Celebrating Hawk Digest

Hawk Digest 9/13/2006

One Year Later

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Hawk Digest, yet for the fast-paced Web 2.0 world, it seems so long ago. I turned the decision to start a football-only blog for KU over in my mind for several years before finally committing last September. At the time, the source for KU football news, photo, audio and video was kusports.com -- as it is now. The Phog.net gridiron board was the community and Rivals provided the best recruiting info. On the peripheral, you had the usual newspaper sites -- KC Star, Topeka Capital-Journal and the Wichita Eagle plus the Phog Blog which was pretty focused on hoops. You pretty much had the same beat stories then that you have now with KUsports.com, but they were already starting to toy with blogs like the Greene Room. The columns seemed infrequent and really the best place to be was the Gridiron board. Stories about or related to KU football pretty much went up there first and still do. Plus, a handful of posters there really provided good content.  Yet, the experience was frustrating with the club of nuisance posters (anti-Mangino's, anti-KU football, KSU flamers and Mizzou flamers) trashing up the place. It became a time-consuming chore to weed through the trash. I was an infrequent poster (damage_96 -- 300 posts), but a daily reader. I secretly hoped one of the regulars would start up a blog. During those searches, I found the Kansas State Football blog. Pride kicked in and I immediately went into action. If KSU had a football blog, then KU football would have one no matter if I posted once a day or once a month. Besides it really felt like there just wasn't enough football content.

One year later and we've gone 180 degrees. A new blog covering all of KU sports arrived in early 2007 -- Rock Chalk Talk (with extensive football coverage). Plus, I'm not sure why, but KUsports.com has gone into overdrive with Ryan Wood adding his Sawin' Wood blog and the columnists are kickin' out at least one article per day. Since the season started, there are multiple items posted every day. Even Phog Blog was getting into the action with several football posts earlier this month (though that may have been strictly a surge due to the HotDog YouTube moment). The Gridiron Board is still the same, but faster paced and more trash than ever.

In other words, it's a great time to be a KU football fan on the internet. Here at Hawk Digest, I'm building on the original plan. The focus is to consolidate and present all of that KU football content in a single source while throwing in my thoughts and opinions. Basically, simplify the KU football internet world for the fans. In addition, lately I've been working to build more of a community here at Hawk Digest. The stories are coming in so fast, I could use some help getting out the breaking news on the Jayhawk Network Forum which feeds into the left column. Rather than the free-for-all on the Gridiron board, I envision a forum for fans that are ultimately more supportive of KU football. Well-supported criticism and cordial debate is welcome, but the childish tirades and flamers will be eliminated. So, if you've been on the fence, join the game and post away in the comments or on the Jayhawk Network Forum. HD is a full-fledged one-year old now, and it's time to start crawling.

The Aqib Talib and Mark Mangino Show: Guest Star-Lew Perkins

Perkins Speaks on Win Goal for 2007

Lew Perkins wasn't afraid to set some specific goals for Mark Mangino and the Jayhawks in 2007. Perkins had two pretty specific quotes from the same Kansas City Star article:

“This is the second full class he’s recruited. I think the way the schedule is set up, our hopes are in that seven-eight (win) range. Am I going to be disappointed if we’re less than that? Yeah.”

“We’ve done all the necessary things we had to do both on the field and off the field. It’s more important now that we start winning games.”

I also caught a little bit of the Soren Petro interview of Mangino. Soren along with others like to indicate that, "Mark Mangino has to win eight games this year." That's actually correct, but I'm not sure if I understand the constant need to re-assert the obvious.* The fact is any coach that is in year six has to win eight games this year. It's not that big of a deal, and it's certainly plausible based on the fact Mangino has amassed some solid talent. From my standpoint, eight wins would be a disappointment.

*Actually, I do understand. It sells newspapers and brings in listeners and that's cool. We all have to make a living.

Aqib Talib Extravaganza

From the KC Star article:

On the Jim Thorpe Award:
“Let’s keep it in the Big 12; it would kind of be like our team,” Talib said. “Aaron Ross won it last year, and I kind of look at it like it’s my turn. I’ll bring it home.”

