So, now that I’ve been able to catch up on the DVR’d games and gather details of the football games, here’s a few quick hits of what’s been going through my mind lately:

-As hard as it’s been to watch, and read about, KU football at times this season, we have to give Turner Gill and his staff, at a minimum, 3-4 years to get their recruits into the program, to get players familiar with the staff and the systems they run, and to learn together what kind of football program we are going to have at KU. Obviously we saw glimpses of what KU can be in wins over Georgia Tech and the aforementioned Colorado game, and from what I’ve heard and read, the KU defense was outstanding against Nebraska while the offense, which managed only 87 total yards, still needs a lot of work. This team, and this staff, however, has had to battle the bizarre and relatively sudden departure of Mark Mangino, the departure of the greatest QB in KU history in Todd Reesing, the departure of key players like Kerry Meier, Jake Sharp and Dezmon Briscoe, tons of injuries on the offensive line (some season ending), three quarterbacks that have battled injuries and that had very little real-time game experience until this year, a fan base that was already disgruntled after 7 straight losses to end last year’s season, the resurgence of KSU football, the continued success of Missouri football, the breaking up of the Big 12, and the ridiculously embarrassing ticket scandal which led to the departure of CEO-money-greed-hungry Lew Perkins and 5 others from the Athletic Department that are looking at jail time.

Look, those aren’t excuses for some of what has occurred during a long and difficult season, but Rome wasn’t built in a day and the KU football program isn’t going to be rebuilt in a day. Patience is a virtue….and I, and all Jayhawk fans, need to try to grin and bear it and hope that Turner Gill and his staff get things going in the right direction. Personally, I believe they will. Turner Gill is, by all accounts, a phenomenal human being and a coach that is admired by his staff and his players. It would be really nice to finally see someone with good ethics and a higher moral ground actually end up being successful in college football. There aren’t many guys that have been able to accomplish that. At any rate, Missy and I are headed to Lawrence on Saturday for the 11 a.m. early kickoff vs. a very tough and talented Oklahoma State team. I’m hoping that the KU of the Georgia Tech and Colorado 4th quarter shows up and sends those seniors out with a nice memory for their last home game. A tall task, to be sure, but anything is possible.

-KU basketball is finally underway and there have been easy exhibition game wins over Washburn and Emporia State followed by relatively easy wins over Longmont and Valparaiso. KU will likely tie the consecutive home wins record of 61 with a win over North Texas and then break the record with a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before the “real” schedule starts with games in Las Vegas vs. Ohio and Arizona,   followed by UCLA in Allen Fieldhouse, and then Memphis in New York. I’m really looking forward to seeing how KU matches up against better competition. I’ve seen some unexpected things that get me excited (improved play from Thomas Robinson, very productive if limited minutes from Jeff Withey) but am trying to balance that out with the fact that this team hasn’t been challenged yet. If Withey and Robinson can produce like they have against smaller, inferior competition when they are playing the “big boys”, then I will be thrilled. I’m also anxious to see the maturity of Tyshawn Taylor both on and off the court, see how he responds to running a team, and how he responds when super-freshman Josh Selby (the NCAA dragging their feet on this has been extremely disappointing to the staff, Selby, and all Jayhawk fans) finally gets on the court.

Additionally, I’m ecstatic with what I’ve seen from the Morris twins and it is a credit to them and to the coaching staff how much they’ve matured over the last couple of years, both on and off the court. Both can have monster years especially if Coach Self plays them 30 minutes a game like he said he wants to (just have to stay out of foul trouble, guys!). I’m also excited for Tyrel Reed as he enters his senior season. I’ve always been a fan of his and I love his competitiveness, work ethic, and sweet 3-point shot. Ditto for Brady Morningstar, who has been struggling with his shot but who I’m confident will snap out of it. It seems like Brady has been at KU for 10 years, but I have enjoyed watching him mature. A couple of unknowns for me are Elijah Johnson (who was mysteriously benched for a couple of games for violating team rules) and Mario Little, who came in with a bunch of hype as the #1 ranked JUCO player but who has struggled throughout his career with injuries and battling for playing time. I hope that both of them end up being able to contribute to this team, but I’m just not sure if it will happen consistently for both of them. As with many things with this team, time will tell. All in all, I’m very excited for the season and anxious to see how this team does without Sherron, Cole or Xavier there to bail them out when the going gets tough. This team, as Self has stated, should play much faster and has a lot of interchangeable parts. There have been some comparisons already in that regard to the 2008 National Championship team, but I think those comparisons are best if muted for now. This team has a lot to learn about themselves and so do we as fans. I’m going to enjoy the ride, realizing that this team very likely will stumble a few times along the way, but they definitely have the talent to make some noise in the postseason….especially when Mr. Selby finally gets out on the court.

