According to the source who received the image you see, Billy Butler apparently has gone with this just fantastic pose in order to attract at least one female. Considering the slugger is married, uh yeah, that ought to heat up the frying pan at home.

- Will Smith and Wade Davis happened.

- Getting outscored 19-3 in the last 18 innings against Cleveland happened.

- An onslaught of mental mistakes in the field happened.

- Well, wait, onslaught isn’t fair to Mike Moustakas, who let another double play ball go between his legs in the first inning of Smith’s beautiful disaster on Sunday.

- Moose, whose issues have been season-long, now has an MLB-leading five errors and a .906 fielding percentage.

- Good thing he has that .176 batting average to lean on.

- Of all scenarios cussed and discussed last winter, I don’t know that any involved either Moose or Eric Hosmer struggling to that level.

- That’s dentist-sneeze-in-your-open-mouth awful.

- Always awfully interesting to see just how polarizing the subject of homosexuality really is …

- … and always will be.

- Trying to rationalize and neatly fit human attraction into a religious container hasn’t worked in history …

- … and never will.

- I’m happy for NBA player Jason Collins in the sense that he can now stop hiding that he’s gay, but all I really took out of the resulting conversation is that the general art of civil disagreement is a lost one.

- Lost somewhere in the uproar over Chris Broussard’s religious stance was whether an accurate gauge could be established regarding the reaction to NFL players coming out, which we’ve been told is in the works.

- Does the sport matter?

- It reminds me of that old “Coach” episode — back in, like, 1991, where Craig T. Nelson finds out some of his meanest and best former players over the years turned out to be gay.

- That was 22 years ago.

- And this is all the farther the conversation has come?

- Two decades from now, will we be singing the praises of Tyler Bray and his run as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback?

- I would put the odds on that at about the same level as the Houston Texans one day celebrating Collin Klein’s career as a QB.

- His determination to make it work is beyond admirable, however, if Klein is serious about earning an NFL paycheck for any extended length of time, he needs to focus his efforts on a different position.

- The weird part to Monday’s QB announcement? It was reported over the weekend that Klein would be a tight end.

- Interesting.

- Here’s a bet: Come August, which side would you take between Wade Davis still being a starter or Collin Klein still on Houston’s roster as a QB?

A lot of fans wanted to be able to take away a sure-fire answer from the game in knowing who the first-team QB is going to be in 2013. While I understand it, I’ve never been one to believe the spring game is a place to really answer such things. Call it the Carson Coffman effect. That said, regarding what we saw out of Jake Waters and Daniel Sams — 32-of-46 (69.6%), 640 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT … sakes alive.

This is the kind of position battle fans can get behind.

As a friend (a decided Sams supporter) texted me after, Sams showed his passing ability should be more than adequate to justify his being selected to start. It’s hard to argue after watching Sams go 18-of-28 for 391 yards and 4 TDs (including a 38-yard wrist flick to Tyler Lockett, whose catch wound up being ESPN’s Top Play of the Day). I look at it this way: in a normal setting, Sams likely is a shoo-in. In other words, if he wasn’t competing with the top-rated JUCO quarterback who put up dumb numbers a year ago, the job would be Sams’ without question because the ability and apparent control is there.

But …

Waters, who started with the first team,* wasted no time showing he is fully capable. Not nearly the runner that Sams is (let’s call him “traditional”), Waters maneuvered effectively enough to stay clear of most trouble and deliver on-target BBs all over the field (short, middle, long, sideline and between the hashes) from the get-go. Frankly, the 14-of-18, 249-yard, 3 TD performance was just fun to watch.

*”Coach just said it was a coin toss on who got it. We’re not putting much stock into that at all. It was cool just to get out there and play with the guys.” – Jake Waters

For now anyways, I’m of the opinion that we’re going to see plenty of both guys next year — if for no other reason than we know Snyder likes to maximize tactical advantage, even play to play. If that means the other team can’t stop the pass at all, Waters likely gets the nod. If a defense likes to spread out more, then Sams will terrorize it with his ability to run. You just hope the coaches are willing to let a hot hand ride when/if the time comes.

