A Monday Musings Blog-Ultimate Prizes

It is a rare time these days when I decide to blog. Analytics have clearly indicated that the audience would rather listen to a podcast, but occasionally I just feel the urge, or take advantage of a little window. That is the case on this Monday, as “Danny and Stan’s Football Weekend” waits for the CFP National Championship game tonight to wrap up all things football, including another Bills VS Chiefs epic late Sunday.
Also, the college basketball season is heating up, and we are in the short span when the Monday podcast still is football oriented, so working in a little hoops is fun as well. The Sunflower Showdown was a little saltier than expected, but it certainly was the Saturday hors d'oeuvre just prior to the Chiefs and Texans. In strange scheduling to say the least, surprising Missouri took to the court against John Calipari and Arkansas at the same time.
Noontime on a Saturday turned out to be a good time for the Sunflower Showdown, a perfect pre-Chiefs window. This one smelled like a rout going in and started out just that way. KU 14-0 out of the box against a moribund ‘Cats team with a fan base ready to cover their eyes and move on to football. But Jerome Tang’s squad at least put up a fight. They never REALLY put a scare into KU, but they came close, cutting the once sixteen point lead to six on a couple of occasions late.
Kansas was coming off a loss to Iowa State, in which Hunter Dickinson had one of his worst games as a Jayhawk, but was on point (which has far more often been the story for him at KU) with a 25, 8, and 3 outing, just missing a double-double, of which he has ten this season. This has been lost by a goodly portion of the Jayhawk fan base, who have somehow been disgruntled with his play. One of the players who should have been drawing the shade, AJ Storr, was a solid contributor with seven points including a three pointer. There has been plenty of love for Zeye Mayo, and he had another nice outing with 24 points, many in the first half when Kansas opened up the lead that woukd prove to be enough.
K-State was better in this game, but it was their fifth straight loss and has more the feel of a passing moral vistory that the start of better times. The ‘Cats shoot too many threes for a team that isn’t great at it, missing their first twelve in this game, and Tang can’t seen to figure out who he wants to play much aside from Coleman Hawkins, who was solid as usual in this outing. David N’Guessan would seem to be an obvious addition to this list and he had thirteen points and five rebounds, but for some reason only played twenty minutes despite no foul trouble. There are precious few easy nights in the Big 12, and it would seem victories might well be a rarity for the ‘Cats, and that will make it back to back rugged years with an expensive coach on your hands.
With the bounceback from their only league loss at Iowa State in the rear view, and with the Cyclones and Arizona falling on Saturday, Kansas trails only Houston in the league race. Kansas showed both sides of themselves against Kansas State, a high-octane and energized early version, and the more limited version in parts as well. Kansas is not the most athletic team, anf they have to be “turned up” to be at their best. They might not need it midweek at TCU, but them Houston comes to town Saturday, and that will be a mid-league schedule defining moment.
The revelation Saturday was Missouri. Playing in obscurity right smack in the middle of the Chiefs game, they put it on Arkansas, and they have opened some eyes, certainly mine. Dennis Gates’ Tigers beat a slew lesser lights after dropping their opener to Memphis until their matchup with Kansas, where they began upping the ante by running Kansas off their home court. But a loss to Illinois and a rout at Auburn had me thinking that the Tigers were improved certainly from last season’s dumpster fire, but a pretty average team who would have trouble navigating the brutal SEC to try and be a bubble team.
Not so fast my friend, instead the Tigers have ripped off four impressive wins in a row including a couple against ranked teams. Capped by Saturday, when they put up fifty in the first half for the second game in a row. Sometimes, it’s kind of hard to put your finger on how. At their best, they have balance, they drive it with fury, they get to the free throw line, and they are active on defense. To me it feels like they still shoot too many three pointers, but it’s quite hard to argue with 38 percent. They definitely dribble the ball too much at times, but for the time being the results trump anything I’m observing. And who among us isn’t giggling at John Calipari enduring a winless start for the Hogs in SEC play after he feld Kentucky.
Of course, Mizzou has to keep proving it. Their next five games are at Texas tomorrow night and then four straight against ranked teams. We might be spinning a different yarn after that, but confidence is a great thing, and in Mizzou’s case right now it is anything but false bravado. They’re not quite in the penthouse right now, but they are miles from the outhouse they resided in in last years winless conference season disaster. It a Royalesque turnaround and worth a big Tiger smile.
It should be a bang up football feast podcast tomorow with Stan Weber. I always feel like I learn something when I am finished with that. We have a sizzling divisional round to unpack. The Chiefs pretty much kept to their 2024 script in grinding past the Texans. They looked overmatched at times, but never at the biggest moments. The defense was run over in two drives around the half, but then stepped way up for the remainder of the game. The offense was blah for much fo the time outside of a vintage turn by Travis Kelce, but also produced the magic moments like Patrick Mahomes belly flop TD pass.
It will be the seventh straight AFC Championship game, an absurd run, and it wll be the Bills again. The Bills Mafia may have to seek therapy if once again they are stopped short of the Super Bowl. Buffalo looks to be playing better football right now, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to pick against the Chiefs. They haven’t passed the eye test many times this year, but as they say on golf, they don’t paint pictures in the scorecard, or in this case the scoreboard.
The Bills of course advanced by edging the Ravens, who were the exact opposite of the Chiefs. They looked the better team much of the day, except in the biggest moments. Two of the biggest were poor Mark Andrews, the talented tight end who hadn’t fumbled in five years before he did in the 4th quarter, and then dropped the easiest of two-point conversion passes that would have tied the game and sent it to overtime. I wanted the Bills to win the game but I buried my head in my hands when Andrews failed. It’s a moment that will haunt him forever, especially if the Ravens don’t evntually bag the ultimate prize. Anyone with a shred of compassion should have felt for him.
And college football’s ultimate prize will also be on our menu tomorrow after Notre Dame and Ohio State battle tonight. I think this might be the only time in my entire life that I will be rooting for the Fighting Irish in football. Not with much gusto, more in the hope that we see a good football game to conclude what was a great college season.
Well, there ya go. Writing is always fun for me, I hope reading was for you. Back to talking tomorow, which I guess I do better. Maybe. See you then!