Tired of Expansion Talk? Lets talk KU Football
by Andrew Clark on May 17, 2010 2:51 PM CDT
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Raise your hand if you are sick and tired of expansion talk (raises hand). At first it was cool and a great subject to talk about, debate, etc but frankly I’m tired of it. The fact that it gives the Slavers a ton of media exposure and a lot of writers are using a "Big 10 courting Mizzou angle" is even worse.
So screw it. Lets talk about football.
If this doesn't make you excited about the fall you're probably Canadian.
When I was laying in bed last night and thinking/dreaming about all things KU athletics (you can think I’m joking or dead serious here, both answers would be solid guesses) I was thinking about the upcoming football season. Generally I am drawn between two sides:
Optimist Grad: If you look at recruiting classes and our players across the board, we definitely have some talent. A lot of speed and playmakers on offense, an experienced line, and hopefully a better defense. Throw in the easier Big 12 schedule, some anger from a 5-7 season and an 0-7 finish (shutters), a coach who isn't spending more time at the Golden Corral than the office and we are going to surprise some people and should at least make a bowl.
Pessimist Grad: I went to the spring game. From what I saw (and heard from others warshing practices) is that our O-Line sucks. All of our good players and recruits play the same freaking position (RB). Our defense always lets us down. Oh, and we have a new quarterback. Now I know a lot of young kids on here don’t remember/didn’t pay attention to KU football before the Reesing days but let me tell you, watching Adam Barmann go 7-19 and throw picks, take sacks and generally sail pass after pass over open WR against freaking Florida Atlantic is not a pretty sight.
I find myself generally going back and forth through these personas. I’m like Jim Carry in Me, Myself and Irene minus the illegitimate children (I hope) and Vespa. Seriously, an 8-4 or 3-9 season would not surprise me either way.
All in all, since this is a young (and talented team) I feel like we are going to see a season exactly like 2006. That’s right, exactly. We will go 3-1 in conference play (really could lose to So. Miss on the road but I’m going to say we win that game because the whole area will be in shock over Brett Favre’s career ending injury he sustained falling off his riding mower. That’s what you get you backstabbing traitorous grandpa).
Some growing pains with young players/a new coach could hinder us this fall.
So I say we got 3-1 noncon, and beat Colorado, Iowa State and K-State at home. Lose some other close games we shouldn’t or blow some leads (anyone remember the Baylor debacle in 2006? My friend and I sat in his car in the garage since it wasn’t on TV and listened to it on the radio, blew a 35-14 lead in the fourth quarter, etc. Man that sucked. And yes the garage door was open…I think). So I’m going with a 6-6 prediction. Kind of a cop-out, but I like living in the past.
And if that means we go 12-1 the following year and win the Orange Bowl then you are all on board too.
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And 2006 sucked balls
But if I had to go through that one more time to get another 2007, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I just wish I would have been on this site in 2007. Before the season started I was talking up that team more than any other team in the history of sports. A good friend of mine kept calling for the firing of Mangino and another 6-6 record at best. I basically told him how stupid he was and that we were going at least 10-2 that season thanks to Aqib and a few other players. Then he told me how stupid I was. I want that feeling back! I want that warm fuzzy feeling back in my stomach when it comes to this football team. I had that feeling when we hired Gill and I had it towards the begining when it comes to this season, but the feeling died off about this season early on. I do think Gill will have a great career here at KU, and guess what, he won’t be leaving for NU once it happens. Mark my words! Okay, I want to keep writing but need to stop. Catch my breath and probably get back to work.
Yeah
Unfortunately like I said in my post, the feeling I am getting is that we are in for another 2006 type season. Be in every game, have some defensive lapses (this is KU football after all), go somewhere around 6 wins, etc.
I do think that 2011 we will be pretty dangerous. Most of the team will be back with more experience and the easier Big12 slate still. Unfortunately with all the youth, new coaching regime, etc…I feel like we are probably a year away at best.
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 17, 2010 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions
Agreed...
I am sick of the expansion talks….it’s all just speculation by people who don’t have any authority on what can/will happen.
