NFL Sunday

It is hard to believe that the NFL season is coming to a end. It seems like just yesterday that we held our fantasy draft. The last week for fantasy football and the last regular season weekend. We move to the playoffs and once again the Chiefs are no where close to being any good.

I truly love NFL Sundays. It is fun to follow my fantasy teams on ESPN and then bragging rights with friends when something goes right. Granted, this has not been one of my better seasons.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday! Until next time...

Already December!

It is hard to believe that it is already December. College football is
almost over and we are well into the college basketball season. Wow!

Ok, this time I plan on posting more to my blog. Let's see how this goes
this month.

Happy holidays!

Long Time No Post

Well, I am back and I am going to try and post on a regular basis again. I know, you have heard this before, but this time it is true. It is so easy to fall out of the habit of writing, but it is fun and helps me to remember what happened on certain days. Kind of like a journal if you will.

Well, lets see what has been happening.... The Royals have managed to fall completely out of anything they had going. Frustrating to be a fan and follow this team. Still, I follow their games, watch their games, and hope for something to change. You might wonder if I am still excited about the new manager and my answer is still yes. Give it some time and I think he will do good things for KC.

I have been playing a lot of golf over the Summer. Carrie and I are members of the Shawnee Country Club and we are having a lot of fun there. I have played a little over 20 rounds of golf so far this Summer. I was hoping to get to at least 30 for the Summer, but with all of the rain we have been getting lately that might be a little difficult. Not to mention that it is getting colder and colder which seems earlier than normal. I hope to be able to play some during the winter months too.

What a season Kansas had last year in football and basketball. Wow! The football season is underway. KU played last night and lost to another ranked team. It was tough, but KU looked good in all except the third quarter. They were out scored in the 3rd 33 - 0. Wow! They did manage to tie up the game and had a chance for a win, but things did not go that way. Unlike my friends (i.e. Mr. Black) I think that KU will have a great season and they will continue to be fun to watch for seasons to come.

Well, that is all for now. I hope everyone is doing well. Go KU and go Chiefs!

Holly Crap!

The Kansas City Royals are on a twelve game losing streak. They started off against Boston some weeks ago just one game shy of 500 and now sit 21 for 34 (.382) and 9 & 1/2 games out of first. Wow, what will a couple of weeks of not winning do to a team? Look at the Royals and you will find out.

No one ever thought that going into this season the Royals were going to be good. But, no one ever thought that we would lose twelve games in a row either. I believe it was last season that the Royals lost 16 or 17 games in a row setting a franchise record.... well, we certainly flirting with that record this season.

The Royals sent Bill Butler to the minors yesterday to try and spark something for this young team. This is a single minded team with some of the players that cannot hit at all (look at Pena). Pena being the most troublesome of the bunch.... He apparently is not listening to the batting coach, or to Hilman. They give solid advice and it worked for a few games (i.e. he was getting hits), but then he went back to using a lighter bat, striking out, and not getting contact. Pitiful!

It is too early to tell whether the Royals will be able to come out of their slump. Right now it is difficult to watch their games. Lets Go Royals!

John Bale is a Idiot!

John Bale, LHP for Kansas City Royals, who has been on the DL the past few weeks because of a shoulder injury will remain on the DL. In frustration over his shoulder not healing as fast as he would like punched a hotel room door. Did he punch it with his non-pitching hand? No! He punched it with his pitching hand. Idiot!

John Bale is 33 years old and has been playing in the majors for 1999. This is something I would expect to see from a teenager in high school. If he was frustrated with the rate at which his shoulder was healing at least use the sense to hit the door with your non-pitching hand. Idiot!

Bale has pitched 15.1 innings and been rocked for 13 hits in only three appearances. He has a 7.63 ERA in his second year with the Royals. "They've got to think about how it's going to affect the rest of their team -- how it's going to affect their individual possibilities of being able to perform" Royals manager, Trey Hillman, said of the incident.

Brett Tomko pitches in tonights game against the Angels. The Royals swept the Cleveland Indians yesterday afternoon 2 - 0 improving their record to 14 - 16. The Angels spanked KC when we visited them back in April. Tomko needs to have a great outing tonight to help the Royals. Tomko has not been good at all in six starts. He has a 6.26 ERA and has has struggled
in all but one of those appearances.

Time will tell how Bale's actions will impact the Royals. Not being impressed with his abilities early in the season, his punching the door could be a bonus to the Royals.

Note that prior to Friday's game Trey Hillman shaved off his goat. Since that day, the Royals are 2 - 0 (Friday was rained out). I noticed in yesterdays game that Hillman had a clean shaven face. Can that be the spark that will help the Royals keep a 2 game winning streak? We can only
hope!

Tenth Win Finally Arrives for the Royals

The Kansas City Royals finally win their tenth win of the season last night. They are on a two game winning streak with both wins coming from the Toronto Blue Jays. The Royals won last night 2 - 1. Their ten win coming after a seven game losing streak. Their last win before the losing streak coming from the Angels back on April 16 (see my post from April 17). The Royals managed to from a half game out of first to dead last in the AL Central. What a streak!

The team, fans, announcers, and other teams were all in awe of the Royals starting the season on an unexpected run that placed them in first place. There does seem to be a split between fans. You have those that know what would eventually come to the Royals and those that thought we could win the division. Well, the seven game losing streak finally put things into perspective and we saw the "same old Royals".

If you did not read the article on ESPN (see Hillman adamant about changing Royals' losing ways) by Elizabeth Merrill, it is worth a read. I have said since Trey Hillman was hired and during Spring Training that there is a definitely new feel to the Kansas City team. In the article, Hillman is quoted as saying that [seven game] skids were something that he and Royals general manager, Dayton Moore, were expecting. It is good that they are finally out of the skid and have a new two game winning streak going. Kansas City has a chance for their second sweep of the season against the Blue Jays today at 1:10 PM CST.

I was one of those fans that was very excited with the start of the season. How could you help but not be excited the way they started. Still, there were some obvious problems. I still have a offensive problem with Tony Pena, Jr. He cannot bunt and he cannot hit. He is batting .156 for the season. The Royals finally scored their most runs in their first game with the Blue Jays scoring eight runs in a 8 - 4 win. Prior to that, they had scored as many as six runs, but that came in a loss to Cleveland 9 - 6.

Still, I could also feel the same feeling in my gut as I watched the seven games prior where they lost. The worst being the last of a two game series against Cleveland when the Royals played a double header on Thursday night. Along with the Oakland A's series, the Cleveland series was just about as painful to watch as a fan. Given how the team started and then to crash like that, it did feel like Royals teams of old.

For now, we will take it one game at a time. We will enjoy the wins and hope that the losses are few between. Lets get the Blue Jays for the win today! Go Royals!

Tenth Win Has to Wait for the Royals

Well, Kansas City lost tonight against the Angels 5 - 3. Their tenth win will have to wait for the series with the Okland A's coming up tomorrow. The Royals were down 5 - 2 going into the top of the ninth. They scored one run and had the go ahead at the plate, but could not get a hit after two outs. The Royals split the series with the Angels. They go up next with the A's in a three game series.

Lets Go Royals!

Kansas City Royals Doing Well... 9 - 6 on the Season

Well, if you happen to remember last season, you will recall that at this time of year Kansas City was not even close to getting their tenth win of the season. They were losing games left and right, not scoring runs, and their pitching was horrible!

This is 2008 and the Royals are a half game in back of the Chicago White Sox (they are tied at the end of 9 against the Orioles) and they are going for their tenth win of the season. Except for the fact that the Royals have not been getting a lot of runs, they have had some great pitching (starters, relievers, and closers). They have been fun games to watch and like last night I have stayed up late watching them play. They won last night in their first game against the Angels 3 - 2.

That is not to say that they do not have some odd things during the games. The other night Billy Butler popped it up and did not even bother running; the Angels recognized this and ended up getting a double play. For the most part, I have seen nothing but hustle coming from the Royals. They run like someone is chasing them to first base; they appear to be trying on every at bat. It is fun to watch and great to see when thinking back to the previous years teams when they give up running to first.

