To quote John Lennon
And So This Is Christmas;
And What Have We Done?
Another Year Over; A New One Just Begun;
And So Happy Christmas;
I Hope You Have Fun;
The Near And The Dear Ones;
The Old And The Young.
To quote us
- K-State lost. Baylor lost. KU got by with the slimmest of margins. Coming into the season did we all overrate the Big 12?
- What superlative would you use to describe Josh Selby?
- Thoughts on the Texas A&M-Arkansas fight.
- Who is the best athlete you have seen play in person?
- Do you believe in Santa?
1. K-State lost. Baylor lost. KU got by with the slimmest of margins. Coming into the season did we all overrate the Big 12?
Matt Patton: Maybe. Not ready to put the dagger in the conference only because I can't think of many teams that are consistently better (tons of parity nationally). I do think Kansas is being given a whole lot of credit for not-that-impressive wins. Because they're undefeated--and the rest of the top dogs have lost--people seem to be ready to hand the Jayhawks the trophy already. I'd disagree. I think conference play could end with any of Kansas, K-State, Baylor, Texas, or Mizzou winning the regular season. That's awesome. Not having a truly dominant team in the conference should make for an awesome regular season with a lot of surprises. Count me in.
Joe Loyd: I think we all overrated K-State but that is about it. It looks to me anyways that KU is on a path for a Final Four and even though they lost recently I can still see Baylor making another deep run in the tournament and Missouri and Texas A&M are both definite NCAA Tourney teams. With K-State sucking lately it maybe puts a damper on the Big 12 a little nationally but I still think it's the best basketball conference in the country.
Evan Pfaff: The last team to go undefeated was Indiana nearly 30 years ago, so we shouldn't hang our heads when teams lose. It's going to happen. I do feel that we overrated K-State and Colorado, but underrated Texas A&M and probably Texas.
2. What superlative would you use to describe Josh Selby?
MP: Most likely to play three quarters of a season in college basketball? Barring a lockout, is there any way he doesn't go pro? I mean really? That said, he's definitely not perfect. He needs to work on getting a little more integrated into the offense, and I'll be interested to see if he starts taking the ball to the rim more. I think he's a terrific playmaker with jaw-dropping athleticism. But he's still 19 and hasn't played at the top tier college level. There will be some adjusting.
JL: I'll be honest I don't know what I would use yet simply because I wasn't able to watch much of the USC game except highlights. Obviously though the kid knows how to make an entrance.
EP: Coolest kid on the block. And by ‘cool' I mean level headed and with ice in his veins. For a freshman to hoist and hit a shot under the circumstances he did is pretty remarkable.
3. Thoughts on the Texas A&M-Arkansas fight.
MP: A little overblown. I think tough, physical games always have tensions running a little high, and there's no doubt that A&M plays a physical game. Clearly it's news when the benches are cleared in a college basketball game, but I feel like the media made more of it than was necessary. I think the officials did what was necessary to keep things under control. Or maybe it was just bad Southwestern Conference blood boiling over...
JL: Once again it was one of those things where I only saw a tiny bit so I hate to comment too much on it. I saw the refs really calling everything close after it unfortunately. I guess if no one got hurt then it shows some emotion but never really like to see college kids in a fight.
EP: These are teams with history. They had a grudge match in football and now in hoops. You never want to see anything like we saw, but I like the passion. Just wish they could translate it more to energy during the game than off the court.
4. Who is the best athlete you have seen play in person?
MP: Tough one. I saw LeBron James play a summer league game the season before his rookie year. He wasn't spectacular in the game, but I'd guess he's by far the best pure athlete I've seen play. Others in the mix: Julius Peppers, Vince Carter, Tiger Woods and Derrick Rose. I think what impressed me most about James, Rose and Peppers is their ability to make it look like other players are standing still. That still blows me away (seriously, just watch a Derrick Rose highlight reel...he weaves in and out of defenses like the other players are cardboard cutouts).
JL: Yeah I agree tough question. I would probably have to say John Elway since he was, in my opinion, greatest QB of all time and he was such a good athlete he was drafted by Yankees and he is pretty good at golf. Just one of those guys who is good at whatever sport he tries.
EP: I saw Michael Jordan play in a preseason game in Columbus, OH before one of his early years. I was under 10 and I didn't know who he was and kept asking my dad why all the cameras were going off. I distinctly remember that a former Harlem Globetrotter was sitting next to us and knew who they were, so I was more impressed with a guy in the stands than the greatest basketball player of all time. But hopefully that counts.
5. Do you believe in Santa?
MP: Talk about a loaded question...I'm pleading the fifth.
JL: I use to believe in him awhile ago does that count?
EP: If I say no will I still get a "Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock"?
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