The Rock Chalkboard

The Drive: A look at Kansas, Big 12 basketball after Christmas
The 15th season of The Drive continues following KU basketball's win vs. West Virginia and the start of Christmas break.

Winter break checkup: KU basketball's top and bottom performers
Following each KU basketball game, we bring you our "Who stood out and who didn't..." feature, which assesses the top-three and bottom-three performers from each contest. At the end of each edition, we include a running total from the season from each side of the list.

KU's Bill Self 'pleased with' Latrell Jossell, Gethro Muscadin
A glance at the KU basketball stat sheet through nine games would give you a pretty good clue as to the Jayhawks' rotation. The team has four players averaging at least 26 minutes per game. The fifth starter is at just shy of 20 minutes, and the top-three bench performers are at 17.4, 14.6 and 11.3 minutes, respectively.

Basketball Snap Judgments and Big 12 Power Rankings
The Big 12 Conference basketball season is underway! Teams began playing league games two weeks ago, and everyone in the league has played at least one game. Many teams also got a break this week for Christmas, but got in at least one game - if not two - since our last rankings. With teams roughly a fourth of the way through their 2020-21 basketball season, it seems like now is as good a time as any to release our next edition of snap judgments and Actually Accomplished Rankings of the year. First, we'll give a rundown of each team, what happened since our last update, and what's up next on the schedule.

What KU coach Bill Self wants to get out of 10-day holiday break
KU basketball is in the midst of a 10-day stretch of non-game-days — the duration from last Tuesday, when No. 3 KU defeated No. 7 West Virginia, until next Saturday, when KU faces No. 10 Texas. The 10-day off stretch is the longest break for the holidays of the Bill Self-era at KU.

KU coach Les Miles talks virtual recruiting, in-state efforts
Putting together the 2021 signing class — at least the 20 names who inked in the early period — was a different kind of challenge for KU coach Les Miles and his staff. The COVID-19 pandemic, Miles said on an episode of Hawk Talk, has "completely changed [Kansas'] recruiting" — even if it's a challenge every program is facing.

Big 12 Power Rankings
The Covid panic has played havoc with the 2020-21 college basketball season, but so far, has not derailed it. One particular oddity of this strange season is that, in late December, we are already well into conference play. And that means, among other things, that we now have some basis for ranking the teams in the Big 12 conference. To this point, matters have proceeded in reasonably close accordance with preseason expectations, and there have been no huge surprises.

Decisions looming for top 25 guard Nick Smith
One of the top shot makers in the class of 2022, Nick Smith will be narrowing his list to 10 on January 5th. The 6-foot-4 combo guard excels at scoring the ball and is currently Top 25 in the nation and number one in Arkansas. He currently speaks to Arkansas, Georgetown, UNC, Kansas, and Auburn the most while hearing from others as well.

Bits o Chalk

Dallas Mavericks set NBA record for largest halftime lead by putting LA Clippers in 50-point hole
"We showed who we are," said Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic, who had 24 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in 26 minutes. "People judged us off the first two games of the season. It's a long season, but we've got to keep going like that. We've got to play defense. That's our specialty from now on."

Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins Jr. downcast after being benched in loss
Washington Football Team quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. opened the day as the starter with a chance to redeem himself. He exited with plenty of questions surrounding his future, calling the past week the toughest of his life.

J.J. Watt rants on Houston Texans' lack of professionalism, feels bad for fans
"We're professional athletes getting paid a whole lot of money," Watt said. "If you can't come in and put work in in the building, go out to the practice field and work hard, do your lifts and do what you're supposed to do, you should not be here. This is a job. We are getting paid a whole lot of money.

Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young, Memphis Grizzlies' Grayson Allen exchange words on Twitter after feet get tangled
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young took issue with a play by Memphis Grizzlies guard Grayson Allen from Saturday's game, apparently feeling Allen tried to intentionally trip him.

Eraser Dust

Donations, Dedication Push Flathead County Animal Shelter to New Heights - Flathead Beacon
The long, narrow hallways of the Flathead County Animal Shelter, flanked by kennel after kennel of howling, baying, jumping and cage-rattling canines, are typically — depending on whether you’re a dog person or not — a symphony of soon-to-be best friends angling for their forever home or an ear-splitting reminder that cats can’t bark.

Diversity with Donuts - Flathead Beacon
Before Frank Hanes and Leanna Carlson moved to the Flathead this fall, they noticed there were few donut shops in the area.

As veterans in the food service industry, working in fine dining in New York City and San Francisco throughout their careers, they planned to open some type of food venue in the valley. But before they decided which venture to pursue, they wanted to identify the culinary gaps in the Flathead. (ed note - this place absolutely rules)

Nashville bombing: Anthony Quinn Warner; police search for motive
Hundreds of tips and a phalanx of law enforcement officers helped determine that Anthony Quinn Warner triggered the bomb that rocked this city and took his life on Christmas morning.

Lori Loughlin released from prison after serving 2 months behind bars for role in college admissions scandal | Fox News
Lori Loughlin was released from prison on Monday after serving two months for her role in the national college admissions scandal that exposed the rich and famous engaging in illegal schemes to cheat on standardized tests and buy their kids into some of the country's top schools.

Fauci: US taking hard look at variant of coronavirus - ABC News
Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed the decision of U.S. officials to require negative COVID-19 tests before letting people from Britain enter the U.S. He declined to weigh in on whether that step should have been taken sooner. He said the variant strain is something “to follow very carefully” and “we’re looking at it very intensively now.”

Tenn. driver charged for playing audio like Nashville bomber - New York Daily News
A man who played “similar” audio outside a Tennessee church as the Nashville suicide bomber did on Christmas Day has been arrested, local police announced Sunday night.

Archaeologists uncover ancient Roman fast-food eatery in Pompeii - East Idaho News
A segment of the fast-food counter was partially dug up in 2019 during work to shore up Pompeii’s oft-crumbling ruins. Since then, archaeologists kept digging, revealing a multi-sided-counter, with typical wide holes inserted into its top. The countertop held deep vessels for hot foods, not unlike soup containers nestled into modern-day salad bars.