TO FOOTBALL!
I have to agreed with your post. Every time I begin to get optimistic about this upcoming season I start pumping the breaks when I realize all of the factors that could go horribly wrong. New QB, new offense, new defense, no Stuckey, no Briscoe, no Reesing, no Meier…what a downer.
However, defense always has the advantage in the spring game, and that is exaclty what I saw. I saw a more agressive, much simpler defense where our CBs didn’t play 10 yards off of the receiver. I watched as screen pass after screen pass got blown up by young but talented linebackers, safties and corners. I watch Kevin Young give the tackles all they could handle. And most importantly, I watched Kale Pick work through the defense’s advantages and still manage to make some good plays with a cannon for an arm and deceptive speed.
So maybe coach Gill won’t be able to fix all of the defensive woes from last year, but I saw improvement and I saw a consistently good offense going against a young but talented defense. Give them a full season next year, then sprinkle in some more talent and we’ve got a football team on the rise once again.
I agree somewhat about the defense
However I have thought that the past several seasons. Lets not forget that the offense keeps things pretty vanilla in the spring game, and they are usually pretty low scoring despite the offenses we have had in the past. I do think our defense will be better, but how much is that really saying considering how aweful they have been at times in the past.
Like you said though, there certainly are encouraging signs so lets just hope we continue to get better and surprise some chaps this fall
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 17, 2010 4:13 PM CDT up reply actions
True,
but vanilla goes both ways. I didn’t see much, if any, blitzing by the defense during the spring game either. Plus they mixed up the “starters” during the game to see who fit and who could make a play on the field so neither side really had an advantage.
Jea
Really (and we’ve said this over and over again on this site but its so true) it will come down to the almighty pass rush. We have a good, talented secondary that is fast and very deep at corner and safety and pretty good in run support as well. If we can just start to get more pressure on the QB I guarantee our OPPG would start to take a nice dip.
Its always hard to tell though. In our first three games last season, our D looked awesome. It completely decapitated a good offense of UTEP and apart from one big play ran over Puke. Denver called it a “strength of our team.” Then we play So. Miss and its a bit off and then we can’t even force ISU to punt pretty much the whole game.
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 5:06 PM CDT up reply actions
Screw the pessemistic side
Let’s error on the side of optimism.
All I know is that I’m going to be going crazy for the first game of the year and I’m going to continue it until the last game of the year.
I think I’ll work on the crowd in my section a bit more than in year’s past. I’ve always tried to lead by example by simply yelling on every defensive down. It’s time to start being vocal and at least a little bit stupid.
Why?
It’s kind of all we have right now. You can either piss and moan all summer about players and coaches you’ve never seen, or you can be optimistic all summer about players and coaches you’ve never seen. I, for one, will not let the nice weather be ruined by doubt about a new staff that has 1) the record holder offensive coordinator 2) one of the best defensive coordinators and 3) the motivator at the head coach position. Sure, Greene is a big loss, but Mangino’s style of coaching wouldn’t have done anything for that guy either.
I’ll be optimistic until the games prove me wrong.
I'm cautiously optimistic.
That’s a BIG difference from blind optimism.
There simply is no substitute for experience.
I’ll be interested to see how we play on the road this year. We always struggled away from Lawrence under Mangino.
Honestly, I’m pretty pessimistic about ‘10. I don’t think we’ll start to really appreciate everything Todd Reesing gave the program until we’re a couple of games into the season. Players like Sparky are incredibly rare, and you can’t just pluck those guys off a vine. Also, I worry about transitioning to a more traditional offense when 4/5ths or so of the players were recruited to play in the spread.
I expect teams to load the box and make a green QB try to beat them. If I had to predict what statistics will be the most important, I would say: 1) Turnover Margin and 2) Yards After Catch. Our WRs will need to be able to make plays after a reception in order for us to develop whoever ends up at QB1.
If we don’t do well in both those categories, I think we end up in last place in the North this year.
