A little bit of this and a little bit of that while hoping against hope the game-time temperature for Saturday’s Kansas University-Northwestern football game won’t be 107 degrees like it was in 2000 when KU opened against SMU in Dallas.
Now that a Jayhawk — and a rather huge one at that — is back on the floor in Allen Fieldhouse, how much longer will we have to wait until the mythical bird, one of the nation’s most recognizable college logos, returns to KU’s football helmet?
Not since 1988, Glen Mason’s first year at Kansas, has the Jayhawk adorned the headgear. Mason opted for a plain helmet in 1989, then went to a stylized red “KU” in 1990 that remained through Terry Allen’s stint, then changed to a block white “KU” when Mark Mangino took over in 2002.
Kansas players also have donned much darker blue uniforms under Mangino than they wore under Mason and Allen, yet not as dark as two decades ago when coach Mike Gottfried had the Jayhawks decked out in what was referred to as “mineshaft blue.” Those togs were flat-out black.
Brothers Ryne Price and Robby Price, who helped Free State High make its first appearance in a state baseball tournament last spring, played on the San Luis Obispo Firestone Rangers team that won the U.S. Amateur Baseball Federation World Series a week or so ago in San Diego. In the championship game, Ryne was the DH and Robby played second base.
The Prices’ older brother Ritchie spent the summer playing for the Mankato MoonDogs, a wood-bat league for collegians. Ritchie, who hit an impressive .319 as a KU freshman infielder last spring, struggled in switching from aluminum to wood. He hit only .185 for the MoonDogs.
The Prices are, as you know, sons of KU baseball coach Ritch Price. Ryne now is a senior at Free State and Robby a sophomore.
When was the last time Kansas announced its baseball and softball schedules before it announced its basketball schedules? KU’s 2004 baseball and softball schedules have been released, but the men’s and women’s 2003-2004 basketball schedules haven’t.
In the same breath, don’t hold your breath waiting for the 2004 KU football schedule to be published. With Oklahoma and Texas (gulp) returning in ’04, look for KU to attempt to Snyder-ize its nonconference slate.
There also is the matter of the number of games. Under current legislation, NCAA schools will have to return to an 11-game schedule next season, but no one expects that law to remain on the books. That 12th game has helped balance too many athletic department budgets.
On Opening Day, the average age of the Royals’ pitching staff was 26.8 years. Today the average age of a K.C. pitcher is 30.9 years. And the latter number includes 22-year-old Jimmy Gobble, a late-season call-up.
Obviously, the Royals wouldn’t have six pitchers 35-years-old and older if they weren’t in a pennant race. Conventional baseball wisdom dictates that contenders acquire veterans for the stretch run. But did the Royals become a contender by using conventional wisdom?
By the way, is Gobble the next Tom Glavine? Or the next Glendon Rusch?
Will the Florida Marlins call up Lawrence High product Kevin Hooper from their Albuquerque Triple-A farm club when rosters expand Sept. 1? Hooper earned headlines last summer with a 31-game hitting streak while toiling for the Marlins’ AAA club, but the slightly-built 26-year-old infielder — he’s listed at 5-foot-10, 160 pounds — only has 12 extra-base hits in about 120 games this summer while hitting around .275.
You could say that Scott Drew leaving Valparaiso to become men’s basketball coach at perception-punctured Baylor is like leaving Valpo for Alpo. Baylor could become the first Big 12 Conference basketball team to compile at 0-16 record since the Kansas women shot blanks two years ago.
