OTC: KU’s Record Football Tix Sales Points To Hoops Hysteria
“I’ve got some news out of KU tonight that should make Mark Mangino happy.”
Jack Harry, teasing his Tuesday night sportscast on KSHB 41
GH: You would think a veteran viewer like me would be above falling for these kind of just-before-the-break TV teases. But no, I stopped surfing Tiger Woods’ texts to turn up Mad Jack and find out what was happening in L-Town that would make MM smile. Read on for why I need not have bothered.
“I got an email tonight from the University of Kansas Athletic Department announcing that said KU football fans have purchased – are you ready for this? – 7,600 season tickets in the last 24 hours! This is absolutely mind boggling, considering what’s going on at Mount Oread! This football team lost its final seven games of the season and its football coach is about to be run out of town for physically and verbally abusing former and current members of his team.”
Jack Harry, KSHB 41
GH: Before Jack shaves his head and starts wearing a diaper to protest the unfair treatment of Mangino, let me shed some light – and a bit of reporting – on the reason for this rush to the ticket box office by KU “football” fans. KU sent a postcard to all Kansas football and basketball season ticket holders announcing that they would hold a one-day special offer of 10 points to 20 points for each football season ticket purchased online on November 30th. As anyone who is familiar with Kansas athletics knows, these “points” are used to determine the annual pecking order for seating inside Allen Fieldhouse for KU men’s basketball games. The rush to order football tickets had very little to do with football and almost everything to do with the basketball-mad fan base of the Jayhawks.
“The athletic director came out of hiding tonight to say it’s a single-day record for ticket (sales) but of course Lew Perkins didn’t mention Mark Mangino by name.”
Jack Harry, KSHB 41
GH: Perkins would have been more accurate if he would have mentioned Xavier Henry’s name and thanked Bill Self for the record football season ticket sales. BTW, while KU claimed this to be a “one-day” record, I know that a number of Kansas fans purchased their tickets on Tuesday, a day after the deadline had passed. There are a lot of rules that get bent when it comes to accumulating these KU points. One thing that does not get short changed is the KU athletic department’s coffers. Say what you will about Lew, but he makes it rain harder in Lawrence than a multi-class reunion at Haskell U.
“This new ticket sales could represent another large chunk of money for Mangino’s buyout. 40,000 season tickets means an extra $125,000 for this embattled 53-year-old head coach.”
Jack Harry, KSHB 41
GH: I’m not sure what Jack meant here but I’m guessing Mangino’s contract calls for some compensation tied to season ticket sales. Lew could pay off this chump change out of his coin purse.
“KU officials told us tonight they are not certain of the exact number of season tickets sold. I’ll bet you this, Mangino will find out in a hurry! He’ll need an armored truck when he leaves Lawrence.
Jack Harry, KSHB 41
GH: Mangino is going to get $6.6 million to disappear. About the same amount David Blaine spent to make the London Bridge disappear.
“Unfortunately, the Chiefs are married to Matt Cassel next year. For my money, Cassel doesn’t see year three with the Chiefs. Matt Cassel is not playing good football. You can’t just blame everybody else and not Matt Cassel. Matt Cassel is a below-average quarterback who is a backup in this league. He shows it week in and week out.”
Cowboy Cory Anderson, 610 AM
GH: Cowboy is adamant that it is NOT too early to evaluate Cassel. He may be right. I prefer to think Cassel is still growing into his role as an NFL starter. I wish his arm was more like Blaine Gabbert’s gun but I think the guy can play. Scott Todd will give him two more years before they decide to move on. If Cowboy is correct, those will be two more very dark seasons.
“It probably will not be until October of next year before we know what we’ve got in Scott Pioli and Todd Haley.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: That’s not much time for this duo to turn things around. It might help if they win two of three here at Arrowhead this month.
“They’ve got these three home games in December where they can show some progress. Well, that starts with the Denver game this week. I think it’s a huge week for the Chiefs.”
Mitch Holthus, 710 AM
GH: Denver is just a better team than the Chiefs. I don’t think this Sunday’s game is nearly as huge as the two that follow – Buffalo and Cleveland. Scott Todd will be expected to win both.
“Either you love Brett Favre or you don’t love Brett Favre. Either way, you gotta like the way he enjoys playing football.”
Herm Edwards, 810 AM
GH: Favre has passed for 24 TDs and only tossed 3 INTs. Wowser! Is Favre the leading candidate for the MVP award? Or does Drew Brees deserve the honor this season? Hopefully somebody votes for the Titans running back, Chris Johnson. How good is this cat? His 4.24 40 time at the 2008 NFL Combine is the fastest ever recorded for a running back. He reminds me of Gale Sayers in that tacklers rarely get a dead-on hit on him.
“I am running out of words to praise this offense.”
