T.G.I.F.

- Did anyone else think that tomorrow's game between Kansas State and West Virginia would be "the" game, at mid-season, of the Big 12 conference schedule?  No, I didn't think so.  West Virginia was expected to contend with Oklahoma for the league championship but no one thought KSU would be quite this good.  Once again, many of us underestimated the impact of the ol' ball coach in Manhattan and his ability to get teams to play disciplined, error-free football.

- If you watched "No Place Like Home," the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on the rules of basketball coming to the University of Kansas, you were introduced to Josh Swade, the sometimes crazed KU hoops fans who made it his personal mission to get James Naismith's rules back home.  As one of my friends said of Swade, "the dude was bat-s@#! crazy."  Sometimes, I guess we all need someone who is "bat s@#! crazy" to take on a task of this magnitude.

- I'm not an anti-New York Yankee fan but I must admit that I find it humorous when the Bronx Bombers fail miserably.  Here's an amazing couple of stats to chew on in the wake of the Yanks loss to Detroit in the American League Championship Series:  Alex Rodriguez, he of the $29 million salary in 2012, had all of one hit in the series against the Tigers; Robinson Cano, was even worse going 0-for-29 in the postseason, which is a major league record for postseason failure.

- Hank Steinbrecher, former head of the U.S. Soccer Federation, posted this on his Facebook wall after the U.S. soccer team's win over Guatemala at LiveStrong Sporting Park in Kansas City earlier this week:  "Last night I watched our National Team play in Kansas City.  It was a terrific victory and puts us through to the hex.  What I was really impressed with is the Fan.  KC fans were exactly what they should be.  I think one of the greatest advancements in American Soccer is not on the field, but rather in the stands...I thank the U.S. Soccer family for making us all proud.  I had tears in my eyes!"

- The Kansas City Royals finished the season with an overall attendance of 1,739,859, or 21,748 per game at home, which is 2.1% improvement year over year.  The team won 72 games in 2012, which is one more than they won in 2011--a whopping 1.4% improvement year-over-year.