Friday, September 14, 2007

Mayer

Mayer: It’s time to enjoy schedule

By Bill Mayer

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Enough of the purist wailing about Kansas University's soft football schedule. It's here, let's relish it.

KU has needed a break like this for a long time. If it can get through four live scrimmages unbeaten and without injuries and can go to Kansas State 4-0, there's no telling what might happen. KU badly needs an 8-4 or even 9-3 record to prove it has finally arrived. Either of those is in reach.

Mark Mangino's enthusiastic charges have collective skills and tools they've lacked for some time. There's glorious speed, and marvelous receivers are on the roster. That little quarterback thinks he can beat anybody, and his teammates have faith in his doing so. A quarterback needn't call the perfect play if the other guys think it is. Hot Toddy Reesing is a gritty, persuasive salesman. An able backup finally is emerging.

Let the Jayhawks fine-tune all their many talents for at least a 4-4 run in Big 12 play. Could be 5-3, and wouldn't that be a hoot?

Jim Carothers, KU faculty guru who knows almost as much about sports as he does about English, dredged up an old Bear Bryant zinger during a recent conversation about how good KU really is and how good it can be. The Bear noted that when a team is 9-1, nobody asks who the nine were. So there are patsies, cupcakes. They still go into the "W" column now and forever more; the guys who put them there have every right to be pleased and proud.

KU wins nine games and how long will zealots commiserate how easy four of those might have been? Turn 'em loose and let's enjoy their steady improvement to load up for K-State.

l What's the greatest fear you ever sensed in a locker room?

Nothing can top the concern in the Kansas quarters about this time in 1952 when team physician Alex Mitchell announced that he'd just hospitalized junior end-fullback Morris Kay as an apparent victim of polio. Mitchell said it seemed to be a mild case, and there was no evidence of paralysis. But Alex made it clear the husky kid from St. John probably would not play the rest of the season - or maybe even the next.

Who has been exposed, who might be next, what precautions should be taken? Lots of sleepless nights ahead for a lot of KU gridiron people. There were countless furtive glances with guys resembling fearful squirrels coming down a tree trunk.

The former president of America, Franklin Roosevelt, had been stricken with "infantile paralysis" in 1921 and heroically won four terms in the White House. Nobody knew for sure how to combat this scourge because Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin were almost a decade away getting their miraculous vaccines approved so the world could enjoy the security it does today.

If you grew up in the 1930s and '40s, you couldn't go swimming, to a movie, even associate with neighborhood kids because your folks were so scared, and you trembled as they did. Little wonder the Jayhawks of '52 went through so much torment - until The Moose was cleared to get back into society. Lo and behold, he played and captained the '53 team, J.V. Sikes' last one here.

After that, Kay was a state legislator, ran for governor and Congress, headed the Kansas Republican Party quite a while and worked for the EPA. He lives here and considers himself supremely blessed to have dodged that terminal polio bullet 55 years ago.

As Phil Silvers used to say, "Gladda see ya, Moose!"

Comments

fabio (anonymous) says...

I wont enjoy a damn thing until I see 50,000 crushed K-State wanting to get their car and home so they can be miserable. When we go in their everyone will be calling us the worst 4-0 team in history. We will leave changing the face of football in the state of Kansas.

September 14, 2007 at 4:09 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

patton6 (anonymous) says...

Go get 'em "Hot Toddy Reesing"

September 14, 2007 at 8:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rohdek (Kyle Rohde) says...

"Hot Toddy Reesing"? Let's hope that nickname doesn't stick!

September 14, 2007 at 8:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Solomon (anonymous) says...

It's time Mangino put together a team that can be successful against respectable D1 teams. It's time to put the Southeast LA ST., Northwest LA St., Fla. Atlantic, etc. behind us. If we want to play D2-level ball just join D2.

Maybe this is the year that KU turns the corner. Of course we won't know until we actually play someone in game 5.

