* It’s still so early in the college football season and while there aren’t a lot of great games across the country this weekend, there are three intriguing and important match-ups in the Big 12. Baylor goes to West Virginia and while the Mountaineers have probably
West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith is considered one of the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy.
established themselves as an early favorite for a league championship (Kansas State is in the mix, too), this will be a test. West Virginia can score, but can West Virginia defend? Baylor can score, but can Baylor defend? Will this be a 62-58 game? Also, Texas visits Oklahoma State and we’re just not sure about either of these teams, are we? That Longhorns defense hasn’t been as dominant as was expected and OSU is a load for any opponent in Stillwater. Finally, Texas Tech visits Iowa State. Both teams are considered on the outside looking in on the league race, but the team that wins Saturday could kick open that door slightly. It’s shaping up as an interesting Saturday in the Big 12.
* Congratulations to Kansas basketball coach Bill Self for signing a contract extension, with a boost in pay, with the Jayhawks. Self is now under contract through 2022, when I’ll probably be retired. On second thought, I better be retired. Two of my best friends have retired early and neither is having any problem with it. And while I love what I do, I’ve been working full-time for a long, long time. Retirement appeals to me, although I really have no idea what I’ll do. Oh my goodness, what will I do? It just occurred to me that it’s probably best to have something to do when one retires. I apologize. What started out as a congratulatory note for Bill Self has turned into a personal panic attack. Maybe I won’t retire. Maybe I’ll work until I’m 100. Then again, what if nobody will have me? This isn’t good. Not good at all.
* Aerosmith is coming to the Intrust Bank Arena on Nov. 11 and I love me some rock and roll. These kinds of acts have been in short supply for Wichita, which has been deemed by the concert promoters as a “country town.” Hey, I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that label. So I have a chance to do something about it by purchasing Aerosmith tickets. And don’t forget, Cheap Trick is also a part of the Nov. 11 show. But – and this is a huge BUT!!! – the best tickets for the show are $150 each. And I don’t go cheap when it comes to concerts; I want the good seats. Question is: Is Aerosmith (with Cheap Trick) worth that kind of money? The danger with a concert like this is that Aerosmith will play more of the songs from their upcoming CD, “Music From Another Dimension,” than the old hits. That new music, by the way, is scheduled to be released just five days before the Wichita show. It’s important for us to support rock and roll acts at the IBA so as not to be completely overwhelmed by country music acts. But this is a tough one for me.
* If this sounds unpatriotic, I apologize. But as I was watching the Ryder Cup earlier today, I found myself rooting for the Europeans in almost as many matches as I was pulling for the Americans. But I don’t really view golf through the prism or patriotism. There are players I like and players I don’t like and their nationality doesn’t much come into play. I do know this; the Medinah Country Club, located just outside of Chicago, looks spectacular. It should be a fun weekend of golf and I do believe the Americans will pull it out.
* Would U.S. captain Davis Love III think about benching Tiger Woods? Just a thought. Probably not.
* I love playing golf. I wished more people asked me to play. I should cultivate friendships, maybe that would work.
* As I’m working on this blog, the guys who are painting my house just pulled up. That excites me and I can tell because I’m typing really, really fast at the moment. Why don’t I paint my house myself? Because that’s hard work and because I have always been terrible with a paint brush in my hands. Art was my worst subject in school. I have a paint-phobia because of it, really. It’s best to leave the painting to the professionals.
* The fall is the best time of the year for movies. So I spent some time earlier looking through the list of films that will be released from now through the end of the year. And I wrote down 27 movies that I feel like I should see. That’s ambitious, considering I’ve been to the movies once in the past four months. Pathetic.
* It feels like a huge fall for movies to me. I underlined five must-see movies, starting with “Lincoln,” directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Doesn’t that have to be one of the greatest movies ever, considering the subject, the director and the lead actor? How can this movie miss? Four others that I think everyone has to see: “Hitchcock,” starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Scarlett Johannson; “Zero Dark Thirty,” about the hunt for Osama bin Laden and directed by Kathryn Bigelow; “Argo,” directed by and starring Ben Affleck; and “Django Unchained,” directed by Quentin Tarentino with a cast that includes Jamie Foxx, Don Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio. There are lots of other movies on my list, including: “The Paperboy,” “Oranges,” “Butter,” “Seven Psychopaths,” “Alex Cross,” “Paranormal Activity 4,” “The Sessions,” “Cloud Atlas,” “Flight,” “A Late Quartet,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Killing Them Softly,” “Hyde Park on the Hudson,” “This is 40,” “This Must Be the Place,” “Jack Reacher,” “The Impossible,” “Les Miserables,” “The Guilt Trip,” and “Promised Land.”
” That’s an ambitious list, yes? But they all sound so good.
” It feels strange not having a college football game to cover Saturday. My plan is to hunker down in front of the TV and watch some of those interesting Big 12 games.
* I had lunch today at Cheddar’s. That’s one of my favorite restaurants.
* I’m headed out to my son’s bachelor party a little later. He’s getting married three weeks from tomorrow. It’s all a little surreal to me. But I’m very excited.
* Thanks for reading. I pretty much just wing it with these Friday blogs. By the way, my Lutz Live Chat (LLC) will be up and running again Tuesday, and every Tuesday thereafter through at least the college basketball season. I look forward to getting back to the people.