Bring On The Cats: FanPosts

So who is going to be this year's Texas?

mystman995 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:36:46 -0000

With back-to-back major upsets over Texas the past two years, who's most likely going to be the next? Who's national title hopes will be squashed?

I left out KU because frankly I don't think a win over them would be that much of an upset since we were expected to beat them so many times in the past. Plus I don't see them being anywhere close to the team that they were last year especially when they hit the bulk of the conference schedule.

Poll

Who will be this year's Texas?

Baylor, better coaching destination than K-State?

rptgwb — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:33:33 -0000

Sorry, TB and 'Cats fans, I just wanted to gather your thoughts on Tim Griffin's assertion that Baylor is a more desirable coaching destination than Kansas State.

Here's the excerpt:

10. Baylor -- Receives a small boost over the other schools because of its proximity to the rich Texas recruiting base. The school faces some unique challenges as the smallest school in the conference, along with its private-school status. Some might believe it's an impossible job, although Wake Forest's Jim Grobe has been successful in similar situation in the ACC. They always will have the daunting challenge of sticking with the South Division superpowers. But the Bears will have a new state-of-the-art football facility that will open soon. And if you really like Dr. Pepper, this would be your the place.

11. Kansas State -- Bill Snyder turned this program into a national power, transforming it in the most remarkable turnaround in modern college football history. But Snyder started to change the culture when KSU was in the Big Eight and not the Big 12. Its remote location in the North Division makes it difficult to recruit. But it can be done -- it's just not very easy. You just better know your way around the junior colleges in Kansas.

Does this seem as sketchy to you as it does to me?

Preseason Rankings are in.

mystman995 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:35:59 -0000

The all important and season defining rankings are now out for your viewing pleasure. On paper I do believe the Dawgs in Athens to be a healthy favorite for the national title game. But then again, who cares right now?

They need to stop doing this. The only solid good thing about the BCS rankings is how they wait the 8 weeks or so before handing out rankings. It hurts "cinderella teams" and magically favors a two loss team to be placed in the NC game because they looked good on paper during the summer.

BOTC Hits 50,000

TB — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:31:34 -0000

At about 9:11 p.m. tonight, somebody in Overland Park, Kan., became the 50,000th visitor to Bring On The Cats. I wish I could say I'm giving a prize away for that, but I'm not. If this was you, email me at bringonthecats @ gmail dot com and I'll give you your due recognition for clicking over from Jeffrey Martin's latest blog post to see what I'd said about Ron Prince.

Thanks to all of you for making this possible.

Mike Gundy is at it again.

mystman995 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:18:13 -0000

I'm a MAN! I'm 40!

Ok this post has nothing to do with the infamous rant, but how could I resist?

This time, during the Big 12 media days, he suggested a change in the schedule. To sum it up he threw out the idea of getting rid of the North and South divisions and playing 11 conference games each year with one non-conference game. Although it might be interesting to try out for a year and it would eliminate teams like KU getting to the national spotlight like last year, what the hell was he thinking?

I love the fact that he tried backing up his theory that it would cut down on financial costs because they wouldn't have to travel as far since conference teams are closer. Really? How many teams now actually travel to their non-conference games? Once every two years? Sounds like it would be more expensive to me to travel to an additional conference foe or two a year. I'm not a math or business major, but I don't think Gundy is either.

And yes, I don't think they'll be accepting his proposal either.

Fire Destroys 100-Year-Old Building in My Hometown

TB — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:11:51 -0000

This is in Nebraska, so very few of you probably have any interest, so if you don't, go ahead and stop reading. But Aurora, Nebraska's 104-year-old Fidelity Building was destroyed by fire on July 10th. Here are some videos, and you can see pictures at the Grand Island Independent's Web site. --If you listen to the audio, you can hear someone say "They're breaking those windows" while the firemen are spraying foam on the building. I had to think broken windows were the least of the worries. Finally, the story from the Independent linked above indicates two juveniles have confessed to setting the fire. Way to go, ya little shits.

Attention KC Chiefs Fans:

mystman995 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:10:39 -0000

I know this is a little off topic from K-State, but I figure there are some KC natives here and would like to know about the "rules" of Arrowhead. (and besides, TB writes little tid-bits about things from the 90's - where did those go by the way?)