On the whole, Saturday was fine in backing up my thought that because of a dominant returning offensive line (and eight returning starters overall), whichever route Bill Snyder decides to go, next year’s K-State offense resembles an old-school oil derrick — one with the ground trembling underneath and ready to pour forth an embarrassment of riches.

It may not always be a steady, maximum-efficiency pour, but big-play capability, which was lacking for the most part during Collin Klein’s tenure, should be off the chart. (Translation: Sorry about that, Chris Harper. Wish you  could have stayed one more year.)

Defensively, there wasn’t much to glean from Saturday. The white team (non-starters) offense simply didn’t have enough to offer in order to get a feel for how good or not good the starting defense (as it looks now) may wind up being a few months from now.

“It is obvious that our twos cannot play as well as our ones, and we had some problems with both,” Snyder said. “There were three or four schemes that created some issues both with our ones and our twos. However the ones only gave up the three-point field goal. That is not a bad day’s work no matter who you line up to play against.

“I am not thinking about statistics as much as I am where did we make mistakes in those three or four types of plays that the offense ran more than one time that were successful against us, whether it was the ones or the twos and that is a little bit of an issue.”

Elsewhere, the best quote from the game came from Snyder while discussing Jack Cantele’s nice 51-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to seal the game for the white team.

“He hit the 51-yarder, which he really has not done that, and to do it under that circumstance. The circumstance there was if you hit it the White is probably going to win the ballgame, and if you miss it then the Purple is probably going to tie it or win the ballgame.

“He hit it so there was a little bit of pressure there. I was pleased with him. I told him he could keep his scholarship.”

K-State begins the 2013 season four months from Tuesday, with a nationally televised home game on FOX Sports 1 against North Dakota State on Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

While suffering through ANOTHER day off for the Kansas City Royals — the fourth official off-day in the past 12 days…

- Much has been made about the ridiculously good starting pitching the Royals have produced through the first 17 games.

- It has been so good that, in addition to masking the fact that Kansas City’s lineup doesn’t have one WAR value above 1.0 (Lorenzo Cain), it is also, for now, even mostly blocking out the panic alarms coming from the corner infield spots.

- Ken Harvey falling over tarps is funny. What Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are (not) doing offensively isn’t.

- Eric Hosmer has exactly one extra-base hit (a double) in 52 plate appearances. Moustakas has an OPS+ value of 18 (!!!), which is only two points better than old-time Bill Bergen, who at least one list has positioned as maybe the worst player in the history of Major League Baseball.

- Neither Hosmer nor Moose look like they are ready to bust out. Chris Getz has more home runs (1) than those two plus Salvador Perez combined.

- And yet, the Royals (10-7) lead the American League Central after going 3-2 against Atlanta and Boston.

- Sort of feels like I’m watching that commercial with the dude in a boat, which has a sealed glass door as its bottom.

- The same feeling could apply to the Kansas City Chiefs and Brandon Albert.

- Where, exactly, did things start to unravel on the neatly woven plan to flip Albert in easy fashion to the Miami Dolphins?

- Oh right, the Dolphins don’t want to pay Albert his perceived worth, either.

- As far as this season goes, we’re told all the time that professionalism takes over when a guy hits the field or court; that he wouldn’t let personal feelings toward the organization affect his play.

- Such blanket statements seem dangerous.

- If I have Albert on a team he didn’t want to play for, perhaps at a position he’s not thrilled about, you’re darn right I don’t trust that.

- Alex Smith with happy feet doesn’t seem very appealing.

- Stephen F. Austin was appealing enough to former Kansas State assistant coach Brad Underwood, who is leaving Frank Martin’s staff at South Carolina to take the head job in Texas.

- It’s a good move for Underwood, who had expressed interest in several other head coaching jobs the past few years.