-Bill Self is 115-6 at Allen Fieldhouse and those 6 losses are by a combined 19 points. That, my friends, coupled with 6 straight Big 12 Championships, is incredible and doesn’t get near the attention, both locally and nationally, that it deserves. Oh, and loudmouthed DUKE Vitale, who picked KU to finish FIFTH in the conference, can kiss our collective Jayhawk ass.

-KU needs to get a new Athletic Director in place. I have to believe that decision will be coming soon. Perhaps the powers that be wanted the ticket scandal stuff to come out before making an announcement. I saw a story recently that Mitch Barnhardt from Kentucky is someone that KU is going after. I think he would be a slam dunk from everything I’ve read and heard about him. He’s from Kansas and I believe he’s got an ethical standard that is desperately needed at KU. The rumors are that even though he hired John Calipari that he isn’t necessarily happy being that closely affiliated with a guy that has left two programs on probation. Personally I think Calipari is as slimy as they come and I wouldn’t blame Barnhardt for wanting to get away from that toxic personality and come back home to Kansas. I have to believe he is THE guy that KU wants and I really hope they land him…and soon.

-Not to end this post on a bit of a downer….BUT……..Lew Perkins, and those other five people, that have brought shame to themselves, to the KU Athletic Department, and to the entire KU Alumni base should be ashamed of themselves. Gordon Gekko had it wrong when he said “Greed Is Good” and all of KU Nation is having to deal with the barrage of negative press that has come out because of the selfish acts of a few people. There was a time when I liked to believe that KU Athletics was above the greed and seedy nature of what goes on everyday “behind closed doors” in recruiting, ticket scandals, etc. Maybe I was naive then, but I am no longer. College athletics provide a lot of great moments and memories for me, but I’m disgusted by the “business” side that permeates in particular college football and college basketball. I’ll never stop watching the Jayhawks because I love them so much….but I’m also not going to think that KU “rises above the rest” when it comes to running clean programs.

Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’.

I’m starting this post with a picture of one of the skydivers that flew into Memorial Stadium before the game. For KU fans, this was about the only thing we had to cheer about in this ridiculously pathetic and embarrassing display of football that we were forced to sit through for another week.

I have to be honest. It’s hard for me to spend ANY time writing about the KU-KSU game because I already feel like I wasted enough time driving down from Kansas City, sitting through a half (yes, Missy and I left shortly after half and spared ourselves from any additional suffering), and then driving back to Kansas City.

The saving grace was that I LOVE being in Lawrence in the Fall, the weather was gorgeous, the view from The Oread Hotel’s 5th Floor was awesome, and of course the pre-game bloody marys at Louise’s West were as mouth-wateringly delicious as they’ve ever been.

Ok, back to the misery. You know that absolutely nauseating feeling you get when you spent your good, hard earned money on something and then realize you got totally ripped off? That is exactly how I feel about my KU Football Season Tickets right about now. I sat at my computer last night after the game and looked at the remaining tickets I have for the rest of the season and felt like I got “PUNK’d”. I looked at the poster that I got from KU before the season that had a huge image of Turner Gill on it and thought “Good guy…but he’s got a long way to go.” I also thought of Terry Allen and wondered if, like Allen,  Gill is in way over his head. It took 6 years before KU finally got rid of Allen. Turner Gill won’t have that luxury, especially with a new Athletic Director soon to be hired and a fan base that is pissed after back to back humiliations at the hands of Baylor and KSU.

I’m not going to bother breaking down the game. If you want to relive that misery, I recommend heading over to www.kusports.com and reading the stories from the guys that get paid to write.

