvin brought over a K-State board that they signed. It was such an awesome gesture that just blew me away. I haven't framed that one yet, because I'm trying to figure out how I can make it really stand out and be a centerpiece. That board was when it kind of hit me that these guys are leaving. When I look at that board, I don't think of them as football players. Zach is going to be a doctor, Dalvin is up in Kansas City working for a firm up there and Dalton got drafted by the Broncos.
Prior to working for Frito-Lay, I was a teacher. I told the guys that if I have the honor of meeting more K-State players, I would love for them to sign anything for my kids, but they don't sign the board until they graduate.
What's the most unusual thing in your Cat Cave?
There's a baseball in my son's room from the last game that we went to. It was the same day as the KU-KSU basketball game. Marlins Man is a big KU basketball fan and he ended up going to the baseball game in Manhattan. I thanked him for paying it forward and he had a K-State ball that he gave to my son. The whole game he wouldn't let go of the ball. He was so happy about it. That was a very out-of-the-blue kind of moment.
What's your favorite K-State sports memory, whether in your Cat Cave or Manhattan?
The one I remember the most was when I finally took my wife and both my kids to a K-State football game. A couple people in our group gave us tickets and we all went to a game last year. The second one was probably Senior Day for my four horsemen, as I call them, Zach, Dalton, Kendall and Dalvin. All four of them – except Dalton, who had to run because so many people wanted to slap his hand – Zach, Kendall and Dalvin all stopped after the game. That was pretty cool. They stopped when they saw me and just thanked me. I told them no, thank you guys.
This spring, we asked K-State fans to show off some of the Cat Caves where they watch the Wildcats on game day and keep their favorite K-State memorabilia. They didn't disappoint.
We're excited to share two of our favorites in today's Sports Extra, but please keep sending us photos and videos throughout the summer. We hope to share more Cat Caves with you soon!
Norman Ruediger – Topeka, KS
What's the story behind your Cat Cave?
I went to K-State and graduated in 1968. Basketball was really good back then. I've got lots of stuff – It's sort of like a disease, I think.
When it comes to basketball, I've got autographs from Bob Huggins, Frank Martin and Bruce Weber. Football – everybody has Coach Snyder, but I've also got Ron Prince and Coach Klieman.
What's your most prized possession?
I've got two footballs with autographs from every member of the K-State Ring of Honor. They were from different auctions and CatBacker picnics.
I've also got a photo from a basketball game K-State 84, KU 75 that would have been at Ahearn Fieldhouse. My mother couldn't stand when people pronounced it "Ah"hearn instead of Ahearn. She went to K-State in 1939 with the daughter of Mike Ahearn, so that's how she knew for sure how to pronounce it and she drove that into me.
What's the most unusual thing in your Cat Cave?
Briggs of Manhattan had a contest back in 2006 for a purple Dodge Charger. I entered my wife's name in on Sunday night and the drawing was the next day. I figured I would never hear anything. I didn't tell her about it because I was sure she would notice any spam in her email.
The next day she called me up and asked, 'Did you enter me in a contest?' She won the purple Charger. It was fully loaded with everything on it. Briggs didn't spare any expense. We had the purple Charger for about 10 years and traded that in for a purple Jeep.
What's your favorite K-State sports memory, whether in your Cat Cave or Manhattan?
Any of the wins over KU. But I also saw when K-State Basketball beat the Soviet Union in basketball. It was at Ahearn around 1975. That place was loud. That was when the Soviets were really good and had like a seven-foot center. They were winning at the Olympics every time.
I also loved the Fiesta Bowl victory over Syracuse in 1997. We went to the two victories over USC, the first one was in California in 2001 and the next year USC came to Manhattan. Of course, the Big 12 Championship over Oklahoma at Arrowhead Stadium.
And then the other one I can remember is the victory over Nebraska in Manhattan when it was snowing. Willie was on top of the press box. It's amazing from 1989 to today, it's like a different stadium. Of course, when I was a kid it was the old Memorial Stadium. I remember when we played KU back when they had Gale Sayers in 1964 – he ran 90 yards for a touchdown, and we lost 7-0.
---
Brad Drewek – Manhattan, KS
What's the story behind your Cat Cave?
All of my items have personal ties to them. We moved into a house in Manhattan where our neighbors across the street were Zach Reuter, Winston Dimel, Kendall Adams and Dalton Risner and after Winston transferred, Dalvin Warmack moved in. Zach was an Academic All-American, super smart, and every day if he saw me, we would stop and chat. There's something this program does with those guys, everyone is just so humble.
I wasn't raised in K-State purple, but my wife, Casei, is a true Manhattanite. We met in college at Emporia State University. At the time Casei and I started dating, I didn't understand why she left campus almost every weekend in the fall. K-State football games. Now this may not seem that strange to most K-Staters, but at the time we started dating I was Corky the Hornet, Emporia State University's mascot. So instead of coming and watching me she would come back to Manhattan and watch K-State play, so jealousy basically captured my attention.
What's your most prized possession?
Dalton, Zach and Dalvin brought over a K-State board that they signed. It was such an awesome gesture that just blew me away. I haven't framed that one yet, because I'm trying to figure out how I can make it really stand out and be a centerpiece. That board was when it kind of hit me that these guys are leaving. When I look at that board, I don't think of them as football players. Zach is going to be a doctor, Dalvin is up in Kansas City working for a firm up there and Dalton got drafted by the Broncos.
Prior to working for Frito-Lay, I was a teacher. I told the guys that if I have the honor of meeting more K-State players, I would love for them to sign anything for my kids, but they don't sign the board until they graduate.
What's the most unusual thing in your Cat Cave?
There's a baseball in my son's room from the last game that we went to. It was the same day as the KU-KSU basketball game. Marlins Man is a big KU basketball fan and he ended up going to the baseball game in Manhattan. I thanked him for paying it forward and he had a K-State ball that he gave to my son. The whole game he wouldn't let go of the ball. He was so happy about it. That was a very out-of-the-blue kind of moment.
What's your favorite K-State sports memory, whether in your Cat Cave or Manhattan?
The one I remember the most was when I finally took my wife and both my kids to a K-State football game. A couple people in our group gave us tickets and we all went to a game last year. The second one was probably Senior Day for my four horsemen, as I call them, Zach, Dalton, Kendall and Dalvin. All four of them – except Dalton, who had to run because so many people wanted to slap his hand – Zach, Kendall and Dalvin all stopped after the game. That was pretty cool. They stopped when they saw me and just thanked me. I told them no, thank you guys.
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