I feel like Navin R. Johnson

Ok, if there is anyone actually reading this, I might need to explain who Navin R. Johnson is. He is a character from a movie called "The Jerk." I know, some of you may actually remember that movie, but it did come out in 1979 or something like that. Anyway, Steve Martin played Navin, who was this loser guy living in a gas station. He got really exicited three times in the movie. One time is was because he received a check for $250,000. I can understand that. The second was when he discovered what his "special purpose" was. Being a guy, I can understand that too. The third was when the new phonebook came out. He dashed to the phonebook and looked up his name, shouting "the new phone book is here, the new phone book is here!!!" Like I said, he was a loser living in a gas station. Uh, I am sure none of you have looked in the phonebook for your name when it came out, right? Anyway, I understood how Navin felt because the new Kansas State football depth chart came out today, and that's all I could do, run around shouting "the new depth chart is out, the new depth chart is out!!!" Want to see? Go to http://www.kstatesports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=400&KEY=&SPID=212&SPSID=4451. You can see for yourself.

Anyway, ever since it came out, I am like a loser kid in a candy store, wanting to know just where all of my previous loves have gone. Like I said before, I obsess over recruiting. And, no I can see the fruits of all that love and labor! True freshman have made the two deep, and it's wonderful. Gerard Spexarth (whose cousin I knew from grad school days at Northern Illinois) and John Hafferty both are on the offensive line. Some other surprises from the previous recruiting class showed up as well. Yamon Figurs made the first team. Mo Porter, Greg Wafford, and Tearius George made the second team. And, some other young guys are on the depth chart as well, guys like Greg Gaskins, Maurice Mack, Byron Garvin (from Pace High School in Miami, across the fence from where I got my law degree), and Logan Robinson have rewarded my obsessions with recruiting. It just seems like fruit of that labor. Like I said, it's insane. I know that. But it's my passion.

What I don't understand is that there are some fans of K-State football that don't--get this--actually obsess over the depth chart. They don't really care. They don't break it down position by position, wondering where certain players are, why others are not in the rotation, and so on.

It's simply amazing.

Oh sure, I get why the casual fan doesn't obsess.

But the true fan?

It makes no sense to me.

Now, back to a thorough examination of the linebackers.

ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, so i love k-state football. and so it's an obsession of mine.

i follow alot of it at http://www.gopowercat.com/, which has a lot of good information, and tim and becky and d. scott and matt and brian and the rest of the crew from powercat illustrated keep us all up to date.

anyway, football is now my obsession, but my first love is k-state basketball. they were actually good when i was in manhattan. they got to the great eight when i was there. steve henson. will scott. mitch richmond. colorado cool (my roomie) and i wore purple santa hats to a game--which started some sort of trend and now some schmuck makes thousands off our idea.

anyway, those sour grapes aside, k-state (men's) basketball has sucked now for years. and now we have a coach that can recruit, but he can't coach. and now he has run off our second superstar kind of player in three years. dez willingham has left the team, and now the hoops team is left without a point guard.

i support the team no matter what. i am not a fair weather fan.
but jumpin' jesus on a pogo stick! jim wooldridge has got to go.

hey dez, man if you are out there--peace. we'll miss you.


oh.

yea.

and to make matters worse, chris boggas (who if you follow recruiting like some crazed maniac was supposed to be the best thing since the forward pass for the offensive line) was actually trying to live up to his potential, but decided to quit.

what a sucky day.
and the season isn't even here yet.

pace, pace, pace

it's how football season goes. well that's not exactly true. it's how life goes. at least part of the life that is football.

you see football is escapism. i appreciate that these people sacrifice body and soul for a game, and it allows me to experience the pain, the pleasure, the joy of the game. it gives me something or someone to root for, to cheer for.

life can pretty much suck if you let it. c'mon. a hurricane hitting a trailer park full of elderly people? i mean, i live on the other side of florida, but wow... does a hurricane have to do that? i mean, that pretty much sucks, right?

or our government sending people to die in iraq? does that make sense? nah. i mean saddam was a bad guy and all, but there have been lots and lots of bad guys we don't depose, and there have been more than a few that we have set up shop for (you know, like saddam).

mass murder in upstate florida over an x-box? are you kidding me?

so i choose to escape from the horrid things of the world by watching--no, not watching--obsessing over football. in particular, kansas state football. for example, i obsess over:

who is and is not on the roster.
who is on the depth chart and where.
who will be starting.
potential injuries.
incoming transfers.
incoming high schoolers.
the arm length and hip swivel of players.
who is interested in k-state and who isn't (ahhh, the joys of recruiting).
who rivals gives stars to (even though it doesn't make a difference).
which coaches are doing what.

it doesn't matter. all of it i thoroughly examine. i love. i hate. i enjoy.
i pace.

it doesn't matter if we are playing western kentucky (nothing against you, hilltoppers) or if we are playing nebraska. i worry. i pace. i dream. i have nightmares.

but it beats the hell out of what is going on in the world.

and there is always reason for hope.

that's why i follow recruiting.

for example, kids who are just starting their senior year in high school have already committed to play for the 'cats. i'll obsess over them as the year goes on. there are already nine kids that have committed. oh, i know it isn't binding, but i will love each one of them. well, unless they change their mind, decommit, and end up elsewhere. then i will wish them well, but the love will shift.

until signing day i will worry. pace, pace, pace.

anyway, the pads are on. practice has started. i find leaks out of practice. i know how it is going.
the defense will be good.
the offense has great skill players... but the offensive line is thin and young.

pace, pace, pace.

football obsessions

it's great.

there are these kids out there that i yearn for. i mean not in some sort of sexual way--you watch too much law & order svu.

i mean i yearn for in a football kind of way. high school football players. big. fast. big & fast. athletic. willing to sacrifice their bodies. what for? so i can watch them on tv--or if i am lucky, in person.

you see, kansas state football sucked for a very long time. in fact, before bill snyder came around, they were the worst football team of all time, according to sports illustrated. now, though, they are pretty good. they win alot. go to bowls every year.

and from that success came my obsession.

the next generation of football heroes, waiting to happen.

oh, and it is not just me. there are many grown men who love and adore high school football players.

you should see some of the ways that my friends talk about these players! it's almost a sickness.

kansas state football already has nine fine young men that have committed to signing with them on signing day. what's signing day? i'll explain all that later, if anyone really wants to know, or doesn't know.

but this spot is where i obsess. where i talk about my hopes. where i labor over the intimate details of the high school athletes k-state is recruiting.

if you want to follow along, feel free. it really is a drama. a soap. an obsession.