I have never been to a Chiefs game (I was at Arrowhead when KSU played Cal in the BCA Classic in '03), but I had no idea of the stadium's Sit Down or Leave policy. This is ridiculous. What is your first instinct to do if you can't see a play at the other end of the field or when your team scores a touchdown? STAND UP AND CHEER! To make things even worse, apparently they have implemented texting as a way to tattle-tell on such "infractions."

Why don't they just rope off a few rows for the geezers who can't manage to stand up at the sight of a great play. Oh wait, they do. It's called the handicapped seating.....

2010 Recruiting Update

mystman995 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:16:45 -0000

Thisis hardly newsworthy, but...

For anybody who is as bored as I was today or who can't help wonder what the class of 2010 is looking like - here's a link to Rival's Top 100 for 2010.

Granted most of these kids just learned how to drive, but it is a little worrisome that the Michael Beasley Effect has not yet trickled down to this class. Only two in the class (91 and 96) have even shown any interest in K-State. Not sure how to take this. By 2010, we should have a pretty good senior class with Pullen and Anderson leading the way, along with the strong 2009 class expected to be sporting the purple uni's. Any thoughts?

Again, I was really bored today.

Bill Walker injures Knee during workout

mystman995 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:19:45 -0000

Bumped from the diaries. Heard a little more about this on the way to work this morning. Hope he gets results and has enough time to make the right decision today. Best of luck to Bill, no matter the decision...TB

Not much reported yet, but here's the link to the ESPN article:

MRI Needed on Walker

It's hard to say how bad the injury is, but let's all hope that it is a minor setback to whichever decision he chooses to make. I think we all know how hard he has been working for this and it is a shame that this has happened to him yet again. Here's to a speedy recovery.

Kansas State Makes Baseball NIT Field! Wildcats to travel to Pullman.

James Quinn — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:17:55 -0000

Big news for K-State baseball fans, the season continues! Well, in a fantasy type way. To get the first part of this story just click here: "Baylor Receives #1 Seed in first Baseball NIT tournament!

College Baseball NIT Field of 32 Set! San Diego State and Washington in! Notre Dame and William and Mary Snubbed!

The full NIT field was announced last night.

Waco Regional

1) Baylor (32-26) at large, Big-12
2) New Mexico (34-25) at large, Mountain West

3) Creighton (37-21) at large, MVC

4) Jacksonville State (37-22) SWAC Champions

Charleston Regional
1) Charlestown (39-20) Southern Conference champions
2) Duke (37-18) at large, ACC

3) Kent State (36-21) MAC Champions

4) Army (25-25) Patriot Champions

Springfield Regional
1) Missouri State (40-17) at large, Missouri Valley
2) Cincinnati (39-20) at large, Big East

3) Georgia Southern (33-25) at large, Southern

4) Xavier (27-31) A-10 Champions

Clemson Regional
1) Clemson (31-27) at large, ACC
2) Canisius (41-13) Metro Atlantic Champions

3) Central Florida (31-27) at large, C-USA

4) Monmouth (37-16) NEC Champions

Corvallis Regional
1) Oregon State (28-24) at large, Pac-10
2) UC – Santa Barbara (35-21) at large, WCC

3) San Diego State (31-28) at large, MWC

4) Marshall (30-30) at large, C-USA

Pullman Regional
1) Washington State (30-26) at large, Pac-10
2) Santa Clara (32-22) at large, WCC

3) Kansas State (29-29) at large, Big-12

4) San Francisco (31-26) at large, WCC

Fort Myers Regional
1) Florida Gulf Coast (38-15) Atlantic Sun Champions
2) South Florida (31-27) at large, Big East

3) Florida Atlantic (32-27) at large, Sun Belt

4) Binghamton (29-27) AEC Champions

San Antonio Regional
1) Texas San-Antonio (39-19) Southland Conference Champions
2) Louisiana Monroe (34-24) Sunbelt Conference Champions

3) Washington (33-22) at large, Pac-10

4) Jackson State (37-22) SWAC Champions

Release of the full brackets spread joy and misery in equal helpings across the nation. Tony Gwynn tearfully addressed his players after the cheering died down, "Never say die. Leave it all on the field. Oh, screw the clichés guys, let’s just feel the moment!" Up the coast in Seattle University of Washington’s head coach Ken Knutson set aside the traditional champagne and instead handed out small cups of dark roast coffee to his players. "That is what we drink here in Seattle. And besides, I want my players ready for practice tomorrow morning at day break."