We only have a couple of items that need improvement. The first part of the needed improvement is that of our last part of our starting pitchers. We have a couple that are struggling. On the flip side, we have three pitchers that are pitching lights out. The second part that needs improvement is that of Tony Pena, jr. I love it when TPJ comes to the plate and needs a bunt. He cannot lay down a bunt to save his life. It is frustrating to watch and I cannot imagine what Hillman is going through to watch him try. However, his defensive skills are what is keeping him on the field or not putting in a pinch hitter.

The important thing right now is that the team is having fun. You can see that they are having fun while watching them on the television. Later this Summer, I will personally see that they are having fun when I go to their games. You can see that they have a manager that they believe in and that they are willing to do what he asks them to do. I blogged early in Spring Training that I like Trey Hillman and that continues. There is a different feel when watching the 2008 Kansas City Royals. There is a difference there that I have not felt for a long time when watching this team.

We are through three innings in this evenings game and it is zero all. Lets go Royals!

KC Royals go to 5 - 2

In case you missed it, the Kansas City Royals won today in their home opener against the New York Yankees (5 - 2). This makes the Royals 5 - 2 and tied for first. Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers have not won a single game this year. Oh, how we can relate to that type of pain. Well, except for the fact that they spent a lot of money on their roster and so far it is not producing for them.

Kansas City plays New York again tomorrow evening at 6:30 pm CST. Go Royals!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk! What a Run....

The Kansas Jayhawks topped off a incredible season with a win Monday night against the Memphis Tigers. What a run and it still feels like a dream that I had last night... But then every channel I watch, every sports web site I visit, and they are talking about the Kansas Jayhawks. Wow!

I watched Saturdays game at Henry T's here in Topeka, so of course we had to go back Monday night to watch the championship game. We went right after work and we were afraid that we would not get a table. The place was already crowded and people were vying for open tables. We had heard on the news starting Sunday that Lawrence bars were charging $20 just to have a table. One place, Jeffersons, had everyone leave at 3 and then they re-opened at 4 pm so they could charge the $20 fee. Wow! Talk about crazy!

So, there we were at Henry T's in Topeka trying to get enough people to hold a table. There were only three of us initially and they would not let us sit at a table for six because we cannot hold spots. OK, so we got on our cell phones and told the group of people that were to meet us to hurry up. The (smaller) table next to us had a group who also wanted the large table. However, because there was only three of them they could not sit there either. Our group finally showed up and we were able to move to the big table (right in front of the big screen). Perfect seats!

We ordered food and our first of many beers for the evening. The scene was set with a full house at Hentry T's and everyone was ready for the game to start. Oh, but we still had three hours to go before tip-off. OK, not a problem! The WIBW 13 news crew was there and while we watched "Wheel of Fortune" they kept cutting to the fans at Henry T's. Everyone would go crazy and simply try to make the time pass so we could get to tip-off.

Finally after eating some food, drinking a few beers, and it was time for tip-off. The Jayhawks looked great! There are many blogs and web sites that discuss the game, but I have to add that it was one of the best NCAA Championship games I have ever seen. It was Mario (I had to include the picture of his three pointer...) time and he helped to push us into a overtime with the momentum to win the game. Talk about a crazy environment! Jumping up and down screaming at the top of my lungs and hugging people I do not even know. What a night!

Now the talk is about whether Bill Self will go to Oklahoma State as they try to draw him away from Kansas with a HUGE check. If Self decides to go, well, can you blame him? I do not think so. The amount of money that it has been discussed Self could earn, no other college coach is making that type of cash. Crazy! It is hard to believe that OSU would decide to do all of this during this time of year when Self should be focusing on being the National Champion.

I should also mention that Roy Williams (North Carolina coach) was at the game wearing a Kansas Jayhawk sticker. That was pretty cool! I would like to see North Carolina and Kansas meeting up in the Final Four (or the championship) game each year like we use to always meet up with Duke back in the 80s and 90s. I thought that showed real class by Williams to not only be at the game, but to be wearing a Kansas sticker.

We will have to wait and see what happens with Self. Is there a right decision for him to make? Probably in the long term there is a right decision for him to make. It just seems that OSU could have waited to do this afterwards.

It has been a season non of us will ever forget. Not only in football, but of course in basketball. It feels like a dream, but oh it feels so much better than previous years and the day after losing a nail bitter. I can definitely relate to Memphis and their fans. In the last two minutes of regulation they thought they had the game won; Kansas turned it around and pushed it into overtime and eventually won the game. Wow!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Go KU!

KU in Final Four... Royals 3 and 0....

University of Kansas in the Final Four

Well, Kansas basketball has made it to the Final Four this year. What a ride! Oh, and the ride is not over! It is hard to believe that just a few short months ago the Kansas Football team was going up against Missouri in a huge game and then made it to a bowl game and won. The fun continues with the University of Kansas going up against the North Carolina Tarheels. A re-match of KU's coach (for 15 years) Roy Williams against Bill Self (currently five years).

I am so excited for Saturday to get here to watch the game. Talking to my Kansas friends I feel the excitement from them too. My KSU fans, well, not so much. In fact, even though their coach asked them to they are not showing it yet to us Kansas fans... that being to cheer for all Big Twelve teams. One of my friends parents is not even going to watch the game because Kansas is playing. Anyway, enough about that.... It is going to be a fun game. The FINAL FOUR and Kansas is playing against North Carolina.

I recall when I was growing up and Larry Brown was the coach. I remember Ted Owens before that and going to the games with hardly anyone in Allen Fieldhouse. The most we had to cheer for were the custodians as they swept the floor between halves. Me, all of eight something years old. I was lucky enough to be born into a family that had season tickets when Ted Owens was the coach of Kansas and to still have tickets when Larry Brown took over. This year celebrates twenty years since the University of Kansas won the 1988 national championship. Those were great years with Larry Brown. He left us after he won the title and we took in a unknown coach from North Carolina. Roy Williams gave us fifteen great years of great, fast, entertaining, and fun basketball. My family continued to have season tickets well into the Roy Williams era.

Roy's boys were fun to watch. Much like the North Carolina team is today. They ran the ball and played hard (aka Jerod Hasse). My Dad still talks about the Roy Williams type of ball and how much he likes it.... because it was so fast! Bill Self does not run the team as fast as Roy, but obviously Self is doing a great job at the University of Kansas.

If you have not heard, there are rumors about Self leaving KU to go back to Oklahoma State to coach the Cowboys. Does it seem like deju vu when Williams was our coach and was tempted, and then finally left, for North Carolina? Well, it should because it happened at almost the same time. Oh, that's right! It actually happened to Williams by North Carolina after we made it to the championship game. Williams heard about it in the post game interview from a woman interviewing him after they won the Final Four in 2003. OK, if Self leaves Kansas to go to OSU, yes, it will be difficult, but I think that Kansas will get another quality coach and we will not lose a lot. Do I hope that Self remains at Kansas and coaches us for another twenty years? Yes, absolutely!

I do know that this Saturday is going to be a lot of fun to watch four quality teams match up against one another. Four teams that have been number one during the course of the season. Four teams that score a lot of points and play incredible and entertaining basketball. Go Hawks!


Kansas City Royals Baseball

The Royals beat the Detroit Tigers today 4 to 1. They swept Detroit to start the season. Wow! What a way to start the season and beat a team that spent millions on their team. My excitement for the Royals continues to grow. My enthusiasm for Trey Hillman also continues to grow. Tomorrow they start a series with Cleveland and then home to Kansas City on Tuesday for the home opener against the New York Yankees. Oh, how nice it would be to be at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday for that home opener. How nice it would be to start the season with another 9 - 0 start like we did a few years back.

We had great pitching the last three games for KC. Our bats have also been producing which we did not have last year. Overall, I am pleased with the start of the season. How could I not be pleased?

I was listening to the Yankees game on XM this evening and the radio announcer talked about the Royals and how they won. He went on to say how "funny it is how fans of bad teams get excited when their team wins three games". "Like it is football or something" he said. I think he was putting us KC fans down simply because his teams gets paid so much more. Or, is it because the Yankees are in the hunt for a Word Series each year? Well, have they won the World Series recently with all of those millions? Nope! Then shut up!

The Royals play tomorrow night against Cleveland at 7:05. It will be fun to see how they do in this series and hopefully this sweep will not be their only one of the season. Go Royals!

