Category Archives: Sports
OTC: K-State At Nebraska For Rare Big Hoops Game
“It’s a bigger game for Nebraska than it is for Kansas State at this point.”Dave Armstrong, on the Wildcats trip to Lincoln for tonight’s 8:00 PM tipoff, 810 AM
GH: K-State is riding a torrid 4-of-5 game Big 12 win streak that includes a pounding of then top-ranked Kansas. Sleepy Nebraska jumped into everyone’s bubble conversation with maybe the upset of the year with their win over Texas. This matchup could not come at a better time for Big 12 hoops crazies. Both teams need this one to remain legit NCAA contenders.
“I don’t think a loss at Nebraska is going to hurt (K-State’s) NCAA chances.”
Dave Armstrong, 810 AM
GH: Read that sentence again and try to make sense of it. While the Huskers win over Texas was huge for Doc Sadler and his squad, the Devaney Center is after all named after a football coach. No one outside the Big 8 thinks a loss in Lincoln is tolerable. Frank Martin needs this win to keep the Cats tourney hopes purring.
Dave Armstrong, 810 AM
GH: Read that sentence again and try to make sense of it. While the Huskers win over Texas was huge for Doc Sadler and his squad, the Devaney Center is after all named after a football coach. No one outside the Big 8 thinks a loss in Lincoln is tolerable. Frank Martin needs this win to keep the Cats tourney hopes purring.
OTC: Bulldog Bob Fescoe Loses His Bite When It Comes To KU
“K-State fans are not happy with me and the radio station for our perceived bias of KU. I didn’t think we’d have to go into these explanations on why we’ve mocked K-State. They were supposed to (win the Big 12) and they have completely underachieved!”Shan Shariff, 610 AM
GH: The hot question being debated between Kansas and K-State fans is why isn’t KU’s Tyshawn Taylor’s suspension being critiqued with the same voracity as KSU’s Curtis Kelly’s reported investigation and hearing was the previous week? Read on for Bob Fescoe’s crimson and blue reasoning.
“This is two different stories but K-State fans won’t hear that. The Curtis Kelly thing was different! That was three things that happened boom, boom, boom – all in the same season. Tyshawn Taylor’s were one his freshman year, one his sophomore year and one his junior year. They were more spread out.”
Bob Fescoe, 610 AM
GH: Yeah, Fescoe really said that. The Bulldog might be the best thing to happen to the OTC since Neil Smith.
Bob Fescoe, 610 AM
GH: Yeah, Fescoe really said that. The Bulldog might be the best thing to happen to the OTC since Neil Smith.
OTC: Royals’ Forecast Differs Depending On Radio Station
“(Dan Glass) has officially owned this team for a decade now. I think we’re on 12 years that he has officially owned this ball club. This team has not won. And now we stand at the crossroads of a labor negotiations to which David Glass was once considered a problem (for owners) because he stood up for the small-market teams. … Now everybody’s getting rich and it’s not about winning or the small-market teams would be standing up and crying foul. And they’re not. They’re quietly sitting and lining their pockets with millions of dollars. And that’s sad.”Soren Petro, 810 AM
GH: It has been interesting to listen to the different tone regarding the Royals from the two local all-sports talk radio stations in Kansas City. Petro and his 810 crew have continued to be quite harsh and in my opinion more realistic in their approach to analyzing and covering the Royals. 610 Sports sent Bob Fescoe to Arizona to cover the first week of the Royals’ camp and he got a case of true blue religion while in the Valley of the Sun. Read on.
“The Glass bashing is done. The Glass bashing is old. He is the owner of this team. He was not doing the right things at the beginning but he’s doing the right things now. They are the caretakers of this franchise.”
Bob Fescoe, who has declared he will no longer publicly bash the Royals owner as he has in the past, 610 AM
OTC: Chiefs, Jayhawks, Cats, Tigers, ‘Skers & Even Sporting KC In This OTC
“I think the thing that is most important is that coaches coach and general managers manage. You have to let people do things the way they believe things need to be managed.”Scott Pioli, when asked if he was in agreement with Todd Haley calling his offense’s plays, 810 AM
GH: Haley struggled handling being the head coach and OC in his first season. In his second season he struggled with wearing a headset and listening to Charlie Weis call plays. I think he’s an innovative play caller who definitely thinks outside the headset. The question is has he matured enough to handle what he couldn’t as a rookie head coach.
“I would say we’re a good ways from those teams. To be at the level where the Steelers have sustained it or the Packers have consistently had strong seasons, for us to get to that level – I still think there’s a difference.”