The mood in South Bend was much more subdued. "First "that" football season, and now yet another disappointing blow," said president reverend John Jenkins. "Thankfully we have our faith to see us through this dark valley."

The situation was less restrained in Williamsburg, Virginia. "Bitter disappointment like this must be purged by the students in the manner they see fit." said Anthropology professor Johnson Xavier. "The students cannot help but feel this is an assault on their masculine identity. The outburst was entirely predictable."

Play will start this weekend. The eight team to emerge from the initial round will be paired up in four super regional "best of three" series. The final four teams remaining will travel to New York City where the NIT championship will be determined in a double elimination tournament held at Yankee Stadium.

Disclaimer – None of this is real. But all college baseball fans should still take the tournament seriously by visiting the College Baseball Dugout this week and cheer your favorite teams on.

Copied over from Rock Chalk Talk. The "other" Kansas sports blog.

Welcome to the new Bring On The Cats and SB Nation

clockwerks — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:40:33 -0000

Hey Bring On The Cats,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
Once you're logged in, press your Z key in any thread with new comments
Explore your dashboard and setup your profile
Read the guide to the new FanPost editor
Install the FanShot bookmarklet and post videos to Bring On The Cats from YouTube or images from Flickr
Click the "Rec" button on posts and comments to help other people find the good stuff.
Customize display options on your Edit Settings page

What Has Changed

SB Nation Network Accounts - the Big Change

Readers across all of our blogs told us they wanted one account to use on every SB Nation blog. To make this work, we're requiring that everyone create a new SB Nation network account. In most cases you should be able to keep your old username, but a few of you may have to choose something new, since every other community in SB Nation will be going through this same transition. We tried to be as fair as possible in deciding who gets to keep which name, using a formula that takes into account length of membership and frequency of activity.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to participate on all of our blogs, but we don't want to encourage everyone to start visiting rival team blogs and initiating flame wars. To maintain friendly communities we ask that you explicitly join each blog in order to participate. It's a two-click process, but it does means accepting each blog's community guidelines. Just as you join each blog individually, you can be banned on each blog individually.

You can claim old accounts from multiple SB Nation blogs, and your new username will be retroactively attached to all your old comments and diaries. So now you'll be able to access all your writings from your single profile page... like magic.

To get started, click here to claim your old blog accounts and create a new SB Nation network account.

FanPosts (the Section Formerly Known as Diaries)

We changed their name. Why? Because we took this major upgrade as an opportunity to leave behind some vocabulary that never made much sense for a sports blog. SB Nation is the network of, by and for fans, and these are the blog posts we make. So we call them FanPosts. When you're at a bar telling someone to check out your online sports opinions, you don't have to suggest they read your diary.

FanPosts are displayed differently on the homepage - we include your avatar to give more credit for the time you spend writing great posts. The new post editor has a WYSIWYG view that provides easy formatting. It also auto-saves drafts so you don't have to worry about losing your work when you compose a post within the web browser. And you can now associate teams, players and games with your posts: these tools promote your FanPosts on our new team, player and game pages - across the entire network.

The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

Visual Redesign

This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of Bring On The Cats and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

Search

We've completely replaced the old search engine with a new one. We're excited to make it easier to find old posts and comments, but we've only taken our first pass on the tools we're offering. We're focused on making search even better than what you had before, so please know that we're aware search is missing key features and we're working on it.

What's New

Schedule, Scores, Stats and Roster

Bring On The Cats now has all the basic information about the Kansas St. Wildcats and hundreds of other teams. During games you'll see a regularly updated line score, and as the season progresses we'll track team stat totals and leaders. This is just our first step, so look for us to publish more detailed and archival stats in the future. The best part about all this sports data is that we've integrated it directly into the blog so. We now have special pages that aggregate all blog posts written about games, players and teams.

Recommending FanPosts

Some writing deserves more attention and more conversation. If you want to bump a FanPost up to the top and keep it there for awhile, just click the 'Rec' link under the body of the post. When a FanPost receives enough recommendations it will make the recommended list.

