“We just aren’t good enough to play against NCAA tournament teams. Teams of that calibur are just too talented. Cole, Sherron, Xavier, they just looked overwhelmed. This was something that I was afraid of going into the season. We would play well against the lesser teams that we scheduled, but we just could not get around playing a team like Tennessee. And now, to expect us to play a full Big XII schedule; I just don’t think we could handle that. I mean, have you seen Mizzou?? They beat K-State for crying out loud!”

Aldrich was unavailable for comment. He left Allen Field House early on Monday morning, and boarded a bus back to Minnesota to prepare for the NIT, and get some ice fishing in.

Collins was more vocal while cleaning out his locker. “I don’t know what we were thinking. All those heroics over the last three years, it was all luck. Plain and simple. That’s why I didn’t enter the draft. I wasn’t actiually going to be drafted. This was just a distraction.”

This is a huge blow to Kansas Basketball. A season that started out with so much promise, has come crashing down. It wasn’t just the loss on the road to a nationally ranked Tennessee team. This collapse was epic, beginning all the way back with a 57-55 squeaker-win at the hands of Memphis in November. You could tell then that this team just didn’t have what was necessary to make a run.

The slide continued with a 73-61 win at UCLA. Sure they won, but they were never really in that game. Plus, UCLA had no fans show up, and only two players who had ever heard of basketball before. The rest of their team had been fielded only moments before gametime from homeless people outside the stadium.

“We couldn’t believe that we walked out of there with a victory.” said Self, “I was sure that we would take an aboslute beating there. I mean, I know they had the homeless guys, but a couple of them were pretty tall.”

But I think we all knew this was going poorly when KU was only able to edge out nationally ranked Temple by 32. How can you not go on the road into a hostile environment and win by at least 50?? The simple truth is, this KU team just doesn’t have the talent.

So, it’s easy to understand why Lew Perkins has made this decision. He’s already had to dismiss a football coach for mistreating fried chicken wings. He couldn’t afford another black eye on this already down-trodden university…

Wait…Bellwether has just handed this to me. Let me see if I can get through this…

Kcsportspodcast.com has just learned that Kansas has decided to go ahead and play on Wednesday at Nebraska. No official statements have been made as to why the change of heart. The athletic department has only announced that they plan to be in Lincoln on Wednesday, and they will field a team to play against the Huskers.

I don’t know that this is the best idea. I mean, Nebraska is no slouch. It’s not like KU is ranked #1 anymore. You don’t have the “invincibility” that comes with that ranking to protect you anymore. I will see what I can find out from my inside sources, and I will let you know. Stay tuned to this blog for further updates. Rock Chalk.

For those that follow our Twitter Feed @KCSportsPodcast we plan to be much more active, so, you know…tweet us (??)  Logg and myself have joined the fray as well. 

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Time for a Week in Review Grab Bag!!  Let’s see what we find!!  (I hope it’s a Zhu Zhu Pet!!)

Nebraska + Iowa = Kansas

Looks like Lew Perkins was resigned to take his third choice thrilled to hire former Nebraska QB and Buffalo head coach Turner Gill.  Gill has been listed as one of the “Neat’o Awesome Up-And-Coming Coaches” (official title) for the past couple of years.  He’s had some moderate success at a place where nobody expects even moderate success, and took Buffalo to their first bowl game ever.

These are all (yawn) good things, but what most people are talking about is the crack staff of assistant coaches that Gill has assembled to serve on his staff.*  These names include such also-rans as Carl Torbush and former Iowa QB Chuck Long.  

* ”Serve on his staff”…This sounds a lot dirtier than it should…

Many are hoping that the recruiting trail will open up a little wider* with both on board, because, you know, nothing says Kansas Football like former Iowa and Nebraska Quarterbacks!!  Still, from experience, people in Iowa are fucking crazy.  Chuck Long’s name still holds a shit ton of water down here, and it’s a hell of a lot easier to convince a corn-fed half-ton youngster to take the trek to Lawrence, KS than it is to get him to go to either Buffalo or San Diego.

* “The recruiting trail will open up a little wider” …This also sounds a lot dirtier than it should…

Oh, and I’d be remised if I didn’t mention Whitlock’s take.

If you’re scoring at home:

Turner Gill: “I’ll give [him] two years before offering a strong opinion.”
Todd Haley: “Fuck that guy”
Trey Hillman: “Who??”

My advice, Turner??  Invite Ole’ Whitty over for a nice all-you-can-eat buffet before the season so that you can butter him up.  You don’t want to face the wrath of a Whitty scorned.  And if that fails??  I’m sure Charles Barkley will be more than willing to take you up on your offer.

High Powered Recruits + Overmatched Opponents = Kansas

It’s that time of year again!!  Snow on the ground??  Check.  Fifty point victories??  Check.  Sherron Collins trying to shed the last few pound of off-season McDonalds weight??  Check and mate. 

It’s College Basketball Season!!  Yeeay!!

It’s a little hard to tell about these Jayhawks.  They are absolutely rolling right now, and if not for a single renegade Texas vote, they’d be a unanimous #1.  Now, traditionally, there’s not much to be said for CBB before January, and KU’s pre-Big XII season in the past hasn’t been filled with heavy-hitters either, but this season is particularly void of nearly any competition.

