K-State (this time for real)

Last time I did not really talk about K-State, even though the title was K-State. oooooooooooooopsieeeeeee?

So yeah, anyways.

K-State had a really good year last year. They went 27-8 and won a share of the Big 12 title.

But this year looked like more of a down year by comparison. The Wildcats lost to Northern Colorado in the season opener. Yeah, that Northern Colorado- oh wait, you haven't heard of them? Neither had I before this year. They then went on to beat two little teams- Oral Roberts and Long Beach State. Next they lost to Charlotte, yeah that Char- wait did I already use that joke? Then they got destroyed by Georgetown- yeah that Georgetown (this time it's not a joke.) because of those losses, they had to play Long Beach State again, but this time the Cats defense was on lockdown and only allowed 38 points in the whole game. The next game was against Central Arkansas, and it was an uneventful win (they are not really that great). The Wildcats faced Ole miss in the next game. The game was part of an SEC/Big 12 challenge that had all the teams in the Big 12 face off against 10 SEC teams, just to see which conference was better and to generate interest in the games. I did not think we (the Wildcats) stood much of a chance in this game because they were undefeated and we were ---- less--- undefeated. But the Cats put on a good showing and upset them Rebels and at the same time restored my hope in K-State Basketball. The Wildcats then played South Dakota and Troy and beat them with a newly- improved defense. The Cats then faced a really big test against #21 Gonzaga. It was a game that we were never supposed to win, but we did. We held a team that averages over 77 points to only 62 and beat them by ten points. K-State then had to face two more teams before they began conference play. To be frank, they cruised to two good victories against Tulane and George Washington.

Next week I will (possibly) conclude the epic saga of K-State Basketball. Or you could just look up how it happened..... FINE, whatever do what you want.

K-State

K-State is kinda cool I guess. They won three Big 12 Championships last year, but they are only on track to repeat in one sport. We all know how the football season went down, 7-5. Actually I do not think that I ever mentioned that they beat Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl- so yay! They are virtually eliminated from the Big 12 race in basketball- you know- unless KU decides to lose three in a row and Texas and Oklahoma do the same thing AND K-State wins out. In baseball (which I basically know nothing about) K-State is expected to repeat and is currently ranked in the top 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Back to basketball.

There is a different system in basketball compared to the football system. In football, K-State played three out-of-conference games in football, one against a Division 1AA school. In basketball, they played 13 out-of-conference games, all of them against division one teams (all teams in division one are united- making the total number of teams 351). K-State faces every team in the Big 12 every year in football, and also in basketball- twice. K-State will play 31 regular season games in basketball though they only played 12 in football.

In football, there are 35 (soon to be 39) bowl games that feature 70 teams. In basketball, there are two tournaments, one is the real one that features 68 teams and the other is the NIT which is basically the official "You tried!" tournament. In basketball, there is a very complicated way that the teams in the tournament are decided. A bunch of people have to pick from all the teams in the nation- except for the automatic 32 conference champions from all the different conferences who get automatic bids- to determine the best possible tournament lineup. They also have to seed the teams to make sure that bad teams are eliminated quickly and good teams to not have to face each other too early in the tournament.

The process of selecting teams is so complicated that the committee uses outside sources such as the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) and the BPI (Basketball Power Index) to help them decide who to include in the tournament.

Right now K-State is in a good place as far as RPI at 35 and BPI at 44. K-State is also on the verge of being ranked in the top 25 in the AP and USA Today Polls. So Kansas State is virtually a lock for the tournament unless the sky falls.

Some things need to be established- #1 -like in football- the Big 12 is the best conference, Except it is actually true in basketball. #2 The Big 10 is the SEC of basketball- totally overrated. #3 remember that Wichita State is the official bandwagon team in the state of Kansas right now and it is highly advised that you cheer them on.

So now you know a little about how to play the game AND how to cheer for it. A+ for you

backsketball

There is a third thing that I like to do in mah spare time, basketball. Basketball is very different from football. Actually, they are two completely different games. In basketball, you try to make a 29.5 inch (circumference) ball go into a basket that is ten feet off the ground; that is absolutely the only way to score. Although there is only one way to score, there are many different point amounts given per make. The average shot (called a field goal) will get two points if it goes in. A shot made from beyond the three-point line is surprisingly worth three points. When a player is fouled while shooting (I will get to that later) they can go to the free-throw line and shoot free shots that are worth one point if they go in.

When a player has the ball, he is only allowed to move one of his' feet while holding the ball. The only legal way to move with the ball is to dribble it with only one hand. Once a player has dribbled at least once, if he touches the ball with both hands and dribbles again, it is a double dribble and the ball is turned over to the other team. If a player's hand moves under the ball while he is dribbling it is called a carry and the ball is turned over. If a player steps with both feet while holding the ball, it is called a travel and it is also a turnover.

If a defender hits the arm or body of the ball handler or trips him, it is a foul. A player is ejected from the game if he commits five fouls. You can also get a foul by swearing at the refs, fans, or players, or by being unnecessarily rough.

I actually don't know that much about basketball, but the sport really interests me, especially when you realize that the football season is over and fishing doesn't start for months so I am just in limbo for a little bit.

So maybe I will know a little bit about what I talk about for the next few weeks- or maybe not. Here is to hope.

Return of the Cool Guy (aka The Epic of the Cool Guy aka the best post ever)

It was a dark time in the history of a certain blog- that used to be posted every week. For now the blog had lain desolate for over a month. Its many followers descended into panic and roamed the streets looking for another provider of such expert analysis and horrendous predictions. But alas the commoners slowly lost hope for the return of their great leader- The Cool Guy. His memory faded in the hearts of his' followers until he morphed in their minds from leader-to history- to folklore- to legend- to myth- to some guy named Chuck Norris- then back to legend- then nothing. The peoples of Middle-Kansas had forgotten their blogger.

But suddenly, a small ray of light appeared on the horizon. The people started to realize what was coming. Their hope was rekindled, their former lives were coming back to them. They saw that it must certainly be the blogger of old. The said light grew larger and larger until it became apparent that it was just the sunrise. Then they were all like "oh....ok", But under the sunrise was the aforementioned guy that everyone was looking for. They all said "cool he's back"- even the babies said it. Then he awkwardly went over to the computer and typed a stupid blog post on how he would "Start posting more things","Stop making such bad predictions" and "Do some basketball things or stuff". The strong spirited of the congregation found it hard to contain their emotions and were quoted as saying such things as "Glad he came back" and "It's about time", but the weaker people could be found weeping seconds upon seconds later and uttering such statements as "Hope he posts about how awesome he is" and "why did he take so long to come back, he is so lazy"(that last part is not important).

Yes the Cool Guy himself had returned and promised more mediocre content and lackluster posts on his newly rejuvenated (spelled that right on my first try) sports blog.

A majestic and rare image of the COOL GUY in his natural habitat.