LARNED — Will Rogers once said, “Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.” True enough and we have a couple of examples this week in the sports world.
President Obama has interjected himself into the discussion about whether or not the Washington Redskins should change their name.
Is there no end to the matters about which this guy has an opinion  without giving some forethought? I’m all for a name change, just not the Redskins. How about we change the name of the President? From Obama to, well, most anyone else!
I think Dan Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, would be the guy with the most credentials on whether his football team should continue the 80-year-old name of Redskins.
Then there is the case of Condoleeza Rice being named a member of the committee that will pick the teams for the new four-team playoff for the championship of college football.
HUH, you might ask?
Hey, she’s a smart lady that did a great job in the Bush Cabinet and a lot of folks would like for the Republicans to nominate her for President but pick our best four teams to compete for the national championship? This smacks of window dressing to me.
The next thing we know they’ll have Governor Sam Brownback calling plays for the Jayhawk football team. Well, then again ... !
WAC ACTION — The Western Athletic Conference teams are living up to their nickname of the “Wild and Wacky WAC!” Just when Great Bend looks like they might be putting things together they come up a cropper against Dodge City, losing 47-13.
You can go crazy trying to figure who is going to win using the comparative game scores. Dodge City loses to Liberal, who loses to Garden City, who loses to Great Bend, who loses to Dodge City .
Oh yes, there is also Hays, who lost 35-0 to Garden City, who lost to Great Bend, who lost to Dodge City, who lost to Liberal and, well, you get the point.
All we know is this: the teams in the WAC are better than most of those in the Wichita City League and that the WAC title is still up for grabs!
The Liberal Redskins (whoops, there’s that word again) come calling Friday evening and the Panthers can take a huge step forward with a win. Will it be the team that beat Garden City or the team that didn’t put up much resistance against Dodge City?
Look for Great Bend head coach Bo Black to have his defense back on track as the Panthers continue this See Saw season. Great Bend 27, Liberal 19.
CHALK TALK — What’s wrong with Kansas State? Really, not too much that a bigger handle on the football wouldn’t cure. Turnovers get you beat, plain and simple. I look for an upset in Manhattan Saturday. K-State 30, Baylor 27 ... The college basketball season isn’t even here yet and already I am sick of hearing announcers use the words “He’s a freak athletically” to describe some young phenom. How about “Hey, this kid’s REALLY good?” ... The Kansas WOEHAWKS travel to Fort Worth to try to get well against Rozel’s Gary Patterson and his Horned Frogs. That’s not exactly a team you would hand pick to get your first Big 12 road win against. Frogs with horns aren’t fun to handle, especially if they themselves have been roughed up a little. TCU 39, Kansas 20 ... Okay, I know it doesn’t make much sense but the Chiefs’ 5-0 start probably ends Sunday against the Raiders. All of you know that six weeks ago if you thought the Chiefs would start 5-1 you would be tickled. So get ready to be tickled. Oakland 36, Kansas City 31 ... A lot of folks would like to see a Red Sox and Redbirds World Series.  The Cardinals certainly would not be strangers there ... Did you ever notice how nice football coaches talk about their upcoming opponent and their coach? Reminds me of another of Will Rogers’ sayings: “Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice Doggie’ until you can find a rock.”

Charles Tabler is a contributing writer from Larned