Scott Pioli, when asked how close he thinks his Chiefs are to making a Super Bowl run, 810 AM
GH: Todd Haley appeared at a charity event last night and Jack Harry reported on TV 41 that Haley refused to answer any questions about the Chiefs. He wanted to speak only about the charity. Does Haley realize the reason the charity wants his and his wife’s involvement is because he’s the Chiefs head coach? Sometimes these sports guys’ heads get so big they quit functioning.
Scott Pioli, when asked how close he thinks his Chiefs are to making a Super Bowl run, 810 AM
GH: Todd Haley appeared at a charity event last night and Jack Harry reported on TV 41 that Haley refused to answer any questions about the Chiefs. He wanted to speak only about the charity. Does Haley realize the reason the charity wants his and his wife’s involvement is because he’s the Chiefs head coach? Sometimes these sports guys’ heads get so big they quit functioning.
OTC: ‘Bama Fanatic Poisons Auburn’s Sacred Oaks @ Tommoer’s Corner
“Auburn tree killer should be forced to work on Auburn’s grounds crew on game days, in a cheerleader’s uniform.”Dave Matter, columnist for Columbia Tribune, Twitter
GH: If you missed this little story, it appears an Alabama fan poisoned a grove of 130-year-old oak trees at Toomer’s Corner that the Auburn fans hold in the same high regard ‘Bama holds Bear Bryant. The trees are now all dying and there is no hope of saving them. Read on.
OTC: Does KU’s Bill Think His Team is Selfish?
“I don’t know that (Jacob Pullen) kid well but he’s got 38 playing on national TV against a team that doesn’t deserve it but is ranked number one in the country and their arch rivals – and he defers not to shoot the ball to get 40. Class! That kid had it going on tonight. … When everybody else on our team would have gone and hunted their shot.”Bill Self, in his postgame interview after the loss at K-State, Jayhawk Radio Network
GH: I was stunned by how Bill Self tossed every player on his team under the wheels of the Jayhawk bus that left Manhattan. I don’t know why Self would choose to paint his team as a bunch of selfish individuals who care more about their stats than their team – but that is what he did. Did the KSU loss really transform KU from a team spouting their new “Family Over Everything” slogan to a bunch of me-first jerks? I sure don’t think so but the better question is why does Coach Self?
“I love Self…but they’ve got some turds on that team. Maybe that’s one of the things that’s not allowing them to get past that invisible ceiling the past couple of years. You look at Tyshawn’s issue with the football team, Mario’s issues off the court, the (Morris) twins and their thuggery on the floor, the (Elijah) Johnson dunk and the stupidest T of all time. They’ve got some guys who have to get in line in terms of their character because when you get in the tough battles in March, that does play a part.”
Doug Gottlieb, ESPN college basketball analyst, in an interview with Soren Petro, 810 AM
GH: So we’re back to the Bill Clinton question; does character matter? Gottlieb dismisses Kansas recent good play to playing “a lot of bad teams in the Big 12.” Is Bill Self a lot more unhappy with his 24-2 Jayhawks than it appears? Just when we thought KU was peaking, a blowout loss to rival K-State appears to have opened a lot of old wounds.
OTC: Pullen Gets 38 And Sinks #1 Kansas
“I’m leaving here not really recognizing the team that played tonight. We’ve got to get some things straight.”Bill Self, after Kansas State’s 84-68 win over top-ranked Kansas, Kansas City Star
GH: I heard and read a lot about how bad Kansas was in Manhattan on Monday Night. But the story wasn’t how Kansas failed but rather how K-State soared. No visiting team this side of the NBA gets out of Bramlage Monday night with a win. Jacob Pullen and K-State were that good. That great. That special.
“We’re a force to be reckoned with.”
Rodney McGruder, KSU’s sophomore guard, Kansas City Star
GH: I would agree if KSU can count on Pullen to get 38 every night and the NCAA allows them to play the rest of their schedule at home. That manically loud Manhattan crowd had Tyshawn Taylor playing like Elizabeth Taylor and the Morris twins’ games reduced to the anorexic level of Mary-Kate and Ashley. But K-State has work to do. Read on.