You can never have too much talent.
by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on May 18, 2010 2:35 AM CDT reply actions
This
“Also, I worry about transitioning to a more traditional offense when 4/5ths or so of the players were recruited to play in the spread.”
I keep saying it will take 3-4 years to get rid of all the Mangino taint from the program. And this is what I mean by that.
There simply is no substitute for experience.
there it is again!!!!
aghghg -
Sered into my mental image capacitor!!! Burned into the retina of my mind’s eye.
NOT COOL RIVET!!
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
Go look at some porn
That’ll wash the image away, quick-like.
At least if you’re normal it will :-)
There simply is no substitute for experience.
ah, the old
trade one taint for another, trick….
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
If they load the box...
then I guess we’ll just have to beat them in a game of smash mouth football. Plus, that will really open things up in the play action pass which Gill/Long seem to love. Our o-line will come together and will lead our offense. Did they look bad in the Spring Game? Yes, but they have a few more months to gel together and work as one cohesive unit. They have experience and they will show it come game day.
I think everything this season rests on the O-Line
The defense is going to be average IMO, guys on O will make some plays. But the O-line is key. Can they open holes for the backs, give Pick time, etc? Or do they get mauled?
In the past our defenses collapsed in the 4th quarter after being on the field too long. A good offense line and an offense that moves the chains will really help us there. We saw it in the Southern Miss and Iowa State games last year. Despite struggling, the defense was able to make big plays at the end of those games, and I think a lot of it had to do with our offense sustaining long scoring drives and allowing the D to catch their breath and not suffer fourthquarterities
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 19, 2010 11:43 AM CDT up reply actions
Right now
I’m staying with my original, post spring game prediction:
4-8
Wins over NDSU (won’t be nearly as easy as people think….that team is legit) and NMSU in the noncon.
Wins over CU and KSU at home.
We’ll have plenty of close heart-breakers too (ISU, Baylor, OSU). And also a handful of ass whoopins (A&M, NU, and MU).
There simply is no substitute for experience.
Those "heartbreaker games will be key"
I think we may be able to beat AandM since we have them at home. Game could be a shootout but if our D forces some turnovers (aggies are turnover prone) And we can run the ball and control the clock we got a good shot.
So I see these 5 games being the season: KSU, CU, ISU, BU and TAMU. All 5 seem pretty 50/50 to me. Added emphasis on the KSU, ISU and CU games since they are North contests. 3-0 North slate here is huge, 0-3 or even 1-2 out of those three and the season is caput.
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 8:41 AM CDT up reply actions
aTm will be tough
Unfortunately I see us looking one week ahead at MU. It’s not a game anyone should look past but the media will play a part in it…they always do.
I can see that
But I’m calling for a record with wins over: NDSU, GT, NMSU, KSU, ISU, CU, and MU.
Many people are calling for us losing to Georgia Tech but I don’t see it happening. My reasons why we win that game:
1. Torbush is our new D Coordinator and last year he got to play GT while he was at MSU. He did get beat by GT but it wasn’t totally his fault. GT converted 5 turnovers into 21 points in that game. Tough to win any game when you have 5 turnovers converted into points. Gill has been preaching turnovers and because of it, the Jayhawks fair better than MSU did last year.
2. Georgia Tech doesn’t have all of the weapons they did last year. GT lost 4 of their top playmakers to the NFL Draft this year. Two going in the 1st Round, one in the 3rd, and one in the 6th. You can’t just replace talent like that. Yes, we lost some great talent too, but their talent was better, hence why it won’t hurt us as bad.
Our game against KSU will be a good one. We’ll be coming off a bye week and this time we shut KSU’s run game down and force them to throw. Their QB throws 3 interceptions and we win the game by 14.
ISU will be a tough one. They usually play good at home and this time will be no different. Once again, we’ll have to come back from losing at halftime to put a W on the board.
CU – Let’s just say we make them pay for last year…
MU – Going to be a great game but I’m picking the Jayhawks in a 31 – 28 win.
Southern Miss will be a tough road game for us
Because it’s a road game and we’re traveling on a short week, I’m predicting a close loss.
