Guys, I just emailed this to Kirk Schulz, John Currie and Pat Bosco.
To me, EMAW isn't something that you can touch, or taste, or drink. It isn't something that can be defined on a t-shirt, or a cardboard sign held up in the bleachers. You don't know EMAW by seeing the letters on the side of building. And you can't be told what EMAW is.... you have to experience it.
EMAW is about every person that has ever has ever spent anytime at Kansas State University. It's the chill you get in LHC Bill Snyder Family Stadium when Van Halen "Right Now" starts playing over the loud speakers. It's the excitement you feel when you hear the words "Bring on The Cats!!!!".
EMAW is the rush of adreneline when the band starts playing Wabash Cannonball. It's the love that you feel when you sing Alma Mater arm-in-arm with your best friends. It's crowd surfing after a Wildcat Touchdown. It's the empowerment of yelling "Three!!!" when the Bramlage announcer yells "JACOB PULLEN FORRRRRRR THREEEEEEE!!!!!" It's the pride you feel when you count out Willie's push ups. It's the comraderie you feel when you are traveling in a place far from Manhattan and you see someone else in a purple shirt with the Powercat on the front.
EMAW is passed from mother to daughter, father to son. EMAW is passed from brother to sister, sister to brother. EMAW is passed from senior to freshmen, alumni to new student at Freshmen Orientation.
It's what causes Daniel Sams to have purple flowing through his veins before ever stepping foot on campus. It's what causes Jacob Pullen to tweet that he misses Manhattan. It's what brought Chris Harper, Broderick Smith, and the Brown Brothers home. It's what caused Mike Beasley to say he wished he had stayed in school. It's what brought LHC Bill Snyder out of retirement, and it's what makes Frank say he never wants to leave. EMAW is the tears you shed in St. Louis in 1998, and the tears you shed in Kansas City in 2003. It's the thrill of a double overtime thriller in the NCAA Tournament. It's the pleasure you feel when we beat KU, and the misery you feel when we don't.
It's the emptiness you feel when you leave Manhattan, and the joyous elation when you come back for a weekend.
EMAW is what people are talking about when they say K-State is FAMILY. It's the feeling of being HOME when you've been gone for too long.
To me, EMAW is what the song writers meant when they wrote "I know a spot that I love full well...."
