Tag Archives: Iowa State

College, Football, Kansas State

Kansas State Wildcats 2009 Year End Review

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willie the wildcat

Seeing as I graduated from K-State, I figured I would cover them just a little more than the rest of the area teams in Kansas City. If any other fans/alumni of schools around the area want to write for this site, please drop us a line.  That said, everyone predicted that K-State would drop as well this year.  What was expected to be a major blow off year turned into a massive surprise.  K-State fans should be more than happy with what turned out this year in Wildcat football.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was damn close.

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College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Back and Ready to Go Bowling

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bowling2009

After a well deserved week off, we are back to bringing you some tasty college football.  Alot happened during our mini hiatus so we are playing catch up with the Crib Sheet.  We have alot to get to here with the start of bowl season this weekend.  Tune in soon for a couple of year end reviews, bowl picks, and some bowlspots.  Until then, here’s a very chunky Crib Sheet:

  • Alabama took the high road when it announced that they will cancel classes for the BCS National Championship.  That’s nice for football fans, but the last time I remembered there are people who actually don’t like football AND go to college.  It seems kinda chintzy to lob off classes for everyone during the bowl game.  Then again, this is South and it is football.
  • Congress will crack the whip on the BCS soon and vote on a bill to ban promotion of the NCAA division I football series unless they get a playoff.  The argument against it is that they have better things to do (health care bill, anyone).  The argument for it is that the NCAA is a business and they should treat the conferences like companies in an industry.  Problem with that one is that then the argument will come up that the students should get paid then (on top of free college).  The slippery slope just got some juice.
  • Charlie Strong is you new Lousiville head coach.  This guy was rumored for the Kansas job, but right now the hot note is Buffalo’s Turner Gill.  Anywho, back to Strong.  This guy was co-defensive coordinator for Florida and looks to be a real good hire.  Good luck to Cardinals.
  • Tennessee confirms that there is an investigation into their Orange Pride group and possible recruiting violations.  Basically, the Orange Pride comprises mostly of very attractive Volunteer females that drive around and persuade recruits to join the program.  They would even friend them on Facebook.  Did they break any rules?  Who knows?  This has been going on for a long time, however.  The power of gender persuasion is a might force, my friends.
  • Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh hired his dad Jack to be interim running backs coach for the Sun Bowl.  It’s nice to see that the Harbaughs like to keep in the family.  His dad won some titles in Division II and his brother John just happens to the head coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
  • Notre Dame took the plunge and finally hired a head coach.  His name?  Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly.   It’s a good fit for the Domers.  They guy won the Big East the last two years and has won at least 10 games the last three.  Let’s hope the boosters expectations aren’t too high this time around, otherwise we’ll be seeing this dance again in three years.
  • Mack Brown from Texas is getting an extra $2 million per year on the rest of his contract for doing such a great job.  The guy now will make about $5 million per year.  Meanwhile, an Iowa senator complains that coaches are being paid too much.  Nevermind that Texas brings in about $100 million a year via the athletic department.  Oh and don’t let Kirk Ferentz or Paul Rhoads hear this guy.  They might  go somewhere else and the voters will vent on their frustration in the voting booth.
  • Colt McCoy wants a bowl playoff.  He’s thought about long and hard.  Did he think about it while he almost blew the game for the Longhorns at the Big 12 Championship?  Maybe that’s why he wants playoff.  It would’ve covered up his mistake.  Doh!
  • A handful of awards were handed out on ESPN last week to college football players.  We’re not going to go through the whole list but we will say that Big 12 was represented very well.  Congrats to Colt McCoy and Ndamukong Suh.
  • So Kansas ended its coaching search over the weekend.  Some people thought it was Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, but that was denied big time.  So the Jayhawks fell to their 2nd choice, Turner Gill.  This guy turned around Buffalo from perennial losers to a decent MAC team, even winning the title last year.  Some people have overlooked that and started a fire-this-guy website.  Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers.
  • Congrats to Northwest Missouri State who became the Division II champions over the weekend.  It was their first title since 1998.   Good job guys!
  • Mark Ingram won the Heisman over the weekend as well.  The race ended up being the closest ever with Ingram taking it over Gerhart, McCoy, Suh, and Tebow respectively.  The sexy pick leading up to it was Suh, but that’s why it was sexy.  No chance of winning and you get to appear smart.  That said, there was no clear leading guy running up to it, so it’s no surprise it was this close.
  • Kansas State special teams stand out Brandon Banks was released from jail after beating a women while stoked on some stimulants.  Ruh Roh.  At least there’s no bowl to damage for the Wildcats.  Hopefully this guy will get his act together and salvage his draft status, if there’s any left.
  • Looks like Illinois will hire Kansas State co-defensive coordinator Vic Koenning to be their sole defensive coordinator.  He was with Clemson for a couple of years before his one year stint with the Wildcats.  Hopefully the Wildcats defense won’t suffer that much.
  • Looks like the Big 10 will finally come into the century and explore a possible 12th team and conference championship.  Who will it be?  Some say Missouri or Iowa State.  We know Missouri would listen.  Others are point toward the Big East and Syracuse, Rutgers, or Pittsburgh.  Let’s hope they keep it Big East for the east coast television money too.
  • The NCAA, following the lead of the NFL, will recommend keeping an athlete out of the game if they lose consciousness or show signs of a concussion.  Head trauma is big news nowadays and the NCAA is quickly stepping in to cover their own heads with this rule.  Now I get the old folks harping about leather helmets and poor pads being a better sport.  We’ll be talking like that in a c0uple of years.
Barspotting, College, Football

