A Dose of Reality (TV Stars)

Some buddies and I went to Columbia for the KU-MU basketball game yesterday. We got some pizza and beer at this popular Mizzou hangout, Shakespeare's. While we were there, my friend Ryan is getting another pitcher and this couple walks in behind him. The guy was a big dude, wearing a KU shirt and hat and the girl was wearing a KU shirt also. So Ryan says "Rock chalk" to the guy and he just kind of looks at him like he's from another planet. They end up sitting at a table next to our booth and we start to discuss the fact that this big guy looks like Casey Wiegmann, the center for the Chiefs. Someone also mentions that the girls sort of looks like Danni from "Survivor".

We finished eating and headed to the arena. Lo and behold, across the aisle in our row are Wiegmann and this girl. We start arguing about whether that is Danni or not until a couple of girls go up to her and ask for her autograph. At that point, we knew it was her.

Apparently, she knew some other KU fans that were sitting a few seats down from us on the other side and she came over and talked to them briefly. There were a couple of open seats in front of us, so they stayed there for a while until the rightful owners of those seats arrived, and they retreated back to their seats across the aisle from us.

So at halftime, she comes back and is trying to get some mints from the folks she was talking to earlier in our row. She's standing right next to my friend Doug who says "So, do you still talk to Lydia?" She laughed and said that, actually, she does. So then we started talking about how the game was going and Doug asks her what she's up to now. She says she's working for the new Kansas City Arena League Football team, the Brigade and that CBS hired her to do some human interest-type stories for the NCAA tournament. She ended up going back to her seat, but whenever anything would happen during the game, she would look over at us and occasionally mouth a comment about what was going on during the game.

All in all, she was pretty cool and MUCH more attractive in person, though still a pretty thin chick. Unfortunately, she didn't bring much luck to the ol' Jayhawks and neither did we.

Now, in anticipation of potential questions and rebuttals, I've prepared a FAQ sheet:


Q: Did meeting Danni, the winner of "Survivor: Guatemala", ease the torture of a painful loss to Mizzou?

A: Nearly, but not quite. My first thought was, "I can't believe we just blew this game." My second thought was, "Get the hell out of this place before someone chucks something at me." My third thought was, "Isn't that cool? She waved at me as we were leaving." So, while it certainly softened the blow, it still bites to lose to Missouri.


Q: Did you get her digits?

A: No. Common sense says you don't try to hit on someone who's accompanied by a 285-lb. football player. At least, that's what MY common sense tells me and I'm still alive to this day.


Q: Did you drool and stutter when attempting to talk to her?

A: Contrary to what Doug will tell you, the answer is no. While Doug deserves some credit for opening the conversation with his lame Lydia question, I did manage to steer the conversation to basketball with an eloquence few have ever been witness to.


Q: Should Christian Moody be hung by his thumbs for missing two free throws with .4 seconds left that would have won the game?

A: No, his index fingers would be fine. Actually, the team shot 21-35 on free throws, so there's plenty of blame to pass around.


Q: Was anyone freaking guarding Thomas Gardner?

A: Yes. In the first half, Brandon Rush drew the assignment and allowed him to score 20 points. Coach Self adjusted by switching to Russell Robinson who, while an improvement, still allowed him to score an additional 20 points in the second half/overtime.


Q: Were there any positives for KU in this game?

A: Yes. The offense, particularly in the last 10 minutes of the game, scored or managed to draw a foul nearly every time down the court, matching Missouri's effort. Given the lows we've seen from this offense, that was amazing. Also, Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson are quickly becoming All-Conference-caliber guards. If you had told me last year that Russell Robinson would give me great confidence at the end of a game like this, I would have laughed in your face.


Q: Any specific negatives?

A: Yes. Sasha Kaun and C.J. Giles continue to play below their abilities. On the other hand, Darnell Jackson has proved solid in picking up for these two. Julian Wright only saw 9 minutes of action, further perplexing the KU faithful. And Brandon Rush needs to continue to improve mentally, realizing that it's okay for him to take the big shot. If he had taken the ball to the rim in overtime rather than dump it off to an unsuspecting Darnell Jackson, we might still be playing.


Q: Were Missouri fans obnoxious and violent?

A: No more so than normal. Actually, we only had one guy really heckling us, screaming at us to sit down until he was blue in the face. Naturally, we continued to stand. Also, there was a mixed bag of comments as we waited for Nate (a Mizzou guy) and Ryan (who were sitting on the opposite side of the arena) to meet us after the game. If KU had won, things might have been different, but the MU fans were generally tolerable. Special thanks to Nate for hanging us out to dry in enemy territory.


Q: Will Kansas win it's next game against Nebraska?

A: If they don't, I may never write another word ever again.