Auto-refreshing Comments

You no longer need to refresh the page to see new comments. If you're logged in, new comments will automatically appear on the page every few seconds. When you post a comment, the page will not refresh either. If you want to quickly cycle through all the new comments, you can press the C key on your keyboard. Unmark a new comment after you've read it with the X key. And use the Z key if you want to umark comments as you're cycling through them.

As you use these shortcuts to cycle through comments, press the R key to reply to the current comment. All these helpful keyboard shortcuts are listed at the top of each comments section for reference.

Recommending Comments

Now you can reward those folks who take the time to look up stats and make smart arguments in the comments. Next to each comment there is an 'actions' link that you can click to find the recommend and flag options.

Flagging Comments

To help the moderators on a site, we've built-in tools that let you flag comments that are spam, trolling or just plain inappropriate. Only moderators can see those flags.

FanShots

Many members of the community just want to post that one link, video, photo or quote, but don't need a full FanPost. We've got you covered: FanShots let you share YouTube videos, Flickr or PhotoBucket photos, quotes from articles, portions of chat transcripts, top 5 lists and simple links. If it's a video or image we'll put a thumbnail on the homepage when you post it.

For those of you who are experienced internet hunter-gatherers of Kansas St. Wildcats material, install the bookmarklet onto the links bar of your browser and share FanShots with the community from wherever on the web you find that killer quote or photo.

Avatars

Upload an image so folks can see your custom avatar on your profile, your FanPosts, and all your comments.

Network Profiles

Now that we have unified SB Nation network accounts, your profile will be your central hub for all of your activity on any blogs where you are a member.

Network bar

The top bar stays with you on all SB Nation blogs. It's a quick way to login and logout. When you're logged in, you'll see your avatar and screen name which links to your profile. The icon to the right leads to your Dashboard area where you can edit your settings, profile, account details and any FanPosts or FanShots you've published. As we add more blogs to the new SB Nation network, the My Blogs menu will be a handy way to navigate between the blogs you've joined.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

And in case you missed it, you'll want to start by claiming your old blog accounts and creating a new SB Nation network account.

Big-12 Baseball RPI update

James Quinn — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:56:08 -0000

Given the excitement surrounding the basketball national championship I didn't get around to updating the baseball RPI rankings last week so this update will reflect two weeks of action.

Despite only holding an 8-7 conference record OSU has impressed the computer plenty. The Pokes move to the top of conference, RPI wise. Nebraska falls from six to thirteen and comes in right behind Oklahoma State. Texas A&M hasn't lost a game in forever and they continue to rise in the rankings. The Longhorns treaded water over the last two weeks. I find is surprising the RPI still favors them over Missouri. This update reflects not only the Tigers demolition of Texas this weekend, but also their poor showing at Texas Tech, hence the sharp decline in their ranking. Baylor is fading. The Bears are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament at this point. Quite a come-down from their lofty pre-season expectations. Oklahoma and Texas Tech are coming apart. K-State holds steady, while Kansas takes a step forward based on their sweep of Tech this weekend. If I were to pick two of the lower ranked teams to go on a late season run I would go with the two Kansas schools. Both have underachieved this season based on roster talent.

RPI ranking	Team	NCAA D-I record	Big-12 record	Two weeks ago
12	Oklahoma State	23-10	8-7	18
13	Nebraska	24-6-1	11-3-1	6
26	Texas A&M	30-6	12-3	38
28	Texas	23-12	8-7	29
36	Missouri	24-9	7-5	18
47	Baylor	21-13	8-7	34
56	Oklahoma	22-13-1	3-8-1	45
64	Texas Tech	17-19	4-11	52
71	Kansas State	16-18	3-9	75
132	Kansas	19-16	4-8	150

Cats Afraid of Dogs???

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:45:19 -0000

Looks like K-State didn't want to lose to Fresno State for a third time. It's pretty pathetic that your school requested to cancel the game so that you could play Montana State. That is emabarrassing for any program.

Fresno State agreed though and we replaced you with a road game at Rutgers on Labor Day on ESPN at 1:30. Oh yeah, we also play Wisconsin at home and at UCLA. We go out of our way to play good programs, you go out of your way to avoid them.

