By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
- Admit it, we have all wondered if Patrick Mahomes is trending downward this season.
- As hard as it is when clinging to the edge of your recliner, we should all remember it’s possible to sit back and watch Mahomes raise his game.
- That comeback in LA on Thursday was yet another spectacle.
- Granted, the pass he misfired wide and into the dirt on the Chargers 1-yard line really had us cranky.
- (Psst, Andy, how about using that Michael Burton guy again?)
- But Mahomes atoned, and then some, as three straight 75-yard touchdown drives produced an overtime win.
- Somewhere, Phillip Rivers was loving retirement.
- And Chiefs fans sensed another Super Bowl coming into focus.
- Slinging the football to two clutch pass-catchers helps.
- So did defensive breakdowns and point-chasing blunders by the Chargers.
- But my, do not count out Patrick Mahomes. Nor Travis Kelce. Nor Tyreek Hill.
- On a night when Burton (who?) scored the Chiefs’ only first-half touchdown, that potential division-clinching win over Los Angeles turned downright eventful.
- Not sorry to offend Hollywood by linking the word “dirt” to opulent So-Fi Stadium.
- Is playing in such a posh palace worth leaving San Diego, the city identified with your franchise?
- Guess so. The Chargers are the football equivalence of the Clippers.If you had to move, why not, oh, San Antonio? Think that city might embrace an NFL franchise?
- I can’t remember, do Texans like football?
- (Insert KU beat Texas zinger here.)
- My beef with Joe Buck has been more about the frequency we watch and listen to him rather than his delivery.
- That changed with his chilly night in LA comment while injured Charger Donald Parham got carted off the field.
- No fans in the stands last year made it easy for me to click Mute.
- Crowd noise changes that.
- It’s what makes any of our sports the best reality series on TV.
- And no, the button doesn’t read, Mute. Just a reminder, old grumps love words over symbols.
- Keep thinking Kansas achieved little by renewing the Missouri rivalry … except for slapping the Tigers out of their basketball slumber.
- Not that KU won’t administer more border beatdowns, but the rivalry was more balanced on Twitter than on-court.
- At halftime, I found other things to do.
- I will never understand the joy in an SEC chant if it’s pretty much all you got.
- As Joe Buck might say, we’ll talk about that more with our next guests, Texas and Oklahoma.
- Happy for Brent Venables. While the conference transition will be challenging, the man is a fierce competitor.
- First saw it when he played football in Salina (preps), Garden City (juco) and at K-State.
- Two college players I put squarely in that uber-competitive circle these days are Deuce Vaughn and Christian Braun.
- Their names actually don’t rhyme, except when a TV analyst flunks his KU basketball homework.
- K-State’s acquisition (can we call it that, please, with unrestricted free agency in college sports) of Adrian Martinez makes for a potentially strong backfield combo alongside Vaughn.
- With Nebraska, though, Martinez seemed to find ways to lose games. That bothers me.
- Reducing mistakes is not only a task for Martinez but a leadership opportunity for Chris Klieman and his new OC.
- Vaughn must help with that and add even more leadership qualities to his dynamic skills.
- Is K-State really a developmental program when Klieman and his staff can’t seem to develop a quarterback they recruit?
- Braun has become a player I enjoy watching off the ball because he does so many things to demand the ball.
- He took exception to being called a spot-up shooter. Power to him. He is fun to watch and provides the combustion vital to a postseason run.
- Mentioned Michael Burton earlier and can’t help but think of the Lord working in mysterious ways.
- Lost a dear friend, Mike Burton, recently. Mike ran the American Legion baseball program in Silver Lake for more than 40 years and was a stranger to no one.
- Loved his stories, and the golf outings he’d set up to play with him and Jim Golden. Great man.
- Same for Rene Poort, who I always knew would call a game fair and fast as someone who officiated until his recent passing at 77.
- And then there’s Tom Price, who could strike a conversation with anyone and helped me regain my love for baseball. Bless you and miss you, Tomcat.
- Finally, to my brother-in-law Scott, who taught me to shoot, cast and appreciate everything outdoors.
- Death can sure make life hard. Yet, we find comfort, joy and peace in what so many have meant to us.
- Merry Christmas.
