Not My Favorite Bracket
Next Sunday I’m going to be walking on a beach, swimming in a pool, and otherwise enjoying the Florida sun on day two of our week on Captiva Island. God forbid there is rain or it suddenly gets cool and I’m forced to watch basketball all day. Because I think my plan next weekend is going to be to soak…
Unfulfilled Promise
This post is one of the most difficult pieces I’ve ever had to publish. Not because I’m sharing some rough personal news or writing about an event that has caused me emotional stress. But rather because it has been percolating in my head for roughly two months, rewritten multiple times, and I’ve spent hours doing research on it. And I’m…
Eleven The Hard Way
I went on record a couple months ago saying that KU’s conference championship streak would end this year. As always, that was a good reminder not to take anything I write here as basis for betting your monthly mortgage payment. I don’t know that this year’s title is the most improbable of the streak. I don’t know that it’s the…
Bat Shit Crazy
This morning, after dropping the girls off at school, I went around the corner to fill my vehicle up with gas. I started the pump and jumped back into the car to avoid the cold. Seconds later I heard a honk. Then another. And finally a third, along with a muffled yell that sounded like my name. I looked around…
Exceptionally Hot Sports Takes
At last check, the wind chill was still –12. That’s at about 1:30 pm on February 19. Stupid. So the perfect time for some ultra hot sports takes. Like any Midwesterner worth his salt, I despise the endless hype for the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. But, holy crap, was last night’s game fantastic. I switched by early and saw Duke was…
Reporter’s Notebook
It’s been a rather slow, uneventful winter sports season. Until the last week, that is. I’ve been working a little less, as the family schedule has been busier this year than in the past. And I’ve been lucky enough to cover our best girls basketball team more than any other squad. So a lot of solid games to write about,…
KU Notes: Embrace the 3
A couple thoughts about the Jayhawks, both guaranteed to drop a deadly jinx onto the team before a key two-game stretch. We’re upon mid-February, which is usually when we begin to get a real feel for what kind of team KU has for the year. Well? They’re better on defense than last year. Much better at the point guard spot.…
Dean
Divorce is never easy. In addition to the pain that is focused on the immediate family at the center of a split, there is often collateral damage. Anyone seen as an instigator or taking sides will often be the target of long-term bad feelings even after the direct participants have moved on. That somewhat tortured example sums up how a…
Big 12 Hoops Thoughts
Pretty much the moment Kentucky began treating KU like a high school JV team, I was sure that not only would KU’s Big 12 conference title streak end this year, but that Texas would be the team to do it. Texas isn’t as big or deep or talented as Kentucky. But the Longhorns are probably the biggest team in the…
Humbled
There are beatdowns and there are BEATDOWNS. What Kentucky did to Kansas last night was a BEATDOWN, with an endless number of exclamation points after. And I was lucky enough to watch it in person at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse. Yay. First thing, Kentucky is really freaking good. They have length on top of length, and their only “normal” sized player…