OTC: K-State Is Buzzer Beaten In Boulder
“He got it off. It’s good. No doubt.”Gabe DeArmond, moments after the ESPNU replay showed K-State’s Rodney McGruder’s desperation three-pointer in Boulder on Saturday night was good according to the on-screen clock, Twitter
GH: My wife and I attended a Valentine’s dinner party with nine other couples on Saturday night. After leaving the restaurant, we all headed to one of the couple’s homes. I convinced the host to flip on the second half of the KSU-CU game, despite his belief that he didn’t think his cable service provided ESPNU. Even the wives were riveted to the tube for the game’s final minutes. The wave of up and down emotion that swept through that rec room was scintillating. When Pullen was picked by Burks, the Mizzou and Kansas fans in the room cheered. When Pullen answered with a three the K-Staters went wild – only to be crushed by Frank Martin’s ill-timed TO. But McGruder’s catch, twirl and heave with 1.1 showing on the clock that went from game-winner to possible NIT clincher was one for the ages. It reminded me a lot of Nebraska’s thought-they-won-but-lost game against Colt McCoy’s Longhorns in last year’s Big 12 football title game.
“I don’t know what else can happen to K-State this year. That was unreal.”
Todd Leabo, Twitter
Todd Leabo, Twitter
OTC: Kietzman’s Got Frank Martin’s Back & Curtis Kelly’s Bag
“I don’t mean to be a smart aleck but let’s be thankful all the people who are panicking right now are not coaching our team.”Frank Martin, during an interview with Kevin Kietzman on Tuesday afternoon, 810 AM
GH: Kietzman aired his interview with Martin late Tuesday afternoon – about an hour before Austin Meek of the Topeka Capital Journal was one of the first to break the story that Curtis Kelly, K-State’s senior post player, might be in violation of a school handbook rule as a third-strike offense. Martin’s interview with KK was most likely taped earlier but I did not hear him or Kietzman refer to this latest problem for Kelly and the KSU basketball program. After the story broke Tuesday afternoon, I did think back on Martin’s cocky comment above and wonder just who is better off with him as K-State’s head coach. Read on.
Take 5: MU/KU Game Notes From Inside Allen Fieldhouse
Sitting a few rows behind the Kansas bench in Allen Fieldhouse is a great place to get a unique perspective of the Missouri/Kansas basketball rivalry. Here are my notes from number-two-ranked Kansas’ 103-86 win over the game-but-overmatched Tigers on Big Monday. · Bill Self has a little Frank Martin in him. He’s just a whole lot better at hiding it than the volatile K-State coach. Inside KU’s team huddles, Self goes off on his players with much of the same ferocity as Martin – minus the Goodfellas stare. Self spent a good portion of the Mizzou game pissed, especially at his two point guards, Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson. I almost felt sorry for these two the way Self would yank them in and out of the game depending on their latest bad pass or poor defensive play. Somehow Self makes all this work. No coach I know of can juggle as much talent as KU annually attracts and keep everyone happy with their minutes and stats. Self’s greatest asset as a coach – aside from his ability to recruit studs – may be his ability to manage egos better than anybody in the college game.
· Self never yelled at three players; Thomas Robinson, Brady Morningstar and Tyrell Reed.
OTC: Super Bowl 45 Has Something For Almost Everybody
“I disagree with all these guys saying game lived up to the billing. It was supposed to be one of the all time greats. I don’t put it there. Good game, but we’ve seen some great ones of late. This one wasn’t great, IMO.”Nate Bukaty, Twitter
GH: Super Bowl 45 was one of the all-time greats. Great drama, great commercials, great halftime show and great outtakes like ARod getting finger-fed popcorn by Cameron Diaz and Christina Aguilera flubbing lines in the National Anthem. Plenty of juice for the family to cuss and discuss for the four-hour game.
“How is it, given all the time you have to prepare, you can mess up the national anthem? Riddle me that, Christina Aguilera.”
Bob Wolfey, columnist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GH: The pop singer was ripped on Twitter almost immediately for her anthem miscues as if she was Jay Cutler sitting out the second half. Did she screw up? Yeah, but that’s what happens sometimes when you sing the anthem on live TV. I was not nearly as bothered by her screw up as some. Read on.
Bob Wolfey, columnist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GH: The pop singer was ripped on Twitter almost immediately for her anthem miscues as if she was Jay Cutler sitting out the second half. Did she screw up? Yeah, but that’s what happens sometimes when you sing the anthem on live TV. I was not nearly as bothered by her screw up as some. Read on.
OTC: No Cheerleaders @ Super Bowl A First
“There will be no cheerleaders at the Super Bowl for the first time in 45 years. The Packers did away with their cheerleaders in 1988 after market research indicated fans didn’t really care, and in 1970 it was an ‘organizational decision’ to dissolve the Steelerettes.”FoxNews.com
GH: I was stunned to hear that the Packers and Steelers do not employee cheerleaders. They are not alone. Six NFL teams do not have sideline eye candy. Which teams? Some of the oldest in the league join the tradition-rich franchises in Green Bay and Pittsburgh. Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and the New York Giants also go skirtless on game day.
