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An Edge At KU

Quotes Hammer on A Theme

By now all hardcore fans have perused the official KU website quotes from media day a few times. Still, reading through them again, I noticed a theme that many of the players seem to be tapped into. There's a lot of confidence there in the talent and a lot of talk about working as a team. Those are standard cliches for all players and coaches on media, and we've certainly heard it at KU before. However, there seems to be an edge, or intensity just below the surface that shows that these players really do believe they have the talent to contend for a championship. I've followed KU long enough to witness a lot of optimistic August sessions. Somehow, this one seems different. It's nothing specific and perhaps it's imagined, but this team seems to have a confidence level right now that goes beyond the talk. We'll see. No one ever won a game on media day, but something seems slightly different this year. Check out the following quotes and see if you agree:

"It's a confident group and we are in a position right now where we feel if we keep things rolling and stay at the tempo that we are right now, good things are going to happen."
--Mark Mangino

"Right now, we are a team that others have to prepare to play. We are a very good team, but good is the enemy of great. For us to be a great team, we have to consistently go in to each game with a goal and be on the same page. We cannot afford to have the links on our team who do not want to preform to the best of their ability and have excuses. When our team comes together and gels and works hard for the person next to you and not for yourself is when we will be a great team on the field."
--Darrell Stuckey

"One thing I have noticed is the enthusiasm of the team, just to get out and work together and try to be the best we can be. We had a bunch of guys step up in the winter in the spring, and they are great leaders right now.
--Kerry Meier

"We want to contend for championships, and our team doesn't settle for average. Nobody wants to settle for mediocrity on this team."
--Derek Fine

"We have the play makers, we just need to have the mind-set to put it all together."
--Derek Fine

"I like the team's confidence. We've got a lot of swagger. We believe that if we play team ball we can go out there and beat anybody. We have a lot of enthusiasm. We came out in practice with no pads and people were just banging and hitting each other like we were in full pads."
--James McClinton

"We have learned from things that have happened in the fourth quarter. Now I feel like our team is ready to learn from those experiences and take them to the field. A lot of the guys who have experienced those close losses and bad losses will be able to play through them and redeem themselves."
--Brandon McAnderson

"This camp will be very important for us because as long as we get everything down. We have the talent and skill. This could be the year where we put it all together."
--Mike Rivera

"Now that camp has started I have set all the national attention things on the side. It is time to grind and go to work. That stuff is for the off-season. I don't worry about that stuff now."
--Aqib Talib

Jake Sharp is the Winner

The 2007 KU Media Day Nuke LaLoosh Award

Cleary Jake Sharp has studied his sports films. I wonder if he had a straight face when he unleashed this gem on the new facility:

"We are all real excited and it is very exciting to be here right now. It is an exciting time at KU."

http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080707aaa.html

Kendrick Harper Out 4-6 Weeks

Ryan Wood of KUsports.com is reporting early info from media day that JUCO corner Kendrick Harper will miss 4-6 weeks. No injury was specified. I guess the message board reports were off this time. This should make for an interesting battle between Anthony Webb and Gary Green II.

Angus Quigley Hype

KU Football News Round Up

KUsports.com Likes AQ

"He caught a few passes out of the backfield and had a nice run near the end of the workout, streaking through a seam on the right side with noticeable acceleration."

Um ... I'm sold. A big back with "acceleration" that can catch. It's hard to not be excited about the potential weapons we have on offense. With both Quigley and Sharp catching out of the backfield, that's going to be quite a change-up for defenses. The key word is potential, but I'm starting to think one of the two QBs ought to connect the dots with this unit

Put Down the Joint

"...it’s not impossible the Big 12 Conference could merge with the Southeastern Conference some day. Kansas and Arkansas wouldn’t meet every year if they were in the same mega league, but they would have to play football from time to time."

I know it's a liberal town, but should weed be allowed in the newsroom?

It's Media Day

And I'm headed to Dubuque. Sometimes the real job just doesn't make sense.

Todd Reesing Has the Edge

At Least On the Gridiron Board

Though it's early, Todd Reesing has the edge with fans according to what has become the definitive first open practice thread on the Phog Board. Other highlights from the fans:

• The fade route during the Nick Q error era has left many KU fans with permanent emotional scars
• A couple of posters rank Tyler Lawrence ahead of both Reesing and Kerry Meier throwing the ball. Interesting because Reesing seems pretty strong with the ball.
• The speculation is that Kendrick Harper had a hand injury that could be fairly minor. It's a message board, but it's somewhat surprising how often these guys call it correct.
• The Mike Rivera deal is intriguing. I just want to see him on the field.
• Dezmon Briscoe sounds like a lock to get some PT this year. Wouldn't that be nice? Have a freshman wideout just come in and blow us away in year one.

Todd Haselhorst and Kendrick Harper Injured

No!

From Ryan Wood's report on this morning's public practice:

"Haselhorst, our medical staff is trying to get him ready for the opener. That remains to be seen," KU coach Mark Mangino said. "We really don't know the severity of Kendrick Harper's injury. We should know something later in the week."