Very tough game
Their pro-set offense gave us fits last year. TEs and RBs were wide open on every play.
We were able to run the ball on them effectively from what I remember (I was at the game so its harder to notice all them details) and force some timely turnovers so hopefully we can do the same this year.
If nothing else, it will be a very good road test for a young team. A tough road game but one we will have a chance to win
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 11:59 AM CDT up reply actions
Not looking forward to the G-Tech game.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
I am!
Should have a packed house. It’ll be fun watching us battle a good team in Memorial stadium. I think our fans will be ready and give us the home field advantage to win this game. If our fans decide to leave at halftime though, we deserve to lose and we don’t deserve a signle recruit for the future.
Before each game put Gill and Self on the Jumbotron
and remind the fans that their team needs the home field advantage for the entire game. Show some MU players getting lit up by KU players and then flash “Make Some Noise” on there and that place will be rockin’!
I'd rather put Ron Prince on the Jumbo tron
And have him say
“Bring. you.r powe.r tow-el. Bring. It. To. Ev-er-y. Game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A-05wPlQQ4&feature=fvst
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 11:57 AM CDT up reply actions
The problem is not before the game its the middle of it.
When the sorority girls get too bored (or drunk) to care and the Lawrence townie fans stop watching the game to start walking around the stadium to find BBall players. The stadium goes from crimson and blue to gray in a real hurry.
I love Lawrence, I really do, but there’s just not a really good collegiate sporting scene there. This will change in time if Gill is able to continue to build the program but I still foresee mass exodi every halftime if we’re either down or up big.
What they should do, instead of having promotional items to hand out before the game, they should hand them out afterwards, almost as a ‘good job, you stayed through a whole game’ here’s your shirt….
I dunno….
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
I'm guessing you're only talking football?
but there’s just not a really good collegiate sporting scene there.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
well not really.
Baseball is really sparse too. Lawrence has been a one-sport town for so long I don’t think the Lawencians know how to be anything else…
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
I can see that
but winning will always bring fans. The other sports have held up their end of the bargain traditionally.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
This is the part
where I jump in and say: “Look at East Lansing for a REAL sports college town”.
MSU is a basketball school just like us. But they’ve got a fanatical following for football, hockey and wrestling too. I’m amazed (and often embarassed when comparing to KU) at how organized their fan base is. Hell the Kansas City MSU Alumni Chapter is damn near more fanatical than the KC KU Alumni Chapter. My parents are MSU Alums and (especially my Dad) we often compare programs.
There simply is no substitute for experience.
totally agree
that said, a realy college sports town is pretty rare. Some of the Big 10 and SEC towns would be the best examples.
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
Yeah well the non-con is bad
But then again I don’t blame people for leaving at halftime when we are beating some 1-AA school 35-0 at the half and its already 9:30 at night and there is drinking one could do. I was at the So. Miss game last year and no one hardly left at all. It helps A LOT when we play day games, since the later games interfere with students and old people’s saturday night rather than late morning early afternoon.
When we were playing well the past few seasons (before last year) people weren’t leaving at all in League play so hopefully that happens again.
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 12:02 PM CDT up reply actions
I guess I'm of the school of:
You paid for the ticket, now shut up sit down and watch the damn game.
and, get off my lawn too…
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
No I agree
And I always stay because I’m a hardcore football fan. And my fiance stays because she is marrying a hardcore football fan.
But when it comes to the Sorostitutes you mentioned who get wasted and show up for a half…I dunno. I guess I remember my frosh/soph year when so many games had a half full stadium. They don’t like football and etc…maybe we should just be glad they came for the first half?
And gave us some eye candy?
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 12:07 PM CDT up reply actions
I do
“But then again I don’t blame people for leaving at halftime when we are beating some 1-AA school 35-0 at the half and its already 9:30 at night and there is drinking one could do.”
Thoughts:
1) Why can’t you drink in the stadium during the game? The ticket takers are either 60 year old retirees or 20 year old college students. Both are just there to earn their minimum wage. They aren’t that hard to sneak a flask by. The “there is drinking to do” is an excuse and a bad one at that.