“Gimme an I-R-O-N-Y!! The upcoming Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium, home of the world’s most famous cheerleaders and monument to all things poufy and glittering, will make history for a different reason. There will be no cheerleaders. The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers are two of the six NFL teams that do not employ cheerleaders, and the NFL said Thursday that they have no plans to bring in ringers.”
Bill Platschke, columnist, LA Times
GH: I would have let the Cowboys cheerleaders do their thing in Dallas for Super Bowl 45. There are a lot of events where sexed-up cheerleading outfits don’t belong (high school activities for one), but the NFL is not one of those. The Raiderettes are one of the few redeeming things about the Oakland franchise.
Bill Platschke, columnist, LA Times
GH: I would have let the Cowboys cheerleaders do their thing in Dallas for Super Bowl 45. There are a lot of events where sexed-up cheerleading outfits don’t belong (high school activities for one), but the NFL is not one of those. The Raiderettes are one of the few redeeming things about the Oakland franchise.
OTC: Football’s Best Recruits Continue To Shun Cold Colleges
Rivals Top 20 Schools for 2011 Football Recruiting
1) Alabama 11) Oregon
2) Florida State 12) Tennessee
3) Texas 13) Oklahoma
4) USC 14) Florida
5) Georgia 15) Nebraska
6) LSU 16) North Carolina
7) Auburn 17) California
8) Clemson 18) Ole Miss
9) Notre Dame 19) Texas Tech
10) Ohio State 20) South Carolina
Rivals’ experts rank every Big 12 South school except Baylor ahead of the first Big 12 North school, a surprising Kansas at 34. Mizzou is next at 46. Iowa State’s and Kansas State’s recruiting classes did not make the top 50.
In Rivals Top 20, only three programs (ND, OSU and NU) can be considered cold-weather schools. It is my belief that the warm weather states and schools will continue to dominate college football. This is not a good thing for our local schools in the former Big 12 North. Even Mizzou’s Gary Pinkel appears to have lost some of his annual recruiting magic with a class that many experts are labeling as subpar. Kansas fans are giddy over Rivals placing their class as the Big 12’s sixth best. It’s all about expectations. And if you’re a football team from the North, those expectations have never been more miniscule. Read on.
Take 5 (below): What’s Your Blizzard of Oz Story?
“That was the most over rated weather event in the last 20 years. I HATE the news for working us all up into a frenzy. The media wanted this storm to be so bad. I can tell you there have been much worse storms.”Bob Fescoe, Wednesday morning on Twitter
“Blizzard conditions. I-70 shut down to StL/1st time since it was built in 58. KCI shut down. No buses. KCMO St of Emergency…and it’s overrated?”
Kris Ketz, responding to Fescoe’s tweet, Twitter
Kris Ketz, responding to Fescoe’s tweet, Twitter
GH: I thought the weather people got this one spot-on right – and they did it three days in advance! When over half the country is crippled by a winter storm, I think it is difficult to consider any part of it overrated. But maybe your experience with The Blizzard of Oz is similar to Fescoe’s. Or more like mine where I was stranded in an Overland Park hotel Tuesday night with my truck snowbound in our office parking lot. I took the photo (above) near College Blvd. & Cedar in OP, just as the postman was making his daily pick up Tuesday at 3:30 PM. This dude definitely follows the USPS unofficial creed; “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
Add your storm story to the Comments section below.
OTC: John Kadlec Retires His Edsel Voice From MU’s Radio Booth
“Just saw this about MU fb analyst John Kadlec retiring. I enjoyed his work and our conversations. Wonderful link to Mizzou, Big 8 history.”Blair Kerkhoff, of The Kansas City Star, Twitter
GH: Kadlec spent 16 years as Mizzou’s football radio color analyst. While Kerkhoff says he enjoyed his work, it was 16 long, painful years for my ears. Read on.
“You are truly a Mizzou legend!”
Kevin Kietzman, while interviewing Kadlec on 810 AM
Kevin Kietzman, while interviewing Kadlec on 810 AM
“A very nice man.”
Nate Bukaty, 810 AM
Nate Bukaty, 810 AM
“A great man.”
Steven St. John, 810 AM
GH: At least the 810 crew didn’t pretend to laud Kadlec’s broadcasting skills. They politely talked about everything but.