It has been a while... but lots of things have been happening....

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. This post will be slightly different from previous posts because I have a lot of items to mention. I will try to start making regular posts once again. I do enjoy writing about various events and posting them here. I have received some interesting comments about what I have posted, so I hope others are finding this at least somewhat entertaining.

Basketball

• The Kansas Jayhawks have been playing well since they beat the Texas Longhorns 84 - 74 in the Big Twelve Championship game. Since March 16, they have advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tourney. Winning with scores of 85 - 61 (over PRST), 75 - 56 (over UNLV), and 72 - 57 (over Villinova). They now have a date set for Sunday, March 30 to play Davidson.
  
• A win for the Jayhawks and they advance to the Final Four for the first time in a lot of tries. A loss, and Bill Self is left with a disappointing season of not making it to the Big Dance.
  
• I am feeling good about the Jayhawks at this time of year. We are playing well and the team seems to be focused on what they need to do to win. Last night in their win against Vill, I was concerned because we kept letting Vill. back into the game. When watching North Carolina play I do not see NC let their opponents back into the game; they put them away and do not look back. Kansas has a problem of losing focus in games where they have a large lead and it allows their opponent to get back in the game.
  
• As far as my brackets go... Well, I have no shot of winning any of the seven or so brackets that I created. Three of which I am completely out of except that I still have Kansas in them to win the whole thing. Wow, a whole 100 points to win that in those brackets.
  
• Kansas State's Beasley and Walker... What is going to happen to them? Will they be around next season? The odds say no for Beasley. If he is smart, he will not be in the Little Apple next year. Already athletes are announcing for the NBA draft, but so far there has not been any mention about Beasley being part of that draft. Only speculation about why he should do it. Walker, well, I heard that he has to talk to his people to make the decision about going pro. From what I saw from Walker this year, he should stay another year to drop weight and sharpen his skills (and attitude). If Beasley and Walker leave for the NBA, what will Kansas State be left with for a basketball team next year? Will it be worth the gamble they did on intense coach? Time will tell and it is going to be interesting to see who is around next year for the Wildcats.

Baseball

• Baseball season has officially started. It started earlier this week in Japan during the early hours here in the United States. The Kansas City Royals are about to finish up their Spring Training "season" with one of their best records in my recent history. They play their last game today against the Brewers (they are losing currently 2 - 3 in top of the 8th). Their record for Spring Training is 16 and 13. Hey, they are over 500 for Spring Training and I am hoping that can continue into the regular season.
  
• I still feel excitement about this team managed by Trey Hillman. He had what local sports radio shows referred to as unusual management style during Spring Training, but I think what he did was needed to knock some sense into this team. If you did not hear about it, Trey called the whole team on the field at the end of a loss about half-way through the ST season. He basically chewed them out in front of the opposing team and fans. I heard 610 and 810 sports radio talking saying that he should not have done this sort of thing and that it is something that would be done with a little league team. Well, I think it was needed and obviously he has the team producing because I do not think we have been over 500 in Spring Training for as long as I can remember.
  
• The season kicks off on Monday at Detroit with a 12:05 start. Gil Meche will pitch the first game of the season for the Royals. Lets try and get off to a good start just like we did in Spring Training.
  
• This morning I participated in my last live draft for the 2008 Fantasy Baseball season. I have five teams going into this season. It is going to be fun watching all of my leagues and making sure I have starters playing each day. My of my friends did not want to participate in fantasy baseball because it does require so much more work than fantasy football. But, I think it is fun and keeps it interesting to have fantasy teams. Let the fun begin!

Car and Ticket Update

• Carrie and I once again are a two car family. We went out about two weeks ago and purchased a Honda Accord 2008. When we first looked at the '08 Accords, we did not like them at all. Well, that has since changed and we love this car more than we did the '07 Accord that was wrecked. A lot of things were changed in the new '08 Accords including the arm wrest that we did not like in the previous car; it would slide forward when coming to a stop. The new one locks in two places and works much better. The new car also includes a MP3 jack which is nice to have and not have to worry about listening to our MP3 players using radio stations. Overall, we like the new car a lot and we got a much better APR on this car than we had on the previous '07 Accord.
  
• Carrie and I went to try and battle the ticket that she was issued for the wreck on February 6. Oh, that was interesting! This was Carrie's second trip to the courthouse and my first. The first time Carrie went to set our date for March 27 where we thought we would talk to the judge and hopefully get out of the ticket. Nope! Instead, we sat with about thirty other people all getting out of similar tickets (many worse than simply a ticket for wrecking). There were interesting people in the courtroom as you would expect. One guy had a hat on and a policewoman asked him to remove it. The guy mumbled something that involved a curse word and than did not hear the policewoman asking him what he had said. Carrie and I looked at each other and mouthed "Oh My God!". Later we realized that the guy was actually deaf, but that did not excuse him for being a dumb ass and not removing his hat when it was requested. So, we get to go back for a April 22 court date where apparently we get to represent ourselves and try to get out of the ticket. I plan on stopping by the Washburn Law School to try and get some assistance with the process because neither Carrie or I have any idea what we are doing. So, we will work on building our case and hopefully get out of a ticket on April 22.
  
• I will see if I can get a picture taken of our new car and posted on here in the next week or so.

Well, a lot has happened since my last post back on March 16 (see Wow! Big Twelve Championship Game and NCAA Tourney). Hopefully in another short week or two there will be a lot more to post about regarding basketball, baseball, and a ticket that we manage to remove from our record.

Have a great weekend and a great week!

Wow! Big Twelve Championchip Game and NCAA Tourney

Kansas played a great game to win the Championship game against Texas today.  Brandon Rush was solid improving his status for a NBA pick hitting 6 of 9 from three point range with nineteen points.  A overall balanced attack from Kansas once again in their win.  Chalmers had 30 points today.  Kansas looked good in both the first and second half which was good to see for a team that has not played great in both halves for the past half dozen games.

 

Of course following the Big Twelve Championship game was the NCAA tournament selection and that found Kansas a number one seed in the Midwest along with five other Big Twelve teams.  Kansas State did get into the tournament and they are paired in the Midwest which is fitting.  Being in the Midwest means that there could be a rubber match to decide the winner of the Kansas State vs. Kansas games of the regular season.  We did lose out on seeing a rematch between these two teams during the Big Twelve tournament. 

 

If you have not yet joined the NCAA tourney, drop me a note via a comment on this post and I will send you the information.  You have until Thursday to get your entry created and your picks selected.  See you in the Big Dance... the best time of the year!

 

Another Day... Another Win for the Royals!

Kansas won today 4 - 3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Kansas City improved to 5 - 3 in Spring Training.  Can you believe it?  OK, seriously, when did this last happen that KC actually won games in Spring Training?  I do not recall a time when they were winning in Spring Training.  Can someone tell me when the last time they were over 500 before the season started?  I know it does not matter, but still it makes a fan happy after having losing seasons the past few years.  Oh, I should also point out that the Royals are on a four game winning streak. 

 

What I feel good about is that the Royals are producing with the bat in Spring Training.  They have posted high scores many of the games and while they did not score a lot of runs today, they hit two homeruns.  Billy Butler and Ryan Shealy hit solo homeruns in the game today.  It was Ryan Shealy's second homer of the spring and it was Butler's first homerun.  Both of which are promising if those trends can continue into the regular season.

 

OK, I need to settle down and remind myself that this is Spring Training.  This is a trend I am telling myself over and over since we started winning in this not-so-important Spring Training "season".  Oh, but it feels so good to see that the Kansas City Royals are 5 and 3 in Spring Training.  It gives me hope that following them this Summer will not feel like a waste of time when the end of the season arrives and they are just a few games shy of 100 losses.

 

I can hardly wait for the Royals to start appearing on television.  I heard that Fox picked up their broadcasts this year, so hopefully we will see a lot more games this year.  Basically, Fox picked up the Royals Television Network (RTN) from what I read.  I have not heard officially that this was taking place, but hopefully it means that their games will be available no matter where I am visiting.  Previously, RTN was only available in certain areas and through certain cable companies.  Of course Cox and Sunflower both carried the games and that will continue.  It is simply that before RTN had to be fit in on other non-sports channels; now the games will be on Fox Sports Network as far as I can tell.  More information on this later when I go and look for it.