“We left four wins on the field,” he declared

“I’m up there with all of the best corners in the nation,” Talib said.

“If the Kansas football program is going to be turned around, then this has to be the year,” said Talib, a junior. “With the talent level of this team we have right now and the schedule layout, if it’s going to be turned around, it has to be this year.”

Mark Mangino Quote Machine

From the Lawrence-Journal World:

Is this the year you need to make your move?
“I don’t know if this is the year we need to,” Mangino said, “but I plan on it. I think our players do, too. I don’t know if we need to, but we plan on doing it.”

Would you rather beat K-State or Missouri?
“I’d rather win them all,” Mangino responded, not taking the bait.

“We’re good at home,” Mangino said. “The next step is to get good on the road.”

Aqib Talib:
"He’s a good kid. I think he plays around with the press a little bit. He’s a really smart guy, and sometimes he gives you what you want. He plays that game with you."

On eight wins:
"I was thinking 12."

KU Media Day

Mark Mangino On Close Losses

"The particular situations we might not -- probably shouldn't have been in the call that we were in. There's situations where we had some physical breakdowns by players. Mental breakdowns. Coaching decisions. And we put it all together. We say you know we all share the blame for this thing; let's make it better. We went back and studied how we will handle situations as they arise again. And there's some things on the edge, I don't want to get into all the injuries and stuff. But last year I was pretty close to, what's that guy that can heal people and stuff, I was going to call him up. (Laughter) I see him on TV. Make the blind see and the deaf hear and he can't grow hair on his own head. (Laughter). We were pretty close to calling him up see if he could help us out. But that's behind us, and that's just the way college football goes."

Full interview: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072307aaa.html

KU Football News Round-Up

A Little Surge in Football Activity

All of the sudden we've gotten a little burst on the Kansas football news front:

Ryan Wood's Notebook -- KU named it's captains for the year: Aqib Talib, James McClinton, Brandon McAnderson and Derek Fine. No questions here.

Three Hawks Make the Big 12 Preseason team --

"Cornerback Aqib Talib, defensive tackle James McClinton and offensive tackle Anthony Collins all made the first team in a vote by members of the Big 12 media. No other North team had more than two selections."

Me likey.

Vegas Likes KU

So You're Saying There's A Chance

The Big 12 Media predicts KU will finish forth in the north division, but Las Vegas thinks a little more highly of the Jayhawks. Here's a rundown of current odds on a National Championship for the conference:

Texas -- 10/1
Oklahoma -- 20/1
Nebraska -- 40/1
Texas A&M -- 40/1
Kansas -- 100/1
Missouri -- 100/1
Texas Tech -- 100/1
Colorado -- 125/1
Oklahoma State -- 125/1
Kansas State -- 150/1

No odds on Baylor or Iowa State

University of Kansas Trajans

All Trajan, All the Time

The LJ-World weighed in on the uniform topic with an article today, confirming that the helmet will change as well as the jersey:

"Among the changes are the new Trajan KU logo on the helmets, and new numbers to resemble the Trajan font on the jerseys."

Also, this always kills me. I'd have done it for $500:

"The university adopted the Trajan font lettering in the summer of 2005, paying $88,900 to LandreyMorrow, a Portland, Ore., firm, to help come up with the design."

Personally, I think we'll just keep changing uniforms until we get that breakthrough nine-win season. Just got to keep searching for that winning look.

The New KU Football Jersey

Never a Dull Moment

Well, it's been discussed at length on the Grid, but what are your thoughts on the new Kansas football jersey. I've posted a poll in the Jayhawk Network Forum. Head over and submit your vote. Comments on the issue are welcome in this thread or over on that forum as well.

KU and the Cream Puffs

Enough Already

Alright, so I'm sure you've caught the ESPN article by Mark Schlabach ranking KU's 2007 football schedule as the easiest in the nation. He even adds this fantastic quote:

"The Jayhawks' nonconference schedule includes more cream puffs than your favorite bakery"

If you liked that then you'll really enjoy this quality production by Adam Krueger at 6sports.