After the game, Turner Gill said “We’re not a very good football team at this point in time.” Yeah, thanks Coach Gill. I’m pretty sure we already knew that. That said, I give him credit for saying something that he should have told all of us at the BEGINNING of the season. Of course then none of us suckers would have bought season tickets! Right now, Coach Gill is a confused, walking cliche’ that looks completely out of sync. The saying goes “nice guys finish last” and Coach Gill, his staff, and his team have a death grip on last place in the Big 12 right now and will very likely still be there when this season is finally, and mercifully,  done.

Honestly, after the game, I’m surprised KU didn’t do what they always do when there is a catastrophe of any kind….Trot out Bill Self to tell Jayhawk Nation that everything is going to be alright. I’m not even sure Jayhawk Nation would have believed Coach Self after last night’s disaster.

Fortunately, with Late Night in the Phog  and basketball season right around the corner, normalcy, winning, being competitive, and having something that Jayhawk fans can be proud of….is right around the corner.

As for Turner Gill, his coaching staff, and his team, they have A LOT of work to do, not just to get better on the field, not just in explaining to recruits why they got their asses handed to them in back to back weeks, but also to win back fans that are nauseously embarrassed when they think about the current state of the KU Football program.

Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’.

Every week, we learn a little bit more about the 2010 Kansas Jayhawk players and coaching staff. It’s requiring more patience than many of us were hoping for heading into this season, but as the saying goes,  “It is what it is”.

After sitting through the stinker that was North Dakota State and feeling the renewed optimism from the upset win over Georgia Tech, I went into the KU-Southern Miss game wondering which Jayhawk team would show up. What I saw was a little bit of both, with flashes of what they could be mixed with the realities of what they are.

There is plenty of football to be played, but here are 5 Things I Think I Know About The 2010 Kansas Jayhawks:

1. THEY ARE YOUNG, INEXPERIENCED, EXCITING, AND FRUSTRATING ALL ROLLED INTO ONE

This Kansas Jayhawk team is young and inexperienced. Every Jayhawk fan interested in maintaining their sanity needs to find a way to come to terms with the fact that this season will be a roller coaster ride of inconsistency. With young and inexperienced players, you have no choice but to take the good with the bad.

-Quarterback in Jordan Webb has shown lots of promise, but he wasn’t the coaches first choice, he’s a freshman and he’s only started two games in college.

-If you go back and watch the 49-yard Southern Miss touchdown run, you will see young and inexperienced safety Prinz Kande caught completely out of position. It cost KU a TD that wouldn’t have occurred with a more experienced saftety.

-James Sims had another nice game with close to 80 yards rushing, but again, he’s a freshman and it’s clear that the coaching staff isn’t ready to let him carry the full-time load because they keep bringing in DeSean Sands (yet another freshman with a lot of promise), Angus Quigley and occasionally DJ Beshears.

-There were comments after the game that some of the calls from the coaching staff weren’t getting in on time, so the defense basically had to lean on some “default” calls. That doesn’t happen regularly with a more experienced team. That said, Turner Gill and his staff aren’t free of blame here either and need to make whatever adjustment they can to make sure this doesn’t continue to happen.

Those are just a few examples. There are plenty more, but there is no need to belabor the point. Senior cornerback Chris Harris nailed it when he said: “We got a lot of young guys that are playing. With experience, it’ll get better, and (they’ll) understand that you gotta come out with energy every game because the other team wants it.”

2. COACH GILL WASN’T THINKING ABOUT THE FANS WHEN HE PULLED THE NAMES OFF THE JERSEYS

Turner Gill isn’t making it easy on KU fans to learn who the players are. In the offseason, Coach Gill decided that players names wouldn’t be on the back of their jerseys. It’s the old cliché of “you play for the name on the front of the jersey, not on the back”. Yeah, yeah, we get it, Coach.

The problem is the average KU fan doesn’t have time to do research on every player on your roster. It’s annoying to see 2-3 guys in on a play and say “Wait? Who was that? I’m not sure, I think it was Chris Harris? Wait, who’s #16? Was it Daymond Patterson?”.

I’m sure it won’t change this year, but next year, put the names back on the jerseys.

3. THE OFFENSIVE LINE HAS TO GET IN SYNC FOR ANY CHANCE OF A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

Jordan Webb was sacked 4 times and hurried at least a dozen more times against Southern Miss. The Jayhawk offensive line has had some injuries and have moved a few guys around, but these guys are making Webb’s job a lot harder than it needs to be. Center Jeremiah Hatch has lingering back problems and senior Brad Thorsen just hasn’t been the same. In 3 games, KU quarterbacks have been sacked 12 times. That cannot continue if this team wants to have any realistic chance of having a successful season.