September 14, 2007 at 8:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

troutsee (anonymous) says...

We've turned the corner already for all the reasons Mich1 stated yesterday. Soloman, have you seen this team perform?

Hey, guys, I've got tickets to KSU, CU, and OSU. How many are with me?

September 14, 2007 at 8:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

prairie_dog (anonymous) says...

Count me in, troutsee. This is the best team since the '95 team for sure. Maybe, just maybe, this is the best team since '68, the glorious Douglass, Riggins, Zook et al team. I also note, with great interest, that there are 9 seniors on the roster, yes 9.

If we get a pass rush from our DEs, then look out!

September 14, 2007 at 8:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

swjhawk (anonymous) says...

I remember the dominant teams of the 50's. As a freshman at KU, I played ping pong and touch football with Gale Sayers. I've been through this so many times. This program has a long way to go and the cupcakes on the schedule prove it. Best team since 1968? Perhaps. Big time personnel? Let me suggest three names--John Hadl, Curtis McClinton and Bert Coan.

September 14, 2007 at 9:25 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

klong (anonymous) says...

I agree prairie. I know the teams they have played haven't been the best, but KU is doing everything well, unlike in the past several years. They don't mishandle snaps, they don't drop passes, they block well, and most important they beat up the teams they are supposed to!
The only thing that scares me is that K-State will have already played on the road at Auburn and Texas. That will be a big change of atmosphere for KU. We need all the blue we can get into their stadium. Let's not forget though, KU beat them last year pretty good and the Hawks are a lot better than last year.

September 14, 2007 at 9:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

leikness (anonymous) says...

Yeah, I stopped reading at Hot Toddy to see what everybody down at the bottom was saying......hopefully K-sucks fans don't get a hold of that nickname or we might be in for some old school "Gay-U" taunts this year down there.

September 14, 2007 at 10:18 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

leikness (anonymous) says...

5-3 is unacceptable at this point. Has anybody seen OSU and A&M play? Solomon.....let's hold our comments on this schedule until after CMU plays Purdue this weekend. That game will tell us a ton.

One question, if after 4 games, we are the top team in D1 in points scored, margin of victory, and points allowed, (or very close to the top) would writers not have to consider us for the Top 25?

Fabio, I agree. This team is so much better than KSU. Can't wait for that game....sitting in the north end zone and I'm going to bring my "power towel" from home to toss on Ron Prince's huge dome......

September 14, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

Win on the road. That has been Mangino's weakness. If he corrects that this year, with what is clearly the most talent he has ever had here, KU could find itself with no fewer than 8, maybe 9 or 10 wins this fall.

September 14, 2007 at 11:15 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhwkfan162515 (anonymous) says...

Starting with the comment about the squirrels, this was the most scatterbrained article I ever read on this site. How much beer was Keegan drinking, anyway?

September 14, 2007 at 1:05 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

phoggy_style (anonymous) says...

It was Mayer, not Keegan; and unfortunately, it's not his 'most scatterbrained article' ever!

September 14, 2007 at 2:13 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

phoggy_style (anonymous) says...

Can't do anything about the schedule now...except kick the !#$! out of whomever you line up against. So far, we've done that. If ksu has what I think they have, it may well be 27 October before we know what kind of team we actually are.

September 14, 2007 at 2:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

BPSkelly (anonymous) says...

Lets just hope that the talent and play level has risen to the point where we can take advantage of the "soft side" of the South schedule. Years we have the OSU/Baylor/A&M side must be taken advantage of, and we've really yet to do that. We've even 'blown' it several times on that side of the schedule.

The talent is as good overall as I can remember. It seems like now Mangino is at the point where he can get kids who other "big time" programs would want, but he can pretty much promise them playing time where other schools cant. Thats a huge step from a few years ago and infinetely better than Terry Allen was getting.

It's unrealistic to think 'Blue Chippers' are going to be flocking to Lawrence to play football soon, but racking up great records and bowl wins is the best way to start that. I definately get the sense that we are getting closer to that.