 

KC plays again tomorrow at 2:05 pm CST against Colorado.  We will wait to see how they play tomorrow.

 

Go Royals!

 

Royals Go to 4-3 in Spring Training

The Royals win another day in Spring Training.  They improve to 4-3 on the short Spring Training season.  They won today over San Fran 3 - 1.  Another good day of hit production and the picthing appears to have held through nine innings.  Actually, the Giant got their only run in the bottom of the eigth inning, so that is not bad at all.  The bases were loaded and only one run was let through.  That is not bad at all!

 

I did not have a chance to check who they play tomorrow.  I still continue to be excited for them to start the season.  I did read a good article on Alex Gordon who was supposed to have a great rookie season last year (see:  Gordon Attempting to Put Difficult Rookie Season Behind Him) and ended up struggling.  He is expecting great things from himself this year and so far it appears that it might just happen.

 

I know, I cannot get excited about Spring Training, but I just cannot help it.  Lets go Royals!

 

Kansas State Wow!

Kansas State tried to lose the game late.  I just finished watching the game and thought that they were going to blow it and let Colorado win the game (see Kansas State Has Problems) that I posted with six minutes left in the game.  It was not a pretty finish to the game when KSU had a double digit lead in the first half.

 

Granted, Colorado has something to prove and was not going to roll over and give up.  I did not think that it was going to end with a six point different (78-72 KSU).  I thought it was going to be at least a double digit win for the Wildcats.

 

The Wildcats have work to do in their next road game against Iowa State on Saturday.  Iowa State is in second to last place of the Big Twelve, but you can bet it will not be a cake walk.  Another win is needed for KSU to make a strong case for making it to the tournament.

 

Kansas City Spring Training Day Six

OK... OK... I know that Spring Training does not amount to a hill of beans.  However, I am once again excited for the season to start with another win by Kansas City today against the Colorado Rockies.  Kansas City is now 3-3 in Spring Training games with another impressive scoring drive winning 11 - 5.

 

The Royals play tomorrow at 2:05 against San Francisco.  Not even half-way through the spring training games, but again I am feeling excited about this team.  I have only had a chance to listen to two of their spring training games; I hope that the run production carries on through into the the regular season.  I believe I have stated this in earlier posts.  However, I think back to last season and recall losing games because we do not have the run production.

 

Could it be that we finally get rid of Mike Sweeney and we start being productive?  Mike was on the Royals team for the past twelve years and it was time to move on.  Back in February, Mike struck a deal with a minor league team (see Mike Sweeney reaches minor league deal with A's).  After being injury prone the past five seasons, Mike "DH" Sweeney has left the Kansas City Royals.

 

Maybe it is a new manager that is energetic that is helping this team to be productive.  I am not sure!  I do know that I am excited for the regular season to start and see how this team does this year.

Kansas State Has Problems

Kansas State was blowing out Colorado by double digits in the first half.  The game appeared to be over.  Suddenly with seven minutes left in the game, Colorado is back within 5 - 10 points.  This was a game that KSU was supposed to dominate.  Not only do they have their key player Beasley, but it is also senior night in Manhattan.  Yet, K-State is struggling against Colorado who sits in last place of the Big Twelve (11-17 overall and 3-11 conf).

 

Wow!  This is not what I was expecting.  I was expecting a blow out like we had last night with the Jayhawks.  This type of game cannot be helping the case for KSU to make it to the Big Dance.  With a little over six minutes left in the game, KSU needs to turn it up and finish this game strong.  If Colorado is within five at the end of this game, that hurts KSU's case for getting in the NCAA tourney.

 

KC Royals Spring Training 3/3

Kansas City played in their fifth Spring Training game of the 2008 season.  Kansas City won today 7 - 6 with a double to center that scored two runs.  The Royals are now 2 - 3 in Spring Training.  If my memory is correct, I believe that is a better start than they had last year in Spring Training.

 

I still feel the excitement with the new manager (Trey Hillman) leading the Royals.  From the few games that I have had a chance to listen to and from the radio discussion, it sounds like Trey has a completely different style of managing this team.  I sure hope so, because we need something new and different to put the Royals in a position to be a contender come September.  Trey is involved in all areas of the team and from what I have heard from announcers on 810 WHB, it sounds like the team has taken to Trey very well.

 

Carrie and I have already started talking about getting tickets for this season.  We received a notice that pre-sales take place this Wednesday prior to opening to the general public and is going out first to those that have ordered previously.  Yes, I am interested, but I also remember the second game of the season last year and freezing my butt off bundled up in the cold.  Oh, and KC lost the first and second game of the season....  They might have lost the first 10 - 15, I do not recall, but it was a bad bad start and season.

 

Kansas City takes on Colorado at 2:05 in Surprise, AZ.  While a lot of people say that Spring Training means nothing at all, it does give some hope when a team that has not produced does well in the pre-season.  Hopefully the hits (12 runs Friday, 7 runs Saturday, 7 runs Sunday, and 7 runs today) and runs will continue the rest of the March as well as into the regular season.  I would also hope that the excitement that I am feeling as well as the sports call-in shows will continue.  Time will of course tell.

 

Monday Night Tex. Tech vs. KU

Wow!  75 - 34 Jayhawks with more than 12:20 minutes to play.  Kansas was predicted to win by 20 plus points in the game against Texas Tech who just came off of a huge win against Texas on Saturday.  This has to be frustrating for first-time head coach Knight to have a huge game and then go up against KU on Big Monday on ESPN, not to mention that it is senior night in Lawrence, for a loss.

 

Kansas is getting production from every player with relative ease.  Texas Tech is not hitting their free throws, rebounding, and basically appear to be standing around watching the KU buckets drop. Twenty point favorites, this was completely predicted.  I did not think going into this game that we would beat them by this much, but senior night in Phog Allen Field House is no place where any team wants to play.  Tonight is no different!

 

It is good to see some of the players that help improve the starters on the floor and playing well.  Every player on the Kansas team scored tonight.  A well balanced attack from the starters and the bench.  Final score 109 - 51 Kansas with the second half basically a free for all with KU hitting everything they threw up at the basket.   Up next for Kansas is Texas A&M at 3 pm on Saturday, March 8.

 

Rematch of Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks

What a Saturday! Trip to Legends to celebrate a birthday (see Birthday Celebration for Juanca) and college basketball. It does not get much better than that to make for a perfect Saturday!

My day started off taking the Civic to get brakes checked, oil changed, and fluids checked. I was at Sharp Honda for a little over an hour. While I was there I test drove a Honda Accord 2008 which I liked, and watched ESPN Game Day. They were of course at Allen Field House the Home of the Jayhawks for Game Day. The place was already rock'n at 10 am and the game was not until that evening. This only fueled the excitement and environment for the rematch of K-State and KU.

Kansas State beat up on the Jayhawks back in February in Manhattan. The Jayhawks went to the "Little Apple" and suffered their first loss of the season. This started a slide for them of not playing well and another loss to Texas. After beating KSU yesterday 88 - 74. Beasley scored 39 points for the Wildcats, but he did not get much help from the rest of the Cats. I did not have a chance to watch the first half, but from what I read on Jason Whitlock's post on the KC Star that KU won with help from the officials. I did not see those calls, so I cannot comment on whether there was help from the officials to give the game to the Jayhawks.

I do know that Walker and Pullen got into some kind of funk and did not step up to what needed to be done to win the game. I do not care how many points a start player makes, there still has to be help from his teammates to win the game. Basketball is after all a team sport and it requires a team to win the game. Too often this season I have watched Beasley score a lot of points and Kansas State loses.

There is no doubt in my mind that Michael Beasley is a great player. He definitely has the talent to play in the NBA. According to Beasley, he has not stated whether he is going to the NBA or not. Read a interesting article posted on ESPN Saturday regarding Beasley and what he has gone through in his life to this point. (See Beasley teetering on the precipice of adulthood on ESPN.) I did find it interesting to hear what kind of vehicle Beasley drives and the fact that his Mom and siblings moved to Manhattan so Beasley could have his family close.