4. THE MARGIN OF ERROR IS THIN

Key mistakes are magnified with this team because of their overall lack of experience.

-As discussed previously, Prinz Kande being out of position on the 49-yard TD run by Southern Miss.

-The blocked punt turned into a TD vs. Southern Miss was a crushing blow.

-In the Georgia Tech game, a KU player (forgetting his name…probably because it’s not on the back of his jersey!) tackled a GT player on a punt well before the ball got there.

-Jordan Webb has thrown several “almost interceptions”.

-Tight End Tim Biere’s five dropped passes and two fumbles vs. N. Dakota State.

Those are just a few examples from the first three games. This team has to be more fundamentally sound or they will continue to shoot themselves in the foot (much like last year’s KU team did, if you recall).

It’s one thing for another team to beat you because they played better. It’s another thing to have repeated breakdowns in execution. The latter has been an issue with this year’s team and will very likely continue to be for awhile.

Again, youth and inexperience; the older they get and the more they play, the less mistakes they will make. In the meantime, we just have to grit our teeth and bear it. We aren’t going to win the North or the Big 12 Minus 2 this year, but we are laying the foundation for future success.

5. WE’VE GOT AN AWESOME HUMAN BEING IN CHARGE OF OUR FOOTBALL PROGRAM

Turner Gill does things differently. He treats players differently. He commands respect as a human being. He knows that football is only a game. He embraces the opportunity to mold young men so that they excel on the field and are committed to becoming better human beings.

We know that for all coaches it ultimately comes down to wins and losses, but I definitely prefer the Turner Gill approach to coaching, how to treat people, etc. over what we had under Mark Mangino.

I’m hopeful that he is able to rack up a lot of wins over the next few years once he and his staff are able to recruit their type of players into the program, install the systems they want to run, etc.

The perfect scenario for me as a fan is to have a team that wins consistently while the head coach and his staff are able to look themselves in the mirror every morning and know that they are doing things the right way. I have no doubt about Turner Gill the person. Turner Gill’s success as the KU Head Coach is To Be Determined……but I like his chances.

Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’.

1. How did Turner Gill and his staff EVER think that Kale Pick and a pocket passing attack would be more effective than Jordan Webb and a mobile spread offense attack?

2. How in the world was freshman RB James Sims buried on the depth chart behind Angus Quigley, DeSean Sands and DJ Beshears?

What did these coaches not see in the offseason in these playmakers vs. the guys that just fit the ineffective system they wanted to run?

That said, I give them credit for quickly making the change….but they are 1-1 because they got in their own way.

Period.

Agree? Disagree? Did you see something I didn’t see from Week 1 to Week 2?

The funny thing about irony is that, well, it’s ironic. And irony got the best of me this past weekend.

After sitting through that nauseating stinker of a game that was KU-North Dakota State that left me wondering if KU would win a game the rest of the way, I wasn’t too crushed when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to attend the KU-Georgia Tech game. Unable to sell my tickets as no one I knew was apparently interested in going (or at least paying for tickets), I gave my tickets to a friend so that he, his wife and two daughters could (I thought to myself) at least enjoy a beautiful day in Lawrence even if KU appeared to be a sacrificial lamb. 

So I headed to Wichita for a weekend that would include celebrating my great uncle’s 80th birthday and spending time with other family. In fact, figuring KU would literally get run out of Memorial Stadium by Georgia Tech’s triple option attack, I agreed to play golf with my step dad and cousin. We tee’d off around 9 a.m. and I thought “Well, at least I’ll be able to watch the last few minutes of the game on tv if KU somehow magically finds a way to compete.”

KU: 28  Georgia Tech: 25

The Jayhawks (apparently motivated by the Gods of Irony who were undoubtedly laughing at me as I sliced, hooked and duffed tee shot after tee shot) decided to play like a completely different team than the week before and shock the college football world for the second week in a row….but this time in a good way….by upsetting #15 Georgia Tech and winning their first game at home vs. a Top-15 team since 1984.

