The Rock Chalkboard

Emoni Bates leads way in the first 2022 basketball rankings
Just 15-years old, Bates has already drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant and been talked about as potentially the best high school prospect of the past decade. Obviously those are lofty expectations, but to date Bates has proven he’s worthy of the praise.

Analysis: So let's talk about the KU football offense
The KU offense didn't produce at a high-caliber level in the first game. The Jayhawks scored 17 offensive points, with seven coming on a game-winning drive that ended with less than two-and-a-half minutes to play against FCS-squad Indiana State. The Jayhawks did not score an offensive touchdown in the first half. They did, however, win, 24-17.

Jayhawks excited to add grad transfer Isaiah Moss' veteran presence to roster | KUsports.com
“He’s a veteran,” sophomore point guard Devon Dotson recently told the Journal-World. “He knows what it takes out there and in practice. He knows what it takes to succeed at the highest level.”

Les Miles doesn't think KU's 4th down failures will make him less assertive | KUsports.com
Out of an offset I-formation with one receiver, Andrew Parchment, lined up wide left, KU ran an option play to the right. Quarterback Carter Stanley quickly had a defender in his face. And when Stanley pitched the ball to Pooka Williams, the sophomore running back had four defenders coming at him behind the line of scrimmage before somehow gaining one yard.

Bits o Chalk

O's' Villar hits MLB's record-setting 6,106th HR
The Baltimore Orioles' Jonathan Villar hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning at Camden Yards on Wednesday night, the 6,106th homer of 2019, setting an MLB single-season record. It comes with 18 days left in the regular season.

Browns appear to have banned wrong fan
I legit just got a got from the @Browns telling me I've been banned from the stadium for throwing the beer in Logan Ryan's face Sunday. I'm fairly certain I haven't been to a game since 2010.

Report -- Justify failed drug test before Triple Crown
Justify failed a drug test one month before the 2018 Kentucky Derby, and the California Horse Racing Board decided to dismiss the case after the colt went on to win the Triple Crown, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Steelers Ben Roethlisberger's complicated quest to be a better leader
After devouring a steamy slop bucket of seafood, red potatoes and corn, Ben Roethlisberger gathered his skill players by his rectangular pool overlooking Lake Oconee.

LeBron's 'Taco Tuesday' trademark filing denied
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James' attempt to trademark the term "Taco Tuesday" has been denied, but according to James' team, he still accomplished the outcome he wanted from the application in the first place.

Eraser Dust

Elizabeth Warren leads Joe Biden in ranked-choice poll - Vox
Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead the crowded Democratic field — but under a “ranked-choice” system designed to suss out the majority’s ultimate preference, Sen. Elizabeth Warren would top Biden, 53 percent to 47 percent, according to a new poll exclusively provided in advance to Vox.

Movie Review: 'Liam Gallagher: As it Was' -- Oasis Front Man Faces Middle Age | National Review
Liam Gallagher lived his twenties and thirties as rock’s maximum jackass, greeting the world middle fingers first as the front man of the 1990s-defining band Oasis. He wasn’t just a bad boy; he was out to be the worst boy. Scarcely a month went by without him producing yet another outrage to delight tabloid editors. You can’t be a bad boy at 46, though, so by now Liam Gallagher really ought to be dead.

Kalispell Woman Pleads Guilty to Drug Distribution - Flathead Beacon
A 66-year-old Kalispell woman who was initially charged with murder-for-hire has pleaded guilty to a federal drug distribution charge that carries a longer potential prison sentence.

Young cancer survivor obsessed with Bumblebee gets a special birthday surprise - CNN
Whitaker Weinburger has been battling cancer for most of his life. Now that the 4-year-old Virginia boy is in remission, his mother set out to give him a very special birthday surprise involving his love of Bumblebee, the yellow Transformer.

Supreme Court Says Migrant Asylum Can Be Restricted While Courts Deliberate : NPR
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration may curtail asylum applications at the southern border while a legal challenge to the new rule is litigated in court.