Barspotting: 810 Zones in on Leawood

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810zone_logo

This week we go back to the 810 Zone, but this time it’s the one that started it all in Leawood, Kansas.  Now before we started the blog, we had a nasty television mix up at this location.  Hopefully things will be better because we are there for the Big 12 North battle.  Who will win in the defense match up between Kansas State and Nebraska?  Show up to find out.  Meanwhile, we’ll snack on some apps, marvel at the number of beers on tap, and perhaps play a game or two.  It should be a kick butt time and we hope you can make it out.  Consider this the make-up for missing out on alot of football from Paddy O’Quigley’s last week.

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College, Football, GameDay

GameDay: Bringing Back the D

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DFENCE1

Last year, the Big 12 was a flutter with big time scoring led by big time spread offenses.  This year,  it’s more of a sputtering of offense here and there.  Sure, there have been big scores but it’s mainly been in the form of blowouts.  Shootouts are rare this year as we’re seeing scores like last week’s 10-7 barn burner in Lincoln.  Where did the offense go?  Did the defense show back up?  A couple of factors help lead into why we are seeing such a down turn in offense this year.

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College, Football, GameDay

GameDay: They’re Creepy and They’re Cooky

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The Addams Family

No no, we didn’t forget you today on this all Hallow’s Eve.  We just want to spook you out even more with today’s Game Day post.  We’re a big fan of the macabre on top of football so we though it would be fun to match up the Big 12 coaches with various members of the Addams Family.  If you remember the TV show and if you remember their New Yorker comics then you’re just too damn old.  At any rate, most of these guys fit in nicely with each character and you’ll be ghoulishly laughing all along the way.  Anything to take the thumping that the Big 12 South is putting on the Big 12 North off of our minds.

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Barspotting, College, Football, Live

Barspotting: Stadiumspotting Returns to Lawrence

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Memorial Stadium

But not for the Sunflower Showdown.  My beautiful and football lovin’ girlfriend is letting the Purple Yeti hitch a ride with her and her bid-ness down to Memorial Stadium for the big Oklahoma vs Kansas game.  Both teams roll into the game suffering a loss to Texas and Colorado respectively so one of them will bounce back.  Which one will it be?  We’re not sure.  How many of us will be sober?  Well, we know the answer to that one.  At any rate, we’ll report on every debaucherous action, on and off the field.

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College, Football, Live

Nick and Jake’s is Half that Great

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It was a different day Saturday afternoon.  The cold spilled in over the midwest, the clouds filled the sky, and we were actually making the set of night games for the barspot.  We huddled ourselves in the late afternoon/evening around the big bar in the sports bar section of Nick and Jake’s.  Sports bar section you say?  Yup, that’s different too.  Nick and Jake’s really isn’t a sports bar.  But yet, it is.  Bar or not, the games on the television screens kept us nice and cozy.

