Friday, November 09, 2007

Two-way stars and national championships: Charles Woodson, Chris Gamble, and now Aqib Talib?!

It is not often that something happens to you that has never happened before in your entire life, something that completely shakes up your routine and the way you've lived your life. This past year there many memorable events in my life: celebrating my first wedding anniversary with my beautiful wife (that's us on the right eating lobster in Maine) by taking a wonderful driving tour of New England and Quebec; passing the bar exam to become a licensed attorney; being the best man in my younger brother's wedding; celebrating the 60th birthday of my father, a man I love and admire greatly; and attending my little nephew Dominic's (photo to the left) first birthday party.

Those were all wonderful events. But none are what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is the opening of the University of Kansas basketball season. Sure, that's happened every year since 1898, but this year was the first since 1989 that I didn't notice. Usually by the time of the second exhibition, every KU fan is fired up and ready to go. So was it a new sense of resposibility? Nope. A maturing process leading me away from the trials and tribulations of 18-21 year-old kids? Hardly. I'll get to the point, it's this guy and his team...


The KU football team is ranked #4 in the BCS, and has a chance to play for a conference championship, maybe even win the conference, maybe even...ok I won't talk about that yet. I'll let Michael Wilbon say it instead, "Kansas will go undefeated, and will play for the national championship." That was on PTI on November 8, 2007, and was high on my list of things I never thought I'd hear. Old smelly man Tony Kornheiser said "No way!"

After scoring 76 (seventy-six!) points on Nebraska to move to 9-0 for the first time since the 2nd century (BC, Athens and Carthage were tough road games I bet), KU fans could not care less what Kornheiser thinks. This week ESPN is pimping KU all over the place, as the KU at Oklahoma State game is the national ABC game on Saturday night (for most of the country, but here I will get the amazing BC-Maryland game!). It's just a bit cool to see KU football splashed all over the place.
Let's take a look back at my awesomeness in predicting this break-out season. I was optimistic in 2005, when I contemplated Kansas becoming a player in the Big 12 here, after their first victory over Nebraska since 1969. What seemed to be hubris then looks a little more prescient now doesn't it? Leading up to the Iowa State game in 2005, I noted here that Bill Snyder's retirement might open up the Big 12 a little more for KU (hit), as would the inevitable firing of Gary Pinkel at Mizzou (miss). Leading up to the 2006 season, I predicted KU to go 10-2 here. I was just a year early; KU missed winning 8-9 games in 2006 by the narrowest of margins, with backbreaking last minute breakdowns against Nebraska, Baylor, A&M, and Toledo.

So, clearly I predicted this 9-0 start that has everyone else shocked. My brother, however, likes to point out that when you predict 10-2 every year, eventually you'll be right. I say, one, many people thought Mangino would never win 10 games, and two, shut up and deal with my Amazing Kreskin skills.

Difference Makers
Aqib Talib is a Sports Illustrated cover guy (even if it's in the upper little corner), and was featured in the New York Times as well (check out the NY Times article on Kansas high school power Smith Center as well while you're there). At the one game I've been able to attend in person, the thrilling 62-0 thrashing of SE Louisiana, we commented on how Talib never stops talking; as soon as he took his helmet off it was clear he was yapping. I bet he's really talking now (except maybe he was quiet for a sec after those two TDs that Nebraska wide receiver Maurice Purify scored over him). Talib most likely will take the cash and move on to be a difference maker in the NFL. He has a daughter with a KU sprinter, and has already singed a letter of intent with Magino for any future sons they have, so KU should be able to replace him in about 20 years.

Here's a couple of highlights from Talib's year so far:





Mark Magino has gone from funny fat guy to funny fat guy who wins, and has really hit the national spotlight. I hope he's too busy building his program to read all the stupid blogs about him (and I'm putting the likelihood of that at, oh, maybe 100%). Mangino became a youtube star for berating freshman Raymond Pendleton for taking a penalty for diving into the endzone. Deadspin.com has Mangino jokes prominent in their rotation of content, most notably here (making fun of the Lawrence Journal World picture of Mangino captioned by "Mangino: Cupcakes served their purpose"), and here (a full pictorial). everydayshouldbesaturday.com has also noticed that Mangino is rather large.



But anyway, Mangino has years of experience working under Snyder, OU head coach Bob Stoops, and as the guy in Lawrence and has become a first-rate talent evaluator (both players and coaches), as well as a top-notch game-day coach. The new offensive coordinator Ed Warriner seems to have done a great deal, but having a QB like Todd Reesing has obviously helped.

