Bedore: Ramblings on college hoops, football

By Gary Bedore     Feb 11, 1988

Need go get some things off my chest and can’t afford a trip to the psychiatrist, so bear with me and read on…

-Dumbest quote of the year remains the one uttered by Notre Dame’s Digger Phelps after ND’s 80-76 win over Kansas back on Jan. 23.

Fired up after watching Irish guard David Rivers outshine Danny Manning 29 points to 22, Phelps, you recall, proclaimed the 6-0 senior college basketball’s Player of the Year.

“I don’t think it’s a sentimental thing,” Phelps said of the award. “It’s based on what they did when they went head to head.”

Since when did Player of the Year become a one-game honor, I wondered, as I put the quote on paper.

Foolish when made, Digger’s statement looks even dopier now.

Rivers hit three of 17 shots in last weekend’s loss to Duke. He also earned goat’s horns for missing a slam dunk attempt on a layup during the guts of the game in a recent loss to Kentucky.

Should we judge Rivers only on those games, Digger?

Give Rivers – truly a class act – college basketball’s Most Courageous Award for his incredible recovery from injuries sustained in a car wreck two summers ago and hand Player of the Year to somebody like Manning or Bradley scoring machine Hersey Hawkins.

-Fans stationed behind an Allen Fieldhouse goal chanted “Don’t Come Back” to fellow Jayhawk fans who headed for the exits with about a minute left in KU’s recent home loss to Oklahoma.

Even a few cups were tossed at those committing the heinous crime of leaving a game before its conclusion

Why stop there, fans? Planning on throwing stones next time it happens?

-Most of Kansas’ top high school football seniors on Wednesday signed with out-of-state schools. Particularly interesting is the fact three Manhattan High players didn’t even consider Kansas State.

Question to ponder: Throughout the years, how many Lawrence High players off to KU have spouted the quote, “I think KU football is on the upswing. With coach (Fill in the Blank) and his new recruits, I think we’ll be in a bowl game soon, maybe even this year.”

Answer: Many, but none this year because the state champion Lions had no major college prospects.

-Refreshing, isn’t it, to see how well Kansas State basketball coach Lon Kruger and KU boss Larry Brown get along? The two, who have never resorted to blasting the other’s programs in order to sign recruits, combined forces to film a commercial for charity before KSU’s recent win over the Jayhawks. Just the opposite of the perceived bad blood between the KU and KSU football programs the past several years…

-Did you see where Billy Tubbs and Norm Stewart barked at each other following a near-donnybrook during OU’s win over Missouri last Saturday in Norman?

“We were talking about if we were going to meet at his lakehouse this summer,” OU’s Tubbs said. “Honestly, since I’ve been here, I’ve probably learned more from him. Norm is a great coach. He is Francis or Mr. Ed or whoever. But he is a great coach. I think we leave it out there on the floor.”

Shouldn’t two veteran coaches know better than to carry on when fans are pelting ice and objects to the court?…

-Is there a friendlier person in town than KU’s Archie Marshall? The injured Jayhawk forward, out for the season following knee surgery, stands outside the KU locker room before and after games, chats with fans and signs autographs, wearing a big grin while doing so. No wonder Danny Manning wears a wristband with Marshall’s No. 23 on it…

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