By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
• Just cut the crap.
• That’s what all of us have been saying about the Chiefs receivers.
• Yet the crap escalated with a Patrick Mahomes flare-up after the Chiefs’ loss to the Bills.
• Kadarius Toney, looking and thinking like a kid wanting to gain an edge in the school sack race, didn’t bother to check the scrimmage line.
• The refs threw a flag wiping out Toney’s TD off a dazzling backward pass from Travis Kelce. Yet suddenly, the refs were wrong.
• We all know the refs were right. Warning. No warning. Glance to the side judge. No glance. Whatever. Toney lined up offside.
• Stop with excuses. The Chiefs lack discipline. They lack firepower. They lack hands. They lack their previous play-caller. They lack their previous mystique.
• They are mortal, and in this case, mortal means they’re mired among a pack of AFC teams looking to reach the Super Bowl.
• So, cut the crap. If the Chiefs really must “clean up” things, to use a worn expression from Andy Reid, do it.
• Take accountability. You’ve spent too much time wasting the talents of a surprisingly stout defense, a generational quarterback and a gifted, but Swiftly aging, tight end.
• As presumptive favorites in their last four games, the Chiefs can go on a run and salvage their season with a hot streak.
• But their minds better be on how to go about it.
• Broken record for this space but when high schools struggle to find those to officiate events, the problem will affect every level of every sport.
• By all means, however, go ahead, rant incessantly about officiating on social media. That should improve things.
• One request, though: go ahead and rip Doug Sirmons all you want. I’m in full agreement.
• News that came down the same week as K-State’s university president seemingly became content to torch his athletic department, made me think about the Cats’ future in Division I.
• The NCAA president, faced with mounting legal pressure, agreed to open the gates for pay-to-play at the highest levels of college athletics.
• I got to wondering how the Wildcats would generate the stockpiles of cash needed to compete favorably.
• Then, boom, the sordid mess that eventually saw Nae’Qwan Tomlin graduate from K-State and dismissed from its basketball program, played out.
• Where is K-State athletics headed? I asked that question with all this in play:
• A football team ranked in the CFP poll, a men’s basketball team coached by a humanitarian with Elite Eight credentials in his first year, and a women’s basketball team with a prolific scorer in Ayoka Lee.
• Yet now, it’s easy to forget all that while thinking about Richard Linton, and his failures in PR.
• Did the K-State president drive a wrench between the university administration and athletic leadership?
• Does K-State really have to keep Linton around to learn that answer?
• Rare that the status of one player in athletics receives such attention from a university president. Gene Taylor is a superb AD. Trust him to handle athletic matters.
• Enrollment and endowment are chief concerns for a university president. Linton’s maneuverings did nothing to assist those efforts.
• Is there anything more scintillating than a construction cam like KU established for its stadium renovation?
• Many will tune in, I’m sure. It could be worse. Someone could lock you in a room and force you to watch Chargers games on a loop.
• Credit chancellor Douglas Girod for helping get things done for KU athletics while not tying himself to a wrecking ball.
• Can’t wait for some new matchups the expanded Big 12 creates for basketball, especially with Kansas, Houston, Baylor and Oklahoma among the top 11 in the current AP poll.
• As always, I’ll pick KU to win the league crown and dare another team to prove me wrong.
• Good to see Tex Winter in the Chicago Bulls’ inaugural ring of honor class. What, exactly, were the Bulls waiting on?
• Bowl games once featured strong matchups. Now, many outside of the CFP offer sneak peeks into next season.
• Not that there won’t be some interest in seeing Avery Johnson step into his starting role as K-State’s quarterback.
• Or, see who must step up after several Cats had one eye on the snow and another eye on the transfer portal in the Iowa State defeat.
• Credit Lance Leipold for retaining so many players at KU, though in this age of the portal, is that a blessing or a curse?
• Time to ho in triplet, tug my beard, nibble on Chex mix, and refuse any egg nog.
• May your Christmas be joyous and your New Year be fruitful.
