By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings at the mid-month:
The Big 12 needs editors even worse.
- I read its original tiebreaker rule to break a multiple tie for a Big 12 championship berth and could only scratch my head.
- But the rule was there, in-season, and permitted just about any team at the top of the conference race a shot to reach the championship game.
- Then came a November correction that makes mail-in ballot counters blush.
- Brett Yormark yelled “get me rewrite” and boom, a revision became law.
- Only Yormark still needed an editor. The correction was made this week, in season, and yet the Big 12 had the audacity to state it did not change any rules.
- Should teams advance first and foremost by head-to-head outcomes? Absolutely.
- I don’t disagree with the amendment. I just wonder why the Big 12 didn’t catch its error until mid-season and then lied by stating its tiebreaker rule did not change.
- Just come clean, state you made a correction, and acknowledge the Big 12 regrets the error.
- I understand the amendment didn’t favor K-State. But strange things can happen with two games left in a tight conference race.
- We’re seeing the oddities that exist with more league members, no divisions and no pods when attempting to decide championship game participants in football.
- Get used to it.
- I’m sure a move to the SEC makes Oklahoma and Texas confident that their new league will get things right in determining championship game participants.
- Just hope everyone representing each staff knows when to tune in and what TV channel to access because they’ll likely be watching from afar.
- All of us by now have tried to imagine getting run out of a job and receiving a windfall like Texas A&M paid Jimbo Fisher.
- What would we do with the money?
- As a great recruiter, think of the opportunity presented to Fisher if he not only contributed to charity but actively stumped for a worthwhile cause.
- Such a response from Fisher could prompt a pleasant edit to his reputation.
- Time to shuck sunflowers again and I, for one, am excited to see two good teams guided by two good coaches clashing Saturday in Lawrence.
- Much is made about whatever is keeping Jalon Daniels from wearing pads, but KU has abundant firepower anyway.
- After a lackluster performance against Texas Tech, the Jayhawks will be eager to show off their talents.
- And do so against a K-State team that is susceptible to trick plays and special teams lapses.
- Hmm, think KU staff member Sean Snyder (Dear editor: this is correct) has noted a few of those issues?
- Key injuries on defense (linebacker Daniel Green was K-State’s best defender) could hurt the Cats.
- But Will Howard has been special. Enough for me to admit that I goofed by predicting Avery Johnson would become the starting QB.
- For K-State to win, it may need to execute a decisive play in the fourth quarter. That proved elusive at Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas.
- Still, I’ll pick the Cats to extend their series string to 15 with a narrow victory. They win because of a smart, physical offensive line.
- Might take the Jayhawks on the moneyline, though, since I’m not the best picker. How’s that for overcorrecting?
- Is it me or have complaints about officiating escalated with the legalization of gambling apps?
- Of course, social media provides a greater platform for all the theorists.
- My greatest hope is that football goes back to selecting referees (white hats) based on the comprehension of rules rather than the circumference of biceps.
- My primary take on college basketball before Thanksgiving is that Hunter Dickinson is really good.
- Radical thought, right?
- Bill Self projecting a veteran transfer as the most offensively skilled big he has coached is enough for me to buy in on the Jayhawks’ chances in March. And April.
- But basketball is played over a long season. No one chisels stone inscriptions in November.
- We do fatten up, however. I realize this each Thanksgiving when I’m charged with manufacturing the union of Cheese Whiz and celery, then wonder why anything green needs to be doctored.
- What a Friday night this promises to be for high school football in our area.
- Two undefeated city teams are hosting semifinal games (sub-state), Washburn Rural in 6A and Hayden in 3A.
- Scores of area teams also remain alive.
- An intriguing matchup to me finds another Topeka school, Cair Paravel Latin, traveling to the Osage County seat for an Eight Man Division I clash.
- Lyndon is among those that startle me when I read it is playing eight-man ball. And Cair Paravel? It spent years outside the KSHSAA playoff system but is now competing for championships.
- Someday I must head to Newton for the two eight-man title games.
- Would be nice to see two championship games staged at the same site, and consequently, played at different times.
- Anyone home, KSHSAA?
