I’m bored. Let’s dish.**_-News of [Darrell Arthur’s leg woes][1] late last week _**conjured up memories of a piece I read on ESPN.com a couple of years back.In that story, it talked about how the reason some of the NBA’s top-level talent was turning down spots on Team USA for the upcoming summer was due to the fact that a large percentage of players who participated on the previous national team in the summer months missed a good amount of games the following season with various injuries.And while it’s noble and all to represent your country on the hardwood, the time spent on the couch watching _[Napoleon Dynamite][2]_ while pajama-clad in Lawrence instead isn’t such a bad option.Say Arthur were to miss six weeks, which is the latter amount of his projected time out of action. That puts him back on the floor in mid-late August. By the time he’s back into peak shape and at full speed, it’s only a few weeks until Late Night and he’s fully refreshed.That’s a much better option for this team. Where KU’s frontcourt for the 2007-08 season is concerned, Arthur really should be the only one right now who’s considered as a lock for the starting lineup across from whoever wins out between Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun and _maybe_ Cole Aldrich.If Arthur’s really wanting this whole NBA career thing to work, too, his sophomore year will be huge. That’s because if he’s at full strength, it’ll be his last in crimson and blue. ESPN’s Chad Ford is among the analysts already [talking him up][3] (By the way, if you didn’t read [this][4] leading up to the NBA Draft two weeks ago, check it out…great read of an e-mail swap between two great writers, and it’ll stand the test of time).**_-Some fresh news came in late Tuesday with KU [finalizing its non-conference hoops schedule][5]_** for the upcoming fall/winter. A few things stood out:**1)** Why have a game with Washburn that actually counts? I understand that it’s part of this new Jayhawk Invitational, which was added pretty late, but a D-II opponent? KU should have put off this Invitational a year until they could draw some better competition than the Ichabods, UMKC and last year’s opening night punching bag Northern Arizona (Though remember the name [Dominique Johnson][6], a sophomore at UMKC from Kansas City, Mo. When he was at Lincoln Prep, he was one of my favorite high school players I had ever watched).The Jayhawks play three – yes, just three – road games in the season’s first nine weeks, which is something that sorely needs to change. I understand that the athletic department wants to have as many home paydays as possible, but at some point it crosses the line. Southern Cal, Boston College and Arizona are all Top 25 teams, but there needs to be more challenges. Even if it hurts your win-loss record, it only helps down the road to challenge yourself early as much as possible. Besides, everyone knows that what you do before early January counts the least in the long run.**2)** The most obvious potential stumbling block for KU in this non-con slate is Dec. 2 at Southern Cal. It will be without question the biggest game yet in the Trojans’ new arena, and the 2007-08 USC team will be very similar to the one which pushed KU hard in the Fieldhouse last season. The Trojans lost Nick Young, Lodrick Stewart and Gabe Pruitt (who didn’t play against KU last year anyway), but add a top-shelf recruiting class, headed by O.J. Mayo. Sophomore Taj Gibson, who gave KU fits a year ago, is back and sure to only be better than he was as a freshman.Boston College is a close second, with Tyrese Rice as the key holdover from a pesky NCAA Tournament team. Chestnut Hill is no comfy welcome mat for a visiting team, either.**3)** The least likely loss is KU’s non-con finale would have to be Loyola College (Md.), who despite winning 18 games last year is far from ready to knock off a team of KU’s caliber. The Greyhounds hung tight on the road with Michigan State, beat a good Marist team and squeaked one out against Niagara in overtime. In my opinion, this one has a chance to be this year’s version of the Dartmouth game (Washburn would be more likely, but I can’t pick on a D-II).**4)** In KU’s first game at the Sprint Center, the Jayhawks face…Ohio? Toledo last year turned out to be a solid mid-major, and who knows, maybe the Bobcats will do the same this year. But the fact that KU is playing its first game in the Sprint Center you would think would call for scheduling a solid, major-conference foe well ahead of time.**Overall, I give the schedule a B- grade on the report card**. There’s enough big names to keep the Jayhawks above a C. Plus given KU’s recent track record of having a non-conference schedule which looks much stronger after the fact rather than before, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt there.But man, what I wouldn’t give to see a Michigan State-like, loaded non-con which prepares a team as much as possible for the conference grind.**_And now what you all are here for….the videos…_**-I won’t stop showing [Scrubs][7] clips until I get one person to admit that they’ve become as addicted to it as I have in the past two months. Here’s a couple good ones…[here][8], [here][9] and [here][10].-You knew it was only a matter of time until someone did [this][11].-Only because I recently watched this movie and realized it might be the most convincing acting Will Ferrell has ever done. How he did these scenes with a straight face is beyond me…here’s [one of my favorites][12].-Someone showed me [this][13] a few weeks back, and I don’t think I’ll ever get these 4 minutes of my life back…I just…you know…the part where…oh man, just…I can’t really do much better than that, so I’ll see you in the not-too distant future.**_KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene can be reached at rgreene@ljworld.com, or by phone at (785) 832-6357._** [1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/jul/07/stress_fracture_sidelines_kansas_arthur/ [2]: http://imdb.com/title/tt0374900/ [3]: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/insider/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=Class-2008 [4]: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=nbamockdraft/070627/ford [5]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/jul/11/ku_completes_nonleague_hoops_slate/?mens_basketball [6]: http://umkckangaroos.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/johnson_dominique00.html [7]: http://imdb.com/title/tt0285403/ [8]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V0X2QH77Ks [9]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK0fU6Kq4xU [10]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaznYJJqITk [11]: http://www.willitblend.com/videos.aspx?type=unsafe&video=iphone [12]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLtfg4mGQo [13]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmSNBCU5f4Y