Kansas moved to 26 - 3 (11 - 3 conference) and are now tied with Texas for number one in the Big Twelve. Kansas State moves to 18 - 10 (8 - 6 conference). Kansas State is back in a position where they need to win their next two games to avoid being skipped over by the NCAA selection committee this year. Recall that last year they were skipped over as a bubble team and there is concern this could happen again this year even with a star player.

Kansas plays again Monday night against Texas Tech who just came off a huge victory of their own beating Texas 83 - 80. You can bet that Tech is going to be pumped up for Monday night when they face the league tied first place Jayhawks in Lawrence for senior night. The Jayhawks must win Monday night and again on March 8 when they face Texas A&M.

Have a great week and I will be back Monday night.

Birthday Celebration for Juanca

A group of us went to Dave and Busters to celebrate Juanca 18th birthday. We had a great time playing games, drinking, and generally enjoying ourselves. We got into Legends a little after 3 pm. This game us enough time to play games before 8 when the Kansas State vs. Kansas game was scheduled to start.

Five of us went into have fun. Juanca had been to Dave and Buster's once before when he visited Javi. Javier, Brenda, Carrie, and I had all been in 2007 when we came up to spend the night and have a night in and around Legends Mall. If you have not been up there, I highly recommend that you take the time to visit the area. Not only are there all kinds of shops, but there are great places to eat.

We were a little disappointed in Dave and Busters this time because it seemed there were so many little kids. Dave and Busters promotes themselves as being a playground for adults. Well, there were so many kids that they often would butt us out of a game so they could play. Overall, we had a great time!

Kansas City Royals Baseball... Can you Feel the Excitement?

Although it does not feel like it, baseball season is right around the corner. The Kansas City Royals had their first Spring training game of the season today. This has to make it feel warmer where ever you are at knowing that the Royals are taking the field.


I find myself once again excited for the season to start. To be able to go out to the ball park in the middle of the Summer and sweat. Last year I only made it to one game and it was the second game of the season. We froze at that game and the Royals lost the game. Not surprising seeing how their season finished up last year (69-93). OK, so last year they did not lose the 100 games that had been lost the previous three seasons, but still it was a miserable season.


In 2008, the Kansas City Royals have a new manager. Trey Hillman, who comes to the Royals from Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan, has no MLB experience. This will be his first true test in the majors. However, he proved himself in Japan winning titles and taking the Nippon Ham Fighters to the post-season. Will the same continue for Mr. Hillman in Kansas City? We will have to wait to see what happens.


Today, Kansas City lost the game today 1 - 6. Ouch! Tough opening Spring Training game, but what do you expect when Grudzielanek and Guillen did not play. Grud not expected to attend his first spring training game until March 8. Still, I find myself being excited for baseball season to inch closer and closer.

Car Totaled and Wreck Update

We received the final word from insurance yesterday that our car has been totaled. We are now finishing up the paperwork to make everything official. Carrie and I will go out Thursday evening to look at new (or old) cars.


Today, Carrie went to the court house to determine a court date for the ticket she was issued. We were to pay it, but now we think we are going to fight it. More information on this later. While the ticket is not expensive, it is the principle of the matter that it was not our fault. The fault was that of the snow and ice on the highway that caused the wreck. Hopefully we will have a judge that agrees with us.

Update to the Car Wreck

As you may recall, the car wreck for our 2007 Honda Accord took place back on February 6 (What a Snow Day!). We have gone all this time not yet knowing the fate of our Honda. The car has been at a local shop for the past week being evaluated to see about repairs and up until this morning we did not have any news other than it was not being totaled.

Well, after they started pulling things apart, it was recommended that the car should be totaled. They have to tear apart the firewall between the engine and the interior. By doing so, this will cause a lot of work to be done on the dashboard. The body shop is recommending that the car be totaled, so it is back to our insurance agent to determine the next step.

I was told by our insurance agent that the car being totaled is on the fence. He is leaning towards totaling it out, but has to wait for more details to come in from the body shop. We are obviously hoping for it to be totaled, but time will tell.

Carrie and I are still trying to decide how to proceed with the ticket that was issued. It still makes no sense to us, but having to go to court to try and refute it seems crazy too. Odd Topeka law that requires a ticket to be issued.

Anyway, things are progressing and hopefully we will learn before the end of this week what is happening with our car.

Basketball Thoughts through Monday Evening

What a weekend it was for Washburn mens and womens basketball. WU played Emporia State on Saturday and won both games. The men won 76-58 and the women won 78-52. Both are playing well coming down the stretch of the season and playing when it is the best time to be playing well so they can go strong into the post season.

The Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon did not perform well. They never got things going in the game against going in a 60-61 loss to Oklahoma State at OSU. This is the third loss on the season for the Jayhawks and about the forth or fifth time this season that they did not appear to be playing as a team. Nothing was clicking early on in the game and they certainly did not get their typical half where the team clicked. Nothing seemed to go well for them on Saturday. There was discussion that I heard about on Monday that it was caused by the death of cousins (or relatives) of two Kansas players; according to Coach Self, this took away from the focus of these two players on the game. If this it in fact the reason, perhaps those two players should have been left behind to deal with their grief.

Saturday night found the Kansas State Wildcats losing to Baylor. Beasley and Walker combined for seventy plus points and lost the game. I did not see any of this game, but looking at the stats afterwards it would appear that no one else showed up for the game except for Beasley and Walker. Scoring that many points between two players and not able to pull out the win; something seems wrong with this picture.

Tonight found Kansas State playing the Texas Longhorns on Big Monday at 8 pm on ESPN. It was overall a good game, but once again K-State could not close the deal. They let it get away from them late in the game while leading some of the first half and starting the second half tied. Beasley had a double-double in the first half to keep that streak alive. Meanwhile, Walker only had one point in the game. So I go back to ask what happened in the KSU vs. Baylor game? Seven-five points combined and then Beasley/Walker only combined for 31 points in this game which was another loss. What is wrong with this picture?

The next game for Kansas is Wednesday night and then next Saturday it is Kansas State vs. Kansas in Lawrence, KS. After the way these two teams have been playing, it is going to be a interesting weekend!

I have to point out that there are no undefeated teams left in the NCAA. Memphis finally lost on Saturday night to Tennessee. So, as we are a week away from March it is only going to get more interesting.

Kansas State Loss to Nebraska Corn Huskers... Beasley and Thoughts

There is no doubt that Michael Beasley of Kansas State is a great freshman and that he has done wonders for the Kansas State team. However, you must admit that the guy is a little into himself. Pre-game, it is not obvious who he is speaking to, but ESPN caught him talking to someone that "tonight was going to be a good night" and that he was going to score 50 points. This after coming off 40 points again Missouri last weekend. Come on now, he is good, but not that good to be predicting how many points he is going to score.

Well, Beasley ended up scoring 17 points on the night and getting his twenty-two double-double to tie Carmelo Anthony for the most double-doubles for a freshman. K-State still has five games left in their season. That is a great stat and certainly something for Beasley and company to hang their hat upon.

Still, it takes me back to Beasley commenting before the game that "it was going to be a great night" and that he was going to score 50 points. This from the same guy that said he would beat Kansas at "... home .... their house ... or beat them in Africa" (see post from January 30 titled Wednesday Night Woes for Kansas... Huge Win for Kansas State!). He tends to make some huge statements and so far has not been able to live up to the 50 point statement; the other statements, well, it is too early to tell on those statements. I am still waiting for March 1 to see what happens at Kansas.

Tonight in the loss to Nebraska, I could see freshman characteristics stepping on the floor. Walker who seems to always cry at every foul set things off and Beasley was not far behind crying over a foul he received. Walkers' technical was just plain silly because he has already scored the basket. This had Walker sitting on the bench for almost the remainder of the game with four fouls.

Believe it or not, but I was pulling for Kansas State in this game. I want there to be no excuses when K-State plays Kansas on March 1.

One Better... The Other One Not So Good

It is Sunday morning.  I awoke to Carrie coughing and saying she was cold around 4 or 5 am.  Just in time to hear thunder and see the lightening.  That's right!  Carrie is now sick.  She started feeling bad last night with a slight cough.  Mine had started out much the same way Wednesday night with a cough that became worse by the time I got to work on Thursday morning. 