- I’ll have more about the upcoming K-State spring game later this week as we get closer to Saturday, but I’m curious whether the two K-State quarterbacks, Daniel Sams and Jake Waters, will have the same play-calling freedom we saw given to Carson Coffman and Collin Klein.

- I would love to see Waters throw… and throw… and throw…

- Whomever wins that job, the Wildcats offensive line has a chance to be one of the best in the entire country.

- That’s the sort of thing that could make an offensive-minded 73-year-old start the Wabash Cannonball.

Immediately: Rutgers had to fire its basketball coach. Had to. There isn’t an argument to be made in support of the damning display of behavior Rice exhibited on the now infamous tape shown first by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”

It doesn’t matter that he had been described as having “great passion for the game of basketball,” as Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon once said. Nobody now wants to hear that “Tim Pernetti and Rutgers University are to be applauded for the decision to hire Mike Rice,” as Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli was quoted as saying. ESPN’s Jay Bilas was “not at all surprised by Mike’s fast rise in the coaching profession.” “He’s a star,” Bilas said.

“I have known Mike for a long time,” CBS and ESPN analyst Bill Raftery said. “He’s competitive as heck, just like his dad. He’s all business during the game, and he understands what the kids need after the game and during the week.”

All of those comments came on May 6, 2010, inside Rutgers’ announcement that Rice had been hired. Today, though? Passionate? Puh-shaw. Because of that tape, a lot of folks who didn’t know who he was before the week started believe Mike Rice is a pariah, a poster child for competitive sports crazy.

Folks, I hate to tell you, chances are pretty damn good the 44-year-old coach didn’t pick up a few new terrible motivation tricks in less than the past two years. And, the people who commented on him upon his hire have known him a long time. Problem is, you weren’t privy to him or his antics, and that’s the issue: While it weighed in and ultimately pressured Pernetti and Rutgers to fire Rice, the court of public opinion used its own law code to decide a case based in a covered-up, ultra-competitive sports world it sees little of and understands even less.

The result of this, again, is a confused shouting match between groups over what is and what shouldn’t be acceptable.

********

Step into this world, where performance really is everything.

You have to have a chance to perform to get a future. You have to have minutes to get that chance. You have to practice well to get those minutes. And sometimes, you have to deal with some stuff — pretty hairy stuff at times — to even get a chance to be more than a defensive practice dummy and get real practice minutes. The best part? None of it is your call. Coaches know this, and even the good ones hold minutes over players’ heads. Keeps them hungry. Keeps them motivated. That starting role? You’re damn right it matters. It’s a mindset that starts all the way back in elementary school.

Clear as day, I still remember the early 1990s with Roy Williams telling us KU basketball campers that if we were serious about wanting to play, then we had to give up things in life because every minute we weren’t practicing, somebody else was. I would bet good money nearly every coach in history has said something to that effect. And, what coach hasn’t resorted to stating:

“We’re going to find out who wants it most, who is willing to fight for it.”

That’s what coaches love to say and fans love to hear. That’s passion. That’s spirit and grit. That’s toughness.

Another example, South Carolina coach Frank Martin, at Kansas State in 2010, made the gathered media chuckle, K-State fans laugh and other fans dream of him as their coach with a post game quote after being asked if his team would be ready for practice following a win against No. 1 Texas.

“If they’re not …,” Martin said, “I will destroy them.”

Nobody, including likely many who have yelled loudest about Rice’s mistreatment of his players, apparently ever stops to think what that might actually entail. On this specific front, there are no specifics, only a reference point, but Wally Judge, who transferred from Kansas State and Martin to Rutgers and Rice, said KSU’s practices were harder, and that Rice’s language wasn’t inappropriate. (Ed. note: Among several players, Judge has since expanded on his defense of Rice, calling him a “players’ coach” and “almost like a big brother”.)

Really.