Steven St. John, 810 AM
GH: At least the 810 crew didn’t pretend to laud Kadlec’s broadcasting skills. They politely talked about everything but.
OTC: Wally Judges Frank Martin To Be Lacking
"Wally (Judge) quit the team today.”Frank Martin, according to a tweet from The Star’s Kellis Robinette, Twitter
GH: Whoa. Is Manhattan now Iowa City west – where a new bombshell explodes over the Frank Martin’s Cats’ each week? First Dominique Sutton bolts the program last July. Then Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly get pinched for their Dillards dash. Highly regarded juco transfer Freddy Asprilla leaves the program after a tough practice. K-State gets embarrassed by Kansas on Saturday and then Martin announces his most acclaimed recruit, Wally Judge, has left the building. Whoa.
“He’s not happy. I kinda saw it coming because of some of his emotional situations.”
Frank Martin, via Robinette’s tweet
GH: So now Martin is going to publicly label Judge’s issues at Kansas State as “emotional?” What a load of purple garbage. Man up, Frank. It’s your program and you are the common denominator in the issues that have invaded and destroyed your team. Martin is making millions and he wants to paint a 19-year-old kid as an emotional cripple? That’ll really help Wally find a new school. Damn, that is a low blow coming from Frank. Maybe we should rename him Not Very Frank.
Frank Martin, via Robinette’s tweet
GH: So now Martin is going to publicly label Judge’s issues at Kansas State as “emotional?” What a load of purple garbage. Man up, Frank. It’s your program and you are the common denominator in the issues that have invaded and destroyed your team. Martin is making millions and he wants to paint a 19-year-old kid as an emotional cripple? That’ll really help Wally find a new school. Damn, that is a low blow coming from Frank. Maybe we should rename him Not Very Frank.
OTC: KU’s Funeral Trip Revisited & Debated By 610’s Shan Shariff
“Greg Hall’s suggesting that the attendance of the KU basketball team at Thomas Robinson’s mom’s funeral will be detrimental and somehow hurt this team going forward. How in the hell is that a possibility? … I think it’s asinine. I think it’s silly. I think it’s dumb. I think it’s stupid. And I think it’s blind.”Shan Shariff, responding to my column earlier this week questioning the decision to fly the Kansas basketball team back to Washington D.C. for Thomas Robinson’s mother’s funeral, 610 AM
GH: I am guessing Shariff doesn’t agree with my take. Or maybe he simply did not understand my concerns. Read on.
“My question and my response (to Hall’s column) is, where are our priorities?”
Shan Shariff, 610 AM
GH: Where are our priorities when it comes to college sports? Where are our priorities when it comes to paying a head coach $3 million per season to coach college basketball? Where are our priorities when the “privilege” of buying already exorbitantly-priced tickets is tied to fans having to donate tens of thousands of dollars (and more) to a mysterious but-rarely-questioned entity called The Williams Fund? It is obvious where our priorities are when it comes to Kansas basketball. They are obscenely tilted toward the manic need to feed the financial beast that nourishes the self-worth of a proud but skewed Jayhawk fan base. A fan base no different than Nebraska football or a number of college towns we all know well.
Shan Shariff, 610 AM
GH: Where are our priorities when it comes to college sports? Where are our priorities when it comes to paying a head coach $3 million per season to coach college basketball? Where are our priorities when the “privilege” of buying already exorbitantly-priced tickets is tied to fans having to donate tens of thousands of dollars (and more) to a mysterious but-rarely-questioned entity called The Williams Fund? It is obvious where our priorities are when it comes to Kansas basketball. They are obscenely tilted toward the manic need to feed the financial beast that nourishes the self-worth of a proud but skewed Jayhawk fan base. A fan base no different than Nebraska football or a number of college towns we all know well.
OTC: Mobile Media Is The New Tsunami Of News/Sports Info
“Mobile. Mobile. Mobile.”Jeremy Crabtree, college football recruiting guru, who recently moved from Rivals to ESPN, 810 AM
GH: Crabtree described what he is doing with ESPN’s recruiting services as “building something from scratch.” Kevin Kietzman asked him what we could expect to see in future years and Crabtree made the “mobile” comments. Information is power. That mantra is hummed in IT shops and learning centers from Tijuana to Bangor. And how we gobble our news, sports and weather continues to evolve with more haste than a game of Spore. Read on.
“They can’t be using these things more than they’re watching ESPN, can they?”
