The Day After

I was wrong.

Gloriously wrong, and I am man enough to admit it.
My beloved Wildcats did not get rolled by Texas. In fact, they did the rolling.

Kansas State 41
Texas 21

Stars of the game?

Jordy Nelson.
Josh Freeman.
James Johnson.
Justin McKinney.
Ian Campbell.

Those are just the top 5. There are more that are deserving as well.

However, there is no time to bask in the glory.
It's done.
It's over.
It's out of my mind as if it never happened.

Why?

It's KU week.

Big 12 Rankings and Predictions

Ok, so now that the preseason is over, we all have a better idea of how the teams will play in the future. We have actual games to help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of each team. Right now in the Big 12, here is how I rank the teams:

1. Oklahoma (4-0/0-0). Fast and athletic, great offense, solid defense. Crushes everyone. By far the most complete team in the Big 12 conference, even with a red-shirt freshman quarterback. It's really Oklahoma and the little 11 right now.
2. Missouri (4-0/0-0). Missouri has weaknesses on defense, but solid road and neutral site wins. Missouri has an oustanding offense led by Chase Daniel and Martin Rucker.
3. Texas (4-0/0-0). Solid road win over better-than-you-might-think Central Florida. Players coming back to the team were a spark in a huge win over a terrible Rice squad.
4. Kansas (4-0/0-0). Yes, Kansas has played one of the worst Big 12 non-conference schedules ever. Central Michigan (1-3, its only win was versus Toledo), Division 1A Southeast Louisiana (1-3, its only win was versus Kentucky Weslyan), Toledo (1-3, its only win was a gift versus lowly Iowa State), and Florida International (0-4). Its hard to put together that bad of a schedule. On the other hand, Kansas did what they were supposed to do, crushing the four teams by a combined score of 214-23. That alone earns a spot in the Big 12 top 4.
5. Kansas State (2-1/0-0). Kansas State has warts. They aren't a great team, but the Big 12 has few great teams. The road loss to Auburn is not as bad as people are trying to make it out to be. This just in, South Florida is pretty good and went to overtime with Auburn. Mississippi State is better than people make them out to be, and that was a bit of a fluky game. K-State did what they were supposed to do versus San Jose State and Missouri State. But there are holes in the secondary, the running game and offensive line are suspect, and Josh Freeman has not proven he can consistently throw downfield.
6. Texas Tech (3-1/0-1). I know they lost their Big 12 opener. But Ruffin McNeil will help the defense, and Graham Harrell will throw for around 5,000 yards this year. Texas Tech is going to be a handful.
7. Nebraska (3-1/0-0). The beating of Nevada was good. Barely escaping Wake Forest at Wake Forest was good. Giving up over 300 yards on the ground to Southern California was bad. Giving up over 600 yards and 40 points to a middle of the road MAC Ball State team was unforgiveable.
8. Texas A&M (3-1/0-0). Texas A&M was taken to the woodshed by a pedestrian Miami (FL) team, one that was mauled by Oklahoma. Texas A&M looks slow, has very little offensive imagination, and does not tackle very well. Oh, and Fresno State took Texas A&M to overtime in College Station. That's not good.
9. Colorado (2-2/0-0). Colorado is working its way back to respectability. After gutting out an opening day win versus Colorado State, CU lost two tough games to Arizona State and Florida State. The Buffaloes (Bison really) then went on to crush middle of the road MAC team Miami (OH). Colorado's defense is for real, and if CU figures out how to play offense, they could surprise someone. In fact, I predict they will surprise someone this season.
10. Oklahoma State (2-2/1-0). Yes, Oklahoma State won the Big 12 opener last week, but only because Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree was so exhausted after running open on every single offensive play, he was too tired to catch the winning touchdown pass. Oklahoma State was manhandled by Georgia and Troy State. Yes, that Troy State.
11. Baylor (3-1/0-0). Baylor quarterback Blake Szymanski is playing pretty well, and after an opening season whitewash versus TCU, Baylor has played better.
12. Iowa State (1-3/0-0). I almost feel bad for Iowa State. Of course, I want to know what they did to Iowa's Wheaties, since they had absolutely no business beating Iowa. Of course, if Big 10/11 football moved out of the stone age, they might be able to beat lowly Iowa State.