Kansas State Wildcats? I think not. Kansas State Scaredy Cats would be much more appropriate.

Big 12 Tournament Bracket Generator

TB — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:31:46 -0000

I may be a little late to the party with this, but Special Steve hooked me up with this awesome bracket generator via email today. It's done by an Iowa State fan, so unfortunately he has to generate brackets with his team near the bottom, but we thank him nonetheless.

Just fill in the blanks with different scenarios for Saturday/Sunday and click "Submit" to see what those games would yield in terms of seeding.

To all the Seniors....

mystman995 — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:49:54 -0000

Bumped from the diaries...TB

For all the lucky K-Staters who will be in Bramlage tonight, I have one favor to ask; Do the right thing and honor and support the real seniors tonight. Clent Stewart, Blake Young, David Hoskins, and James Franklin. I tip my hat to all these guys. Clent Stewart's presence on and off the court has been without a doubt a difference maker. David Hoskins, which I hope this is not the last time he steps on the court, was a beast. Before the likes of MB and BW came to town, Hoskins was the one doing all the dirty work. Let's hope he can make a full comeback and get a medical redshirt.

As for Mr. Beasley and Mr. Walker - if they decide to dart to the money and the NBA, honor their contributions at a different time. Hold a pep rally, tell them thanks when you see them passing by on campus, or shut the city of Manhattan down and call it Michael Beasley Day - hell change the name of the year from 2008 to the MB year. I don't care when just as long as it is not tonight.

They're called seniors for a reason. Don't ruin tonight's atmosphere by chanting, "Please come back." Honor these four men.

Do the right thing Manhattan

Outstanding Greensburg, Kan. Article

TB — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:11:09 -0000

There are few better feature story writers than Elizabeth Merrill. Today, we get another outstanding piece from her from the southwestern plains of Kansas and hear again about how sports are helping the people of Greensburg, Kan., recover from the devastating EF-5 tornado that his the town a little less than one year ago.

I have no idea if any the readers of this blog are from Greensburg, but if you are, my hat is off to all of you.

Best to James Johnson and Chris Patterson for a Speedy Recovery

TB — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:04:46 -0000

Former K-State running back James Johnson and current linebacker Chris Patterson were injured in an altercation in Manhattan last weekend (or here at GoPowercat, $). My best to both, and I'm encouraged to hear the injuries apparently aren't serious. Let's hope this remains an isolated incident during this football offseason.

A Plea for Big 12 Tournament Tickets

TB — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:37:28 -0000

Dear Loyal and New Readers Alike,
I have been trying desperately for months to find tickets to the Big 12 men's basketball tournament in Kansas City. Both my girlfriend and I really want to go to the games, all of them, but have so far been unable to find tickets for face value. Being a broke-arse college student, I don't have the money to get in the market for tickets from brokers, so I'm trying to find a couple passes. If you have a couple all-session passes you can't use, or know somebody who needs to get rid of them, please email me at bringonthecats@gmail.com. Otherwise, I'll be standing outside the Sprint Center Thursday morning with two fingers in the air.

Sincerely,
TB

Big News Coming in the Athletic Department

TB — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:15:19 -0000

At this point I don't have any sources that include non-premium information, but there is big news coming later today in the K-State athletic department. If you have a GoPowercat subscription, check out that site for more.

For now, just know that athletic director Tim Weiser will speak at a press conference at 4:30 p.m. Check out your local radio station (in Kansas) or 1350 KMAN at that time for more.

Somebody Get Mike DeArmond a Binky

TB — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:01:19 -0000

For those of you who don't know, Mike DeArmond is the Missouri Tigers' beat writer for the Kansas City Star. Like several of the other Star writers, he has a weekly video weblog (or vlog). DeArmond could probably also serve as an uglier and crankier body double for Lou Piniella.

This week, he apparently didn't have any interest in talking about how Mizzou got its arse run out of Manhattan on a rail, so he instead focused on talking about how he thinks Michael Beasley and Bill Walker whine too much.

The funniest thing about the video? Watching a 251-year-old man call a couple college freshmen whiners while sounding like the most spoiled child at day care himself. Somebody give this man his toy back.