By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
- Did six consecutive touchdown drives in the postseason opener put to rest concerns about the Chiefs offense?
- Not when the first five series resulted in three punts, two turnovers and a defensive touchdown for Pittsburgh.
- The clash still proved to be the kind of mismatch a No. 7 seed presents in the NFL’s bloated wild-card round.
- Despite the slow start, Patrick Mahomes can look mighty good making plays from the pocket or bouncing out.
- Recording 400-plus yards passing before the end of the third quarter far exceeds whatever threat Mecole Hardman poses when taking snaps.
- Hardman? Sounds like a sure way to give an opponent a touchdown return, though Darrel Williams contributed mightily.
- Just stop it, you say, with the trick plays?
- Andy Reid can’t help himself. Ask Nick Allegretti. Or rifleman Travis Kelce.
- Next time you bash a football coordinator, and you will, remember the head coach has final say.
- If the head coach has surrendered oversight on play-calling, he’s negligent.
- Shuffling coordinators, however, often appeases fans.
- Good luck, Collin Klein. Nice plan and execution, by the way, in the Texas Bowl win.
- A potent mix of returnees and good results combing the transfer portal makes for a bright outlook at K-State.
- The transfer portal will be key for both K-State and KU in terms of assembling talent.
- It will come with hits and misses but seems like a pipeline upgrade when compared to jucos.
- Happy to see Ky Thomas playing close to home after transferring to Kansas.
- He could be the best rusher to come out of Topeka, though I never forget the folklore told about Levi Lee.
- It could be spellbinding to watch Thomas and Devin Neal in the same KU backfield. It’s also a credit to Leipold for emphasizing in-state talent.
- Whether they sign or walk on, in-state players are the heart and soul of any college program. They are caretakers of the culture.
- The toxicity readings on Bruce Weber’s popularity at K-State have never diminished totally since he got hired.
- His postgame absence following the upset over Texas Tech could be that his voice skedaddled coming off COVID.
- Yet it’s all the more reason for Weber not to shriek on every live or dead ball. Let the Cats get one on their own.
- Look, K-State has better overall talent. Yet most teams in the Big 12 are somehow better than a year ago.
- I don’t see an NCAA Tournament bid for a club fighting to stay above .500. With no berth, it’s time to move on from Bruce for the sake of unified fan support.
- In his 10th season coaching K-State, Weber has probably expended his nine lives.
- The difficult part to this equation is who would K-State bring in as a replacement? Will that coach compete favorably in the rugged Big 12?
- For the record, the 10-year records of Weber (179-137) and South Carolina’s Frank Martin (163-140) are pretty similar heading into games Tuesday.
- Could it be that every KU player will be inconsistent throughout the season except for Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun?
- Not overly surprising since Bill Self has a rotation that’s hard to condense and features different pieces for different opponents.
- Remy Martin is the flashiest facilitator, but I wonder how much his reduced scoring role frustrates the former Arizona State go-to man.
- Already the Big 12 is uneven and unpredictable. That will be a constant.
- One of my favorite high school events, the Topeka Invitational, will be staged this week.
- When I first arrived to cover sports in Topeka, city schools hosted three exceptional mid-season basketball tournaments.
- They attracted strong teams coached by greats such as Steve Eck, Chuck Minor, Chic Downing and Ted Juneau.
- And, visiting standouts such as Danny Manning, Steve Woodberry, Earl Watson and Val Barnes.
- How many of you gave or received a new vehicle as a Christmas gift?
- Forever wondering the ratio of over-the-top TV ads to gifted trucks and SUVs.
- And, if the ads work, who gets stuck making the payments?
- Whenever Bill Snyder spoke of “the people” as his reason behind staying at K-State, I always thought of Joan Friederich.
- Her love for everyone in the football complex, and even this one lucky sportswriter, cannot be overstated.
- Rest in peace to a remarkable woman Snyder fittingly called “one of a kind” in a moving eulogy he delivered at Joan’s memorial service.