 

Anyway, I got more covers for Carrie and we went back to sleep.  Around 7 am I got up and checked my temperature and found it to be below normal.  Which is not odd for me as it is normally not the "normal" temperature.  We then took Carrie's temperature and found hers to be 100.8; she was burning up and chilling something horrible.  I went and gathered all of the blankets I could find to pile on her.

 

It is now about 10:45 am on Sunday morning and we have moved Carrie to another bed where there is a television.  We moved all of the blankets too and we are going to keep her in there to hopefully get rid of this flu bug today.  She is still burning up and running the 100.8 temperature.  I hope her flu bug does not take the three plus days that mine took to get rid of it.  Granted, I am still not feeling 100%, so I will probably nap on and off today while I try to make sure that Carrie is doing OK.

 

Stay well and be safe on this wet snow filled Sunday!

 

Saturday... Sick... and Basketball...

What a weekend it has been so far. I ended up going home sick on Thursday with a temperature of right around 100. I had not been feeling well for most of the day and I did not feel any better in the car ride back to the house. I had started acking mid-morning and had the feeling that I was running a temperature. Sure enough, I took my temperature and it was 100. I called into work to let them know that I was staying home to try and break the fever.

Friday I woke up with the same 100 degree fever that I had on Thursday. I notified work around 7 am to let them know I would not be into work. I went right back to bed and slept until about noon. Well, I should say I tried to sleep. Insurance called about the car and a question we had about how something worked; Carrie called a couple of times to check on me and see how I was doing. I did sleep most of the morning, but it did not feel like it.

At about noon on Friday I could not sleep any more, so I moved downstairs to watch television. I watched part of a movie and took another hour or so nap. When I woke up I took my temperature again and it read about 101. Crazy because the day before and that morning I had been taking Tylenol and other meds that Carrie said would help me get better. So far medication, sleep, or time was doing anything to get rid of the fever.

Carrie got home from work around 5 and found me watching a movie. She asked when the last time I had taken my temperature. I told her it was probably back around 1 or so when I had a 101 temp. So we took it again and it read 102. So, I took more medication, drank some fluids, and lay back down on the sofa. I was not getting any better and starting to feel slightly dizzy.

We spent the evening flipping channels and Carrie said she was going to make some chicken soup for me. Nothing sounded good to eat at all. The last time I ate was earlier that day when I had a left over donut from work. I said that I was going to head to bed, so Carrie wanted me to have more of this lemon tasting stuff that warms up and is supposed to make me better. I drank it and went to bed about 9:30.

Carrie kept coming up to check on me during the evening. At about midnight she woke me and took my temperature. This time it read 103. It is getting ridiculous and nothing seems to be having any effect on how I was feeling or the temperature. We agreed that if it had not improved by morning we would go to the doctor.

I slept well for the most part. Although I woke up at 5 am and could not sleep. I was dying of thirst and my head was hurting. I got up and went down to get a drink of water. I decided I better try and sleep some more because I could tell just the way I was feeling that I still had a temperature.

So when I finally wake up it is about 8 am. Carrie takes my temperature again and it is 102. Ok, so it had come down one whole degree. Crazy! I went downstairs to watch television and sleep. Taking another nap and drinking some more of the lemon flavored stuff that Carrie had we took my temperature again around noon or so and finally my temperature was under 100.

With a temperature being lower, it sure did not feel like it since I was still aking and felt like I had a temperature. I started to watch the Colorado vs. Kansas game and ended up falling asleep for the first half. I awoke to find Kansas leading by a large margin over Colorado. I do not recall the final score, but Colorado definitely did not deserve playing Kansas a second time. Colorado has played Kansas twice both times after KU comes out of a loss the game before.

So, now I start watching the Missouri vs. Kansas State game. Carrie is starting to get sick and I am about ready for another nap.

Until next time....

Tough Night for Kansas

It was a good game tonight for the Kansas Jayhawks. Did they finish it off strong, no? Out of timeouts and no set play to try and tie the game was not the way to finish the night at Texas. The Longhorns looked strong and played Kansas well.

While the game was being played I was playing poker (Blackjack and Texas Hold'em). Hold'em was going well, but a friend wanted to go to play Blackjack instead. This was not for real money of course, but all for free on Face Book. Granted my attention was diverted toward the end of the game while trying to watch the KU game and also focus on what I was going to do with my hand.

Going back to the basketball game, the Jayhawks simply could not contain the Longhorns. KU got off to a slow start and and could only tie it up most of the time. They never really got the lead or were they able to keep it.

Until the next game....

What a Snow Day!

I went to bed Tuesday evening to snow falling and the chance for a lot of it to fall through the evening hours. I awoke Wednesday morning to the sound of NPR saying that all area school were closed, University of Kansas was closed, and various other places were either closed or canceled. Still no word about Washburn from NPR at 6:45. I called the main number for Washburn to check announcements and nothing. I started getting up and about to get ready for work. At 7 a.m. came the announcement that Washburn University was closed for the day because of snow. I went ahead and got ready for the day. Carrie checked her work (Payless) to see if they were closed and no such luck. She was ready for work and left around 7:15 or 7:20.

I went downstairs to wish her a safe day and turned on the computer. I decided to do some work (e-mail and tickets). I looked out the window and saw all of my neighbors out shuffling their drives, sidewalks, etc. It was still snowing and had been doing so all night. Carrie sent me a e-mail message around 8:10 to ask a question and I knew she had gotten to work ok. I called her and she said the roads were not bad, but they were not great either.

I finished doing work and checking the Internet before around 11 a.m. I decided to go out and do the driveway. I first had to search for my snow boots and then started the driveway. By 11 am the snow had stopped and the sun was out. It took me about an hour to the do the driveway and walks before I went back inside. Carrie and I had talked twice during the morning and a few times via e-mail. I spoke to her last at 10:45 or so when she was heading out to get her nails done.

After finishing the drive and walks I came inside to warm up and get something ready for lunch. I called Javier to see how his trip went to Kansas City and he was on his way back. I finished talking to Javier and got a call at 12:20 p.m. from Carrie. She did not sound like her usual self and all she said was "I was in a wreck. I am OK, but my head and right knee hurt. A abmulance is headed to the scene and I will call you later." My heart sank and I asked her where she was at. She told me on I-70 & California. I told her I would come out there and she told me I would not be able to get to her because of the traffic. She told me again she would call me with more information.

An eternity seemed to pass. Meanwhile, I called around to let various people know. While I was waiting for Carrie to call me back. After calling a few people I tried calling Carrie. No answer. I waited a while longer and called our insurance company to let them know what had happened. Still no word from Carrie. I tried her again and again it went to voicemail. Finally at 12:50 p.m. my phone rang and it was Carrie. She told me the ambulance was there and they were taking her to St. Francis. I told her I would be leaving the house and see her there.

I had brushed off my car while I was doing the driveway, so it was ready to go. I got my things and headed to St. Francis. I was trying not to rush so that I would not end up in a wreck myself. I came down 6th street heading East and I think I saw them taking Carrie out of the ambulance. I asked at the front counter if she had arrived and they did not yet have a record of her arriving. They directed me through a set of doors where she would be coming into the emergency room.

I stood around for a few minutes waiting to talk to the reception desk as they were busy with some other people. About that time a woman came walking to the counter asking if they knew a "Brenda" that worked there. The lady said that the woman from room #3 was asking for "Brenda". No one knw a "Brenda" in St. Francis emergency room. I knew that was Carrie and I walked around the corner to see her in the bed.

She looked fine except for a scrape next to her left eye. The nurse finished her work and Carrie started crying. The nurse ("Kim" I think) told me that Carrie had done just as she was instructed to do... not to cry until she was done with what the nurse had to do. She said had done good! Carrie started crying and she started talking about what had happened.

Carrie was headed East bound on I-70 between Adams and California. A line of vehicles were all using the slow lane (right lane) because there was still a lot of snow on the fast lane. She was going 30 - 35 mph as well as everyone else. There was a car in front of her and apparently a semi in back of her. the car in front slowed and Carrie did too. When Carrie did her breaks the car slid to the right, then to the left, and then did a 360 before coming to a stop. Carrie said she was calm during the whole thing until she looked out her drivers side window to see the grill of a semi coming directly at her. There was nothing she could do, but she recalls throwing her hands up as if to stop it. The side airbags as well as the drivers seat air bag all went off. We think that she got the cut from the side air bag opening to protect her and getting caught her sunglasses caught between the bag and her face. The glasses broke in two. In the hospital she was upset about her sunglasses because they were her favorite pair.