Defensive tackle James McClinton (junior) will be a first-team all Big 12 selection, as will left offensive tackle Anthony Collins (also a junior). It will be interesting to see how many out of the McClinton, Collins, and Talib trio come back for their senior season. The offense has been productive, only struggling a bit to score on the road against Colorado and A&M. A pair of running backs, Jake Sharp (sophomore) and Brandon McAnderson (senior), have filled in nicely for the graduated Jon Cornish.

The defense is improved, with junior linebackers Joe Mortenson, Mike Rivera, and James Holt all settling in nicely as second-year starters. The secondary was horrific statistically last year, but cornerbacks Chris Harris (freshman) and Kendrick Harper (junior college transfer - junior) have done a good job splitting time opposite Talib. The lackluster pass rush, which contributed to KU's poor defense against the pass last season is not much better other than McClinton, and remians a concern.

Is success sustainable?
For the years that I've followed the KU football team, it's always been a given that KU cannot be a consistent contender. Of the many KU fans that I've talked to, no one has ever said "KU really should be a perennial top ten team." We simply hope that KU can win 6 or 7 games and go to a bowl. This makes sense when the team hasn't done that but four times in the past 20 years or so (this year will be #5). But there is no reason why this must always be true.

Nebraska and Oklahoma are so different from Kansas, it's obvious that KU could never field a program like OU and NU. Or not. Kansas has a population of about 2.7 million people. Oklahoma has more with 3.6 million people, and Nebraska less with 1.7 million. Sure, pure population is not the whole picture. But is there really that big of difference - what, they play high school football in Oklahoma and Nebraska but skip Kansas? We've heard about the "corn-fed o-linemen" up at Lincoln for years, but do wheat-fed kids not block as well? I think they play some football in Hutchinson, Dodge City, Liberal, Wichita, and even in wimpy Johnson County.

You know what else? Nebraska used to stink. It's true, in the 1950s they weren't good. Kansas was good, real good, at points in the late 1950s and in the 1960s (Gale Sayers! Gale Sayers!). Other programs have gone from nothing to powers - Wisconsin, Florida State, Miami (FL), and Virginia Tech are good examples. KU has the money to do it, they have the coach to do it, and there are enough players in the region (plus Texas rejects!) to do it. Plus, Nebraska, K-State, and Colorado are all playing catch-up at this point.

I don't feel like ruining a perfectly good day by talking about that team to the east of Kansas, so we'll just ignore them for now...

Jason King, the former beat writer for KU at the Kansas City Star, wrote about all of this as well for Yahoo! sports, under the headline Kansas Revival. King should know well how far the program has come as he covered the ineptness of the Terry Allen regime. But King also highlights how the administration was far from helpful as well. Having never been close to college football and how a program is run, it is hard to know what all goes into running a successful program, but even I can understand what it means for the football team to have their own offices, training facilities, and practice fields right next to the stadium, rather than taking a bus to a facility shared by all other teams. Football deserves it as well, because a successful football program means a lot more money for everyone.

Losers
Here's a couple of videos in honor of the formerly dominant (ha) K-State football team. Be careful, my mother says the second one is "vulgar."



4 Comments:

At November 25, 2007 7:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ha ha. KU showed its true colors at Arrowhead last night. I guess a cupcake schedule doesn't work as well in football as it does in basketball. KU will never be a football school. This season was a fluke, the schedule was a joke, and the wheels are officially off the wagon.

KU Football: A Tradition Since September.

 
At November 25, 2007 10:14 PM, Blogger Drew Thompson said...

Yes, we definitely were declaring ourselves as a football school, you are so right. An 11-1 season and a number 5 ranking really proves Kansas is a joke. I wonder what that makes teams like LSU, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, USC, Michigan, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, etc, etc, etc, that are ranked behind the Jayhawks. Putz.

 
At August 17, 2008 4:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Number 5? Not on any poll that I know of. Number 7. Three spots behind that team that you said sucked. Guess you were wrong about that weren't ya loser?

 
At August 17, 2008 4:47 PM, Blogger Drew Thompson said...

KU was ranked #5 at the time of my comment - on Nov. 25, 2007, before the final polls came out after the bowl games. Several times jumped over KU with impressive bowl wins, like West Virginia.

Here's a link:
http://www.fanblogs.com/ncaa/007324.php

Thank you for your interest in Kansas athletics. I look forward to the annual ballgame between the "Beakerz" and the glorious Tigers.

 

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