Kevin Kietzman, reacting to Crabtree’s comments that the future for recruiting information and possibly all news info is mobile devices like cells, iPads, etc. 810 AM
GH: Kietzman has been slow to embrace technology. It has not yet hurt his ratings much and it may never cause a dent. But his audience (and mine) is quickly changing from a newspaper cult to an iPhone/Droid/Tablet tribe. 12 years ago Kietzman complained about the Internet and not knowing how to email. Last year he talked about how Todd Leabo was trying to get him on this thing called Twitter. 610’s hosts make the social network an integrated and important part of their shows. 810 not so much. It will be interesting to see if KK’s Cro-Magnon tech ways are the daylight 610 needs to crack WHB’s foundation of success.
Kevin Kietzman, reacting to Crabtree’s comments that the future for recruiting information and possibly all news info is mobile devices like cells, iPads, etc. 810 AM
GH: Kietzman has been slow to embrace technology. It has not yet hurt his ratings much and it may never cause a dent. But his audience (and mine) is quickly changing from a newspaper cult to an iPhone/Droid/Tablet tribe. 12 years ago Kietzman complained about the Internet and not knowing how to email. Last year he talked about how Todd Leabo was trying to get him on this thing called Twitter. 610’s hosts make the social network an integrated and important part of their shows. 810 not so much. It will be interesting to see if KK’s Cro-Magnon tech ways are the daylight 610 needs to crack WHB’s foundation of success.
OTC: Are Frank Martin’s Wildcats Back or Bad?
“They took the game to Baylor. I think they’ve found something in Manhattan. I thought it was a great half of basketball for Kansas State.”Soren Petro, after K-State’s win over Baylor, 810 AM
GH: I heard Dave Armstrong make a similar point Tuesday night as he and Reid Gettys broadcasted the KU/CU game. I watched the Baylor/KSU game as well and I didn’t see anything there that made me think Frank Martin’s squad has turned the corner. If anything, they looked less lost than Baylor. But still undisciplined, disorganized and a long way from becoming an NCAA team.
“With all due respect, I really don’t care what other people think. I could care less. The only thing I pay attention to is that we pay attention to the things we can control.”
Frank Martin, after being asked by Nate Bukaty how he responds to people calling his team’s style of play “ugly,” 810 AM
GH: It is very obvious Martin has no regard for what others think of his actions, sideline antics or coaching style. It appears to me has changed almost nothing despite his team’s downward spiral from their early-season top-three ranking to probable NIT entrants. It’s my opinion he will begin to care as the losses mount and the heat in Manhattan gets turned up. Read on.
Frank Martin, after being asked by Nate Bukaty how he responds to people calling his team’s style of play “ugly,” 810 AM
GH: It is very obvious Martin has no regard for what others think of his actions, sideline antics or coaching style. It appears to me has changed almost nothing despite his team’s downward spiral from their early-season top-three ranking to probable NIT entrants. It’s my opinion he will begin to care as the losses mount and the heat in Manhattan gets turned up. Read on.
OTC: KU Team Still Locked In Emotional Spin
“I think we saw it in that Texas game. They were emotionally spent in that second half.”Dave Armstrong, Big 12 TV announcer, on part of the blame for Kansas’ collapse against Texas being the emotional toll on the team brought on by the death of Thomas Robinson’s mother, 810 AM
GH: Texas is good and Armstrong made that point as well. But I agree that KU looked emotionally spent for much of that game – especially the second half. I am afraid that the pall from Robinson’s heart-wrenching personal loss of his two grandparents and mother all within three weeks of each other may haunt the Hawks on the court for weeks to come.
“The guys left out of there, I think, in a pretty fair frame of mind, but we’re an emotionally spent team right now. And if you know Thomas’ situation and how much his mother meant to him, in large part because that’s all he had. The only set of grandparents he knew died within the last three weeks.”
Bill Self, after meeting with his team on Sunday following the Texas loss, KUSports.com
GH: Athletes recover emotionally quicker than coaches after a loss. But this loss involves the death of a teammate’s 38-year-old mom who leaves a 9-year-old daughter. While Robinson’s teammates are a part of his extended family, I think KU is making a mistake including the team so deeply in this tragedy. Read on.
Bill Self, after meeting with his team on Sunday following the Texas loss, KUSports.com
GH: Athletes recover emotionally quicker than coaches after a loss. But this loss involves the death of a teammate’s 38-year-old mom who leaves a 9-year-old daughter. While Robinson’s teammates are a part of his extended family, I think KU is making a mistake including the team so deeply in this tragedy. Read on.
