Three Quickies

A number of items to comment on since last time:

KU plastered Nebraska on Saturday. Big thanks to Ryan for giving up his ticket. I went with Chad and his little (or, should I say "younger" as he's 14 and playing football now) brother, John. It was John's first game at Allen Fieldhouse and it turned out to be a good way to start out: KU 96 - NU 54. KU shot lights-out from the beginning and Nebraska had no chance. Jeff Hawkins was 5-5 from 3-point range while Brandon Rush and Russell Robinson shot extremely well from the outside, too. The inside play was rough and each team's physical play neutralized the other's. As ususal, our guards shut down the opponents guards, with Robinson doing a fine job on an out-of-shape Joe McCray.

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Yesterday, we found out that heralded freshman Micah Downs decided to quit the team to attend to "personal issues". While it's disappointing to lose a player with so much potential, I don't think it really hurts our team that much. He's been unable to crack the rotation on a team where every spot was up for grabs to the guys who worked the hardest. Considering we have one of the top prep guards in the country coming to Lawrence next year, opportunities for playing time weren't getting any easier. I wish him luck, personally, as he seems to have had a history of conflicts that are going to dog him in his basketball career and life until he figures out a way to resolve them.

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The Royals and Chiefs continued their quest to blackmail Jackson County residents by signing the newly proposed leases to appear on the April 11 ballot. You can view the leases here.

After reading some materials and listening to talk radio, this plan is not in the best interests of the fans and residents of the Kansas City area. Figures posted at downtownkc.org lend credence to the fact that for the amount of tax money generated by this proposal, a new ballpark can be built downtown for the Royals, while renovating Arrowhead. The best example I heard was this: It would be like fixing up your 1984 Honda Accord to original factory condition, adding a CD-player but paying the same amount it would cost to purchase a new Cadillac. Doesn't seem to make much sense. Hopefully, the voters will reject this proposal and the right people can get a plan in place that benefits everyone, not just Lamar Hunt and David Glass.