Welcome to Wildcat Weekly Wrap (WWW.) This week, I had lunch with a K-State beat writer from a northeast Kansas newspaper and he informed me that this is the “slow season” for covering K-State athletics. I have to agree with his assessment. However, as always, Jug Of Snyder has scoured the sports landscape and covered so much K-State news that I cannot fit it all into the weekly wrap. Here are the highlights.
This week, Jug Of Snyder introduced the world to Brady Bauman’s column “Bill Snyder Laughed So Hard...” The world’s reaction has been a mix of joy, amusement and confusion. Incidentally, these are the exact feelings Brady warned us to watch out for as he unveiled his column about Bill Snyder’s encounter with a disproportioned goat and a time travelling reporter. At the risk of confusing you even more, I’m going to suggest you just give it a read.
Jug O Snyder’s Dean Jameson also introduced his answer to the questions surrounding a College Football Playoff in his new article “A College Football Playoff Plan That Works.” The plan features 6 simple rules. Like all plans surrounding the college football postseason, not everyone will like it. It does, however, present a good alternative to some of the ideas being floated by selfish university presidents and conference commissioners. Are we really going to have to sit through another bowl season shrouded in controversy with teams crying foul? The answer is almost certainly “yes.” My views on the topic (not that it matters): Give me a top 8 team playoff or give me death.
In basketball news this week, Austin Meek of the Topeka Capital-Journal took an in depth look at Rodney McGruder’s transition to the new Weber regime. He seems most excited about the new freedom he and his teammates will have on the offense end.
The worst news of the week came in football with the realization that not only was Jeff Luc not a done deal, as reported on 5/25. He is, in fact, not a “deal” at all. This week it was announced that he has enrolled at Cincinnati. Jameson follows the story of his commitment with an honest story about where he went wrong in his initial reporting. At the end of the day, these are kids making decisions and schools keeping information confidential, and it’s a difficult area in which to report, as many sources found out this week.
K-State is made noise in the golf world this week as K-Stater Joe Ida won the Watson Challenge which purportedly determines the best golfer in the greater Kansas City-area, and Aaron Watkins teed it up at the US Open. Watkins made the cut to play on the weekend. Going into the final round on Sunday he was tied for 18th at +5 and just 6 strokes off the lead. You can track Watkins’ final round at the U.S. Open website on Sunday.
Finally this week, track season ended with three K-Staters earning All America honors. Erik Kynard brought home the national championship in the high jump with Mantas Silkauskas and Ryann Krais making the All-America team as well. Overall, K-State’s men’s track program finished in the top 25 for the second consecutive year.