Two guys found Carrie in her chair half laying over on the right passenger side. One asked her if she had passed out and we think that she probably did. As soon as she was able to do so she found her cell phone and called me to let me know she had been in a wreck. By the time I spoke to her the second time she said the fire department was there and the ambulance was getting ready to take her to St. Francis.

After speaking to her I got in my car and drove to see her. I called and left a message for Brenda who was at work. I was almost to the hospital when my phone rang and it was Brenda. Or course she thought it was social call, but I told her Carrie had been in a wreck and was being taken to St. Francis. Brenda said she would watch for Carrie's arrival. I got there shortly after that to find Carrie.

Anyway, I am starting to repeat myself. It was a very interesting day and one we will not soon forget. A day that I hope we, or anyone else, ever has to go through. It was scary for Carrie and for me. Carrie is doing well, but she is sore from the wreck. She is taking pain medication and will hopefully go back to work soon.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this interesting time on what was a snow day for me. Definitely not a snow day that I will ever forget!

For a complete listing of pictures of our car, visit my site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/havertyj/sets/72157603865284754/.

Be safe and watch for more little less serious posts in the future...

Hawks Bounce Back to Action

The Kansas Jayhawks bounced back to their look and feel we have come to know and love this season.  After a not so hot performance last weekend against Colorado, tonight, they stepped it up against Missouri.  They had bounce in their steps and lit it up against the Missouri Tigers.  Great job tonight Kansas!  Lets keep it one game at a time and march our way into tourney time!

 

On other notes, Bob Knight stepped down as the head coach for Texas Tech.  He is letting his son take the helm and he stepped down after 900 wins.  He was fun to watch and have in the Big Twelve.  He will be missed as a coach for college basketball.  It will be interesting to see what happens for Knights retirement.  He has definitely entertained and worked himself into legendary status.  Thanks Coach Knight for the memories!

Bad Weekend for K-State Too

Kansas State did not have a good weekend of basketball either. I was able to watch the first half of the game and grew concerned when Michael Beasley went out of the game for a few minutes with a bad ankle. He came back into the game later in the second half which I was relieved to see. Now you might be wondering why I would care if Beasley is out of the game. Well, the reason is simple. When March comes I want Kansas State to be a full force so there are no excuses when they play Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. I want all the players present and no excuses.

This does lead me to another thought that I have discussed with Kansas fans and Kansas State fans a like. I find it interesting how it seems that Kansas State fans want KU to lose no matter what. Whether we are playing another Big Twelve school or out of our conference. They simply want Kansas to lose. Why is it that KSU fans have this mentality? When Kansas State plays other non-Big Twelve teams I pull for Kansas State. Overall, it helps all Big Twelve schools if all Big Twelve teams succeed. This includes Missouri! The one team I dislike in all of the Big Twelve is Missouri. However, I still cheer for them when they are playing a non-Big Twelve team. In talking to other fans I do not hear this from them when those fans follow other teams from Kansas State.

I know parents, friends, and general posting I read on boards where Kansas State fans simply want Kansas to fail. No matter what sport and no matter who they are playing. It makes me wonder why there is so much hatred toward Kansas from Kansas State fans.

OK, so I am generalizing and this obviously does not cover every KSU fan out there. I know that the majority that I have talked to this has been their mentality towards Kansas.

For that, I say go Kansas State and get into the NCAA Tourney!

Monday Thinking Back to the Past Weekend

Another weekend down and we move into the first week of February. Wow! Hard to believe that it is already February. Carrie and I are trying to decide on an additional vacation possibility, but it would mean not doing some other things. Decisions need to be made so we can let our friends know our plans.

Our vacation plans are not what this post is all about. No, this post is about the weekend, sports, and having fun. Friday night was After Hours at Washburn University which is a great even that our Alumni Association puts on here at Washburn. To attend, you do not have to have gone to Washburn or work there. It is open to anyone and it is a lot of fun events. The first Friday of each month (usually) is After Hours. Free food, beverages, and fun with people from all over Topeka takes place here.

This Friday I had lunch with a longtime friend Shayne. I told him that in the evening we were going to After Hours. He and his wife, Autumn, decided to attend. They might just join to be paid members after the fun we had Friday night. Susie kicked us out shortly after 7 when the event ended. Carrie and I invited people to our house for snacks and drinks. We ended up playing games and had a great time. Some of us drank a little too much and we were hurting Saturday morning.

Saturday morning I had plans to go into work and do some serious work. Well, I did make it into work, but my serious work did not materialize until Sunday around 11. I went into work and checked e-mail, browsed web sites, and then went to lunch. I took a three hour nap in the afternoon so I could be ready for Brenda's b-day party that night.

Carrie and I got over to Brenda's a little later than we had expected. We were sitting having a good time when our good friends that we do not see often enough knocked on the door. Brian and Kim came to Brenda's party. It was great to see everyone! We played Guitar Hero II which is becoming a common event for us at gatherings. Some of the people at the party did not seem to like that we were playing Guitar Hero, but it was the birthday girls wish to play the game at her party. We had to grant her wish!

Great time at Brenda Beans! We ended the night after playing some tennis on PlayStation. Fun night and Brenda was another day older. Poor Brenda!

Sunday I finally made it into work and got a lot completed. I worked from 11 - 1:30 and was ready for the week. With work behind me I went home to watch the Jayhawks barely squeak by the Colorado Buffalos. Wow! KU almost lost that game and talk about not being in sync throughout the game, they did not look good at all. Now, I admit that I feel asleep during the first half and part of the second, but I did wake up in time to see the last minute of the game. I then quickly fell asleep again. As I write this I believe the game was actually on Saturday when I am saying Sunday. As you can clearly see, I am mixing up my days from the weekend. It was a relaxing weekend, but also stressful knowing that I had to finish up evaluations for a deadline.

Sunday was a great night for NFL football. It was the best Super Bowl I have ever seen. I was not really pulling for either team, but come the end of the game I was cheering loudly for the Giants. They pulled out a huge game and made Tom Brady eat his words from a previous interview that week. Making a comment joking that someone said he would not score over 17 points in the game. He laughed and told the reporter that was crazy and it should have been something more like 40+ points that he would score. Well, the joke was on him and the Patriots. Still, it was a great game and a fun one to watch.

So, it was a fun weekend and also a stressful one. I am already looking forward to next weekend! Have a great one yourself and until next time...

Wednesday Night Woes for Kansas... Huge Win for Kansas State!

What a game! Well, at least for Kansas State it was a hell of a game. They did exactly what they need to do in order to take care of business and put away the 20-0 Kansas Jayhawks. Beasley and Walker did what they need to do with not getting into foul trouble and finished off KU for the first time at home in 24 straight at home in Manhattan. Michael Beasley got one part right with stating:

"We're going to beat Kansas at home! We're going to beat them in their house! We're going to beat them in Africa!"

Well, at least the first right so far. It is too early to tell about the second part. Bill Walker simply stated straight and to the point that

I'll predict it.

I'm not scared to say it.

I'm a man. I can live up to my words.

I'm saying we'll beat'em both places.

Well, so far they have lived up to those statements in the first game located in Manhattan. Beasley and Walker combined for 47 points.

The Jayhawks never got into sync in this game and K-State was definitely pumped up for this game. I certainly thought they would be and had a discussion with KSU fans at work about this game. For some reason the KSU fans I spoke to did not think that this was a big game for KSU. Well, tell that to the fans in Manhattan that stormed the court and reacted like they had just won the national championship. When I told the KSU fans that I thought it was the best chance to beat the Jayhawks they came back with the fact that KSU beat KU two years ago. They thought that Walker and Beasley would both be in foul trouble and it would be a lose. Wrong! Beasley did not get his first foul until well into the second half. K-State put on a game all the way around. The only spot that did not shine for KSU was their foul shooting.

Kansas State moves to 5 - 0 while Kansas goes to 5 - 1 in the Big Twelve. It is going to be a lot of fun in February and lets not forget March or the first part of April. Geez, before we know it we are going to be in the midst of March Madness and the Final Four will be here.