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College, Football, Picks

Pick It and Stick It: Don’t Choke On It

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Dignose

We were unfortunate last night not to witness the Nebraska and Missouri game.   Though the radio was on, we couldn’t get a good grasp of just how muddy and mucky it was to play.  2-0 at halftime is a wacky score.  But we didn’t expect Missouri to choke away the game and 27 points in the fourth quarter.  What did we find out?  Nebraska has the fast track to the Big 12 North title.  Missouri is much like their new quarterback Blaine Gabbert:  young, inexperienced, talented, but not yet ready.  The Tigers did reload this year, but the bullet jammed up a bit last night.  Let’s jam on to this week’s Pick It and Stick It:

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Barspotting, College, Football

Barspotting: Staying Late at Nick and Jake’s

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nicakandjakes

It’s the opening weekend of Conference play and we will be heading to good ‘ole Overland Park to take in some games at Nick and Jake’s.  Their dealio is they have one owner who like restaurants and one who likes sports bars.  Obviously we will be spending most of the time in the bar spot (pun intended).  Will this split decision location play to their benefit?  We’ll find out this weekend.  There are some BIG games going on Saturday night so plan on us getting there a little later in the afternoon.  Hope to see y’all there.

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College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Dancin’ in the Cleats

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83190079JG011_NOTRE_DAME_V_

What’s wrong with a little celebration?  We here at the KCCGD like to shimmy and shake here after an especially tasty nacho dip or greasebuger.   So why is it so hard to let the college football players jump up and down?   Granted we don’t zebra striped dudes follow us to the Golden Tee table and inspect our reaction to making a great save putt.  But that’s where the problem is.  The referees are subjectively deciding whether or not the celebration might be offensive to him or the other team.  That seems just a bit too wacky.  There’s already enough pressure on the refs for actual blown calls.   Don’t let them blow it on stupid rules.

  • Looks like there’s a chance that LeGarrette Blount may be reinstated sometime this year.  He cold cocked a Boise State player during one of the first games of the year and was subsequently suspended for the rest of the season.  Similar infractions in different conferences only yielded a game or two suspension.   It looks like he’s taking the right steps to get back on the field.
  • Kansas University police will open up an investigation to the fight that took place between the football and basketball players.  The media hype around this is now big enough for some posturing by the law enforcement there.  So a hand will be slapped and money will be given under the table to keep this guys on the field.
  • Texas Tech’s Taylor Potts suffered a concussion last week and he may be out this Saturday for their game against the Kansas State Wildcats.  The stars may be aligned for the Wildcats as they are coming off their last second win against Iowa State and Farmageddon.  Good thing suspended offensive lineman Brandon Carter is back.  Hmm maybe that’s why Potts got banged up?
  • It looks like they nabbed the guy accused of filming ESPN’s Erin Andrews nude.  They dude’s an insurance salesmen and pretty well off.  Go figure.  The most surprise part of the article is that there are eight videos.  We thought there was just one.
  • ESPN’s Chris Low has an interesting piece about how Gene Chizik left football desolation at Iowa State for big powerhouse Auburn.   Guess what?  Chizik’s got the Tigers undefeated and #17 in the country, proving yet once again that bringing in talent helps more than just coaching up your kids.
  • Oklahoma Sooners’ Ryan Broyles is out four to six weeks with a broken shoulder.  Broyles is their leading wide receiver.  Oklahoma’s BCS chances are pretty much shot and least injuries will be a sufficient excuse.
  • The SEC admitted they blew the excessive celebration call against Georgia when they took the lead over LSU with about 1:05 to go in the game.  LSU came back and won.  Now Georgia should’ve stopped LSU, but their chances were seriously hurt with the penalty.  What’s up with refs deciding outcomes for more important teams?  Indiana’s screwjob at Michigan and now this?  It’s like the refs want the bigger names to win for the conference.  If Georgia won the game, would we see this much hype for LSU and Florida this weekend?  You know stuff like this makes me think twice about how clean these conferences really are.
  • Speaking of this week’s Florida vs LSU matchup, it seems the Gator players are getting threatening texts from LSU fans.  Ho boy, let the hype machine crank up to full power.  JK LOL!
College, Football, GameDay

GameDay: FARMAGEDDON HAS COME!

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farmageddon2009

So the only real big game hyped up in the area this week is Kansas State taking on Iowa State at Arrowhead Stadium.  The other local teams are on break and getting ready for conference play next week.  This is a great opportunity for these two teams to showcase themselves (on a national spotlight even).  Both programs are suffering a bit right now.  Both of them will be run centric and defense heavy.  Both have new coaches (albeit one is returning).   Both teams were projected to be in the cellar of the Big 12 North this year.   Well it may not mean much for everyone else, but it means the whole season for these two team.

For Iowa State, they’ve always been in the shadow of Iowa for years.  Sure, there’s been times when the Cyclones were up and the Hawkeyes were down.  But last year and especially this year, Iowa State is taking a back seat.  They axed coach McCarthy last year and ended up with what looks like a trade with Auburn.  McCarthy went on the head coach the Tigers where Iowa State got defensive coordinator Paul Rhodes.  It’s a new regime for the Cyclones and expectations are that this guy will be instilling defense into a league that forgot how to spell it.