Mike Tirico, as the New Orleans Saints dismantled New England on MNF, ESPN
GH: I dub Drew Brees’ Bayou Saints; The Greatest Show on Surf, as they ride the wave to a probable Super Bowl in Miami. Let’s dream a little and think about an NFC title game January 24th in New Orleans that matches Southern Mississippi’s Brett Favre against Brees and his Surfing buddies. Jared Allen could make Brees’ day anything but breezy.
“Hopefully, this silly season about who’s going where starts to die down so we can focus on winning a Big East championship.”
Brian Kelly, Cincinnati’s head coach and one of the most mentioned names to replace Charlie Weis at Notre Dame, ABC
GH: You have to love these coaches at minor schools who pooh pooh the talk of them bolting from their meager hamlets to higher-profile and higher-paying coaching jobs. The only thing silly about this kind of talk is Kelly wanting us to believe he’s staying at Cincy.
“Does it really matter who the coach is going to be (at Notre Dame)? Is it realistic to have those kind of expectations academically and still expect a coach to win 10 or 11 games a year? I think you have to be more realistic and become a six- or seven-win team because that’s maybe who they are.”
Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN Radio
GH: If Notre Dame has to come to grips with being a 7-win team, how realistic is it for K-State and Kansas fans to expect their squads to win 9 games a year? Their academic standards might not be as ardent as Rudy’s school but the Big 12 is a lot rougher than ND’s schedule.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been around anybody who tries to please as much as (Xavier Henry) does. …I think the guys have really responded well to that.”
Bill Self, Hawk Talk
GH: I think we experienced that during X’s recruiting. There was nary a school or coach he didn’t commit to, twice.
“I’m gonna get guys to either buy in or quit – one or the other. We’ve got some guys on our team that are great and they’re gonna give us everything they have. We’ve got some other guys who don’t want to give us, so I’m either gonna get it out of them or I’m gonna get them out of here.”
Frank Martin, to Stan Weber in a postgame interview following K-State’s narrow 83-76 win over Division II Fort Hays State, Fox Sports Midwest
GH: I wasn’t too sure about Martin when he was quickly hired to replace Huggy. His smarmy looks, mafia-cut suits and Jersey Boys accent just didn’t make much sense in the middle of Kansas corn country. But I’m warming to his brash style and his tell-it-like-it-is approach. Let’s just say I don’t think too many KU linebackers could hack Coach Frank.
“A LITTLE KNOWN BASEBALL FACT: The first testicular guard (Cup) was used in baseball in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1934. It took 60 years for men to realize that the brain is also important.”
Anonymous
Greghall24@yahoo.com and Twitter/greghall24
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:12 am
Greg,
You may be right about Cassell being able to play, but the only place he has ever demonstrated that ability is at New England with Randy Moss, Wes Welker and that great offensive line. Do you think Scott Todd will be able to put together the quality of team Cassell will need if he is going to play to the level you think he is capable of?
I was on board with the Cassell acquisition and I’m not going back on that now, but it seems clear that even if Cassell is able to play at the necessary level to achieve success, he is going to need some players around him. Do you think Pioli can assemble that kind of talent?
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:44 am
“GH: Mangino is going to get $6.6 million to disappear. About the same amount David Blaine spent to make the London Bridge disappear.”
..and if Coach Mangino stays, can we expect an apology out you?
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:12 am
again…lew perkins shows what a scumbag he is.
He will be in the end an embarassment to the
ku fans.
He cheap shots the coach…he pulls off this
hideous “clearance” SALE like he’s running a
used car lot and he uses the bait and switch
tactics of wal mart to sell football tickets.
Whats next? a going out of business sale for
the athletic department. Oh..how about a buy
one..get one free deal. Maybe lew stands outside
the local grocery store with a red kettle during the holidays and collects donations.
This guy is a pure sh*thead. Anyone that would
insult the family of phog allen by forcing them
out of allen fieldhouse to make a buck is a
piece of sh*t.
KU fans…this guy has destroyed the program.
He’s taking you down the wrong path. His attempt to raise money by screwing over long time ku
alumni and fans to make money was not only
sad but insulting.
Keep mangino…get rid of perkins. It will save
you lots of heartaches in the future.
The university of kansas deserves better.
This slick con man perkins deserves a boot
out of lawrence.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:18 am
wt,
If Coach Mangino stays, you have my apologies for what will be the sorriest recruiting class this side of the French army.
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:26 am
“…he makes it rain harder in Lawrence than a multi-class reunion at Haskell U…”
Funny as hell, but racist? Tony…where are you?
What KStater has said they expect 9 win seasons?
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:41 am
I wonder if KK will tell us stories about Frank Martin “that will make our blood boil” when Martin gets canned?
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:44 am
Matt Cassel is an average QB that can be made to appear to be above average by a good team. He is not the kind of QB that will make an average team better.
Notre Dame will never achieve the kind of success they expect with their academic standards. It’s unrealistic. it’s tough to find kids with the thug mentaliity necessary to excel in D1 with a 4.0 GPA.