Good game tonight Cats! We will see you again in Lawrence on March 1 at 8 pm.

Big Wednesday!

You have heard of Big Monday, what we have coming up Wednesday will be Big Wednesday when in-state rivals Kansas State University faces #2 Kansas in Manhattan. The game is going to be huge because of the talent that K-State possesses. On the other hand, Kansas is going to be tough because they are sitting at 20-0 on the season with only one other team (Memphis) being unbeaten this far.

Michael Beasley was a menace in his last game scoring high numbers in just a few minutes of play. Will he be able to help guide the Wildcats to a win over a power house coming into Manhattan? Time will of course only tell. We know that Kansas has gone on a winning streak over KSU for the past twenty plus years. We also know that it cannot last forever. I for one do not want it to end this year against KSU with Michael Beasley or Walker. So time will tell.

Lets go Hawks!

Friday Night Party, Hockey, and Dancing

For a week that started off with a fire at work the second day of classes (Wednesday), a system not working correctly on Friday, the week ended great Friday night. It was a hectic week and extremely busy at work. However, Friday night definitely helped to relax and meld away the problems of the week.

Yes, we had a fire which was caused by a fuse blowing in our mechanical room. This happened sometime around 7 am Wednesday morning. This was the second day of classes and not a good start to the day or the semester. Our entire machine room (i.e. the campus) was off of the network for about three hours. Finally around 11 am we had partial systems back and before long our network administrators had most everything back on-line before early afternoon. Meanwhile, we were handling the calls and complaints coming in from the campus. Keep in mind that no one had Internet access on the campus. So, everyone was relying on the use of the phone or personal visits. Fun stuff! For the problems that were caused by the fire, the department handled everything in stride and got things going smoothly again. We received a number of thank yous from the campus the following day. Very nice!

Friday morning was not much better with another system that was not working correctly. The system just so happens to be the one that allows employees to do their time sheets, students to register/drop/etc. classes, and a variety of other functions. This caused a lot of phone calls until about shortly after the noon hour Friday. For the day, we took a total of just shy of 100 calls. Now, that might not sound like a lot, but for a call center that averages around 30 a day, that is a lot for us.

My plan for this past week was to work on a lot of projects including writing up performance evaluations. All of that was put on hold until this next week. I did end up working late Thursday night so I could finish up some projects that were due Friday. Good thing I did work late Thursday night because I would not have been able to worked on those items Friday.

So my Friday night started with me requesting the students to leave the lab so I could close down the lab. Carrie and I were to meet our friends at the Expo Center for a Republican party... we were mainly going to drink free alcohol. I was very stressed out from the week, but who can pass up alcohol. We were only able to enjoy the party for about an hour. We were then ready to head to the Topeka RoadRunners hockey game. We had a blast!

The game was exciting enough with the Roadrunners winning 5 - 2 (or something around there). There of course was a fight with some blood, but that's not what this blog is about. This blog is about me dancing between quarters at 60s disco night.

I volunteered under the understanding that I had heard someone shout that it was couples dancing. I thought Carrie and I were going to dance together and then get voted on... No! It was individual dancing to 60s music. As you can imagine, I was hesitant at going through without, but by that time I had already signed the waiver. In case you were wondering, the waiver is so that if I fall on the ice and break a limb, I do not hold the Expo Center accountable. After signing my life away, I got up to follow the event staff to my dancing endeavor. While walking in front of my friends, I told them I thought it was couples dancing and they just laughed. I continued following the event staff to the location down by the ice. While standing waiting for our time to go on the ice two little girls and a little boy with a 60s outfit came down to be included in the dancing. Another contestant and I looked at each other and said it was all over, we already know who is going to win. Sure enough the little kid with the 60s outfit won the event. No, I did not give up right there and go back to my seat, instead I did my dancing and strutted my best 60s moves on the ice.

My moves included the moon walk, lawn mower, and do not forget the sprinkler. I did in fact get a good applause at my dancing. We only had to dance for thirty seconds and with the spotlight it was difficult to see the audience. My friends got a good video of the dancing which I will hopefully get a copy of from them to post on here. It was a lot of fun, but the kicker of it was that our price for performing was a ice cream from a local store. Gee, thanks! I am not sure what the little kid won for winning the whole evening, but hopefully it was a banana split or something a little bigger than a ice cream.

I had a lot of fun and it did definitely help to improve my mood going into Saturday. Afterwards, we went to a new spot here in Topeka called Henry T's. If the name sounds familiar to those of you from Lawrence, it should. It is owned by the same people that own Henry T's in Lawrence. Great food and a great time there too.

Have a great weekend and try to have as much fun as me!

Hamilton Loomis Saturday Night in Topeka Kansas

Wow! What a show! Hamilton Loomis put on a great show! He went on stage around 8:45 and played three sets. We left the place around 1:30 in the morning after he finished his last set. It was a great time!

Hamilton and his band had great sound as well as a good feel with the audience. At one point walking out into the audience standing on the tables and playing his guitar.

If they can get him to the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival in October, I think he would be a great fit. A Friday act would work out great for him and the festival. His interaction with the crowd was like a seasoned veteran of the stage. He wore a wireless mic and would definitely be a "walker" at the festival.

He played three sets and everyone enjoyed the performance. The drummer was really good too! Fun to watch and definitely did a great job on the drums.

The band was recommended by Uncle Tommy from Texas and I know why he likes Hamilton Loomis so much... Uncle Tommy use to be a drummer and this drummer was good!

Going back to the "walker" comment. This is one of my favorite parts about working the festival. I have worked the festival the past two years and typically there are at least a couple of the musicians than like to walk through the crowd. Thus, I get to guide them through the crowd making sure that they get through safely and then return them back to the stage. I can definitely see Hamilton wanting to walk the crowd.

I would highly recommend if you get the chance to check out Hamilton Loomis. Great songs, great performer, and a great time!

Today I find myself relaxing watching movie, playing on the Internet, and trying to get over a hang over from the night before. To check out all pictures from Hamilton Loomis, check out my Flickr page.

Saturday Night Music and Basketball

On this cold winter day, I will be spending time relaxing and enjoying television, the computer, and possibly a nap or two. This is a three day weekend for me with Washburn being closed on Monday. Tonight a group of us are going to see Hamilton Loomis. It should be a good show! I am listening to him now as I write this blog.

As mentioned in a previous posting, Hamilton will probably be at the Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival in October. I have worked the main stage the past two years. It is a lot of fun! I carry equipment on and off the main stage. I have a chance to meet blues legends! The best part is that while I work I get to drink beer which is provided free from Budweiser. Nice!

Anyway, Hamilton is probably going to be at the Blues Fest this year. Uncle Tommy in Texas who helps to get some of the performers contacted me back in November to let me know that Hamilton was going to be in Topeka on January 19. He said he had seen him a few times and that he puts on a great show. So, we are going to go see him tonight. My father-in-law has been a huge part of the Blues festival in Arkansas during the past 20 plus years. He is going to see Hamilton tonight with us. It would be cool if we could talk to Hamilton for a bit either before or after he plays.

The other even that I will be doing today is to watch the Missouri/Kansas basketball game. The game is at 7 pm CST, so I will definitely be watching that and hopefully it ends before we have to head to see Loomis. Go Jayhawks!

Everyone have a great weekend and be safe!

Hamilton Loomis Playing in Topeka Possible Festival Musician

Hamilton Loomis will be playing at the Ramada Inn in Topeka, KS January 19. Hamilton is being considered to play at the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival in October 2008. He has a good sound and has been recommended by others. I have been listening to him on Rhapsody (http://www.rhapsody.com/hamiltonloomis).

I like the sound he has and I think he would put on a good show. If you get a chance, listen to his music. Hopefully he will be able to make it to the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival 2008 (http://www.bluesandheritage.com/).

Arkansas Blues and Hertiage Festival 2008

It is that time again to begin thinking about the dates for the Arkansas Blues and Hertiage Festival 2008. I have already thinking about the dates which appear they will be October 9 - 11, 2008. The dates have already been reserved for my third annual visit to Helena, Arkansas.

If you have never been, make it a point to attend this year. Information about the venue as well as scheduled acts is available at http://www.bluesandheritage.com/. It is definitely worth the visit!