What I Did on Thanksgiving Vacation

I drove up to Philadelphia on Friday the 23rd to meet some blog-buddies and take in the Philly Classic basketball tournament.

Read my ode to the Palestra and the good times at Storming the Floor.

And now, back to my super-Turkey sandwich. One of many to come.

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Kansas is 11-1: Hello, Waiting Game!

I’m man enough to admit that my team got handed an ass-whoopin’ by a superior opponent. And really, we should probably thank the Tigers (if we didn’t hate them so darn much), since they spared us the embarassment of being exposed on an even bigger stage – the Big 12 title game.

I will say that I felt Kansas played a decent game. The Jayhawks proved that they are a great team, and that they have earned their success this season. But Missouri was just better.

The most obvious disparity was also the most crucial. The Tigers won the game on the line. You can talk about Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, and Tony Temple, but the Mizzou offensive line was alternately making walls and blowing holes for those excellent skill position players – without time to make moves, none of them would have been as effective.

Conversely, when Kansas had the ball, Todd Reesing did not have time to get comfortable, and Brandon McAnderson didn’t have anywhere to go after he pounded into the center of the black and gold defense. So there’s your game, right there.

So Missouri rightfully plays Oklahoma for a chance at BCS immortality next weekend in San Antonio. And Kansas waits to see where they slot into the bowl picture after an amazing one-loss season. It is instructive to note that prior to this, Mark Mangino had produced only one other winning season as a head coach – a meager 6-5 (3-5) two years ago that earned his team a trip to the Fort Worth bowl.

This postseason assignment should be…. significantly better, to say the least. As should Mangino’s next contract.

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