By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
• Isiah Pacheco. Hand it. Pitch it. Screen it. Wheel it. Kansas City, please. Try any of those options inside the 10-yard line.
• Do it for four downs if you must. In compacted goal-to-go space, coupled with wideouts limited by separation anxiety, Pacheco is your dude.
• Everyone marvels at how hard he runs. He could walk in spike-less golf shoes and still make greenskeepers shutter.
• No trickery needed near the goal line, Andy, except for a dash of misdirection. Pacheco should find the end zone.
• Please, try that. Rob Harrison Butker from becoming Super Bowl MVP.
• Remember when red zone confidence seemed limitless?
• The Chiefs would ring around their rosy huddle.
• Or, steal Rose Bowl relics coach Reid unearthed from grainy film reels.
• Compare that to today when they seem content to find a good angle for Butker to chip from.
• Even Travis Kelce sputters and backfires like a junkyard Maauto.
• Wait a second. Super Bowl? Yes, I raise that possibility, largely because of the impressive work of a young KC defense.
• Is George Karlaftis coming into his own? Is L’Jarius Sneed sufficiently miffed over being overlooked for honors? Is Chris Jones capable of thwarting opponents with his menacing presence?
• If so, Steve Spagnuolo’s schemes could be the solution to the Chiefs’ scoring issues.
• Or, the de-icer for Andy Reid’s mustache.
• Granted, it’s one thing to maul the frozen fish of Miami into submission.
• It’s another thing to stiffen defensively throughout the postseason.
• However, I think most of us would take Patrick Mahomes over the remainder of the many talented AFC quarterbacks.
• Did you like how NBC trumpeted its Peacock viewership as the ultimate streaming extravaganza?
• Felt like a grocery chain boasting about money raked in from rising inflation.
• Americans have a choice whether to stream content. Also, TV executives know Americans choose NFL coverage over any other content.
• Admit it. The $6.95 was worth it compared to sitting in the polar vortex we call Arrowhead.
• I better speak for myself. Somehow, I can access the Kansas City locals. I watched the game on the NBC affiliate.
• Show of hands from those excited about a 12-team playoff next year in major-college football. Thought so.
• Especially when KU and K-State could contend for the Big 12 championship.
• I predict the league’s balance, coupled with the anticipated bias for SEC and Big Ten participants, will limit the Big 12 to one qualifier.
• Already loving the hype for Avery Johnson and Jalon Daniels.
• K-State needs to upgrade its wideouts and overhaul its offensive line.
• KU needs to strengthen its defense while leaning on sticky cornerback Cobee Bryant.
• Can any basketball coach command more attention to detail than Bill Self after a rotten defeat?
• The Jayhawks’ loss at Central Florida stunned everyone, but they came back to throttle much-improved Oklahoma.
• If turnovers are a cardinal sin, then the Jayhawks fired an outlet pass from the confessional against OU.
• Two turnovers? Really? Pretty convincing stuff after committing 18 against both TCU and UCF.
• Yes, road games in the Big 12 remain treacherous, and KU has something to prove.
• Upcoming trips to Oklahoma State and West Virginia represent two of the easiest road opportunities in the Big 12.
• KU responds best when riding the strengths of Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar.
• The key wild card remains Dajuan Harris, coming off an 8-to-0 assist-to turnover ratio against OU.
• Kinda funny to hear hoops announcers grow sentimental about OU as it makes its final tour of the Big 12 with lineage to the Big Six, Seven and Eight.
• We’ve heard it all before, of course, from previous turncoats.
• With OU, no one is going to schedule the Sooners in football after they claimed 14 Big 12 titles. Basketball? Hey, we just might have an opening.
• A win at Texas Tech would have been a fine feather for K-State. As it was, the loss stunk.
• The Cats wasted a 20-0 run that gave them an 11-point halftime margin, then dribbled away a chance to win at the buzzer.
• Sorry, but can’t help but think about Nae’Qwan Tomlin, especially after watching him and the red-hot Memphis Tigers steamroll Wichita State on 65 percent shooting.
• My local sports highlights from 2023?
• Keeping tabs on former Topeka athletes contributing impressively at all levels of college sports.
• Seeing Rick Peterson, the comprehensive chronicler of rising stars, get inducted into the Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame.
• And finally, wishing, hoping and praying for Gary Woodland’s recovery from brain surgery.
• To see that play out in Gary’s PGA Tour return last week in Hawaii while hearing him acknowledge his hopes and fears was equal parts sobering, amazing and inspiring.
• Especially when Gary brought it home and again reminisced about being introduced on the first tee as our pro from Topeka, Kansas.
• He admitted the moment kinda twist-tied his emotions. Same for us, G-Dub. Same for us.
