Random Sports Thoughts 2/4/08

• The local Nike outlet had a great price on footballs and basketballs recently. These are nice, leather balls, adult and youth sizes, for the same price as a cheap-o Wal-Mart ball. I jumped at the chance and grabbed a football (I always keep a football in my office for those sunny afternoons when Jay-rod and I can conference over a game of catch). If I still have spending money at the end of this pay period, I may go back and get a basketball or perhaps a youth football.
  
• The most watched Super Bowl ever was probably the most exciting Super Bowl ever. It had a wonderful dilemma – should you root for the underdog or the undefeated? There really wasn't any bad guys here; either history would be made or you'd have an historic upset. That's a win-win situation. I had two fantasy players on each team, so I was content either way.
  
• The K-State fans I know were all very gracious about last week's win. The ones in the media were insufferable. Either way KU is back in first place again and playing Mizzou tonight. Missouri is the real rival and, even though they're having a down year, beating them matters more than almost anything else.
• I just heard that Bobby Knight quit. I'm okay with that. Great coach? Yes. Decent human being? Uh… well…
  
• The Manning brothers are easy to root for. They're not perfect but they're good. And now they each have been named Super Bowl MVP in consecutive years. That's incredible.
  
• KU is ranked 4th and 5th in the AP and ESPN polls, respectively. K-State is 20th and 24th. Texas and Texas A&M are also ranked in the top 25. KU and K-State play again in Lawrence on March 1st.
  
• Fantasy football was very good to me this post-season. After a very strong regular season which just didn't produce as many wins as it should have, I've won the post season game to take the trophy. I was one of twelve teams out of thirty to make the playoffs and then did the best out of those twelve. This is my first championship in fantasy football; I've been playing for over 12 years.