Duke Football Players Hit by Swine Flu

According to an ESPN report, more than 15 Duke football players have been diagnosed with swine flu symptoms.

Some of you might wonder why I'm mentioning this on a blog dealing with the Kansas Jayhawks. Quite simply because our Jayhawks will be playing Duke in the third game of the season on September 19th.

I'm no doctor and I'm certainly no expert on the Swine flu (technically the H1N1 flu). I wouldn't be surprised if a few more Duke players get infected simply because they have come in contact with some of the sick players. The report says that symptoms have been minor so I wouldn't expect that all of the infected players will be healthy by the time they arrive on the field in Lawrence on September 15th. What may give KU a slight advantage is that these players are missing practice time and their conditioning could suffer a bit. I really think this advantage, if any, will be minor. Hopefully all of the players will recover quickly. I want Duke to field the best team possible so that our Jayhawks can beat them fair and square.

Can Mangino Follow Friedgen's Lead?

If you are a Jayhawk fan, you are fearful that Mark Mangino won't be our coach much longer. Typically this is because fans are worried that a coach will leave for another job or even to retire. In the case of Mangino, we are scared that his unhealthy weight will cut his coaching tenure—and his life—short.

We've all heard the jokes.

"Our coach is Phat!"
"Our coach can eat your coach."

Those are some of the nicer jokes. Yet Mangino's largess is no laughing matter. It is a serious health risk. Which leads me to a story I read today about Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen and his loss of 105 pounds. I would love to be reading a story a year from now about how Mangino has lost at least that much weight. I would guess that he could lose at least twice that much.

From a recruiting standpoint, I would like to see Mangino compete on NBC's The Biggest Loser. Not only would he lose weight, he would be exposed to millions which would surely lead to a recruiting advantage. Unfortunately the time commitment required is more than Mangino's busy schedule can handle. Coach, please give Ralph Friedgen a call and find out about the diet that worked for him! Lew Perkins, please put an incentive clause in Mangino's contract to get down to a healthy weight.

As a fan of the Jayhawks, I want to see Mangino roaming the sidelines for many more seasons. I also fear that he could end up like John McSherry, the former MLB umpire, who died on opening day from a massive heart attack at only 51 years of age.

Coaches Show No Preseason Love for Gridiron Jayhawks

KU is a basketball school. I've heard that since the days before I was a student. The 2009-2010 season should be a great season for basketball at KU. Things have changed drastically since the arrival of coach Mark Mangino. Instead of hoping and praying that the Jayhawks will finally beat Nebraska, we wonder if the Jayhawks can compete for conference and even national championships.

Today the USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll was released and KU was at the top of the "others receiving votes". I wasn't expecting to find the Jayhawks in the top 10 or 15 until they have proven themselves on the field, but I was surprised at the lack of the respect shown by the coaches. Then again, did the coaches really do any research and fill out their own ballot? It was only a couple of weeks ago that Steve Spurrier, current coach of South Carolina and ex-coach of Florida, left Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow off of his preseason All-SEC ballot. The blame eventually fell of director of football operations Jamie Speronis who had filled out the ballot for Spurrier to rubber stamp.

In basketball, the polls give us as fans something to boast about during the season. Beyond that, they don't really mean much. Things are much different in football because it is the polls that help determine which teams play in the BCS Championship game as well as in the BCS games. As we saw last season, the polls (via the BCS rankings) are even used to settle tiebreakers in the Big XII. Make note of #5 as it is what allowed Oklahoma to play in the Big XII Championship game last season which led to Oklahoma playing in the BCS Championship game. How would KU fans feel if they were to be tied with Nebraska and Missouri and one of those other teams would advance based on rankings? In the preseason poll: Nebraska is #22, KU is #26 and Missouri is #34. Obviously things will change during the season, but Nebraska would get the nod now. From this perspective, the preseason ranking is a negative.

There is also a positive aspect to the coaches lack of respect in the preseason. There is no doubt that coach Mangino will use the snub as a motivational tactic to fire up the team. Before the 2007 season the Jayhawks got little respect, and probably didn't deserve it. Once they hit the field, they just kept sawing wood and brought home a 12-1 record and the Orange Bowl trophy. The lack of preseason respect for the team and for the program as whole may have kept KU out of the BCS Championship game. If the Jayhawks come out and dominate on the field, I'm sure they will quickly rise in the rankings. Should they play close games or even lose a non-conference game, the preseason snub will be deserving.

If you were voting in the preseason poll, where would you rank the Jayhawks? I think I would put them around #18.