Meanwhile, Manhattan’s favorite son has returned in the form of Bill Snyder 2.0 to build back the program that was once a national title contender.  After the embarrassing skid mark that was Ron Prince, Snyder 2.0 is back to bring street cred back to the Wildcats.  And he’s doing it in the same way that Rhodes is trying to do up north.   Defense and a big ole running game is what was missing last year and Snyder 2.0 is hell bent on bringing it back.   Fortunately he has help in a JuCo transfer by the name of Daniel Thomas to help lead the way.

So today’s game is much more than deciding who will share the cellar with Colorado in the Big 12 North this year.  It’s a progress game.  The winner will have a better shot at making the most improvement this year.  The loser will have to eat it and plan on building for much longer.  Being the Kansas State grad that I am, I’m pulling for Snyder 2.0.  But I think the fact that I’m not going to Arrowhead shows just how close this game might be.  Let’s hope it’s not on ugly game on both sides of the field.  Now off to the bunker.  IT’S FARMADGEDDON!

Barspotting, College, Football

Barspotting: Pointing to the Scoreboards

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scoreboards

This week finds us in the middle of Johnson County and at a neat little place called Scoreboards.  We’ve been there before the blog started off and we’re pretty sure it’s a good time.  There used to be a Scoreboards in Manhattan but we don’t think it’s the same bar.  Sometimes sports bars survive on their own without a website, but we think these guys could use one.  It was super hard to find a pic or logo of the place.  Maybe we can open up a KCCGD hosted space for bars around the area.   Or post some ideas for Scoreboards below and we’ll talk to the manager Saturday.

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Big 12, College, Football, Sports Bars

Johnny’s Tavern has the Power and the Light

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We were very skeptical when we strolled toward the Johnny’s Tavern setup on the corner of the Power & Light District in Downtown Kansas City.  We’ve been to a couple of places around there before and the experiences were weak.  We had some hope, however, as Johnny’s Tavern came through for us before.  After spending the afternoon there we can say it is the best bar in the district.  The food was great, the poker game was loads of fun, and the games on the screens were stellar.   If you own or work at a bar around that area, read on to see how to make it successful.

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Barspotting, College, Football, Iowa State

Barspotting: Johnny’s Tavern Tries to Save the P&L

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Johnnys Tavern

This week we’re going back to the Power & Light District and more specifically Johnny’s Tavern.  One of the other overly expensive bars there closed downand Johnny’s swooped in to take the torch.  Now, we aren’t fans of the P&L, especially for sports, but we want to give Johnny’s Tavern a chance to totally save the day.  Johnny’s Tavern is a namesake dedicated to sports bars, especially for the Kansas fans out there.  So we’re sure they will make a decent attempt of fielding a proper sports bar Downtown.  We’ve been to a different Johnny’s before so we are pretty sure we’re gonna have a good time.  See you there.

When: Saturday, September 12 2009
Time: 12:00 pm-ish (we’ll try to make the rivalry)
Where: Johnny’s Tavern in the Power and Light District. 1310 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri 64106 816.268.2260


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Games:

The second week of college football has calmed down a bit.  We needed it too, last weekend was a huge blast off and we need to clean the ash off our faces.  This week is not without its sparklers, however.  The Cy-Hawk Trophy is up for grabs again in the great Iowa vs Iowa State rivalry.  It’s also been a long time since college football was as pumped as it is this year for the Michigan vs Notre Dame game.  The only Top 25 meeting is USC vs Ohio State and it should be epic.  The rest of the Big 12 looks like mop up work, but don’t be surprised if a few more upsets come that way.  We’re looking at you Colorado and Kansas State.  Anyway, it should be fun and we hope to see you out this weekend.

For what it’s worth, here’s the result of poll from the Facebook Fan page.  Next week’s poll should be up alot earlier next week.

bswek2

College, Football, Iowa State, News, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

Crib Sheet: Licking Our Wounds

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tiger licking

We made it through the first week of college football, but not without some bumps and bruises.  Injuries were all over the news in the last week, including the Purple Yeti’s back issue.  Fortunately he has a myriad of pills to numb any pain.  Oklahoma Sooners fans are probably still numbed from last Saturday’s upset loss.   So we will dedicate this week’s Crib Sheet to recovering from any mental and physical injuries.  5 out 7 doctors agree the Crib Sheet has soothing properties.  Kick back, relax, and enjoy: