More Road Headaches In Store For Self

By Staff     Aug 18, 2004

This fall, the KU men’s’ basketball team will be on the road as much as The Beetles and Spinal Tap. Like a musical act with no gigs to play, this season the Jayhawks will just stay home. From the time they tip off their season on November 19 against Vermont until January 9, the Jayhawks will not play a game outside of Allen Fieldhouse or Kemper Arena. On paper, it’s a great idea for a young team in need of a confidence boost. But for a national championship contender that embarrassed itself last season on the road, this schedule is the worst idea this side of Princess Diaries 2. When it was released last week, KU coach Bill Self said all the right things. He pointed to home games against St. Joseph’s, Nevada, and Georgia Tech, and said that the Jayhawks would play one of the most difficult slates in the country. “Everybody who has seen our schedule has said, ‘Wow,'” Self said. Yeah … as in “Wow, what a waste.” Last season, the Jayhawks struggled on the road like no Jayhawk team in recent memory. There was the humiliation at Hilton Coliseum. The 20-point stink bomb in Stillwater. The lopsided loss in Lincoln. And the hooking by the Longhorns in Austin. So just how did the KU brass respond by these historic conference blowouts? By assuring zero road trips until early January, when the Jayhawks travel to Kentucky. The good news for KU fans is that the home schedule is loaded. Vermont, Nevada, St. Joseph’s, and Pacific all made noise last season in the NCAA Tournament. Speaking of loaded, following the usual New Year’s Eve debauchery, the Jayhawks will battle Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day. Good luck getting out of bed for that one. Hangovers aside, there’s no reason that the Jayhawks shouldn’t be the top-ranked team in the country by the time they depart for Lexington. They should coast through the early part of the season without a loss. But what good is that? On January 9, the Jayhawks will look just as unprepared on the road as they did last season. A blowout loss is a strong possibility for a young team, and Self will only have the schedule to blame for it. On the bright side, the loaded home slate will do wonders to the athletics department’s pocketbooks. Millions of dollars of revenue can be made with the new point system and 18 home dates. The only winner on the 2004-05 basketball schedule will be KU’s bottom line.A few other quick notes (Rigg’s Random Ramblings?): * This season, the city of Lawrence is celebrating its sesquicentennial. I demand there should be a play — ala Waiting for Guffman — and the director goes to the city commission and demands $100,000. * Tough luck so far for Mark Mangino and the KU football team. Promising wide receiver Moderick Johnson was ruled academically ineligible. Last weekend, starting guard Tony Coker broke his ankle. Here’s hoping that Johnson returns to the Jayhawk lineup next season, and that Coker — mullet and all — will make a speedy recovery. * To everyone who wants to blame Roy Williams for the USA basketball team’s demise: back off! The “Williams makes them choke” theory is this week’s version of the “why don’t they make the whole plane out of the black box?” joke. Joel Mathis just tried to run that lame theory by me. He was, by my count, the 57th person today to tell me he just thought of it. For the record, all ‘ol Roy does for the USA basketball team is retreive water and arrange posses. * Finally, good luck to 6Sports reporter Randy Withers, who will work this season in the Chiefs’ video department.

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