I was thrilled that the Jayhawks showed some toughness, showed they could handle adversity and bounce back from what was arguably the worst loss in KU football history, and give Coach Turner Gill and his staff their first win (which they desperately needed to give their team and fans some hope). I also took a bit of solace in the fact that I got home in time to watch the last 8 minutes of the game on tv. All that said, I was less than thrilled that I paid for tickets that I didn’t get to use, missed what will be one of the best KU games of the season, and struggled to barely break 100 on the golf course.

Yeah, yeah, IRONY, I get it. You made your point.

I DVR’d the game and look forward to watching it when I find some spare time, but from everything I’ve read and heard, it sounds like KU found their starting quarterback in Jordan Webb (18-of-29 for 179 yards and 3 TD’s), their starting running back in freshman James Sims (who is the first freshman in KU history to rush for 100 yards in his debut), a tight end in Tim Biere that redeemed himself from last week’s brutal 2-fumble effort with a touchdown catch, a couple of playmakers in wide receivers Daymond Patterson and Bradley McDougald, and a defense (led by Coach Carl Torbush who is proving he knows a thing or two about defense; Oh, and how about stud linebackers Steven Johnson and Justin Springer too?) that is showing that they have a lot of heart and should be able to compete well against any offense they will face this season.

I’m glad that KU is 1-1 even though I expected them to get there in a different way, but I still have plenty of questions about  the Jayhawks as they head into a matchup this Friday at Southern Miss (7 p.m. Central on ESPN):

• Can the defense continue to perform at a high level all season long and make big plays when they need them?
• KU showed they can handle the adversity of an embarrassing loss. How will they handle the adversity of a huge win?
• What did Turner Gill and Offensive Coordinator Chuck Long see in Kale Pick in the offseason that led them to claim that he “clearly separated himself” in the competition for the starting QB job?
• What happened against North Dakota State and how could a team look so pathetic one week and look entirely different the next? I know there were changes at the quarterback and running back positions, but there were clearly changes in the type of game called by Offensive Coordinator Chuck “What Took You So” Long.
• Anyone else see a little Todd Reesing in Jordan Webb? He’s small, shifty, has commanded the confidence of his team in the huddle, has a confident swagger in the way he plays and speaks to the media, and found a way to win, something that Reesing did a lot of (at least in his sophomore and junior seasons). One key difference: Mark Mangino only started Todd Reesing because Kerry Meier got hurt. Turner Gill made the move to start Jordan Webb over Kale Pick. That’s one thing that’s not lost on me at all. Mark Mangino gets a lot of credit for KU’s success and he certainly deserves his share. But a real argument could be made that he essentially lucked his way into Todd Reesing. What if Kerry Meier hadn’t gotten hurt in that Colorado game? Would the Orange Bowl (and all of the other success fueled by Todd Reesing) ever have happened? Thankfully, we’ll never know.
• How much will Jordan Webb struggle this year? He’s still a redshirt freshman and freshmen make mistakes. The answer to this question is THE key to how successful KU will be this year.
• Can James Sims keep doing this at the running back position? Again, he’s a freshman.
• Will Senior wide receiver Johnathan Wilson ever consistently reach the potential we’ve heard about so much over the past couple of years?
• How will KU (and the freshmen that play key roles) do on their first road test against a good Southern Miss team? It seems like this game has “LETDOWN” written all over it after the Georgia Tech redemption game.
• Will the KU student section show up consistently the rest of the season and, if they do, have the freaking common sense to not embarrass the University by way-too-tired-cliche that is rushing the field?
• Will those KU “fans” that boo’d Turner Gill and his team against North Dakota State please stop coming to games? Let’s hope so.

What about you? What questions do you still have about this year’s team?

Thanks for your continued support of Jaytalkers…..Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’.

Put me on the list of people that aren’t shocked one bit by this announcement.

Big Lew previously hand-picked a date when he was going to retire and I’m guessing that the Chancellor wanted to go ahead and get on with it. Or maybe Big Lew figured he didn’t have anything left to do, so he might as well start enjoying the high life (as if he didn’t already) without having to deal with scrutiny from the media and fans. Or maybe Big Lew knows that there is more bad news coming his way and he wants to get out while he can. I’m sure there will be more rumors and speculation in the days to come, but my hunch is that the truth lies somewhere in between.  