In normal, everyday light, there was plenty wrong with what Rice said, of course. In a gym, however, it rolls off a back and is gone. Yes, it’s that easy, even for a player like Judge, someone I talked to numerous times, who was more likely to take things personally more than some. (That’s not calling him weak. It is saying his personality was one that simply took things to heart more often than other people I’ve met.) He was in those Rutgers practices. I watched the tape. We had the same reaction for the most part.*

*The only part of the tape that didn’t make me laugh some (just as players laugh at a coach dumb enough to throw basketballs, which I’ve experienced personally) was where he fully crossed every line I could imagine in repeatedly hitting a dude with a blocking pad and kicking another. Rice is a nut job. Those acts are worthy of firing, and his supposed contrite post-firing press conference was a joke. A lion is never apologetic for a kill.

For the public, that tape is (the latest) culture shock. It’s the rough part of town. It’s the seedy side of the tracks. It’s Colonel Jessup’s front line that everybody appreciates and never wants to talk about. Even Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim ran from it on Thursday, saying he could only watch 10 seconds. Boeheim also has said he doesn’t believe another coach in the country throws balls at players.

If you believe him, I can’t help you.

Despite public posturing by slickster coaches, blood, sweat and tears aren’t a T-shirt or advertising cliché here, kids; it’s reality, and those fluids don’t always come in alphabetical order.

********

The social media bravado I’ve read is laughable.

NBA players, established stars comfortable in their own skin and bank accounts, have said they wouldn’t put up with it. I get that. There might even be something honorable in Ray Allen‘s and LeBron James‘ comments — standing up for others and all of that — but that’s the top 1 percent, the piece of life that gets to call its own shots. (Others in that James link included Bilas, who loved the Rice hire, remember.) They weren’t saying these things when they were younger.

As for some high school kids I’ve seen say they would never take that from a coach, they may not have to worry about it since conversations are on the rise where potential scholarship offers are disappearing because of what a kid posts on Twitter or Facebook.  Like it or not, kids, you have to realize that you’re being judged on more than your talent. At times, you’re being watched to see if you “fit the mold” i.e. keep things in house. It’s a special club you’re about to be a part of, one that likes its exclusivity for various reasons. As you get older, you better learn how to play the game, or you won’t be around to play it. Period.

As for the general public, remember that your perspective might be right in spirit, but it doesn’t fit the competitive sports world. Before you get uppity about that, remember someone like Judge saying this stuff isn’t really all that big of deal. Keep in mind the countless times you’ve heard a player relate how a coach “has been hard on them” or “got on them” or “really pushed me” or “can be kind of intense at times.” And that they benefited from it. 

In other words, where the public outcry is bewildered and outraged at how a guy could “get away with” something like what Rice showed, there is no bewilderment and outrage among most players. Get riled up if you choose to, but it’s daily business in this world.

Judge other players who don’t talk back because there are ramifications to that decision. For some guys, it’s their last stop on the high-level D-I train; fail here and your NBA dreams might be over. For others, it’s a work environment that sucks, but you handle your own business and move on (not every player flocks back to their school after they leave …). For the young boys, you’re not at a place on that hierarchy to say a word because even if you don’t agree with the coach, the elders on a team who did adopt that mindset will crash on you, too. And, sometimes that’s way worse than the coach because it’s coming from your teammate/peer. Again, so you deal, and learn.

No, players’ only concern is minutes, and they will put up with just about anything as long as they feel they can get them. When they don’t feel that way anymore? Well, we know what that looks like, don’t we, Rio Adams? I mean, you think it was all roses in practice for Adams after he posted his comments about Bill Self pining for and playing his favorites?

“I talked to him about it,” Self said in February. “I’m disappointed he’d say anything negative. He will not be doing anything negative in the future, or he won’t be around.”

This past Tuesday, Adams announced that he’s transferring. He’s now part of an impressive, growing CBSsports.com list of over 100 names doing the same. (As of April 4, 26 were freshmen, 47 were sophomores looking for new places to play.)

“I’ve enjoyed every part of this year,” Adams said, in the school’s release, where Self said the transfer was for family reasons. “This was an experience that I will probably never be able to see again. I’m happy I was able to play with this team and be part of something great.”

