Go Wildcats!

One of the advantages of living in a city is that big events come to your city and sometimes you get to enjoy them.

Caroline is in Hiawatha this weekend at a baby shower, so I'm bach-ing this weekend. I'm also supposed to be working on semi-annual reviews, which is the 2nd lousiest part of my job (with annual reviews being the lousiest hands down). So, this morning I'm sitting at my desk at work because I have to get away from fun distractions like TV, laundry, sweeping, dusting, clearning windows, cleaning toilets (you can see how much I like writing reviews) in order to focus on writing reviews when I get a text. (As an aside, I'm currently sitting at my desk at work "working" on reviews again. I haven't contributed anything to this blog (other than my ugly mug in a couple pictures since like 1998, so you can clearly see that I'm looking for ANYTHING to do instead of writing reviews. Not that I don't like blogging. My posts are just usually awfully lame and I don't do it often). It's from my friend Myles and he simply asks "what are ur plans for the day". Turns out, he has an extra ticket to the Big 12 basketball championship game featuring the K-State Wildcats and the sports personification of evil, the KU Jayhawks and he invited me to tag along. What a kind friend!

After OK'ing it with Caroline, I put my review writing on the back burner and headed down to Sprint Center. The Power and Light district was CRAZY. It took me like 15 minutes to weave my way through the "living room" area to get across to Sprint Center. I don't get to see Myles and his wife Liz as often as I would like. They are parents of 2 awesome young boys and Myles is maybe the hardest working person I know. Myles farms with his brother and dad, which is pretty much a 24/7/365 job because they have grain/livestock and seed operation. So, it was great to see them and catch up a bit. I also got to reconnect with classmate of mine - Weston. Cool all the way around.

So, I have very much enjoyed watching the Wildcats this season. At a basic level, they play basketball the way I believe it should be played. Very hard. They run the floor hard, they defend, they have some good shooters and they are very talented overall. They are also emotional. They are fiery. I like them a lot. I like Coach Frank Martin. I think they represent K-State well both in skill and style. They are a workingman type basketball team on the whole, which seems to fit well with the hard working, rural type folks that makes up the majority of the K-State folks I know. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, KU has proven to be a better team on the nights they have squared off this year. KU is just good. And that pains me to say because I dislike them to the point that it's probably sinful. It's totally small man syndrome. I'm jealous of their success and I hate them for it. Maybe I should see a counselor. And, in a neutral arena like Sprint Center, I had to play nice as I was sitting around some Jayhawks (who were all polite and good basketball fans). K-State played their tails off (even though they looked to be dog tired), but came up short. The Cats had their chances, but couldn't connect on enough shots and KU shot like 110% from the free throw line. That's right, I'm pretty sure they made more than they shot. And Tyrell Reed. Yes, Tyrell Reed, the pride of Burlington, KS killed the Wildcats with a career high 15 points and 2 dagger 3s. I don't get it. Why couldn't the KU team that got beat by Oklahoma State show up to play the Wildcats? Maybe that's a left handed compliment to K-State. We know you're good, so we'll actually play hard for 40 minutes tonight.

Anyway - still a good day all the way around. I got a break from writing reviews (I have 3 mostly done - 2 to go). I got to see Myles and Liz. And I got to watch my Wildcats fight like crazy. I'm looking forward to the NCAA tournament starting next week. I think K-State will drive some teams crazy with their style and they have a chance to win some games in the tournament. Here's hoping they do, but regardless, I am really proud of how they've played all season long. Not that I am in any way connected to any of their success. It's just been fun to watch. Congratulations, K-State on a fine season. I'll be eagerly awaiting the matchup next season when Sherron Collins is playing with Jerry West's silhouette and not "K-A-N-S-A-S" on his jersey. Hopefully Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry will join him. But that's a long ways away. Go Cats and good luck in the NCAA tournament.

I'm not cool enough to post pictures, so in lieu of real pictures you'll just have to use your imagination. Think of me decked out in purple yelling "THAT'S A FOUL!!!!" at the top of my lungs with a red face as Cole Aldrich reaches in on Jacob Pullen 35 feet away from the basket without getting a foul called. That's the only image you get from this post. Have a good weekend everyone!