2) The bars stay open till 2am. Will an extra hour/hour and 30 minutes really make a difference in your partying? Back in my day (yeah, I’m going there) we didn’t have those new-fangled devices called cell phones. We met at the bars and often killed many hours just waiting for our entire group/gang/posse to show up so we could roll. You kids have no excuse. The game could end and your entire database of friends could be coordinated via text messages to arrive simultaneously at the party spot of your choice within minutes.
3) Just look around the nation. There is “drinking to do” at every campus on the planet (except BYU). I don’t see the exodus at those other schools going on like I do at KU. Pathetic.,
There simply is no substitute for experience.
I'm not saying its right
I’m giving you their (and not mine obviously) perspective.
My friends were the type that stayed, were loud, etc etc etc. My points were this:
1) If you are destroying a 1-AA team its not that terrible to leave when you are up 42-0.
2) Its going to be hard to get 18 year old girls to stay the whole time if its not a good game
3) More people stay for day games for some reason, so maybe we should schedule our non-con games then
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 1:46 PM CDT up reply actions
How many schools with a similar football tradition actually have better fan showings?
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
Exactly. Plus its all about winning
KState had a cult like following in the 90s and still has rabid fans and support, but the last couple seasons when their team was crappy they weren’t selling out either (from the attendance I was reading online anyways).
All in all, in general, more people come when you are winning and more people stay home when you are losing. Period cut and dry
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 2:07 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm one of those
Part of that was how horrible we were…it’s a unhealthy Bill Snyder obsession.
And on the 3rd year he rose again...
Location may be a factor too
KC has so many KU and KState fans and graduates, its a lot easier to drive 40 minutes to watch a shitty KU team than drive 2 and a half hours to watch a shitty KState team. I think that may have a little to do with it. Its easy for me to go to Lawrence and take in the game atmosphere, if I was a KSU alum I might make the trip back once or twice a year, but thats probably it. And I’m a die hard fan too
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 31, 2010 5:28 PM CDT up reply actions
You mean schools that have went to a BCS bowl game in the
last few years (and won it)?
LOTS!!
There simply is no substitute for experience.
Is tradition usually associated with one year outliers?
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
by Warden11 on May 18, 2010 2:15 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
It's all about winning
So the Insight Bowl meant nothing to you? Back to back bowls for the first time……ever should have the fans fanatical.
Instead…..(crickets).
There simply is no substitute for experience.
Again a lot of the crickets I felt were from this past season
After we started dropping games people stopped caring. Although to me that is a pretty sorry excuse for a fan base (talk about fair weathered)
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 19, 2010 11:45 AM CDT up reply actions
Don't agree
“I was at the So. Miss game last year and no one hardly left at all”
I’ve got that one on the hard drive and watched it several times. The 4Q was fantastic in that our D held a high powered offense scoreless!! And few people were there to witness it. The student section was damn near empty by the start of the 4Q.
There simply is no substitute for experience.
I don't get this either:
“It helps A LOT when we play day games, since the later games interfere with students and old people’s saturday night rather than late morning early afternoon.”
Seriously. I guess this is the root of the problem. This attitude. The football game SHOULD BE the students Saturday night. The focus. The primary event. The BIG party.
But you make it sound like an inconvenience.
Now, I’m going even older on you………
The “old people” are more inconvenienced by DAY games than night games. Yup. There are more alums with kids who have soccer games/ballet/volleyball/etc. on Saturdays than there are students at the football game. If KU were smart they would schedule around the old people’s needs (you know, the people with the money to donate to the Williams Fund and the school). But scheduling is all tv driven anyway so it’s a moot point.
There simply is no substitute for experience.
I love the night games!
#1. You have all day to tailgate and get pumped up for the game.
#2. It’s not as hot out. When that sun is beating down on you all day it starts to hurt.
#3. When you leave the game you can go to the bars and not feel like an alcoholic. Maybe that’s just me! I always feel wrong when I enter a bar and the sun is still out.
I like day games
Allows me to work on me tan
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 19, 2010 11:45 AM CDT up reply actions
Although I do like games at night
So I can golf during the day
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 19, 2010 11:46 AM CDT up reply actions
Hell yes
I miss the days of being in lawrence and drinking whilst golfing at Eagle Bend, then calling and getting a ride from a friend from the golf course.
Sigh…to be young
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 19, 2010 1:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Found a hidden gem while at lunch today
There’s a golf course about 3-5 miles from my work that gives you a bucket of range balls (50-60 balls) and lunch for 8 bucks. You can’t beat that! Needless to say I was late coming back to work. :)
Whoa that is awesome
Where is this place?
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 19, 2010 4:14 PM CDT up reply actions
just a wee bit
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 19, 2010 10:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Stadium
You think part of the problem is just Memorial in general?
I mean, it’s ugly, it’s hard to get to, it’s uncomfortable for students, there’s almost no amenities that people have come to expect at sports stadiums, and the acoustics are terrible, which makes yelling and screaming basically worthless.
You can never have too much talent.
by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on May 18, 2010 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Yes
I don’t agree with the “ugly” part, but your other points have a lot of merit.
The amenities suck. The lines for the pisser are ridiculous. The sight lines aren’t great. The benches aren’t comfortable on those rare moments you do sit. And yes, I sat three sections south of the band and could never hear them….the acoustics are bad….all the sound just leaks out the south end.
There simply is no substitute for experience.
"Ugly" is a strong word
It does look really nice on the inside when it’s full of fans on a beautiful day. Maybe “drab” is a better description. It’s just so…gray.
You can never have too much talent.
by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on May 18, 2010 12:50 PM CDT up reply actions
I agree with ugly.
Plus there’s a track around the field!
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
It’s scenic!
But that’s not what you really want in a football stadium. We need some updates for sure. That and 53,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs all game long.
Drab I would agree with.
It’s an old pile of concrete. But it is scenic and unique (the hill helps).
There simply is no substitute for experience.
scenery around the stadium doesn't really make
the stadium not ugly. I think the original stadium at one time might have been pretty but the upper level with the huge exposed cubed concrete lattice supports is definitely NOT pretty.
Plus it’s gots a track and the North Bowl only goes halfway up.
we nead moar ribbon boards!!!
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
Seriously. I guess this is the root of the problem. This attitude. The football game SHOULD BE the students Saturday night. The focus. The primary event. The BIG party.
Slow clap from me Rivet. This is my point. When there’s a big BBall game, shit, any BBall game our students camp out for days, and there’s a buzz on campus and in the town. I don’t get that sense with any other sport.
That said, I think with the healthy encouraging of on campus tailgating and other game day rituals the Lawrence game day experience will change.
I think part of it is people of Lawrence is very isolated. They really don’t tie in much with KC or her teams (how many Chiefs flags did you ever see in Lawrence?) and they don’t relate much to the rest of Red Kansas. Most Lawrence natives are perfectly content with they way things are and to a point that’s a good thing. But the population needs to have its eyes opened to what its REALLY like attend a real football game.
My wife went to FSU and hates football, she still talks to this day about the one FSU game she went to and thought how cool it was. She doesn’t remember the game but she remembers all the tailgating and the partying and all the ceremony and the huge roaring crowd all of it. That’s what makes it special. The good people of Lawrence don’t know what they’re missing.
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
KU gets a success like Bobby Bowden and I think they'll have the same thing.
FSU
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
Every year
I envy the Big Football schools. The game of football sells itself in my eyes. But when you couple that with a stadium packed full of screaming fans, all wanting the same thing, nothing beats it. My dream is for KU to one day become one of those schools. Will it happen? Man I hope so!
That doesn't work...
they tried having a raffle in the fourth quarter last season with some pretty good stuff…xbox….ipod…computers…good stuff, but it’s ultimately our fans. Our fans grew up basketball fanatics, like myself, and pretty much ignored football season because KU was not relevant. The way you get good fans is to keep winning for multiple years, and I’m not talking about Fort Worth bowls, I’m talking about more BCS bowls, or Big XII championship games.
K-State had the advantage when trying to get their fans excited…1) they weren’t traditionally good at anything else…2) KU didn’t care about football at the time so they didn’t have anyone in state to compete with for recruits.
KU can have that atmosphere some day, but it’s going to take a consistent and long-term dedication to bringing football onto the pedistal with basketball.
Thats a great point
KU fans are still getting used to having a competitive team. Fans and students at other schools grew up with a big interested in their team because they were always on TV, going to bowls, competing, etc.
Thats why last season was such a roadblock, killed a lot of momentum we were building with fans, students, media, national perception, etc. People were saying hey KU is getting pretty solid, Orange Bowl, Mizzou win, talent in place. Now they are saying “well that was a fluke, flash in the pan deal. They suck again.”
Its up to Gill, our athletic PR staff, the team, the fans everyone to show that we are here to stay and not a two year success story
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 9:32 PM CDT up reply actions
Exactly...
KU fans were not born football fans like Ohio State fans were. We were born to love basketball, a sport we competed in, dominated in, and had more history in than any other school in the country.
I’m not even saying that basketball has to take back seat to football, I’m just saying it will take a few years of success before we have students and alumni in the stands that have been rooting for KU football for years.
Those of us on this site are the outliers. Most of us are home team guys who watched college football, but never really rooted for a team until KU came back to relevancy. I know a lot of KU fans who are fans of other college football teams…I couldn’t care less about any team other than KU, and that’s why I stay through the fourth quarter whether we are winning or getting blown out. KU football IS my Saturday night. After then game, I go watch whatever other games are still on and talk about KU football some more. If it was a good game, I watch it again the next day on channel 6. Someday, there will be more like us.
Uhh
If our fans decide to leave at halftime though, we deserve to lose and we don’t deserve a signle recruit for the future.
I wouldn’t say that…cuz…well you know….
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions
I don't see MU as a close game this year
They’ll have more talent and more experience on the field pretty much across the board. And then I imagine they’ll be pretty pissed off and fired up for us.
Imagine if MU hired a new coach and the first thing he says is: “I’m here to recruit, beat KU, recruit, win the North, recuit, win the Big 12”.
Think we’d remember that? Think we’d be fired up about that?
Coach Gill talked the talk but unfortunately I don’t think we have the guns yet to walk the walk.
There simply is no substitute for experience.
Possibly...
but the best team doesn’t always win when you’re playing your hated rival. And I don’t think the Gill comment fired them up more than they will already be. You think every other KU coach hasn’t said publicly that they wanted to beat MU? Please. MU says the same type of crap about KU. It’s an even field when it comes down to motivation to beat the other team, especially if our season is already over like you’re predicting. In that case, that is our Bowl game. We’ll have more motivation than MU probably.
Anything can happen against MU
Two years ago they were supposed to destroy us and we won. Heading into last season we all thought we would beat them and we lost a close one (to end our horrible collapse) etc etc etc.
Over the years I’ve learned you can throw records out the window, games are almost always close
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 11:52 AM CDT up reply actions
MU game worries me too...
could be ugly
53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!
Dan Hawkins back in the news out here....
claiming CU is “This Close (holding thumb and finger close together…) to returning to the NATIONAL STAGE”
this a year after saying “10 wins, no excuses” followed by a 3-9 season. The guy should really keep his mouth shut.
53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!
Well this could be his last hurrah
Might as well get people to come out and see it, get hyped up, etc right?
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 2:05 PM CDT up reply actions
that'd be my thought....
nothing too lose, might as well go down in flames or better yet, look like you knew what you were talking about all the time.
53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!
Exactement
If CU finally makes a bowl and does well, he says “I told you we were moving in the right direction it just took a little time, its division one football, its the big 12, it ain’t intramurals, etc.”
If he sucks he is fired anyways (If Coloradie can afford it) so swing for the fences D Hawk!