Impressive stuff -- except there is no way in hell that I am buying Central Michigan as a "cream puff." If memory serves me correctly, it seems that we, along with a few of our close friends/enemies, have struggled with some of the MAC teams. So, this year we start off the season fresh with the MAC champion and sophomore QB Dan LeFevour who went 247 for 388 and 3031 yards as a true freshman. He also added 26 TD passes, so I'm pretty sure the kid won't be intimidated coming into Memorial Stadium. Go back and check Central Michigan's schedule from 2006 and you might notice that the only team that really knocked them out was Michigan.

Anyway, the media viewpoint doesn't matter. They need something to talk about. However, the team has a job to do, and it doesn't even need to be a possibility that people at KU think that Central Michigan is a pushover. If anyone has a question with that, check out the Sagarin Ratings -- KU #64, CMU #56. Or maybe you like CBS Sportsline -- KU #62, CMU #31.

Let's just go ahead and over-emphasize the point -- this matchup with Central Michigan is critical for success this season. We want to go to Manhattan 4-0, but CMU is going to be a major test right out of the gate. If you want to see a great football game, I'd get out to Lawrence on Labor Day Weekend because this one matters.

What About the Rest of the Schedule

Sure, overall the schedule isn't awesome for 2007. Still, the premise that KU is afraid to play anyone is flat out false. Do we have "cream puffs" on the schedule every year -- yes. However, we usually challenge ourselves with a BCS level opponent in the non-con schedule. This year is the exception and it happens to occur during our weak* south rotation. Next year we'll have South Florida, Nebraska and Oklahoma on the road. Throw in a couple of home dates with Texas and Texas Tech as well. In 2009, those will be road games.

Did KU fans criticize Bill Snyder and K-State for weak schedules? Absolutely. However, the main criticism came when Bill wouldn't face BCS teams during that window when the Cats were actually challenging for national titles. Plus, a lot of that criticism came from KSU fans as well. If KU was ranked in the top 25 in the preseason polls, it'd be a slightly different story. When I look at the Schlabach article, I ask myself why is Texas on that list? Still, let's continue to bash KU in the local media -- it sells and hey, those guys gotta make a living too.

*KU was 0-3 against the "weak" rotation of Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M in 2006.

Sporting News Top 40 List

KU Has Two on the List

Both Aqib Talib and Anthony Collins made The Sporting News Top 40 Big 12 Players List posted on Tuesday. It makes for interesting debate and there's plenty of it in this thread on the Gridiron Board. My notes:

--Adarius Bowman should be #1, but hey, KU fans will always be scarred by AB
--I agree with the posters, James McClinton could be on this list
--Marcus Watts seems overrated to me as well
--Ian Campbell is a tough one. He had a great year, but he did get dominated in the KSU game I watched the closest against the 39th ranked player on the list. His stats back up the #7 ranking, but I still got my eye on him this year as to whether or not he is the real deal. (Too bad the Campbell/Collins rivalry won't be re-newed this year as Collins switched to left tackle.)

Jason Hind: O-Line Transfer

Three Years of Eligibility

The LJW is reporting that KU will immediately add a little more depth to the offensive line as Jason Hind, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound lineman from the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois will join the team this summer. He is transferring after just one year, so the young lineman will have three years of eligibility and could compete for playing time this season. The players keep rolling in -- will we see Aaron Mack this summer as well?

Kevin Weiberg Leaves the Big 12

He's Outta Here

Can we get a decent TV deal now?

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/151257.html

Keegan Seems Confident ... I Guess

Just Four Wins Baby!

LJW Columnist Tom Keegan wants four conference wins:

"Now the question is, can Kansas win four of these eight: at Kansas State, Baylor, at Colorado, at Texas A&M, Nebraska, at Oklahoma State, Iowa State and vs. Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium?"

Gee, I thought maybe we should try to win six ... you know set a new precedent with two road conference wins