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
Gavin and ManD,
You may both be correct about Cassel. QB is one of those positions where a player can and does improve. Trent Green was brutal his first year as a starter for the Chiefs. Even Peyton Manning struggled early. Cassel may be just another not-good-enough QB but I see enough heart to want to give him more of a chance. I never felt that way about Grbac.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:57 am
Listening to Chris and Cowboys the other day I realized what idiots they are. They start by talking about how wrong they were about Vince Young and how they judged him to prematurely. So then what do they do? Repeat the same mistake with Cassel and spend 20 minutes telling us how he is a second string QB at best. What idiots.
Greg since when do we give out MVP awards based on combine records.
Sounds like Frank Martin should be the new KU coach.
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
ANY QB would have problems producing yardage and points behind a piss-poor O-line like the Chiefs have, so until they get that fixed I just don’t think anybody can judge whether Cassel is truly worth building around or not.
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:10 pm
rick,
CJ rushed for 800 yards in the month of November. The Combine is in April. He needs 705 in his final 5 games to pass the great Eric Dickerson’s single-season mark of 2,105. I ain’t gonna bet against him getting it. This dude is Mike Vick quick and Insane Bolt fast.
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
The diffrence between Young and Cassel is that Young did start in college.
What I see so far from Cassel is that he’s Grbac at best.
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Greg-So your believe he should be MVP is not related to the combine that’s just a fact you added. I’m with u now.
Just listening to the radio and them talking about Drew Brees. The Chargers felt they needed to draft a QB because Brees was not good enough in his first few years. Marty then realized how great he was. Marty left. Drew injured and out the door. Now we are talking about him as possible MVP. My point is most opinions about Cassel at this point is just to early in the game. Just as all those “experts” predicting the Chiefs would lose 16 after a few games were to early and obviously wrong.
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
2nd rate school deserves 2nd rate bowl game.
Mizzou could drop to the Texas Bowl
12/02/2009 12:42 PM
Missouri, whose athletic department officials as late as Tuesday believed the Tigers would be invited to play in the Insight Bowl, are preparing for the worst.
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Its funny when fans of teams that didn’t make a bowl try and mock another team’s bowl.
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:04 pm
And the chargers replaced Brees with another good QB. Who says KC can’t so the same with Matt Grbac?
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
You get funny points for that John. Very funny.
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
ha ha…wtf…whereever mu goes beats mangino/
reesing/briscoe/meier jacking off each otrher..
or k state sitting at home wishing they’d beaten
another small school…
hey we’ll take any bowl…because at mu…the
best is yet to come…see ya next year
loser!
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Comparing Cassel to Young is like comparing Botello to Hemingway.
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:19 pm
MU or KSU fans gloating in KU’s football misery would trade places with us in a heartbeat. I’ve still got Orange Bowl and NCAA Champs gear in original packaging, it’s that fresh.
This year’s baskeball team seems pretty good too.
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Utah, no we would not. Mizzou has been to 4 Orange Bowls. And we aren’t douchebags.
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Hey all you MU / KSU goofs, jealous lil dorks that you are, be sure to tune in tonight as the MIGHTY KANSAS JAYWAWKS MENS BASKETBALL take the court again. Take a look at what a REAL SCHOOL LOOKS LIKE …. CAN YOU SAY NATIONAL CHAMPIONS …. THIS DECADE ?? and hopefully many more to come. KU is locked, stocked and loaded for big game ,,,, have fun looking on, and being jealous.
btw-
Go ahaed and tear apart Coach Mangino all you want, he did good, I hope he stays.
ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK GO KU!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Lets see what this KSU / MU loving thread writer has to say after football season is over. What will he print when all this area has is KANSAS JAYHAWK BASKETBALL …. oops all this area has now is Kansas Basketball.
anyway…
I am sure he will find some way to still toss insults at KU, oh well, lol, hens always do.
December 2nd, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Hey PS,
History still awaits!!!!
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
“You have to love these coaches at minor schools who pooh pooh the talk of them bolting from their meager hamlets to higher-profile and higher-paying coaching jobs. The only thing silly about this kind of talk is Kelly wanting us to believe he’s staying at Cincy.”
What I think is silly GH is the idea that he should leave Cincy. Their a BCS Big East school. Why not stay? What does the Big 12 have that the Big East doesn’t? A undefeted Big East school can go to the BCS title game, just as easily has a Big 12, Pac 10 or a Big 10 school.
Dan Hawkins is now the poster boy for coaches at Mid Majors or smaller BCS schools to stay put. He helped build a good program at Boise, left and you see what has become of him.
Kelly, stay at Cincy, forget ND, Kansas, Arizona State or were ever.
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Hope all you chickens are happy, Coach Mangino is gone…which is sad for me,, oh well, not much good news these days.
now go find something else to cluck buc buc about ,,, you fkn hens.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Hey what was that bro thinking, that’s crazy