Jug Of News (05.14.12)

Welcome to our humble abode. Pull up a seat and grab a glass for a sip from todays Jug of News. Hit the jump for a new writer  joining the JOS team, Krais and Kynard making the Big 12 Outdoor Championships their b- –err, I mean, doing what they do–over the weekend, the University of Kansas AD Sheahon Zenger trying to find an answer for K-State’s domination of KU in every sport but basketball, the Wildcat baseball team winning a Big 12 series (!!) over the Jayhawks, and KSU achieving the academic equivalent of hiring Mike Krzyzewski to coach basketball.

First, let’s welcome Heath Fanning to the JOS staff! Heath is going to be our “Chief Humor Officer”, and over the weekend, he posted a really funny piece on how to maintain a romantic relationship with a fanatical K-State fan. If you don’t laugh, you may well need a sense of humor transplant.

After winning Big 12 championships in their respective events, Erik Kynard (high jump) and Ryann Krais (heptathlon) can now focus on qualifying for this summer’s London Olympics. Kellis Robinett has an interesting story in the Kansas City Star on Krais’s stirring comeback win, after she fell far behind on Day 1. Austin Meek wrote about Kynard’s less-scintillating, but equally outstanding, win for the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Brad Hill’s Wildcat baseball team went into the weekend in desperate need of a series win against the Jayhawks. After splitting the first two games on Friday (a 2-0 win) and Saturday (a 6-0 loss), the Cats faced a must-win game on Sunday evening. A loss would have dropped them to 1.5 games behind the Jayhawks, with only three games left on the schedule. Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning up only 5-3, the Wildcats put the proverbial nail in the coffin by plating 4 runs to go up 9-3, which ended up as the final score. The Wildcats (24-28, 5-16) head into next weekend’s final series of the regular season against the Texas Tech Red Raiders down only 1/2 game. The Cats most likely need to simply avoid a sweep in order to make the Big 12 postseason tournament.

Speaking of the Jayhawks, their athletic director Sheahon Zenger (a K-State alum) is desperate to stem the non-basketball domination that K-State has displayed over his current employer. In six months he has fired two coaches (Turner Gill and golf coach Kit Grove), in an attempt to reverse the trend. Here’s hoping that he hires a golf coach using the same methods that led him to hire Charlie Weis to helm the football team. Charlie Weis. Thank you, sooper sekrit double agent Zenger.

Finally, on the academic front, K-State made what could very well be their most important hire ever. Internationally known pharmacology expert Jim Riviere has joined the Kansas State faculty, and is the first National Academy of Science member to serve on our faculty. Riviere’s duties begin August 1, and he will be paid $260,000 per year. He will serve as the McDonald Chair of Veterinary Medicine and a University Distinguished professor in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Jan Biles has the whole story covered for the Capital-Journal.

Finally, on the sports-related academic side of things, 56 K-State student-athletes graduated at this weekend’s commencement ceremonies. KSU has led the Big 12 in athlete graduation rates in four of the past five academic years.