Holiday Wishes from Santa Mangino

Oh, Santa Mangino, thy recruiting bounty is plentiful. Please enjoy the updated commit list with Toben Opurum added for your holiday pleasure:

OFFENSE
PS Player/Location/Ht/Wt/40/Signed
QB -- Christian Matthews/Arlington, TX -- 6-3/180/4.6 -- 6/20/2008
QB -- Jordan Webb/Union, MO-- 6-0/204 -- 4/12/2008

RB -- Toben Opurum/Plano, TX -- 6-2/229 -- 12/23/2008
RB -- Deshaun Sands/Coconut Creek, FL -- 5-9/175/4.5 -- 4/10/2008

OL -- Tom Mabry/Althoff, IL -- 6-5/270 --10/13/2008
OL -- Gavin Howard/Owasso, OK -- 6-5/260 -- 6/23/08
OL -- Riley Spencer/Hesston, KS -- 6-6/265/5.1 -- 6/22/08

DEFENSE
PS Player/Location/Ht/Wt/40/Signed
DT -- Travis Stephens/Brenham, TX (JUCO) -- 6-3/265/4.6 -- 12/21/2008

DE -- Jacoby Thomas/Texarkana, TX -- 6-3/223/4.71-- 12/9/2008
DE -- Randall Dent/Grand Prairie, TX-- 6-4/256/4.9 -- 12/7/2008
DE -- Tyrone Sellers/McCook, NE -- 6-4/215/4.57 -- 7/2/2008

LB -- Julian Jones/Lawton, OK -- 6-2/253 -- 10/27/2008
LB -- Huldon Tharp/Mulvane, KS -- 6-0/208/4.65 -- 8/25/2008

DB -- Calvin Rubles/Tyler, TX (JUCO) -- 6-2/180/4.4-- 12/10/2008
DB -- Dexter Linton/Arlington,TX -- 6-0/180 -- 6/20/2008
DB -- Darian Kelly/Girard, KS -- 6-2/195/4.5 -- 6/5/2008
DB -- Prinz Kande/Euless, TS -- 5-11/182/4.5 -- 6/2/2008
DB -- Tyler Patmon/Cedar Park,TX -- 5-11/180 -- 4/17/2008

Note: There's a lot of talk that Travis Stephens will play DE in college and Randall Dent will end up as a DT.

For star rankings, check the Rivals Commit page.

Podcast with Gopher Football Blog

I was invited to do a podcasts with the hosts of the Gopher Football blog (another football only site) about the upcoming matchup with Minnesota. I don't have a direct link, but if you go to their website, there's a podcast player in the right column. It's top podcast from 12/18/2008. It is also supposed to be available on I-Tunes.

Fox 4 Scores The Insight Bowl

Jim Marchiony said on Tuesday afternoon that the Insight Bowl and the NFL Network have agreed to allow Fox 4 in Kansas City to broadcast the game, which will pit the Jayhawks against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 4 p.m. central time.

Good news, but note the 4:00 p.m. CST. start time. I wonder if that is accurate.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/939762.html

Insight Bowl Promo Video: KU vs Minnesota

Border War in KC Gets Extension

Four More Years of Concrete Hell

It's all over the papers this morning. The Jayhawks and Tigers will battle four more times at Arrowhead stadium (exactly in the middle of nowhere). No word as to whether or not the 2013 game will be played at the Kansas Speedway.

I think the problems with the game at Arrowhead have been pretty much detailed and agreed upon. Still, this was inevitable. We're playing against Texas, OU, Nebraska and A&M in the football world, so this type of event is the only way to make a significant attack in that never-ending war. The number one question I have is why couldn't we sign the deal next week? We've heard all about how they've solved the logistics problems. I'm not so sure. Why not play game two and evaluate before inking another four years?

Here's the thing, it's a money-maker now, but you kind of got a skewed look at the event last year with both teams in the national title hunt and College Game Day on hand. Ultimately, fans will decide this issue. And I think your casual KU fan better be able to feel something positive out of this event pretty soon or attendance in blue could trend quickly to dismal. If a hardcore guy like me has to go through a two-week mental pep talk to get up for this game, then I can't imagine how the bandwagon Jayhawk fans are approaching this.

So I guess ... this may actually come down to the KU football team. They could really bail out Lew on this one, because we'll see  tomorrow morning how the players feel about Arrowhead. If they vote yes for Arrowhead with their play, then KU fans will change their attitude in short time.

I should also add that there is one big positive I think we can all cling to -- hey, we may never have to go to Columbia again.