Understanding that his words were approved and delivered by the KU Athletics Department machine, that doesn’t sound like a kid who was ready to leave. (Ed note: And now, a day later, Adams now wants to stay at KU.)

And as for Eric Murdock, the person who made the Rutgers tape public, ethically, he did the right thing (even if also sued the school for more than 13x his annual salary). For his “ethics”, he’ll likely never coach at a high level again.

Some lessons are hard ones.

********

What, dear public, do you think you’re cheering?

What did you think it means when a coach “tears someone down and rebuilds them“? Or when he “instills toughness“? It’s not a pill, and players don’t stand in front of a mirror repeating, “I am tough, gosh darn it!” What do you think these mean:

“I’m going to turn your son into a man.”

“He needed to grow up.”

“I’m going to prepare him for life.”

“Such-and-such coach is a fantastic motivator.”

That doesn’t mean positive reinforcement, and it sure as hell isn’t a glowing Richard Simmons smiling and encouraging fat ladies to sweat with the oldies. I’m sorry if you think it was.

For players and coaches both, sometimes it takes pushing to get something out of a guy who won’t respond. And, when sometimes millions of dollars are at stake, that push can be a shove. That “mental toughness” everybody covets, or say they do, often comes from those “closest” to you ripping you to shreds to see if you can still perform. That’s where that “trust factor” comes in for coaches. None of it is pleasant. But, it makes handling late-game situations or a tough road environment a piece of cake.

That said, I’ll say it again, I shake my head at those who think I’ve somehow condoned Rice’s actions by attempting to explain the environment basketball players (and all high-level athletes) live in.

Not true. Not even close.

Coaches who coach mostly through fear and intimidation are limited and unimaginative. Their jobs are to motivate effectively, and while those tactics may work up front, the effects of that one-trick pony wear off in short order. Players eventually tune it out, and while it might be them leaving in the short-term, it’s always the coach who eventually bites it — even if the move comes after a couple of playing careers were derailed. Unfortunate, but it happens.

Mike Rice’s actions are deplorable. They are also tolerated by the people directly affected by them. Had Murdock not turned in the video, we wouldn’t be having this discussion now because not a single word would have surfaced publicly. Guys complain in their circles, but not too loudly because they want to transfer without being marked as whiners.

It’s just easier to mark it up as a situation that didn’t work out and move on.

What I find most appalling are those who come across so staunchly opposed to the mistreatment that they’re willing to fight it from their couch, or desk, or camera, or microphone, or from Twitter and Facebook.

You want proof of how widespread and common this stuff is? Or, want to really control it? Spend time in gyms and help maintain the competitive landscape instead of waiting for a single roach to pop up on its own.

- I’m all about coaches moving up, but for Wichita State’s and the state of Kansas’ sake, I’m hoping Gregg Marshall loves it in Wichita as much as it’s rumored he does.

- If he stays and the Shockers continue to rise past this season, it will be fun to watch that brand build despite Kansas’ and Kansas State’s attempts to keep WSU separated by not playing them.

- Based on the days-long feedback and extended conversations in several places, you tell me if the Bruce Weber topic affects only a small portion of the fan base.

- Look, the point of the piece wasn’t to divide people for or against Weber. Instead, just…

- Enjoy success when it is in front of you.

- Or, if you’re a fan hellbent on being right (however  far down the road) more than celebrating your team’s achievements, at least save the wish for change for when it’s necessary.

- I can only imagine what things may look like a year from now should K-State notch another 20+ win season, make the tourney, and then finish off it’s own back-to-back version of Bucknell and Bradley.

- It might be a good idea, at that point, for Weber to ask Bill Self how he handled it.

- Do the Michigan Wolverines handle KU’s inside presence, or do the Jayhawks handle Michigan’s guards?

- Time to put that nation’s best .357 field goal percentage defense up against Michigan’s 7th-best .485 shooting.

- Opponents have made 228 three-pointers against KU this year… in 755 attempts.

- There’s something fun and lumberjack about a guy from Michigan named Mitch McGary.