On to the games:

Baylor at Texas A&M (-16.5) Baylor's offense will give Texas A&M fits, Baylor won't be able to consistently stop the Texas A&M running game. Dennis Franchione sells injury information to Baylor's coaching staff, but it doesn't make a difference. Texas A&M wins the battle for the Texas Hill Country, but it's closer than expected.

Oklahoma at Colorado (+23) Oklahoma's offense gets a true test today against a pretty good Colorado defense. Unforfortunately for the Buffaloes, their offense is no match for OU's defense. Oklahoma wins, but not in PlayStation fashion. In fact, look for Colorado to score late and get a backdoor cover.

Iowa State at Nebraska (-21) Nebraska's defense better look good against Iowa State, or Kevin Cosgrove better start brushing up that resume. Nebraska covers, but it won't be pretty.

Northwestern State at Texas Tech (NL) Texas Tech will score half a hundred. In the first half.

Sam Houston State at Oklahoma State (NL) The real story of this game is Rhett Bomar coming back to Oklahoma, where he was involved in the pay-for-play scandal at the University of Oklahoma. Sam Houston has offensive talent, but their defense is no match for OSU.

Kansas State at Texas (-14.5) Texas rolls, covering the spread.

We're Gonna Get Killed

It's Texas week.

We play the shorthorns this week. Last year, Kansas State beat the shorthorns 45-42 on an assortment of gadget plays, special teams plays, faux pas, and sheer unadulterated chutzpah.

This is a different year.
Kansas State football just isn't very good. Dont get me wrong, it's not awful. We haven't taken a time machine or a rogue Delorean back to 1986. It's just that KSU isn't very good.

I haven't watched a full weekend of football until this past weekend. Labor Day weekend, I saw a little football. The next two weekends I was sucking up to my friends with extra tickets and going to the games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, making sure that I had plenty of food and beverages for all.


Kansas State Defense, ready to attack San Jose State


Ahh but this past weekend I had the chance to watch games. I had the chance to evaluate other teams. I had a chance to see how other teams are playing. I can now compare K-State to other teams. We're average. 6-6, 7-5 average. It is what it is. Now for those that drink the purple kool-aid, here's why:

On offense, we're limited. The offensive line isn't very good. We don't have receivers that can get open downfield consistently, and when they do the quarterback can't make the play. We can't work the middle of the field passing (15-20 yard patterns don't seem to exist). Our running game is pretty easy to stop because our line isn't great. Oh, and we aren't disciplined.

On defense, we aren't disciplined. Our secondary gets beat too much. If San Jose State or Missouri State had a quarterback, people would be singing a different tune.

Our offense, trick plays and all, won't do much against Texas. Texas will be able to throw against us. We're in for a long day.

What makes it worse? KU--the squawks--appear to be getting better and have two weeks to prepare to face us. It's going to be a long season.

No one reads this, but...

It gives me a chance to vent a little bit. I hang out on a board that discusses all things Kansas State, in particular recruiting. What is stupid, though, is that some people live and die with this stuff and complain about our coaches.

Today, for example, a junior college defensive tackle named Rodney Allen, who played his JC ball at Garden City Community College said in an interview to Jeremy Crabtree that he is going to our hated rival, Kansas. That's after he had proclaimed his love for K-State. I say, "So what?"

What happens, happens. We need to show the class that we have and not be juvenile. I am perfectly happy for any players that choose to play for my alma mater, and I root for them.

If they choose to go elsewhere, best of luck to them (except when playing K-State of course).

Good luck Mr. Allen, if you ultimately choose to go to Kansas.

But Eugene Germany, Zac Robinson, Courtney Herndon, Cameron Morrah, and many others--I sincerely hope that you choose to wear the purple and white, and I will faithfully root for you your entire careers at Kansas State.

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.