Could off-court issues sink Kansas?
Posted: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 9:05 AM
Filed Under:
Rants, Big 12
It’s funny. Planned to do a post this morning on Kansas guard Xavier Henry and how he’s already loving life in Lawrence. He’s bonding with his teammates, impressing in practice and raising the level of play.
Sounds like he’s not the typical freshman. You know, acting immaturely or getting into fights and stuff. Guess that falls to everyone else.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images |
Tyshawn Taylor shoots against Nebraska.
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The Kansas basketball and football team reportedly scuffled Tuesday night, which resulted in sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor suffering a dislocated left thumb. He’ll miss 3-4 weeks. But it doesn’t sound like he regrets it.
From his Facebook page: "I got a dislocated finger ..from throwing a punch ..so don't let the news paper gas yall up aite. … real (racial slur)s do real things .. point plankn."
Now, aside from the wisdom of fighting with football players – you know, big, hulking guys who play a violent sport – it sounds like this kind of thing has been brewing for some time at KU.
According to Lawrence Journal-World sports editor Tom Keegan, this kind of fracas frequently happens with the basketball and football players. The KU athletic department isn’t one big, happy family, but more like the Hatfields and McCoys.
Bar owners and patrons know it. Students know it. Cops know it. The only reason you haven’t read more about it is because precise details of said skirmishes have been difficult to nail down.
It’ll be tough to deny that premise. Another fight was reported Wednesday morning around 10 a.m. CT. Fights between athletes aren’t anything new – hockey and baseball players fight during games, let alone afterward – but this kind of constant tension on campus can’t be easy to handle. Especially when athletes start going to the hospital. This isn't to say more players are going to get hurt, or even that more fights will happen.
But the longer that tension sticks around, the chances will rise that something foolish could derail KU in March.
It’s funny. Up until now, I always considered Kentucky the biggest obstacle to Kansas’ national title hopes this season. If there are many more fights, maybe that's no longer true.
UPDATE: According to the Kansan (the student newspaper), nearly the whole basketball team was present for Wednesday's incident. This quote sums up the whole affair nicely. "Mario Little told me football players had beef with Sherron [Collins]," said Erryn Kindle, a KU student. "He said they were talking trash."
And, for those seeking the lighter side of this mess, there's pointplankn.com. Wow. (H/T: Gary Parrish)