With the ticket scandal, exercise equipment allegations, the shady way that Mark Mangino was fired, etc., it was only a matter of time. Big Lew didn’t hire Bill Self or Mark Mangino (and I personally believe he fired Mangino because of Mangino’s weight, the image it portrayed, and because Mangino was his equal when it came to stubborn bullheadedness. I’ve heard from more than one person that Lew wanted to get rid of Mangino even earlier, but then the Orange Bowl got in the way). Big Lew did hire Turner Gill (and only time will tell if that pans out), but I firmly believe he really wanted to hire Jim Harbaugh (Stanford sweetened the pot to keep Harbaugh).

Nonetheless, Big Lew did what he was brought in to do and that was help raise A LOT of money for KU Athletics.  He certainly deserves some credit for that. That said, I always had an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach whenever I saw him or heard him speak. I don’t know Lew Perkins. I’ve never met him. But watching and listening to him over the last seven years, he often reminded me of a money-hungry CEO that didn’t care who he stepped on, or pushed out of the way, to get what he wanted. He was a master at being politically correct and saying all of the right things while knowing the actual truth was sometimes almost entirely something else.

Like most of those types, Big Lew will walk away with A LOT of money in his pocket ($2 million before taxes to be exact) and knowledge that while he accomplished a lot at KU, he also did a lot of questionable things along the way in the pursuit of money and in the name of greed. I don’t think Big Lew will ever own up to those mistakes. It’s simply not in his DNA. Just like Mark Mangino. Just like Bobby Knight. Just like former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. Just like former USC coach Pete Carroll. Just like Kentucky hoops coach John Calipari. And on..and on…and on. Those types of guys will rarely, if ever, admit that they are wrong or apologize for anything they do. In their world of egos and testosterone, that’s not “manly”. It’s a sign of weakness.

Personally, I think it’s just the opposite.  

So here we sit Jayawk fans. We have a new head football coach that just lost an embarrassing home opener, the search for a new Athletic Director is underway, and there are still questions as to whether stud freshman point guard Josh Selby will be eligible to play this year. There have certainly been better times to be a Jayhawk fan.

In spite of all of that, I will continue, as always, to Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’.

Mic

LOVE the Bloody Mary's at Louise's West!

My mom has told many times over the years that any time you have to offer up criticisms about someone to be sure to start the conversation with positives. My mom also told me that “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.”

With all due respect to my wonderful mother, whom I’ve known all of my life, I tend to believe that it doesn’t matter how many nice things you say before you get to the proverbial “BUT”….most people only remember what they heard after the “BUT”.

With that in mind, I tried really hard to think as positively as I could as I laid out my thoughts and observations from KU’s opening season loss to Division I-AA’s North Dakota Bison. Really. I did. I’ll leave it up to you, the reader, to determine whether I made my mom proud or not.

