By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Giblets on turkey week:
• Wait. Giblets are organ meats, right? Oh well, as long as stuffing cooks in its rightful cavity, I’m good.
• Doubt a breakthrough will happen Saturday for KU in the battle for John Brown’s Hatchet.
• Johnny Kaw’s Scythe?
• Golden Bushel of Wheat?
• Nothing against politicians, or everything against them: the Governor’s Cup is a poorly-named prize.
• Say what you want for Floyd of Rosedale or any other contested artifact among Big Ten rivals. They all have charm.
• The mythically mighty Johnny Kaw had two pets, Wildcat and Jayhawk. They got into a tussle so fierce it started the Dust Bowl.
• Do something with that and leave the governors, their opponents and their inept political parties to send mailers with recycled lies destined for the recycle bin.
• Our in-state football rivalry could get interesting real soon, perhaps by Saturday if Jalon Daniels displays all his complete talents.
• I scratch my head at repetitive barbs lobbed by opposing fans.
• K-State supporters go to great lengths to take shots at their KU rivals when any response about football should simply be the number 13. Soon to be 14, I predict.
• KU fans go to great lengths to indicate they live rent-free in K-Stater’s heads. Yet if you truly reside rent-free, do you have to constantly remind everyone?
• Applying logic to Twitter is a treacherous toboggan ride.
• I’ll pass on asking Elon Musk for a ruling.
• The contract extension extended to Lance Leipold leads me to believe KU will continue trending upward.
• K-State would be wise to offer Chris Klieman and add a layer of comfort to his leadership.
• Still, is it possible for KU and K-State to each field strong football programs simultaneously?
• History says no and few of those books get tossed out any windows.
• However, a new Big 12 could lead to new developments.
• The state of Kansas seems to produce a bit more major-college talent anymore. Topeka sure has.
• And the transfer portal is a resource that often favors schools lacking high-rated talent.
• Also, perennial power Oklahoma pulled up stakes with sod tracing back to the Big Six.
• Who knows? Seeing Leipold and Klieman each reject overtures from Nebraska is a nice start.
• Klieman is staying, right? He can do better than Nebraska, and is. Every FBS program is better than Nebraska based on recent bowl accreditation.
• I expect future Big 12 balance, with a chance for a champion to remain unscathed.
• It’s happened so far for TCU and if Paul Finebaum doesn’t want to watch, lock him in his radio booth and trip the electricity.
• I like that Klieman wants the game against Kansas to remain at the end of the season.
• A 7 p.m. starting time, which is the case Saturday on Fox, also provides exposure to fans who attend high school state championship games.
• It’s feeble to reiterate that consideration should be given to a Friday-Saturday schedule for state high school championship games, preferably at fewer sites.
• But I just did, so there.
• Converting to such a spectacle would be more stunning than Miege admitting to an unfair advantage and dropping sports.
• Gotta admit my skepticism over any immediate impact Jerome Tang could make guiding K-State’s basketball team.
• Gotta admit I underestimated the former Baylor assistant.
• The Cats look real, though I know upcoming games against Butler and Wichita State will reveal more, as will the rugged Big 12 schedule.
• Tang connected incredibly with K-Staters, extracting toxicity with fresh juju after replacing a polarizing coach.
• A change was past due.
• Tang bonded with the team’s most impactful veteran, Markquis Nowell.
• The story of Keyontae Johnson is one of the most inspirational in all of college basketball.
• And the tenacity shown in claiming a rare in-season tournament title makes K-State look considerably better than a last-place pick in the Big 12.
• At Kansas, 3-point deadeye Gradey Dick looms as a national freshman of the year and at this pace, it might not be a close race.
• Meanwhile, the experience of Dajuan Harris and Jalen Wilson proves yet again how veterans prosper in Bill Self’s system.
• Check out the 2022 national championship trophy and banner for further proof.
• Does anyone even fret anymore when Patrick Mahomes gets the football inside the 2-minute mark needing to rally the Chiefs?
• Making something so dramatic look so ordinary puts Mahomes in a class of his own.
• Yet Super Bowl rings measure superiority and he has one with another all-time great, Travis Kelce.
• In a sense, the clock ticks as fast on career greatness as it does a 2-minute drill.
• As I count blessings this Thanksgiving, of which there are many, I am saddened and angered by all the random gun violence in America.
• Guns are a problem. So too is mental health. Those issues co-exist. And our families are all at risk.
