Best posts made by JayhawkerRedLegs

@BShark I cannot imagine it, sir, yet… My dad is 84, and lately has been full of phrases like “could go anytime” or “I’m in the red zone of life”, and wants to go over his will for the 6th time in the last 10yrs. Of course all that gives me serious pause to consider just about everything. All the years. All what he taught me. How will I be at his age? He’s still teaching 1 college class now, since many guys love their “routines”, but doesnt have to stand lecturing all day. Goes to the office, does his thing. And tells me the same stories he has been for the last few years. It’s life. Both its richness and its finite nature.

My condolences to you and family. We’re all with you.

@BShark Whoa, and after I posted that, I just remembered that my grandfather passed away at 84…so perhaps being “84” now himself is truly most poignant for my dad. Gosh, it just occurred to me.

@AsadZ I think you have brought to the discussion exactly what needs to be, again a heartfelt thanks, regarding this issue. Your point about Isis doing the most damage to Muslims is exactly where my concern is. My further point was a general one about provocation & justification of some ‘response’ when some nation decides to react or retaliate. Yes, you are 100% correct to touch on innocent lives being lost, as the war machine gets turned on.

So, same question: is that what those few minority jihadists want? Because to answer your other 4 questions: No, I’m no expert on Islam. Thats why I would point to what history shows us how people may respond & have responded when threatened. And I’d be talking as an American with my own family to worry about. Yes, have known several Muslim families, family friends, while growing up. Fine people, medical professionals by training. Father grew up in a country that is 20+% Muslim, so he knows far more about the Koran than I do, never read it, but had a Saudi friend in college (from Jeddah) who was trying to read me passages from the Koran, & trying explain the strife in the middle east (this was back in the mid80s). I welcomed his perspective, but he didnt know how secular & nonreligious I am. Dad is same way, as he is a scientist. Dad immigrated from 3rd world in 1961 (there’s a right way & a wrong way to immigrate, is what we believe…). He didnt come to the US to continue all the old ways & pretend he’s still in the old country. He saw the US as a nation of scientific progress, ingenuity, & of opportunity. His motto & work ethic was taken directly from the WW2 generation. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Assimilate, was his choice. Being from aristocracy in that old country I got to visit once as a kid, we carry our pride within us, wherever we go. Dont need to wear it on our sleeve. I know not everyone can say or do the same.

So, @AsadZ, I agree with almost everything you said. My msg remains regarding the actions of a few radicals, causing phobia, to the detriment of all, wouldnt you agree. @justanotherfan 's post was a beautiful one. My worry for even more innocent civilian lives (as we both have mentioned) is what happens when big nations “react”…we humans have a gruesome history there, not just Hitler, Stalin, Tojo. The US is part of that too. I fear its about to happen again. The displaced millions from Syria are only a sign of whats coming. Pawns in a big power chess game. Its always the poor who pay the price.

Definitely need to get a feel for his playstyle and decision-making, maybe reserve judgement until several games in, or end of nonconf.

Right now, he reminds me of Elijah Johnson v2.0, but if he has some alpha in him, he instantly surpasses EJ by a little bit. If he has a lot of alpha in him, he’ll make us not miss Mason/Josh as much.

More importantly, I’m hoping he has big chemistry and a intuitive “feel” for what Devonte is doing. To have a 2-headed monster at guard, they have to become that and play that way. Iron out the miscomms…

@nuleafjhawk Oh yeah, I’d rescue the mizzou person, because with that act, you just might have changed his perspective about Jayhawks or KU people. And if he truly was drowning, he’ll be thinking about what a jayhawk did for him the rest of his days.

I do small scale versions of this sort of “turn their world upside down”, when wearing ku stuff, I hand out a little KSU token, or key chain, or tiny stuffed WillieWildcat to a little Kstate kid. Just blew up whatever purple-fed hate he’d been learning…sometimes the look on Ma or Pa purple’s face is just priceless, as they now got some explaining to do back at home, lol. Taking the “we in KS sure do appreciate what Bill Snyder’s done”, turns those cat people into…well…quiet mice. Scurry off now.

@BeddieKU23 I like your enthusiasm. I guess your description of a laccadaisical 1st half, followed by the much-needed Self butt-chewing at halftime, followed by a stellar, AFH-tradition-compatible 2nd half…somewhat reminds me of the FortHaysState exhibition game.

What?! Yes, the game where tiny FHSU (nonDiv1) was leading KU in our own badass, big-o-barn, with a few min to go in the 1st half…No player taller than 6’7. I even saw some of those 99yr old KU alums in the front row not knowing what to think for a minute, seems like feathers ruffled a bit. Least of which was Self, who was loading the mental machine gun for halftime with a very long belt…

Not down on this team’s chances, but they lost big heart (Mason), big fire (Josh), and big stats (Mason+Josh). We see how much the 7ft “monster” has to learn, as does our KY-like athlete MickeyD (Preston). But in their favor, we see already that Udoka is > Lucas, and Preston has already shown more than Bragg.

Not worried about “KY” as in November, especially with this younger than usual roster, they are nothing more than an all star AAU team. How are they much better than the Mcdonalds All American game, at this point? They will become a dangerous athletic March product by, well, March. That’s Calipari’s system at work. Of course the slap on Self’s red face is if somehow that gang of “KY” kids is able to pull off the upset over KU on Tuesday, but really doubt they are capable of that. (But then, do Malik and Doke and Billy P get caught up in the 1-upsmanship of playing other McD guys??). At least we know Devonte and Vick play for real. And play in a real system. The others still learnin’

@AsadZ The only fine logic point I may beg to differ is I’m not sure what point you were trying to make about BinLaden in your last paragraph. Arms deals, arms supplies, go do our dirty work for us…man, thats just old news, that what the CIA does, & has been doing it since the 1950s. You dont think the KGB did the same? I could care less. Because the whole point of killing Osama was because of what HE did, wasnt it? The fact that we gave him free stuff a few yrs prior, means nothing. Are you justifying his actions somehow? Is there any rational explanation for taking out 4000 civilians? His orchestrations and actions were directly taken as an act of war, werent they? Is that what he wanted? Because he lost. And his actions have perpetuated how many more innocent lives being lost?

You can look at things humanistically, or religiously, or however you want. I’m just looking at things realistically. Practically. You know what is frightening and sad, but a very grim reality: many of the people in charge of various big nations & their militaries (the ones who order military action), may NOT possess much knowledge of Islam or the Koran, yet may give an order at any minute…scary thought. What if islamophobia is a factor in their minds? At least OBLaden got what he deserved, by all accounts. Threat elimination might be the new buzzword for this milennia, & I fear for any innocents that get collected in it.

“saw him get absolutely owned”. Well, the TV announcers saw it and commented on it. Bell got (& earned) high praise. Charles Barkley at halftime thought the best plan for Frank Mason was to “involve his teammates more”. Dont know what was said in the locker room, but I see 2nd half Frank and DG “feeding” Lucas, who of course was good at sealing off his man…but once he received the pass, the adventuresome journey down the tortured path of statistical no-return began. My lasting image of Lucas, as a senior, no less, is of sealing his man off perfectly, and going up for a 2ft airball off the backboard. For a 6’10 big who spent 100% of his time near the rim (due to zero face-up range), that’s hard to do. But it tells the story of what Lucas was (as @HighEliteMajor perfectly alluded to), which segues precisely into what’s been missing from KU’s post presence for a few years now. Self tried his best with the hand he got dealt by fate (recruiting and injury to Doke, and fall thru floor by Bragg). And I cannot fault players like Frank Mason or Sherron, even if they have an off day in the Tourney–point being that they proved their greatness. I’d only wish they got the big prize for their own sake, then our sake second…

Yes keep it all respectful. Explain your viewpoint, & since you are doing so in public domain, expect differring points of view. Heck, we can even differ on Self’s philosophies. But I enjoy the other angles people bring up to consider. Rock Chalk. Great site, to try to do this regarding hotbed politics, in these times…

@kjayhawks nail on head about the aggravating inconsistencies in penalties.

The Pres showing how not to be unifying in comments. Agree with the show of solidarity by most NFL players, teams, and owners. America isnt perfect, and we also see the US flag represents different things to each person.

IHMO, Trump needs to be bigger than party politics, or pandering to his base, because some issues are bigger than just what his base thinks. It’s got to be more about that. The Republican primaries are over. Dont squander the chance to be the bigger man. Less politicking and more presidential-ness needed.

KC reciever in twitter exchange with few fans, gives some strong points, as does a Denver LB, who had many family in the military, and also gave a great perspective.

While that Kaepernick kid was a conflicted messenger with his Castro tshirt (oppressive dictator), and wearing cop=pig socks, essentially contradicted himself–we now see that many NFL players can be far better spokespersons for whatever cause, can speak eloquently and thoughtfully about whatever issue in question, and we should welcome the discussion, as it should take place on an intelligent, intellectual level. So kudos to the players able to engage at that level.

Whatever our personal views, the divisiveness needs to stop, in these United States. It’s not simply black/white or polarized. Even back in the days of the Declaration of Independence, several of those key patriots were deeply conflicted about slavery, knowing it was wrong, even some owning slaves, yet still, nevertheless, put into motion their plan that would move the economy in the south away from ancient slave-labor concepts, but by 1850’s, when it was time for the big move, the south resisted. Thus the Civil War. So, frankly, any vestige of that old south like the confederate flag, is truly going to be out of place today. It has history-book relevance, but that’s about it. Didnt the nation pay a heavy price to try to get past that? So the discussion is about continuing progress in this century.

Veterans died so we could have the freedoms to have these discussions, says this moderate conservative (on most issues, anyway).

p.s.- heck, give that Kaepernick another shot, as Brady said today. Maybe he’s gotten better PR advice on how exactly to positively advocate for whatever issue he’d like to.

Why not 4-5 wins? Like Lee last year, some of these Tx and La 3-4stars are good enough to play right away. We’ll see, of course.

@jaybate-1.0 What say ye about the Civil War?

How about those Chiefs! Hadnt seen much of preseason, wondered about offense with B- o-line that Alex has been saddled with for yrs, and now without Maclin…but I guess we can call Hill + Hunt “deep” threats, and they’re multidimensional threats all over the field. Kelce is a threat at any range, now drawing doubleteams. What a find Hunt is.

I have to say, KCs O-line may be flirting with an A- rating, but we have only 1 game…BUT when has Alex had this kind of time??? Ha! Look what happens when he does, to all those stupid Alex haters in KC. You could be Denver fans rt now and go to battle with Simeon & OsweilerChpt2?

Check Alex’s stats by season’s end. And I like Mahomes, but his time will come: Kliff Kingsbury said it best: perfect situation for Mahomes, learn from one of the best: Alex, Reid. Dont throw him to the wolves.

Go KC! My thoughts go out to Berry. Achilles tear is season-ending for him, and changes the KC D.

@AsadZ I appreciate your voice of reason, in trying explain “jihad” & its meaning. But in the modern vernacular, perhaps is a “western” view, but because of stark events of the last 20+ years, perhaps by a truly minority extreme group of radical islamists, the phrase “islamic jihad” is equated to mean ‘holy war’. Much like people can spin western involvement in the MiddleEast as some sort of ‘crusade’.

How about this: the extreme acts need to stop, and the rhetorical spin needs to stop, we could all agree?

I never understood those extremists organizations inflammatory nonsense about jihad anyway, as you simply cannot, CANNOT invoke a total war on way of life or very existence (unless one converts under duress to islam), without “awakening” the attacked party’s survival instinct, right? I never understood 9/11 attack’s aim: ok, let’s awaken a sleeping giant, like Japan did in ww2. Lets PROVOKE a nuclear superpower??? How does that make sense? The ONLY nation that not only has found the justification to USE nuclear weapons x 2? Same nation, who’s vaunted WW2 Generation saw fit to fire-bomb (napalm) German cities (Dresden, 70k civilians killed in 1 USAF raid), and multiple firebomb raids by the USAF of several Japanese cities, killing 100-150k civilians per raid. Thats over 1mil Japanese civilians killed by the USAF in only 6-8 raids, for the loss of a few dozen aircrew???

Tojo & Hitler knew not what they brought on their own people, until it too late.

What is the “goddamn” lesson here? Same lesson the USAF taught Saddam in '90-91: annihilated 250-300k of Saddams troops in there front lines, with just heavy bombers.

So the lesson is be very careful who a people choose to elect as a leader, and be extremely wary of provoking the United States. We have a history, of pressing buttons to deliver assets on-target, right? Ask the Japanese & Germans about collateral damage. What collateral damage? Just how stupid is Kin Jong Un? How many US presidents of BOTH parties have tried with N.Korea? Guess what is coming. A few buttons about to be pressed, no need for invasion.

And where is Bin Laden mastermind? Fishfood at bottom of Indian Ocean! A better use of that carbon/sh-t based protoplasm. Some “mind”. And I wouldnt provoke Putin/Russians either, especially since theyre acting like something to prove. Theyre a superpower as well, with their own buttons…didnt some jihadist shoot down a Russian airliner? What response do those idiot jihadists think that will evoke. (Go ahead, poke the Bear, or the Eagle some more…). History repeats, it is said…

@HighEliteMajor Would be cool if Tarik already reached out to Lawsons somehow, reminding them of the big picture in a friendly way.

Speaking of Denver, I do like many of their players, heard that Talib is out with “Achilles”, and Jamaal Charles is out with “knee”. Not sure what either’s details, but I feel bad for those 2 guys, great players…

@AsadZ The other 2 things I find hard to figure out, is: 1) Why dont moderate overwhelming majority do more to stop & discourage these radical factions? No group needs spillover negativity & persecution because of the actions of a few radicals, right?

1. From the “justifications” for the 9/11 attacks, from what I recall, was angry sentiment amongst some Muslims about the fact that western nations during '90-91 Gulf War actually dared to set foot on Saudi soil, coupled with the perceived “Woodstock” lifestyle we westerners supposedly live (thanks, flower child generation!) so that justified attacking defenseless civilians of a superpower? Which then has caused the US & now Russia, to be “all up in their business”, meaning physically present in the MiddleEast, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, etc…Is that what the jihadists wanted?? Seems to me its a backfired plan? Oops, did I say “fired”, as in pressing some buttons, which kill millions, once deemed necessary? There is simply no “win” for the jihadists. Getting exterminated out of self-defense (a card the jihadists keep giving us to play), is not a win. Getting your wives & children, & village & klans & provinces exterminated, is not a win.

I wonder if the jihadists wet dream is to get their hands on a nuke, & hit Wash DC? Funny, because maybe half of Americans may think thats not all bad, but oops, there’s a grand self-defense moral justification that such an “achievement” would hand us: we’ll use it, sure: Guys & gals in green flight suits would climb into some planes, buttons would get pressed. Problem solved. But not once & for all, since every generation has its upstart madmen, so the cycle would repeat, just as it has every 20-30 yrs throughout the last century. Some big war, big loss of life, over what? Some dumb border, or some ideology you cant even see? Religion? Nope, SSDD, humans doing what they do, for how many millenia now?

@jaybate-1.0 Self may like fiery players on the team. Marcus/Markieff were lightning rods. As was Josh Jackson. Fire breathers. Perry Ellis was not, just using Perry’s personality as example

Peters did great job being lockdown/shutdown DB. He just needs to avoid negative PR regarding that whole sitting during NatlAnthem. Maybe he need to look at his PR-nightmare buddy, Kaepernick, out of a job, as his Castro stupidity served NO cause that he was trying to champion. You can easily say that minority rights as a cause could truly use a far better celebrity proponent…than the idiot Kaep proved himself to be.

Goodell says NFL “not blackballing” Kaep, & teams ea make their own personnel decisions. Nobody wants their “team leader”/face of franchise to be this Colin Kaeprnick dude.

Jesus christ, why isnt the standard for behavior for nfl qb’s people like Drew Brees, Alex Smith, T.Brady, that Falcons QB? And a long list of past nfl greats? Peters better take notes, we can send him packing too, just a DB, not a franchise face like a QB.

Play PR games with a half-billion $ entity like an nfl franchise, & see what the ownership will say, then do…go ahead, nfl playa, its only your own few years long career at stake, right?

Kaepernick= PR nightmare. Ea nfl franchise = $ half a billion dollars. Piss off the power players behind that kind of $, and who here thinks CK isnt expendable? Come on KU fans, you who know and whine about east coast bias, because those are the big mkt tv audiences, who naturally want to see their area teams in the Final Four. Well, the NFL is bigger. Bigger dollars, bigger viewership. Bigger dangers for the idiots of the world like CK to take a fall, once they open their mouth!

Doesnt the cause of social injustice deserve its celebrity proponent to be intelligent & articulate? Wear a t-shirt supportive of Castro, & see how intelligent u look. Doofus. Good riddance. Take a cue from Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Elway, Montana, Moon, R.Cunningham, A.Smith, P.Manning? NFL QB, aka “Face of your franchise”…

@JayHawkFanToo perfectly said, no comparison between Self and Tubby

@Crimsonorblue22 Ya, thats bad. But its exactly what Im talking about: spillover prejudice, can happen anywhere, maybe its islamophobia. Its 100% wrong, not justified, yet someone at the bank “chose” to call the cops instead of just doing what banks do, verify the cheque. I’d get an atty & sue the bank, make them ferret out what policy made them jump to the police/fraud/forgery button. It must be judged to have basis in something someone said or did irregular, or else its going to default to discrimination. They caused that gentleman & his wife & kids considerable angst. Sad.

@JayHawkFanToo Ya, the Beyond the Phog section on Giddens is the most chilling piece in that whole book. I think it was written only 3-4 yrs ago, and even then, in direct response to Gidden’s story, Self’s response, in italics , in 2014?, was: that is an outright lie…astonishing. Makes me want to ask Self: what did J.R. exactly do? At least we know who shot (down) J.R…it was that Cowboy, Bill Self. Fellow Okie even…man!

@JayHawkFanToo He was/is a skinny dude. Someone called him a whippet once

@wrwlumpy nice list. Switch out Perry Ellis for Darrell Arthur, since it is such an exclusive list. Cannot leave off Josh Jackson, absolutely the best frosh that Self has ever had, anywhere. Only Joel Embiid is in same category. Josh meant just as much to last year’s team as Frank did.

@Lulufulu “crazy Shiite”, lol. Some peeps in iran or iraq just took offense…now u dont want to make them mad…

@Crimsonorblue22 Ha! So much for Self being an Eddie Sutton protege. I think he took elements from Sutton, but learned the most from Larry. Plus, modern rules (not 2008 rules), wont allow the Sutton/Izzo 55pt bruiser ball games. Now its gotta be pretty ball, ala unc-ACC style. We’ll just bring our own 7ft 280 lb wrecking ball, by way of Africa…lets start, then crash this finesse party…

Yeah, but hasnt paying players in some fashion been going on by (some) schools for 50-60+ years? Of course its not right, but I got better things to worry about than some dirt poor kid getting a few thousand $, and the odds still against him for making the NBA, etc…At least a step in the right direction is the whole stipend discussion, something tangible. Sanction something tangible, so players may possibly be less likely to fall into the illegal $ enticement.

@jayballer54 +100 on the JoshJackson avatar. Best freshman Self has ever had, anywhere, period!

Nicest thing I can say for our post play is that we have lost the slow-footed, brick-handedness of Lucas in the post. Now, we have a chance to return to a Div.1 level of play in the post, not only size, but quickness and skill as well. Not every 6’9+ sized guy is a Div.1 caliber player. We sufferred thru that, now we want better. I would take ANY of WichitaState’s bigs over Lucas.

The short Lucas bash is over, unless we want to bring up the Oregon game, and whine about that a bit…

@Texas-Hawk-10 Agree totally with your phrase, as it is indeed the first half of the sentence: “(comma), but he is a key part of losing to Oregon.” We all saw him get absolutely owned by that 6’7 athlete (Bell?) who, sadly, out-hustled our dear slow-twitch Lucas.

@HighEliteMajor is correct in his logic that Lucas played like “Lucas”, but by the same token, you cannot be a blue blood, aka a high elite-major program, and take a nonDiv.1 plodder as your post man. You will, he will, get exposed.

If I look at Lucas’ stat line vs Villanova, it was better. The missing link in that game was Mr. Ellis, reverted back to freshman/soph shell, which can happen, but just wish it didnt happen in that game, golly…And Villanova had some fast twitch athlete named “Ochefu”.

We can blame DG for no-show, or overzealous Josh+refs for his foul problems 1st half, but when BigManU Self has to play 4+1, and that 1 post player is Lucas, you only possess a compromised team, one that the right combination of style and personnel could possibly expose, and it happenned. It happened against Stanford, it happened against Villanova, and it happened again against Oregon. Each has slightly different reasons, but each time we got exposed, unless we are OK chalking it up to poor shooting night, like UNI, VCU, KY’12…which can of course happen. I miss the post presence of TRob + Withey. Eager to see what Udoka + Preston can develop into by March…

The scariest thing is WHO is going to replace 200+ FT attempts and 47% trey shooting? (And thats just Frank). By extension, that means a lot of fouls on the opposition to earn 200+ FTs, which as the games grind on, starts to deconstruct the opposing team. Welcome to Self’s lessons, young KU players…can this team start doing to opponents all the little things that add up by the end of the 4th period.

Because we like and had gotten accustomed to the 20pt blowouts by the 4th period. Thats the royalty way. Can the kids deliver?

@JayHawkFanToo Completely agree with that. Poor shooting days have felled us, and more than once, (by the guards). But look what we are doing, and even what the KU team had to do last year: it’s mostly all on the guards, success or fail? Why? Because they (guards) had to do most of it, which then naturally they take more of the blame if we get bounced, since you can point to their missed atts, etc. But that whole team’s construct can now be judged in proper Selfian context: Compared to other Bill Self teams, we sucked in the post last year. Think of all the things we used to execute with Darnell, Shady, Cole, the Morri, etc…and thats on top of whatever havoc the guards are doing. For example, 2008 with Rush, Mario, Russell, Sherron was a whole ton of mayhem on top of whatever Shady, Darnell, Cole, Sasha gave us in the post. Compare the post play, and as an analytical KU fanalum/fanalyst, what options would you like to have. Sure, Lucas was, is, and always will be a solid Jayhawk. But no need to be sentimental in our final analysis about last-year’s guard-extravaganza team, one that was restricted in what might have been if not for woeful post play (cupcake opponents excepted of course).

My larger point (sorry to pick on Lucas, and also Ellis in the Nova game), is that I missed the dominance of Thomas Robinson + Withey (Thomas Robinson played like an effin lion vs KY, although guard shooting felled us, ran out of time, fell too far behind, 3 missed dunks, etc). Or the Morris twins. Or even the energizer skinny bunny Kevin Young, who unlike Bragg, actually gave a damn, and played beyond his skill.

This is a new year, so Im looking fwd to seeing what Udoka, Preston, Lightfoot develop into by late-Feb. We need every one of them. And just maybe 1 or 2 of them can become something special in the post? Not too much to ask for, imho, for a blueblood fan/alum…

@jayballer54 Maybe the “deal” is we got the primetime TV slot on ESPNU. Cant complain.

Also, what’s your early scout on WVU and Baylor?

@KUSTEVE Ya we cant say much, remember the preface: small sample size. I see a 6’4 athletic guard with an improving 3ball, known as a slasher. I saw him look great vs PittSt, then looked lackluster in the only other game Ive seen him in (point made?), dribbling into trouble and turning it over, against FHSU…and even getting benched to start the 2nd half.

Good god I hope Malik shows me more than EJ did? Let’s also see what kind of D he can play, after a year of Self tutelage. It took EJ 3 years to “get it”.

Man I hope Malik is better, and a quicker learner! TBD…

@JayHawkFanToo Agree with all you said. I would finalize the thoughts about Lucas with your own phrase: “Lucas makes a convenient target”. Precisely. His comparative lack of attributes does indeed make it convenient. Because we know full well the guards’ off-shooting night was an occasional aberration. Normally they were stellar. The counter example is a game (NC game, no less), where our “guards shot us out of the game”, but no one has ever, ever dogged on Thomas Robinson or Withey in that game. Even if they missed some dunks. We knew what their norm was. We also saw Landon’s norm, in repeat fashion. Removed all doubt. When the guards were flat, Landon couldnt help them. It goes both ways. I do recall offensively limited Sasha Kaun actually saving our bacon vs Davidson (E8) when those “guards were flat”.