POSITIVES/SOMEWHAT POSITIVES

• TICKETS FOR SALE: No, I’m not ready to throw in the towel. I’m going to be out of town next weekend, so I have 2 adult and 2 youth tickets to the game vs. #16 Georgia Tech on Saturday, September 11th at 11 a.m. Email me at mic@jaytalkers.com if you’re interested.
• GREAT WEATHER: The fall-like weather was gorgeous and the pure blue skies provided a great setting to kick off the football season.
• BEST BLOODY MARYS IN LAWRENCE: I had two delicious bloody marys at Louise’s West before the game. This is quickly becoming a pregame ritual for me. I almost look more forward to the bloody marys than I do the football games.
• BEST SUSHI IN THE KC/LAWRENCE AREA: Missy and I live in Prairie Village and we love sushi (Ok, I REALLY love sushi), so we joined our friend Kelsy, her adorable son Blake (who told Kelsy later “Mom, I just love Mic and Missy”), Kelsy’s friend and former KU player Marcellus and his wife Sherre-kaun, and even former KU point guard Aaron Miles, his lovely (pregnant) wife Mickey and his son Deuce for pre-game sushi at the best sushi place in Lawrence or Kansas City….Yokahama Sushi. The variety and caliber of their rolls are second to none. I just wish they’d open one in Prairie Village so I could eat there every day.
• GREAT CROWD: There was tailgating going on everywhere in and around Memorial Stadium and the announced attendance was over 48,000 fans. I was impressed by how many people stayed hoping to see a come from behind win to give us a glimpse of hope for the rest of the season. The effort of the fans was to be applauded yet is also very sad that it even had to come to that in this game.
• MY EXPECTATIONS WEREN’T HIGH. WERE YOURS? Honestly I wasn’t expecting much this season. We have a new coaching staff, had some critical injuries in the offseason, had some guys kicked off the team, lost Reesing, Meier, Sharp and Briscoe, have lots of young players getting their first real, consistent live game action, etc. All that said, I didn’t think it would be this bad. In fact, it eerily reminds me of the type of talent that existed on Terry Allen’s Jayhawk teams. You remember those teams, right? They were the groups that routinely struggled to physically compete. The thing that concerns me is that this was against Division I-AA talent. And KU looked like a Divsion I-AA team. I can’t help but wonder what will happen when they are playing against Big 12 caliber athletes. One thing I am thrilled about: No OU and Texas this year. Whew.
• DEFENSE: They did good job overall considering they were on the field so much. Of course no one in their right mind thought that North Dakota State’s offense was going to come in and light it up. So, as far as positives go, the defense did about as good as could be reasonably expected.
• JORDAN WEBB: Jordan Webb physically looks like Todd Reesing. He’s small and appears to have some shiftiness to him. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like he has the same competive “do whatever it takes” mentality or ability that Reesing displayed so many times in his career. From my vantage point, it looks like Webb throws a better ball, with more touch and accuracy, than Kale Pick.
• REMEMBER, WE WEREN’T THAT GOOD LAST YEAR EITHER: Let’s not forget that last year’s team lost seven in a row to end the season, and that was with Todd Reesing, Jake Sharp, Kerry Meier and Dezmon Briscoe (who was recently waived by the Cincinnati Bengals, btw).
• DJ BESHEARS & DAYMOND PATTERSON: Jayhawk fans, I give you the two guys that appear to be able to actually make plays this year.  
• IT WON’T BE LONG: KU’s first basketball game is November 2nd.
• I REALLY WANT TO BELIEVE YOU, DAYMOND PATTERSON. I REALLY DO: “We are pretty shocked in ourselves and the way we played. I know that’s not the team we are, and we are way better than we showed tonight.”

BUT….