KU Football News Roundup

CMU Wants This One -- LJW

"One thing missing from the Chippewas’ 2006 run, however, was a victory over a BCS-conference team. They went 0-3 against the more heralded conferences, losing to Boston College by seven, Michigan by 24 and Kentucky by nine."

This is a hungry team that wants to put a BCS win on the resume. I think the Hawks better be prepared to play on 9/1.

Glen Mason's New Job -- Woodling (LJW)

"Mason’s Achilles heel never really has been coaching. His primary difficulties arose at alumni gatherings where he often showed no appetite for exchanging pleasantries with the big cigars and their wives, scenarios he won’t have to face in the broadcast booth."

Glen never got that this was part of the deal. It cost him the war against Bill Snyder and Kansas State.

The UTEP Quartback Cam

Can Cause Motion Sickness

This is bad enough. Can you imagine taking a look at the Josh Freeman cam from his trip to Memorial last year? The Todd Reesing cam might be hard to watch as well, but for different reasons.

Call To Action-Border War

It's really time to start concentrating on Central Michigan, but since tickets went on sale to the public this week, I guess we can re-hash the Arrowhead Border War topic a little more, right?

Reading this thread on the Grid today, reminded me that the fans really have the opportunity to eliminate one of the major objections to moving this game. Most KU fans feel there is no way Missouri can beat us in Memorial. It is indeed a law of nature that can only be reversed by bringing in a truly inept coach (see 2001). Therefore, the conclusion is that we've essentially given up a guaranteed win against our most hated rival. Perhaps there is some merit to that. Maybe it's no longer the lock that it would have been in Lawrence. However, if KU can pull 50,000* into Arrowhead it could really start to seem like a friendly environment. Remember, KU fans put together a pretty nice crowd at a neutral site in Fort Worth and that along with an inferior, but decent opponent helped the Hawks to a nice win. So, get your crimson and blue buddies and get out to Arrowhead. There's not much we can do about the other complaints (tradition, Lawrence merchants), but we can certainly be a factor in the outcome of the game.

*How is this possible? 20,000 KU season tickets already sold. 16,000 Chiefs season ticket holders bought in which means 8,000 KU fans. The students will bring another 10,000 to the equation (8000 for pessimists). That's 36-38,000. So, KU fans need to purchase 10-15,000 season tickets to reach the magical 50,000 majority. It really doesn't seem that far away.

New York Attorney General Hot For KU

We were all aware of the NCAA and it's role in college sports, but frankly, I never imagined the attorney general of New York would come after the Jayhawks. It's not really the way to start August practice, but Andrew Cuomo's investigation of universities and student loan provider practices now includes the University of Kansas and the athletic department.

KU is denying any wrongdoing and plans to cooperate. Associate athletic director Jim Marchiony seemed a annoyed with the implied accusation:

“Had they done their homework, they would’ve been able to understand the issues and receive very plausible explanations.”

Almost 40 universities have been named in the investigation which contends that the universities are guiding athletes and students to preferred lenders in exchange for kickbacks. Whatever it is, KU better come out smelling clean on this one. I think the alumni and supporters of KU really had enough of the non-sports related headlines last year.

Reader Mailbag-Jayhawk Network Forum

Feedback is Good

In general, blogs don't get a chance to offer up reader mail/e-mail due to the fact thost most people will provide feedback in the comments. However, I did receive an e-mail from a dedicated reader last month which led to a site improvement. Here are comments from the reader:

"... on your hawkdigest blog, can anyone post a new topic or can I only insert a comment on an existing story?  Just curious, I was
going to post a link on a new subject that didn't really relate to your existing topics, but I'm apparently to computer illiterate to figure out how."

At the time the answer was "no." However, the result was the addition of a sidebar feed of the Jayhawk Network Forum (JNF). This allows anyone to post a story or comment that will appear as a link on the main page. The plan to do this has been on the table for a while as I missed the tagboard function on the old host site.

You can get into the forum by clicking any of the current Jayhawk Network Forum links or by clicking on the link under the Hawk Digest section. Essentially, the JNF acts as a standard message board and I'd love to see some of the many visitors that stop buy post updates on KU and college football news as they occur. Opinions on KU football topics outside of the current blog content are welcome as well. Kansas football news sometimes comes in waves and it can be difficult to catch up. The vision for Hawk Digest and the accompanying Jayhawk Network page is to be a collector of all that data and give KU football fans a single resource for news and jumping off place for Kansas football.

History and Structure
Hawk Digest started last September. Shortly after that I set up a webpage that would better aggregate news feeds in order to simplify the job of "researching" KU football to provide content for Hawk Digest. It had links as well and I thought it was actually useful for all KU football fans. I added a rotating photo, bought a URL and the Jayhawk Network page was born. Shortly thereafter, I added the Jayhawk Network Forum so visitors could comment if needed. Now, the feed for the forum has been linked into Hawk Digest making a nice little circle of KU football content.

Phoggies Critique the New Helmet

Part Two of the Equation

Now that the new jersey has been thoroughly discussed, a new version of the helmet was posted by the MG's Helmet site. The gridiron board is all over it in this thread, which also includes a Photoshop version on an actual player. This is a nice preview, but I think I'll have to reserve judgement until I see it in person.