- He has great energy, and he’ll need all of it to chop down the likes of Jeff Withey.

- Then again, it may not all fall on McGary if John Beilein employs a zone like Syracuse used to render Indiana utterly powerless.

- Two Hoosiers starters went scoreless in that game, and only five Indiana players scored in the team’s 50-point performance — its lowest output of the season.

- Of the 12 teams left in the NCAA Tournament, three (KU – 1, Syracuse – 3, Florida – 5) are in the nation’s top five in field goal percentage defense.

- There won’t be a defense for Ned Yost if the Kansas City Royals lose some early games due to the bullpen.

- Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, and Tim Collins were given without performance-based reason won jobs this spring over Louis Coleman, Donnie Joseph and Dan Wheeler.

- Chen: 6.48 ERA, 16.2 IP, 19 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 7 HR; Hochevar: 7.24 ERA, 13.2 IP, 16 H, 11 R, 11 ER; Collins: 12.91 ERA, 7.2 IP, 14 H, 11 R, 11 ER, with teams hitting .400 off of him.

- Coleman’s (1.46 ERA) Wheeler’s (1.50) and Joseph’s (1.80) combined line: 34.1 IP, 26 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 36 K.

- There is reason for optimism regarding this year’s club, but these decisions aren’t among them.

- Kind of wondering what the NFL’s decision is regarding Leon Sandcastle’s future in Kansas City.

- The mustached star held court in KC on Thursday, and while the whole scene looked and sounded harmless based on audio and video, it’s pretty apparent there’s not much of a plan at this point.

- Deion’s… erm… Leon’s voice is terribly miscast. The over-the-top egocentric answers are expected and sort of funny, but they lack substance even for a parody.

- What can’t Leon do? He can’t keep doing this.

- I enjoyed the character, but after yesterday, Leon should think about Leon’s retirement.

- Retiring before he played a down for the Chiefs?

- Now that would cement Leon’s legacy.

********

Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/

As for other tidbits:

NCAA ODDS

Vegas gives TWO teams a better than 50-percent chance to make the Final Four: Louisville and Florida.

As mentioned at the top, Kansas is the only remaining #1 seed NOT to be favored to win its region.

Based on current odds, there’s an exactly 50/50 chance that a No. 1 seed will win the Tournament.

Before the tournament started, you could bet $1 to win $1,000 on Florida Gulf Coast winning the South Region.

BRACKET HISTORY

Out of 224 Elite 8 teams in the modern era (since change to 64-team bracket in 1985), ONLY ONE has been seeded worse than #11 (meaning Florida Gulf Coast, Oregon, or La Salle wins would make history).

MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER ODDS

Russ Smith (Louisville): 6/1
Victor Oladipo (Indiana) 8/1
Cody Zeller (Indiana): 9/1
Peyton Siva (Louisville): 10/1
Seth Curry (Duke): 12/1
Trey Burke (Michigan): 14/1

UPDATED TITLE ODDS

Louisville: 3/1
Indiana: 4/1
Florida: 5/1
Ohio State: 8/1
Miami Fl: 9/1
Duke: 11/1
Kansas: 12/1
Michigan: 12/1
Michigan St: 15/1
Syracuse: 22/1
Arizona: 25/1
Wichita St: 35/1
Marquette: 40/1
Oregon: 60/1
La Salle: 75/1
Florida Gulf Coast: 100/1

********

Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/

It would be more fun to talk about unused timeouts and players’ mindsets, but nope, the current unfolding narrative has nothing to do with what happened on the court. Instead, we’re already back into the moronic he’s-not-good-enough-for-us quagmire.

Keep playing the nagging wife, some of you, and you’ll eventually chase him away. What do I mean by nag? Oh, that’s easy, since the arguments have been brought up almost daily since Bruce Weber was hired.

“He doesn’t bring home the (recruiting) bacon!”

Stop it, you instant-gratification wanting, everybody-should-have-a-Mike-Beasley-in-tow believing nut job.