Bill Mayer Lays It Out

Probably one of the better pieces I've read from Bill today on the Arrowhead Border War. Putting the wonderful experience of engaging with real live Mizzou fans into a legitimate print publication is something you don't see everyday. I also liked his take on this:

Little wonder fans scream when the KU-MU-Arrowhead totalitarians give first preference to Kansas City Chiefs season ticket-holders. Why the hell do they deserve such a handout?

Clay Center Correspondent Weighs In

Upon hearing about the Arrowhead extension, our kindly old Hawk Digest correspondent from Clay Center, Kansas decided to announce plans for a new t-shirt line. The shirt says, "I don't want your loyalty, I just want your money."

Just to clarify, this was said in jest. He's no t-shirt maker.

Metro Sports Border War Special All Day

 

I liked the art, so i thought I would post this. Caught the first 45 minutes last night -- my favorite part was the KU fan with the big picture of John Brown with a Mangino head and a football. Somebody needs to find that one and post it.

Update on Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 08:03AM by DJ Goodwin

I guess MetroSports doesn't like the free promotion -- the photo link is now broken.

Todd Reesing Bounce Back TD Throw To Kerry Meier Video

This was requested in the forum. Pretty incredible.

Kevin Keitzman -- Thank You!

I admit it. I had the situation all wrong. I really believed that beating Texas and Mizzou wouldn't be enough to get the Jayhawks a Big 12 North title and more importantly a berth in the championship game at Arrowhead. You figure with KU sitting in the mid-forties of the CBS poll that there is no way they could ever finish ahead of MU in the polls even if we could conjure up that magical three-way tie. So I figured we had to count on Nebraska to lose and that just ain't gonna happen now.

Then, I found hope in the least likely sector of the entire galaxy -- Kevin Keitzman's afternoon show on 810. The man is right. KU is likely to get enough bounce out of a win over Texas plus Missouri to possibly move ahead of the Tigers in the polls. In fact, since it would all play out over a three-week period, he's 100% right. Hey, man. That's all I need. We control our own destiny. I don't care if we're playing the '72 Dolphins this Saturday -- all I know is we are still alive and all we got to do is win the next one. Bring on the Longhorns, the game is on.

2008 KU Football To Do/Wish List -- 2/3 Season Report

So it's time for our second check progress on the list from this past summer:

--Big 12 Championship
1/3 Musicians like to say a bad practice makes for a good performance. September was a little mediocre, so let's assume the Jayhawks show us awesome in October

2/3 October wasn't awesome, but it wasn't a complete disaster either (well the home loss to Tech was). The Jayhawks were 2-2 which is far better than most pre-2007 Mangino Octobers. KU is still in the mix for a Big 12 title game birth, but it's on the line tomorrow

--Charles Gordon is avenged on November 15, 2008
1/3 It shall be done

2/3 I'm really starting to sweat this one

--A full house for opening day (borrowed from 2007)
Check (with a bonus sellout vs Sam Houston)

2/3 Paid attendance has been awesome this year. Stamina not so good, but you can't blame anyone for walking out of the Tech game, can you?

--The team properly channels the nationwide "just a scheduling fluke" media campaign and comes into the season with the exact right amount of focused anger/adrenaline
1/3 Nope

2/3 And still more no

--Clint Bowen solves the spread offense
1/3 Haven't seen anything new yet

2/3 Couldn't be further from solving it (advice from Don Draper -- think about it real hard, then let it go)

--Maxwell Onyegbule gets to Chase Daniel ... every down.
1/3 Hopefully, he's saving it all up for that one game

2/3 The improvement is there, but the dominance is still not

--Mike Riveragets to Chase Daniel ... every down.
1/3 Our best pass rusher against USF, but he didn't start against Sam Houston. There are rumors about a possible injury

2/3 Yeah, he's been hurt. So has Joe M, which makes for a pretty forgettable senior season so far for the crew. Holt looks good though.

--RJ Jr and Darius Parish erase my fond memories of James McClinton
1/3 Actually, if you watch the interior play they're not doing too bad. Jamal Greene has shown some flashes as well. We haven't quite seen the consistent jump and penetration that McClinton had last year, but remember it took him a few years to get there as well.

