Bob’s Blog

Dear Mayor: The last time I checked, we had plenty of problems in Wichita that need your attention. More than I can list here. So many it makes my head hurt. So why, oh why, are you sticking your nose in and threatening to mandate that City of Wichita mill levy funds be used to create a scholarship fund for football at Wichita State?

Last time I checked, WSU was doing just fine without football. Now, that doesn’t mean football wouldn’t be a nice thing to have at WSU. Sure it would. But it would also cost an arm and a leg. It would also mean that at least two or three women’s sports would have to be created just to meet federal Title IX guidelines. It would also mean that the level of football returning to Wichita State _ mostly likely Division I-AA _ would be less appealing than the big-time football being played up the road in Lawrence and Manhattan.

Mr. Mayor, with all due respect, I would rather have you out inspecting potholes on our city streets that worrying yourself about football at WSU. I trust that Wichita State president Don Beggs and athletic director Jim Schaus are capable of determining whether or not football is viable. And, so far, neither of them has deemed it to be.

Suzanne Tobias has set the bar tremendously high with her Eagle blog. She has so much to say. Of course, it helps that she has two kids, a husband, parents, pets, etc. I suppose it also helps that she’s much more interesting than I am.

Sometimes when I think about writing something on my blog my head begins to hurt. Because, frankly, I don’t find myself that interesting. Or, at least, the interesting stories I have probably aren’t fit for a blog viewed by the general public. And it’s summer, so my mind wanders. And I pretty much say everything either in my sports column or on the radio show. How much more do people need?

Still, when I go several days without posting on my blog, I feel guilty. So I write something like I’m writing today _ which is nothing, really.

I’m going to St. Louis next weekend for my first view of the new Busch Stadium. Of course, the Cardinals will be without the injured Albert Pujols. Just my luck.

I’m also going to a Tom Petty concern there. I love Petty but have never seen him in concert. So that’s something to look forward to.

And, best of all, I’m on vacation next week. I’m on vacation four of the next seven weeks, actually, which is something I’m very much looking forward to. Even though I know that after a few days, I’ll be itching to come back. I don’t know why, really.

OK, there’s a blog entry. Hope you enjoyed.

Yes, it’s that time again. Time for another game of Who is the Opinion Line caller?

Here we go with an item pulled directly from the editorial pages of The Eagle:

Bless columnist Mark McCormick for his concern about scantily clad girls jumping up and down at intersections. What the girls don’t realize is that bare skin is not attractive. Why did God put beautiful feathers on birds?

Well, I personally think God put beautiful feathers on birds so that they could fly. But that’s just me. Maybe it was to cover their very provocative bodies, I don’t pretend to know God’s motives. Anyway, this Opinion Line caller is a devoutly religious woman _ or at least thinks she is. And a bird watcher. There at least 12 bird houses in her back yard and she spends most of her time looking for red-breasted Nuthatch, although she will not utter the words "red-breasted." She calls the bird red-chested, though it irritates her husband of 37 years, who asks himself every day exactly what made him marry this woman.