Bruce Weber and his staff have been on the KSU path for less than one full year. March 31 is Weber’s one-year anniversary, and he’s already stated that he learned from his mistakes at Illinois, where he got caught up in recruiting based on boosters’ and fans’ opinions and demands rather than focusing on the types of kids suited for his coaching style and system. Continuing to hit up Texas hard is a great idea, as it has already landed Marcus Foster and Wesley Iwundu. And, maybe sticking to that “guys who fit” idea will lead to guys like Wichita State’s Ron Baker, the Scott City, KS, kid who wowed the nation this past weekend, helped the Shockers make the Sweet 16… and couldn’t get a sniff from the former K-State staff.

(If only Baker would have been from Florida, or the Northeast, or convinced his parents at one point to let Curtis Malone have a piece of his future…)

Additionally, know what you missed by not having highly regarded Robert Upshaw, the shining jewel of Frank Martin’s last KSU class, at KSU this year? You missed Fresno State’s one-time injured, two-time suspended seven-footer who shot .378 (37-of-98) from the field, .459 (17-of-37) from the free throw line, and averaged 4.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 22 games.

Of the myriad of guys who were run in and then run out of Manhattan, Upshaw’s freshman season would seem to be the kind that would have been ticketed out the fastest. For the “old staff” argument’s sake, say he was here, had turned in a similar year, and was gone. Under that scenario, your cast of potential bigs for next season: non-Chris Lowery’ed Thomas Gipson, Adrian Diaz and Laimonas Chatkevicius.

For those of you who abhor Weber’s supposedly awful past, what about that  1) seems even slightly competitive, and 2) wouldn’t have deserved the same job-on-the-line scrutiny for a coach heading into his seventh season?

“Yeah well, Bruce doesn’t satisfy me enough!”

I can totally see how 27 wins and a share of the program’s first conference title since Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were in office isn’t enough. Okay, no I can’t. Are you insane or just a UCLA-fan wannabe? The only point you have here is that three losses came to Kansas. I’ll grant you that, and it was disappointing to see just how much of a solid gap exists still between the two programs.

But… a lot of that gap was of the mismatch variety, agreed? And, those mismatches were based on the talent recruited by… oh? what’s that? not this staff? I’m sorry, I thought the last staff had recruited the daylights out of things, which meant it should have left at least enough talent for Weber — who has proven in the past to be capable of coaching up guys to the point of reaching a national title game — to make it interesting with KU.

Because that’s the rub, even among his detractors, right? That Weber can coach up a team, and did so this year by all accounts? Yet, even he wasn’t able to air out the KU brain fart left by all the gassed up hot air Martin used to blow in building up games against the Jayhawks (and in Allen Fieldhouse).

That stench is going to take time to clear, just like it’s going to take more time to fully break shrinking bad habits like Angel Rodriguez wanting to improvise on multiple possessions and try running jump passes in the lane instead of directing traffic.

Past that, talk all you want and apply all you want that it’s how Weber does moving forward. I can’t and won’t disagree, but I hope you realize you’re using the broadest of brushes to paint a specific coach since wins and losses are what the entire industry is based on. To do so isn’t groundbreaking, but the difference here is some K-State fans refuse to do anything but smash the brush against the canvas.

“Yeah well, my man is looking at other girls!”

Aside from some Internet trolls, there don’t seem to be any real reports linking Weber anywhere, and it’s here where the Weber-history phenomenon actually may have some legit play. He won 27 at K-State in his first season, and now I think the entire landscape might be holding its breath to see how the second year goes. If we get to this point next season, with Weber sitting on top of 50+ wins in two years, KSU easily could be his job to walk away from. If he does walk, then you may as well strike up the same sad Wildcat country song…

“Yeah well, he doesn’t love me anyways!” 

K-State, you’re famous for your insecurity. Every job that comes open, you seem to be the first to believe your coach is going to leave. Sadly, some of you hope it happens as you clutch tight to the can’t-seem-to-keep-anybody-here, “Dear Willie” letter. I mean, it’s comfortable knowing the next chip on your shoulder is always the next coach’s shoulder shrug away because coaches eventually leave anyways.