Really, the only time KU has struggled this year was against Memphis, and boy was that scary.  As down as Memphis is talent-wise this year, they’re still the most formidable opponent they’ve faced this year, and they just barely squeaked it out.

Still, with as bad as their pre-conference schedule is this year, the Big XII itself is looking better and better.  Mizzou is always a tough out and only two years removed from an Elite Eight run.  K-State is no longer an afterthought, and back in the Top 25.  Texas Tech is finally buying into Knight Jr.-ball.  Even Iowa State is improved; returning their top scorer for the first time in five years.  Looks like the conference is bound to give the KU steamroller some speed bumps this winter…and that’s not necessarily a bad thing…

Also, is this a bad time to mention that I had a dream last night that KU was beaten by Wisconsin in the second round of the tourney in a game in which Cole Aldrich scored only five points??  Also (in real life) I already have tickets to go with HP to the Midwest Regional Final in St. Louis in March. 

OK…I’ll shut up now…

Mizzou + Big Ten = Cash Cow

The Big Ten, as they do every couple of years, has made some noise this week by stating that they will be looking at the possibility of adding a twelfth team to the conference, or as I like to call it, “Shit, we’re insignificant after Thanksgiving…let’s stir the pot.”

The usual names of Pitt and Notre Dame, of course came up, but one, Missouri, might sound surprising.  Missouri, after all, is not viewed as a traditional Big Ten school.  But take this into consideration.

Plus for Mizzou: The Big Ten Network has been a financial boon for the conference, with the proceeds split between all conference members.  The Big XII TV Contract with FSN is heavily geared toward the southern half of the conference.  Also, they already have a natural Big Ten rival in Illinois.  Not quite the Border War, but an established rivalry none-the-less.

Plus for the Big Eleven:  Despite gaining another team for the purposes of hosting a conference championship game, the Big Ten would figure to expand their reach to not one but two metropolitan areas; St Louis and Kansas City.  Oh, sorry…that’s $t. Loui$ and Kan$a$ City.

But, it being college athletics and all, it probably makes WAY too much sense for anybody to actually go for it.

Sherron Collins needs to stop banging football player’s girlfriends:

In actuality, I don’t know if it was Collins who was guilty of diddling Dezmon Briscoe’s girlfriend, but it’s sure possible. I haven’t done too much research on the topic, but if I were playing Clue, my first guess would most certainly be: Sherron Collins, in The Elevator, with His Junk.

Again, there could be more details rolling around the blogosphere regarding this story, but until the first jump ball, I’m kind of impervious to most KU Basketball stories that don’t involve raging lunatics. (Though I am told that Brady Morningstar’s role in this whole melee was him talking trash while simultaneously hiding behind the Morris twins, which is just…awesome.)

Still, Tyshawn Taylor dislocated his thumb in one of the fights, which is bad, and twittered about it, which is good, and as long as the fights stay away from being too stabby, well I say it’s just idiots boys being idiots boys .

In the words of Tyshawn: “keep my name out ya’ mouth for you get smacked in it.”

In the words of Frank Reynolds: “I bet that broad was classy as shit.”

Luke Hochevar needs to stop being so bad at baseball:

Royals news these days is ad nauseam: “Zack Greinke is going to get screwed out of the Cy Young.” While it would be a shame to see such a fate befall our one shining star, it doesn’t seem likely, as many many more baseball minds are waking up to the fact that pitcher wins are about as indicative of baseball goodness as Dayton Moore’s scouting ability.

But this section of the post is about our fearless 1st rounder Luke Hochevar. As many of you may know, Luke has been dominant this season to the tune of an 80-pitch complete game against the Reds, 13 strikeouts and no walks against the Rangers, a three-hit shutout against the White Sox etc. So the question is how, how, HOW is his ERA 6.42??

Well, outings like last night might have something to do with it. Luke has been an enigma. He’s been on and off, hot and cold. He was tipping his pitches, then fixing it, then getting bombed.

The good news: at least one guy sees him as the next Chris Carpenter. Let’s hope by the next Chris Carpenter, he doesn’t mean the next Tony Brizzolara. Who?? Exactly.

Sigh…only one more week, then no more Royals until next April…or until Dayton Moore trades Carlos Rosa for Willy Taveras in January.

Rasheed Wallace needs to stop…well nothing. He needs to keep doing shit like this:

If I told you that there were a professional athlete not from or having, on the surface, anything to do with Kansas City, who was seen at the Eagles/Chiefs game wearing a Derrick Thomas jersey and carrying a prosthetic leg, you’d say Rasheed Wallace, right??

Apparently this is was what happened at Lincoln Financial Field in Philladelphia after the game on Sunday, when ‘Sheed was a member of the scene described above. Remarkably, we still have no answer on just who’s leg it was that he was carrying , or why.

Frankly, I don’t want to know. And, personally, I think the crazier thing is rooting for the Chiefs in the first place. I’ve often said I would sell my leg for a Super Bowl Title…unfortunately, somebody took that a little too literally. What I’m not surprised about is that it was Rasheed Wallace.