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 2:31 PM CDT up reply actions
While we are talking about schedule and etc, I wanted to get the esteemed members of this site's opinion on our South Slate
Do you like the current setup of Texas, OU and Tech (guantlet) and then OSU, BU and TAMU (much easier) or prefer to have it more mixed up? Currently it seems like our only shot to have a real good season is when we have the easier slate…
Granted when the Big12 was formed TAMU was much better than TTech so it wasn’t so one-sided but now its pretty extreme. So keep the big extreme in the South schedule or mix it up a bit?
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 8:53 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Lets say we change it...
Then TTU falls off a bit and aTm picks it back up again. Or maybe it’s OSU that gets better. I don’t think we should/can change the schedule. Teams have their ups and their downs. Does it suck when we play the 3 best teams of the south in one year? Yes, but maybe 4 years from now it won’t be that way. The only way I see anything changing is if the conference adds/subtracts any teams. That and it’s nice having a 2 year vacation from the powers of the South. Got us to an Orange Bowl!!!
Only thing is that it hurts playing OU and Texas when we do
We will never beat those schools ever (sorry to be a wet blanket, but I’m not seeing it). If you gave an over under on us beating either school five times before I die I would likely take the under. Then again I may not live that long
You are right though, that on the other hand it helps the two years we DONT play OU or Texas because even if OSU, TAMU or Baylor are having a good year, we still have a much better shot traditionally
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions
disagree.
We very nearly beat Texas in 04 and should have won a field goal fest against OU at Arrowhead in 05. Not to mention going to Norman in 08 and playing OU down to the end.
If those teams can compete our teams can win.
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
Compete yes
Win…I just don’t know. Until I see it my friend, until I see it :)
Oh and we BEAT Texas in 2004. It just came down to THATS RIGHT BCS.
DOLLAR SIGNS. THATS WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE WITH THAT CALL IN FRONT OF THEIR BENCH
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 12:08 PM CDT up reply actions
we can absolutely win.
Every year there are teams that compete with the big teams and every year big teams lose to teams that compete.
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
Disagree
WE BEAT TEXAS in 2004!!!
I don’t care what the fucking scoreboard said. Frickin Freeman Johns from Dallas TEXAS calls a nonexistant OPI call…….even Mack Brown admitted the call was questionable (well he said “the call could have went either way” which is coaches speak for: “we got lucky on that one”).
There simply is no substitute for experience.
I was in the student section right in front of the call
There was a little contact but no sane college ref makes THAT call on THAT play at THAT stage of the game (caps FTW).
As soon as the ref threw the flag my heart just sank. Then I was like wait that could be on texas we win! And then….just….rage
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 19, 2010 11:48 AM CDT up reply actions
thank you Grad
Very entertaining post! Can’t believe no one else has rec’d it….
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
I tell ya I get no regards
No regards I tell ya
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 11:53 AM CDT up reply actions
I recced it, and I see 5 others, so
Grad must have 5 computers of his own.
by hunter s. royal on May 18, 2010 6:52 PM CDT up reply actions
Its like SherroncollinsisthebesteverandIlovehim
multiplied by 5 and stormed then internets
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 18, 2010 9:33 PM CDT up reply actions
Since everyone is a commenting on this article it'd be a good place to pose this question:
Where the hell is KCsince88? I haven’t seen him on here in ages.
I think we should all gossip about him until he returns
Shit happens when you win championships
and for th 100th comment on this thread, I agree
Do we need to check RMN? Maybe he really DID go over there.
Maybe he and Rockchalk eloped?
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
YAY
You win my heart
Yeah I got no idea what happened to him. Maybe getting on TV and getting famous went to his head. He is too good for us anymore
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 20, 2010 11:12 AM CDT up reply actions
we still have Rivet
53 Conference Championships!! and now 6 IN A ROW!!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!
but who's going to keep us safe from all the trolls?
What are we to do without the RCT Patrol?
The Kansas City Royals; Successfully failing since 1986
I am stocking up on the following supplies
Got a anti-troll pack of the following:
and
and of course
Put up a few of these signs:
And we should all be good to go
Shit happens when you win championships
by Andrew Clark on May 20, 2010 1:21 PM CDT up reply actions
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