Some thoughts before retiring to my nerdery for the night to play Madden 08…**- I was watching [Swingers][1]**, one of the all-time great ‘guy movies,’ late last week. For any guy who’s ever been in a relationship that went dead unexpectedly, there’s probably no movie scene which serves as more of a rallying cry than when Mikey, played by Jon Favreau, hangs up on his ex-girlfriend of six years while she’s trying to mutter those three special words six months after dumping him just so he can talk to a young Heather Graham, who he’d just met the night before.Basically, Favreau’s character chose the wild card over the known quantity. A bold move, and according to some, the wise choice.That’s kind of how I look at Meier v. Reesing ’07.[All implications][2] – those being Reesing taking most of the snaps with the first team offense and the way Mangino has spoken about the situation – point to the sophomore from Austin, Texas, getting the gig.Some might not agree, but in my book, Kerry Meier is the more known quantity, whereas Reesing is, as Vince Vaughn would put it in the same movie, ‘the guy in the rated R movie, you know, the guy you’re not sure whether or not you like yet, you’re not sure where he’s coming from.’But it’s true if you look at the numbers. Meier has started eight games, Reesing has started none. Meier has 184 pass attempts under his belt, Reesing has 24. Meier has thrown 13 TDs, Reesing has tossed three.So yes, if Mangino says what we all expect him to say in the coming weeks, he’ll be handing the reins of a team with a must-win schedule and a new-look offense to a quarterback with 24 career pass attempts, rather than his oft-injured (by the way, he looks a little hobbled, from a practice observer’s standpoint) yet a bit more battle-tested counterpart.But you know what? I’m all for it.We’ve seen what Kerry Meier can do. Now he’s a solid quarterback, and he certainly looks the part physically, but flashy he is not. He can throw a crisp ball, and he’s got the size-speed-agility combo to be a good tuck-it-and-run guy when need be.But Reesing’s got something mysterious to his game, that knack for making the play you never thought you’d see a sub-six-foot quarterback make. One game should never define a quarterback, but for me, one half defined Todd Reesing.In that second half of the [20-15 win over Colorado][3] last year, he made two incredible plays which had me sold for good: **1)** His 63-yard run which set up a red zone touchdown and **2)** His seemingly impossible find of Jeff Foster along the sideline after he by all means should have been sacked.What made those two plays even more impressive was that also in that second half he had a fumble deep in the Colorado red zone which was scooped up and run back for a score. From both the little bit we saw of him on the field a year ago and from the way he handles himself in the media settings, the guy is unflappable, and for a team and a coach under plenty of outside pressure this seasoon, that’s what is needed in a quarterback. Maybe Kerry Meier has it, but Todd Reesing has just shown more of it.**- Has anyone caught [Hard Knocks][4] yet on HBO?** The new season premiered last Wednesday, and this year the HBO cameras have been allowed full access to Kansas City Chiefs training camp in River Falls, Wisc.I’m by no means a Chiefs fan, but the show has added interest this year because it follows the local team. There’ll be four more episodes, and if they have as many unintentionally hilarious nuggets as the premiere, it’ll be well worth the watch. My favorite had to be [Jared Allen’s][5] dubbing of O’Doul’s as the beer drinker’s beer for when they cannot drink beer.**- Since we’re on the topic of football**, why not talk about some former Jayhawks making a stir in the NFL preseason?[Brandon Rideau][6], who spent last season on the Chicago Bears’ practice squad, had three grabs for 43 yards in a [20-19 win over Houston][7] in the team’s preseason opener Saturday night. Right now, he’s believed to be battling for the sixth and final receiver slot on the Bears’ active roster with Oregon State product [Mike Hass][8] and [Drisan James][9], who while at Boise State last year was responsible for the ‘hook’ in the ‘hook and lateral’ play which sent the Fiesta Bowl into overtime.It’d be nice to see Rideau get his shot. He had a great junior season in 2003, but 2004 saw him take a step back as far as both production and consistency…then again, that was the case for the entire KU offense that year.Also vying for roster spots are [David McMillan][10], a fellow 2004 alum of Rideau’s, and [Charles Gordon][11], who left KU a year later. McMillan and Gordon a year ago were on active rosters with Cleveland and Minnesota, respectively, and both are now showing good possibilities of doing the same in 2007. Gordon had three solo stops in a [13-10 loss to St. Louis][12] Friday, while McMillan, who wowed his way into the 2004 draft via a blazing 40 time at the combine, had four stops for Cleveland, who [beat Kansas City 16-12][13].**- Now it’s time for some videos.***In honor of Madden Day, [here’s a throwback][14] to what still is and always will be the greatest football video game to exist.*I knew it would only be minutes until [this][15] found its way onto the KU message boards. I’m gonna like this kid, I can already tell.*OK, I don’t want to overkill it with Scrubs clips, even though I probably have already. Anyways, this week, I’m going with one….[here][16].See you again next week..**_KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene can be reached at rgreene@ljworld.com, or by phone at (785) 832-6357._** [1]: http://imdb.com/title/tt0117802/ [2]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/aug/14/sparky_appears_be_kus_starting_qb/?football [3]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2006/oct/29/red_shirts_rule/?football [4]: http://www.hbo.com/hardknocks/ [5]: http://www.nfl.com/players/jaredallen/profile?id=ALL454745 [6]: http://www.nfl.com/players/brandonrideau/profile?id=RID206705 [7]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore?gid=20070811034 [8]: http://www.nfl.com/players/mikehass/profile?id=HAS510549 [9]: http://www.nfl.com/players/drisanjames/profile?id=JAM174420 [10]: http://www.nfl.com/players/davidmcmillan/profile?id=MCM373758 [11]: http://www.nfl.com/players/charlesgordon/profile?id=GOR058996 [12]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore?gid=20070810016 [13]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore?gid=20070811005 [14]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAAgfY_NHzw [15]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D082zsVMYo [16]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rb2xMUGYiQ
