Rockchalk's Ramblings // 6-22-09

Hope that everybody had a wonderful weekend. And Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there.

This is links-heavy, so you might want to go get a snack. Just an idea.

Kansas Football

Column: KU defining toughness? It's no dream | CJOnline.com

No, it isn't. A little late for such a "column" to be written, as Mangino's toughness isn't some newfound trait, but hey. Whatever.

KUsports.com | Extreme makeover: Stadium edition

A switch to Field Turf well, well overdue. I mean, my frickin' high school has a Field Turf football field. That AstroPlay nonsense sucks, man. I'm a fan of the newly-added turf, let's just say that.

KUsports.com | O-lineman finds new life at Kansas

A nice little article on the forgotten member of the Kansas offensive line, Brad Thorson. We are replacing the three interior positions, and while Jeremiah Hatch at center is basically done, the two guard positions are well open. And Thorson is definitely a legitimate possibility.

Why They Will Win the Big 12 North - A Focus On Strengths - Corn Nation

SBN Nebraska blog Corn Nation focuses on the North teams' strengths, giving a reason (or two!) for every team to hope that, just maybe, they can win the North this year. That's quite optimistic for about half of the division, but hey. It's June. Optimism reigns supreme.

Unit Rankings: Big 12 North Offenses - Rock M Nation

Rock M Nation, i.e. the greatest team-specific college blog out there, uses numbers and non-biased opinions to break down the North's Offenses. If you want a quote that sums up the North battle, here you go (from the comments section):

The bottom line is that KU, NU, and MU have more proven quantities than the rest of the division, the others are a couple of steps behind, and, in NU’s case, NU is nowhere close to being more proven than MU or (especially) KU.

Unit Rankings: Big 12 North Defenses - Rock M Nation

And now, the Defensive rankings. This one is just as good, albeit with worse results from a Kansas' fans perspective. In the end, though, including Special Teams and Coaching and everything, we end up first. So, yay.

K-State's Athletic Department Priorities - Bring On The Cats

And finally, to complete the trip around the Big 12 North here at SBN, BOTC's plan to fix up the entire mess that Bob Krause left. As per usual, TB knows what he's talking about.

Oread Boom Kings " Blog Archive " Interesting JoePo Trivia Question

One last link, even though it isn't necessarily football-related. Here is how JoePo framed the question:

How many BCS colleges have not had ANY of the following …

1. Football national championship
2. Basketball national championship
3. Basketball Final Four appearance
4. BCS Bowl appearance (1998 to present)
5. Naismith Award Winner (best basketball player in America)
6. Heisman Trophy Winner (most oustanding football player)
7. No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft
8. No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft

And the answers? Missouri and Arizona State. Admittedly, it's kind of arbitary, and I'm not buying a 1931 Helms Championship by Northwestern as qualification to get off the list, but whatever.

Kansas Basketball

DraftExpress: USA Basketball Tryout Interviews: Tyshawn Taylor & Gordon Hayward

Great interview with T2 and a Butler basketball player (please) about trying out for the USA Basketball team.

KUsports.com | Iowa prep Barnes not typical standout

We've talked a lot about Harrison Barnes around here recently, and here's another article that just goes to show how he really is different than your average mega-recruit. I want Harrison. Let's start a campaign or something.

KUsports.com | KU’s past, present make Self’s camp a hit

Kinda-fluffy, just talking about Self's camp. Blah.