Sports Bits

NCAA Football – Florida was crowned National Champions based on their record and 24-14 victory over Oklahoma in the National Championship Game. Not to take anything away from Florida, but I am still not convinced that the system used is the best method to pick a National Champion. Who’s to say that Florida was any better than USC or Utah? USC had the same record and Utah was undefeated. I like many believed that both had legitimate claims at least to a share of the title. Wouldn’t a better way to choose a champion be through a playoff system such as an 8 or 12 team bracket. I would much rather see the argument be who’s number 8 and who the number 9 team is that didn’t get a chance to play for the championship………………National Signing day is past and according to Rivals.com the Ohio State Buckeyes had the third best recruiting class in the nation. Other Big Ten Teams: (7) Michigan, (16) Michigan State and (25) Penn State. In the Big 12: (5) Texas (13) Oklahoma (22) Texas A&M (28) Nebraska, (31) Kansas, and (95) Kansas State.

NFL Football – The Super Bowl this year was just that. Super! Although KC is my favorite team, I have enjoyed watching the Steelers since Terry Bradshaw and the days of the “Steel Curtin”. Those teams were good offensively but it was the defense that carried them. It looks like they have that formula back again. I was one of many that jumped on the Arizona Cardinals bandwagon during their playoff run. Warner, Fitzgerald and company and their high octane offense were fun to watch. But in the end they made too many mistakes and the Steelers defense prevailed……………….Speaking of the Cardinals, the Kansas City Chiefs should have a new look in 2009. The move to replace Carl Peterson was past due. One has to like the move to bring in Scott Pioli. Kansas City fans will be hoping that he can duplicate the successes he had in New England. I don’t know enough about Todd Haley other that what I saw during the NFC Playoffs and the Super Bowl, however his Cardinals were 4th in overall offense in the NFL last season. Maybe this will be just what the Chiefs offense needs to get well. It will be interesting to see who they bring in as assistant coaches and which players stay.

NCAA basketball – At the beginning of the season I said that KU at times would be fun the watch and at other times it would be difficult to watch them. This week we saw both. On Monday at Missouri, it was their game to win and they blew the lead. On Saturday, even though it wasn’t pretty, it was their game to lose and they managed to take advantage to some breaks and pull out the victory. This team is young and inexperienced. That being said they have some talent in the right spots, but don’t have the depth that they have had in the past. The last 6 games will be a good warm up going into the post-season. The game at Oklahoma will be the most difficult and an almost certain loss for the Jayhawks.
The games at home against Nebraska, Missouri and Texas won’t be easy. I could see KU going to the sweet 16 this year but not much further. A repeat of last year is definitely not in the works this year……….Sorry K-State fans but you will have to wait at least one more year to go dancing. Your strength of schedule is too weak. A win over the Jayhawks might have saved your season. I thought your season was finished after the embarrassing loss at Nebraska, but the Cats finally got it rolling with key wins at home against Missouri and on the road at Texas. The Purple could still salvage the season if they win out the remainder of their games including a home game with Missouri.…………..Wichita State is finally starting to show some hope and potential of what they might be under Greg Marshall. They could finish in 5th place in the Valley which is saying a lot with the start they had to the season. They have some good young talent and plenty to look forward to for next year……………….Have you noticed the emphasis on swinging elbows lately? One thing I noticed is that the defensive players tend to guard so close so when a player pivots or swings his body, the elbows follow making it look more violent than it really is.

Baseball – With just two returning starters and 14 lettermen, this will be the least experienced team that WSU fans have ever seen. If these guys can show some hope early, an attractive home schedule against Pepperdine and Long Beach State might be fun………….”Pitchers and catchers report” are the four words that a baseball fan looks forward to all winter long. Saturday, February 14th was that day. Forget the ground hog, for a baseball fan, it means that spring has sprung. The Cardinals have a lot of question marks. (1) The biggest is the health of Chris Carpenter. Carp has pitched only 21 innings over the last two seasons. There will be a lot of tests on his arm this spring. (2) Albert Pujols had off-season elbow surgery. Will he be ready for opening day? (3) Troy Glaus had off-season shoulder surgery. It has already been announced that he won’t be ready for opening day. Who will fill if for him till he’s ready to return? (4) The Cards released Adam Kennedy last week. Who will be the second baseman? (5) The team still hasn’t signed a closer. Who will be the man out of the bullpen in the 9th inning? Should be a fun spring keeping it all straightened out. Keep posted.