Kansas State just ruined it for other schools around the country. Following the Wildcats well-played victory over #8-ranked Kansas Monday evening, a rowdy crowd stormed the floor, while the few crowd-control officials on hand stood and watched. Storming the court is a long-standing tradition for underdog teams and their fans but Wildcat fans took it a little too far. Though K-State’s President and Athletic Director quickly offered apologies on Tuesday, there will be repercussions and those ripples will reach all across the country. Expect new and tougher regulations concerning crowd control to be dictated by the NCAA following this, at all major colleges, before someone gets hurt. It will happen sooner rather than later.
A common excuse given for the Big 12 being left out of the first-ever College Football Playoff field was its lack of a championship game. The Big 12 was the only major conference that did not have one though, to me, playing EVERY other team in the conference is more noteworthy than a conference championship game. TCU’s head football coach Gary Patterson has the right idea: Get rid of ALL of the conference championship games! “I think you would make more money on the playoff games in December than you would with the conference championship games,” Patterson said. He is in favor of expanding the number of teams in the playoffs as well. It’s not rocket science folks. Listen to the guy!
Does any university in the country produce less with more talent than the football and basketball teams at the University of Texas? Year after year we are told that they have assembled the Top-Five talent in the country in both sports and yet………………………….well, look at the standings! Perhaps the fault lies with the publicity department, the sports information department, at the university. Maybe those recruits aren’t THAT good but it just feels good to say they are. It is either that or they aren’t getting “coached up”.
Speaking of college football playoffs, now that we’ve been through the first one for the Big Boys, we can see the flaws. Not enough teams included. Perhaps we should also “tweek” the selection committee. I am still befuddled by the inclusion of Condaleeza Rice on that committee. She has said in the past that her dream job was to be NFL commissioner, and that apparently was part of what led several commissioners to nominate her. Gosh, if that’s all it takes, what would I get if I wished to be Ruler of the Universe?
Putting aside the boorish behavior of Kansas State’s fans, wasn’t Monday’s Wildcat victory just what the Doctor ordered for coach Bruce Weber? His basketball season was quickly unraveling into a late-season bickering disaster brought on by the doghouse-suspended antics of scoring leader-turned malcontent Marcus Foster. A cancer from within has destroyed more than one ball club over the years and it was rapidly eating away at coach Weber and his basketball team. Temporarily, at least, it pulled the snipers off of Weber’s back.
The University of South Carolina should be renamed “The University of INTENSITY”! Does any university in the country have two more intense major-sport coaches than football coach Steve Spurrier and basketball coach Frank Martin? Their sideline and courtside demeanor didn’t get it done this year and the vibes out of Columbia are that Frank Martin might not survive another year. Spurrier? He’s won too many games to be in that kind of trouble though he does have his critics.
We haven’t heard much from them lately but Kansas City Wyandotte dominates when it comes to Kansas high school basketball. 20 times they have won a state championship. They once won 5 in a row (57-61) and once 4 in a row (67-70) They have played in an incredible 30 state championship games and from 1953 through 1965, they played in 13 consecutive state championship games. Who was the mastermind behind most of those wins? A man named Walter Shublom.
Here’s hoping your team gets there this year!