• “FANS” BOO’ing JAYHAWK PLAYERS: Anyone claiming to be a Jayhawk fan that boo’s a Jayhawk player is NOT a Jayhawk fan. Period.
• SO LONG “NORTHS” AND “B’s”: I would like to start an official petition for The University of Kansas to no longer play any teams that has NORTH or a “B” anywhwere in their name. No more Northern Iowa. No more North Dakota State. No more Bison. No more Bradley. No more Bucknell.
• TURNER GILL: This was about as poor a start for a new head coach (and his staff) as any Jayhawk fan could imagine. I feel bad for the guy as his parents were on hand and this was the first time they ever got to see him as a head coach doing his thing (medical and other reasons prevented them from ever seeing him coach a University of Buffalo game live). The type of man/human being that Turner Gill is has been well documented. It’s clear that KU has vastly upgraded in the caliber of person running the program. Only time will tell whether that will lead to W’s, which is, at the end of the day, how he will be judged.
• THE OFFENSE: As I watched an offense that can best be described as inept, I was eerily reminded of similar offenses I’ve seen over the years watching Terry Allen’s Jayhawk teams and Kansas City Chiefs teams under Herm Edwards and Marty Schottenheimer. How many times do you have to run a lateral swing pass to running backs who were immediately tackled before you get more creative? None of the Wide Receivers consistently got any separation. The Offensive Line gave up 4-5 sacks, which is downright embarrassing for a group that was supposed to be a strong part of the team. To Offensive Coordinator Chuck Long, let me pass on the question that my Jayhawk friends were texting me during the game: “WTF?”
• ENOUGH CLICHES TO GO AROUND: I thought the postgame radio show was worthless. You don’t want to beat a guy while he’s down, but lobbing softball questions isn’t the objective either. What I’ve already learned about Coach Gill is that he is a walking Cliche Machine. In the brief postgame radio show, he said “we need to look at the tape”, “it’s only one game”, “need to focus on Georgia Tech”,  “I want to give credit to North Dakota State”, “we brought in Webb looking for a spark”,  and “we need to execute better”. Ugh. Give us something we can work with, Coach. Of course perhaps he is wishing for the same thing in terms of talented players. Also, if you listen to him his “bailout phrase” is “things of that nature”. I’ve heard him say that many times when he’s at a loss for words, either in trying to appear to be enthusiastic for the prospects of this year’s team or when trying to describe a horrible loss away.
• TIGHT END TIM BIERE: I really feel bad for this kid. It was well documented in the offseason that KU’s new offense was going to feature more opportunities for the Tight End and Biere was expected to be a bright spot. Instead, he dropped 4-5 passes that hit him squarely in the hands and had two fumbles, with the second one late in the 4th quarter essentially putting the nail in the coffin. Watching him drop pass after pass was as mindboggling to me as watching Todd Reesing last year play like a completely different player than the year before.
• KALE PICK: Kale Pick lived up to his name throwing a critcal endzone interception that sucked out the small amount of momentum and energy that was left in the stadium. Pick looked on many occasions like he was trying to throw the ball too hard and forced things on several occasions in a desperate attempt to make something happen. Once that endzone pass was intercepted, you could feel the collective “I can’t believe we’re going to lose this game” throughout Memorial Stadium. Not to pick on Todd Reesing again, but the interception eerily reminded me of Todd’s momentum-killing pick-6 last year vs. Oklahoma.
• RUNNING BACKS: None of the Running Backs are as good as Toben Opurum (who was moved to Linebacker due to not getting enough reps at RB in the offseason because of injury and because the linebacking depth is not good). Freshman DeSean Sands looks like he has some potential. He’s shifty like his dad (former KU RB Tony Sands) and DJ Beshears showed some flashes as well. One thing is crystal clear: Angus Quigley is not the answer. He is in there to block. Period.  Ultimately, it’s a head scratcher for everyone apparently except the coaching staff as to why Opurum couldn’t help the running game THIS season. It kind of reminds me of the decision several years ago when all Kansas City Chiefs fans wanted Rich Gannon instead of Elvis Grbac. If you’re a Chiefs fan, you remember how well that worked out.

At the end of the day, I will forever be a Jayhawk fan. It is built into my DNA. So, no matter what happens on the field or on the court, I will always………..

Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’,

Mic

ESPN Gameday brings incredible exposure to any school that gets the opportunity. They’ve been to Allen Fieldhouse before, but this time will be even better as rival K-State will be in town.

Plus, it’s Kansas Day. Who even knew there was a Kansas Day?

Click here for details.

Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’,

Mic

I LOVE the Bloody Mary's at Louise's West!

Mic and Missy get some TV time!

He summarizes perfectly, and exactly, how I felt all season long about this team. I never knew the exact words or phrase to describe it. I never knew how to say what I wanted to say without it sounding negative or pessimistic (even though I knew I wasn’t). But it was always there and I literally felt it every single time I watched KU play, even as they won game after game, the Big 12 regular season, and the Big 12 Tournament.

I loved that they were winning and I enjoyed countless great moments throughout the season. But I also couldn’t ignore what I saw time and again with my own two eyes. Something wasn’t right. Something was missing. I referred to it as a lack of killer instinct, as playing down to the level of competition, as playing only 15-20 minutes of good basketball every game and how that was good enough to beat most teams. And no matter how many times I tried, I was never able to find the right, and most eloquent, words. All season long I had an overwhelming feeling of calm before the storm….and Northern Iowa was the storm.

Many of you know how deep my passion is for KU, and more specifically, KU basketball. I’m in mourning and will be for awhile. I’m not looking forward to the 5 stages of grief. Jayhawk fans have been here before and it hurts the same every time. If you want to experience the highest of highs, you have to experience the lowest of lows along the way.

This team gave us many great memories….the feeling of loss and missed opportunity with this Jayhawk team is one that will be felt for years to come….but only one team and one fan base will be happy when the season is over. That’s the way it goes.

As we all know, sometimes things don’t work out the way we want them to. When life gives us lemons, we can choose to make lemonade. I’m going to my first-ever Final Four this year….and this definitely isn’t what I had in mind…..but I’ll be proudly wearing my Jayhawk gear every single day I’m in Indianapolis.
And no matter what, I will Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’….FOREVER.

Mic