2/3 Despite three losses (Haselhorst, RJ and Caleb) now plus McClinton, I really don't feel like these guys are the issue. Jamal Green continues to impress me. RJ was having a pretty decent season. The future looks bright. Darius will get some big time play against KSU

--Todd Reesing 2008 exceeds TR 2007
1/3 Check

2/3 At least from a statistical standpoint we've got a little slippage here. Eight intercepts so far with just seven last year. They need to utilize the run more now that Jake looks sharp 

--Dexton Fields and Dezmon Briscoe both go over 1,000
1/3 Would love to see Fields back for Iowa State. Seems to have big games against the Clones. Briscoe is pretty much on target despite a forgettable evening in Tampa and losing his start against Sam Houston. I'm pretty sure the Breeze will get the message. Time to be a leader.

2/3 Obviously, Fields got hurt. The Breeze rocked it against OU and I still think he'll get a 300-yard game before he leaves the Hawks. On target for DB. We'll need extra games for DF, but K-10 will make it.

--Ed Warriner blows my mind by staying ahead of the Big 12 with further innovation to last year's scheme
1/3 Other than a greater reliance on the shuttle pass, nothing new here and a season's worth of film has our opponents knowing us well. Todd Reesing will have to continue to pull rabbits out of the hat if we don't start showing some new features.

2/3 Pretty disappointing. KU has shown two back sets on occasion on those plays generally pan out. Defenses seem to error on covering two backs out of the backfield, but we have not utilized that package enough. Angus can catch, so can JC and if you don't like those guys, Herford offers a similar feel. I did like the implementation of the option which helps Jake, but otherwise, looks like the same old, same old and after a year of studying film, teams know what makes Reesing uncomfortable and where he likes to go.

--Find a confident punt returner that can be a threat
1/3 Check

2/3 How would we know? Haven't seen anybody punt for a while.

--Jeff Spikes lives up to the hype
1/3 Still at the front of the curve, but he has his moments.

2/3 Not living up to the hype, but certainly has come along. Texas Tech has two fantastic defensive ends, so there were bad moments, but the running game as improved since he flipped sides with Hatch. The future is bright here. Too bad we have to replace the entire interior again next year. 

--Marcus Herford becomes a legitimate Big 12 wide receiver threat (last chance man)
1/3 I'm not giving up the dream, but I would like to see the kick returns improve

2/3 He had a vintage 2007 return against Tech right? Let's build on that.

--Jake Sharp -- 80 yard TD run at any point in the conference season or in the state of Florida
1/3 Hmmm. Let's adjust this to an 8 yard TD run

2/3 Jake's broken some big gainers now. The big one was actually a pass against ISU, but that's good enough for me. October was a good month for Jake and we want more.

--40,000 plus Jayhawk fans wearing blue at Arrowhead (adjusted down from 50k for our "home" game last year)
1/3 We'll see

2/3 Still a lot of football to play before we get there. Got to focus on Saturday.

--60,000 plus Jayhawk fans wearing blue at Arrowhead one week later
1/3 The fans will be there

2/3 KSU is step one

--14 wins
1/3 Looks like we'll come up one short, but I can certainly live with 13-1

2/3 I think we top out at 11 now, but I think we just need to focus on win #6 and getting to the game (KSU) that gets us to the game (NU) that gets us to the game (MU) that gives us a shot to play for a championship.

Big 12 Predict-O-Scores: Week #9

Okay, the computer issues are coming to a resolution and we're going to be able to get the usual departments back in the swing. For those that were expecting to cash in and quit your day job last week by using the Predict-O machine as a reverse spread predictor, I apologize for the inconvenience:

At Kansas 34, Texas Tech 30
Vegas lists KU (-1.5)

At Missouri 38, Colorado 23
Vegas lists MU (-21.5)

Oklahoma 35, at KSU 31
Vegas lists OU (-19)

At ISU 27, A&M 25
Vegas lists ISU (-3)

At Texas 35, OSU 33
Vegas lists UT (-12.5)

At Nebraska 35, Baylor 26
Vegas lists NU (-11)

Update on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 06:28AM by DJ Goodwin

It ended up 4-2 SU and a mediocre 3-3 ATS.

For the season, 28-10 SU and 15-21 ATS.

The KU Football VIP Experience vs Texas Tech

Looks like you can get in for $810:

- 2 Executive SportSeats in the Touchdown Club
- All inclusive food and beverage from Longhorn Steakhouse
- Behind the scenes tour of the Press Box and Ward Family Scholarship Suites
- Sideline pass to Kivisto Field for pregame warm-ups
- Authentic adidas apparel

http://kuathletics.cstvauctions.com/auctiondisplay.cfm?auctionnbr=6551

Scouting Tech: Mike Leach on Dating