It’s time to grow up. You golf-clap for Bob Huggins, who straight up sexed away your soul and made you wear a Huggieville shirt to bed while doing it. Some still swear by this perceived upward path for Martin, who preached and demanded you be loyal just to bolt. And, they conditioned you to be okay with it.

That’s not fun, and I don’t blame anyone for needing time to recover from that back-to-back experience. But, they’re gone, and now Weber is being treated as the rebound because, well, because you can. And, like the situation in life, it’s unfair and unnecessary.

But hey, by all means, keep asking for Weber to hit up other jobs. Have fun trying to luck your way into another head coach with a national title game appearance and conference winning experience as you make your fifth head coaching hire in less than a decade.

What you’re asking for is the exact opposite of what you think you are after. You want a program and a system and long-term success you can rally around? Not asking for changes and not pretending a conference championship season didn’t happen is a good place to start.

Some of the game-by-game reactionary judgment this season — based on god-knows-what credentials because you haven’t seen good basketball in your uniforms in over 20 years — left me incredulous at times, all the way to the end, and while the season ended prematurely for my money, I’m just sort of glad it’s over.

Moving forward, as a team, K-State has plenty to keep itself busy this off-season in finding legit shooters and honest-to-goodness real basketball-playing big men for the future. Weber has plenty to look back on and realize mistakes he made, sometimes in the most crucial of moments. And, as a fan base, a portion of K-State’s faithful need to do some reality-based soul-searching.

And then, we’ll all come back and give it a go again next year.

********

Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/

Over the weekend, the Eagles convincingly handled one of the best teams the Big East had to offer, knocking off No. 2 seed Georgetown 78-68. Next, FGCU then ran away from No. 7 San Diego State, 81-71 to advance to the South Regional in North Texas.

Sophomore point guard Brett Comer has been a major key to the run, dishing out 24 assists to only five turnovers, in addition to averaging 11 points, in the two NCAA games.

While the nation is just now getting to know Comer and his teammates, Kansas City actually got a sneak peek at the guard several years ago. Though his official FGCU bio speaks only of his high school days in Orlando, Comer spent his freshman and sophomore years playing for Blue Valley Northwest and Ed Fritz.

The way Comer has diced up opposing defenses in this tournament, well, he’s been doing it for years if you consider a quote from Fritz in an article I wrote about the shaggy-headed phenom back in February of 2008. (Go to page 23 of the edition. Also, page 20 shows a very young Will Spradling in his pre-Kansas State days.)

“He has never missed an open man, ever,” Fritz said to me back then. “The guys know he will give them the ball, so they want to work that much harder to give it to him. He’s got great vision. He’s got great awareness on the court, and he’s got a great feel for the game. He’s got a great feel for his teammates.”

He doesn’t have nearly the amount of hair he did back then, and there’s nothing shaggy about how Comer and his teammates have burst into the nation’s basketball conscience.

********

Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/

Seriously, does anyone ever feel good about their sheet?

I just have to keep telling myself that it doesn’t matter if I wound up with three schools from the same conference because silly things like conference affiliations don’t matter come March.

Sigh… anyways, my Final Four: Michigan State v. Ohio State, Kansas v. Indiana.

Championship: Ohio State v. Kansas.

Champion: Ohio State. In a rematch from earlier this season in Columbus, the Buckeyes don’t again go 10+ minutes without a field goal in the second half, shoot .308 FG and .258 from 3 (8-of-31). Kansas doesn’t again hit .510 FG to overcome a deficit and win by eight.

********

Need more basketball action? Check out Watch Like A Champion and get all of your hoop updates, trivia, and tournament talk! Then enter to win a Samsung 60″ LED TV, Galaxy Note Tablet, Panasonic Cordless Phone System, and One Year of Free Service through the Cox Ultimate Entertainment Sweepstakes! http://shout.lt/gD9t/