Then Turner Gill and company redeemed themselves with a great win at home against #15 Georgia Tech. Time to celebrate right?
No. Here comes Southern Miss and their quick-paced offense, and KU falls right back into the sub-mediocre category.
I do not think good things are too close on the horizon. Let’s hope basketball season comes sooner than later.
Maybe I take sports too seriously.
Wow, did I just say that? Well, it’s the damn media’s fault. THEY take sports too seriously. Sadly enough, I want a profession involved in sports. Let me tell you, random blog reader, there are TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO’S LIVES ARE DEVOTED TO SPORTS!
And I say this to you after my girlfriend and I got into a fight over me watching too much football. (I defended the football)
Football has grown into the biggest business in America. I don’t care if the facts don’t back up my statement, Microsoft has nothing on NFL football. More than 50 players per team on 32 teams making an average of what has to be more than $1 million = more than $1.6 billion in player salaries. It’s silly, but that’s another fight.
It trickles down to the college and high school ranks. Check out some of the stadiums around the country – at any level. The sport is huge.
Football also has some great tradition. It started out as a mean, back-yard sport played between big strong men. It has morphed into a glamorous battle between highly skilled athletes in front of millions of people.
Throw in all of the other businesses and people that are fueled by the NFL (fantasy, gambling, shoe-companies, sports cards, clothing lines), and you have the Perfect Business.
Now in this business, there are a wide range of personalities. For every redneck there’s a gangster, and for every fire-breathing, stone-balls coach there is a geeky statistician.
There is also the media.
The media squeezes every drop of juice they can from football. NFL, college, high school? They don’t care. High school football gets 10 times the exposure that basketball does. These guys seem to not have an existing life (yes I’m a bit jealous) outside of football and/or sports in general.
Oh how football coaches LOVE the media….. oh… they don’t? I wonder why. Maybe it’s because you have the power (and use it) to turn a city against them in a morning rant session.
That brings us to Mark Mangino. Did the guy really deserve to be fired? My assumption is no, but that’s not the point. The point is that he was not treated fairly.
When the media broke the news of Mangino’s former players calling him out on being too tough, or too physical, or too insensitive, they ran with the news and began a witch-hunt. See, they know that there are a ton of KU fans out there that will listen to or read anything about their Jayhawks. So, by golly, if someone on a KU coaching staff Farts too loudly, they go nuts.
Picture that one. A room full of radio and paper journalist consumed by a big Mangino fart.
It’s a pleasing thought.
Anyway… the radio brought in parents, former bench-warmers, players who couldn’t cut it, and even some minimum-wage-making campus security people? They raised this crazy ruckus about Mangino, basically cancelling out any chance of Mangino recruiting good players to any college.
Listen, football is a tough sport. When you take the field, you are going to get hit. You are going to take some cheap shots. You are going to get your fingers stepped on, eyes poked, groin kicked, and baby mama’s face slapped. You are also going to be verbally abused.
I had a coach that verbally abused us. I’m better for it. If you don’t have a thick enough skin for football – try something else!
If Mark Mangino truly was over-the-top, and deserved to be fired because of abuse, then the guy should spend some time in jail.
Call the police if the crime fits. If not, don’t trash a man because of a boy’s accusations.
I heard it last night and again this morning, so it may be old news to most of you, but the Jayhawks came within 1 point of an NCAA record. After Alcorn State opened the game on a 4-0 run, Kansas pretty much ended the game with a 36 point run.
According to local radio, the record of 37 consecutive points scored in a game was held by Utah State from the 2005 season.
This makes me wonder…
When did someone start keeping this record? Did the Wizard’s UCLA teams ever score 50 unanswered points on an opposing team? If anyone knows this and can answer this, let us all know.
But of course UCLA won’t be scoring 50 straight on our Jayhawks this Sunday. I’ll be rushing home from the Chiefs games to watch KU hold UCLA to UNDER 50! I hope anyway… Beak ‘em Hawks!
Before the game, Bill Self said he thought his Jayhawks should be judged on how much improvement they show in the game against Alcorn State.
Well, that was an easy observation. There wasn’t much not to like in KU’s smooth 98-31 victory, but then again, the Hawks were supposed to win that big.
One thing I am pleased with is freshman Thomas Robinson’s improved play. In the first few games, Robinson looked lost, and it seemed that he might be relegated to the end of the bench for mop-up duty all year. The kid is too talented though.
We should see more from this future NBA star soon. Sunday’s game at UCLA will be a great test for these Jayhawks. Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich and Bill Self should not be satisfied with anything less than a 15 point victory.