Someone earlier commented about us winning road games. Here here. Im a KU alum from St. Louis, so beating Mizzou is my big deal. But for the sake of the Jayhawks, and for Mangino, going into Manhattan and winning cant be looked over. That would be an enormous first step that probably wont even be measured this season.

Im trying not to get to geeked up about it, seeing as we are playing the "K-State" pre-conference schedule, but it certainly seems like this SHOULD be the year the Jayhawks make the Jump.

Rock Chalk guys/gals. Those in Lawrence for the game this weekend, have a cold one for me after our 3-0 start.

September 14, 2007 at 2:18 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

It's perfectly understandable for KU fans to be apprehensive about this year's team considering the quality of our non-conference schedule, especially those who haven't seen these guys in person yet. But let me tell you, coming from a guy who has seen KU teams for the last quarter century, it's more about how good we've looked as opposed to how "bad" the teams we played were.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, 114-7 after two games is pretty darn good no matter who you play. In watching these two games, a fan well-versed in KU football can easily notice a different air about this team.

Will this new confidence from our team translate into wins on the road, or will it revert back to it's old mediocre ways under Mangino when away from the friendly confines of Memorial? Well, who knows?? But, if I were a betting man, I'd be willing to bet the house that it will.

Also, it may be time to change the way of thinking. Of course, beating K-Suck and Mizzou are two things that bring us KU fans the most joy--do that and most would chalk it up to a good year, bring on basketball, etc...I think now is the time when we should expect our boys to go win EVERY game on the road. I'm not saying we are going to go out and have a perfect season, but after seeing this team play I think that we as fans should have a lot more confidence that a win is imminent whether on the road or at home. rock chalk!!

bpskelly-I'll gladly have a beer (or 10) for ya on Sat.!

September 14, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

NavyHawk (anonymous) says...

When this year's non conference schedule was drawn up, no one knew what the opponents' quality would be nor did they have reason to expect the high-caliber team KU is putting on the field. SE Louisiana was a late schedule addition since D1 schools were allowed to add a 1-AA school and play a twelfth game and would be expected to not be competitive (unlike App State). Primarily, having all 4 games at home is the real plus to making this an easy schedule.

The biggest thing KU needs, besides winning these games in a strong fashion, is to avoid injuries. In the past few years, injuries have been devastating, considering if Meier hadn't been injured last year KU should have won at least one, possibly more games that they lost. A couple years ago, KU had an outstanding team, but Brad Whittemore got injured and the season basically ended. I know, if back-ups had produced, things might have been different. Well, this year it appears that the backup QB (Meier) if truly healthy, is fully capable of stepping in if Todd gets injured. He's done well in a mop-up role and hopefully will get additional playing time in the next two games. That could pay off in spades later in the year if Todd has a bad game or (God forbid) he becomes injured.

Keep focused Hawks! Rock Chalk!

September 14, 2007 at 10:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

PeteJayhawk (anonymous) says...

Who's Brad Whittemore?

September 15, 2007 at 8:53 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

milehighhawk (anonymous) says...

What the hell was this article?!?!

The first half was actually pretty good. THEN, from the "what's the greatest fear you ever sensed in a locker room" portion on, it was like he was trying to meet his word count. It made zero sense. What the hell does the second half have to do with the first half?

Geez.

September 15, 2007 at 10:26 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkdan42 (anonymous) says...

Avoid injuries and play to our potential and I think 9-3 is a real possibility. We have very little depth at some key positions so keeping healthy will be key for this years success. I can't wait till we play the pussycats 37-17 sounds about right. go hawks

September 15, 2007 at 3:47 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkdon (anonymous) says...

It's Bill Wittemore, not Brad.

September 16, 2007 at 12:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

swjhawk (anonymous) says...

Another week--another cupcake. Midnight Madness, come you will.

September 16, 2007 at 11:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )