Daily Archives: Feb. 28, 2008

I GOT FIVE ON IT - Bob Lutz

Feb. 28, 20083:33 p.m.

This man is a trip. He kills me. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but I finally asked him. He agreed, and The Eagle’s sports columnist breezed through some questions for his favorite fan base:

1. Why do people get the impression you hate Kansas State? You love KU, don’t you?

Hate? Love? These are very strong emotions. Everybody knows I have no emotion. I simply judge the sports world from a stoic ivory tower and pass down judgments that are, usually, without fault. Can an ivory tower be stoic? Sorry, sometimes my own writing distracts me. Anyway, back to your question. My father whipped me with a purple belt when I was young, so maybe that has something to do with my “hatred.” There were now crimson and blue belts in our house. This is all deeply psychological and, honestly, I’m not comfortable with self-examination. The bottom line is that I’m a sports columnist who writes about my many, many opinions. Everybody has opinions; I get to share mine in a newspaper. I’m sure that annoys people. Hell, it annoys me sometimes. But I have no hatred or love for Kansas State. Ditto for Kansas. And Wichita State. And Delaware State. The only team I have “love” for is the St. Louis Cardinals, and I have a really strong feeling they’re going to test that love this summer. I’m equally loathed by Wichita State fans. And KU fans are just too cool to really care that much about what a columnist in Wichita has to say.

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By J-Mart | Filed under I GOT FIVE ON IT | Comments (17)

Joe Lunardi says…

Feb. 28, 20082:09 p.m.

Speaking on an ESPN teleconference all, the so-called bracketologist said the “last 12″ criteria the NCAA Selection Committee uses won’t really affect K-State:

“I think it used to be more of an absolute than it is. I think what happens now is they really look at the level of competition in those last games. If Davidson is playing all Southern Conference teams in its last 12 and goes 12-0, it’s not as significant as Arizona going 7-5 in the Pac-10. They’re more than savvy enough to understand the difference. And like all of these elements, different ones are factored in more for different teams depending on circumstances. It’s going to huge for Kentucky. For Kansas State — that happened to build its resume more in January than February and March — unless they really stink things up here by losing games they absolutely shouldn’t.”

Lunardi also said to discount the Michael Beasley factor when it comes to being chosen in the field of 65:

“I really don’t think so. Might I be a committee member who says, ‘Man, I’ve seen that kid four times and he’s unbelievable… I want to see him in my tournament?’ Yes, but it’s not like the games aren’t sold out. It’s not as if people don’t watch the games. The tournament is the draw, not necessarily an individual. Kevin Durant left in the second round last year, and I think people continued to pay attention.” 

By J-Mart | Filed under Basketball | Comments (6)