Tag Archives: K-State

Meeting Mike T from The Salute

I listen to many podcasts – in fact, a majority of them are listed to the right of the blog page. Fort those still not familiar with what a podcast is, imagine a radio talk show that is recorded and saved and then played at any time over the internet. I use an app on my iPhone (Downcast) that automatically downloads any new episodes so I can stay caught up with all of the podcasts.

One that I’ve been listening to for several years is, The Salute. It’s a K-State sports podcast put out by two friends that sit and talk about last weeks game, next weeks game and anything else that might be important about the sports program. What I love about the program is that it’s an hour of two guys sitting and having a conversation just like the one I’d be having with any of my fellow purple-bleeding Wildcat fan friends.

By the way, the name of the podcast, “The Salute”, refers to the excessive celebration call on a touchdown by Adrian Hilburn in the 2010 Pinstripe bowl that cost us the game – a moment that I remember all too well. For those that forgot, here’s a clip…

All of this to tell you that I met up with one of the guys from the podcast, Mike T. We’ve been “friends” on many social media forums for at least a year. After listening to the podcast after our disappointing loss to North Dakota State, I contacted Mike and told him that I owed him a beer for all of the enjoyment that his podcast brings me each week. Being a solid guy, he couldn’t resist the offer of a free beer.

We met yesterday at one of my favorite watering holes. We sat and talked football, K-State sports players past and present, social media, and craft beer. What a fantastic time – getting to talk about all the things that I love. The podcast is sponsored by our favorite hometown brewer, Tallgrass Brewing Company. Therefore, it was only fitting that we celebrated our face-to-face meeting with a Tallgrass brew. Here’s to next time…

KSU wins over Louisiana

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So, K-State notched the first win of the season with a win over University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Louisiana was billed as a good team (maybe not as good as North Dakota State) that should give the Cats another run for the money. However, the Wildcats played a much better game and ended up winning 48-27.

Jake Waters passed with the accuracy and efficiency of a star quarterback, but still lacked the ability to establish a run game. Daniel Sams electrified the stadium with his runs. They are developing into a great duo-quarterback team. I wonder how it’ll continue to play out over the season.

There was much better improvement all around – especially compared to the pitiful play of last weeks game. However, there were still some costly mistakes – including a couple interceptions. Most fun was the kickoff return by Thompson for a touchdown to start the second half. He then followed it up with a punt return to the 1 yard line (thanks to a facemask tackle).

This was a fun game and I’m glad all 4 of us were able to be there. It was 2 weeks in a row with game temperatures over 100 degrees. Looking forward to cooler days.

Next week – University of Massachusetts. This one is supposed to be an easy win. Go Cats!

Tough Loss for K-State

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Kansas State got beat at their own style of football Friday night. It was a taste of our own medicine, watching North Dakota State University Bison methodically march down the field in the final quarter and taking the final 8 minutes off the clock. They were down by 4 points – and when they had reached our 20-yard line, I turned to Linda and said “They’re gonna win this game”. We were outplayed and, I hate to admit it, outcoached. Bill Snyder even admitted as much.

The thing to remember is that NDSU wasn’t just any cupcake team that often gets scheduled for our home opener. This is a team that beat Minnesota last year and is the Division 1 FCS Champions for the past 2 years. This is a very good football team.

The goal of our team is to get better each day. We had signs of being good, but we obviously showed we have room to improve. Given Snyder’s history, I firmly believe we will come out even better next week against Louisiana.

Go Cats.

Cats at The Sprint Center

Last night we went to The Sprint Center to watch the Kansas State Wildcats basketball to take on #8 Florida Gators. After losing earlier in the season to #4 Michigan and #14 Gonzaga, I think most everyone assumed the Cats would lose this game. However, we won 67-61.

We were pleasantly surprised with a hard-fighting squad, led by hometown hero, junior Will Spradling. The place was loud with lots of cheering and clapping. There was also a lot of booing as the referees somehow had trouble spotting obvious fouls. As you can see by the view from our seat in the rafters, fouls apparent to us should’ve been seen by those standing right there. I did my part and yelled as loud as I could (not really a good thing to do if one is singing for church the next morning).

We had an awesome time. In fact, the four of us were joined by Ed, Elaine, Connor, and Helen. Linda tried to snap a quick picture of us as we were getting ready to enter the arena:

Procrastination…

You’ll notice my last blog post was exclaiming the news that K-State was number 1 in the BCS polls. That lasted a whole week – because we got BEAT by Baylor the following Saturday and fell from our lofty pedestal all the way down to number 6.

I knew the right thing to do was to post about the loss, especially since I’d been posting every win all season long. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I kept meaning to – but it never happened. Seems that if I didn’t write about it, I wouldn’t have to really think about it.

Then, I got very busy. I had a lot of rehearsals and performances at that time for the Kansas City Symphony Chorus. The night of the Baylor game found me at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts singing Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. Linda and the girls were there, too. Fortunately, we did not witness the destruction of our beloved Wildcats because we were immersed in voices and percussion. Check out the video clip of our dress rehearsal:

Finally, the good news is that K-State won their last game of the season at home against Texas and are now the Big XII Champions. Last time we did that was 2003 at Arrowhead Stadium against Oklahoma (a game that Linda and I attended). Now, we will be playing against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl on January 3. Watch party at my house?

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By the way, there were some piano recitals and other musical events for the girls in the past 2 weeks. I plan to post those here in the next few days.

Wildcats are #1 in BCS

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Despite being ranked number 2 in the Associated Press and Coaches polls, Kansas State is ranked number 1 in the BCS.

Now – we just need to play well at Baylor this coming Saturday. We get a week to rest and then host Texas at home for Senior Night. Looks to be a good close to the season.

Go Cats! EMAW!

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Last night, the K-State Wildcats survived a tough, physical game. They won 44-20, but the score doesn’t explain the nail-biting fashion in which the contest was played out.

Oklahoma State played well on both sides of the ball, but 5 turnovers would prove to be costly as the Wildcats were able to capitalize on those and also keep the Cowboys from scoring.

Unfortunately, there were several injuries suffered on both teams – most importantly, Collin Klein came out in the middle of the 3rd quarter. Those of us at the game had no idea what happened or why he was out. However, those watching the TV broadcast were told it was due to a hyperextension of his wrist. If that’s all it was, he should be back next week. Although…we’ll never know until then as Coach Snyder makes no comments on injuries.

K-State travels to TCU next week. Here’s hoping we extend our BCS ranking of #2.

K-State shoots down Texas Tech

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This past Saturday, Kansas State won another statement game in beating #14 ranked Texas Tech. The Red Raiders had hopes of an upset and played well during the first half. However, the Cats exploded from their halftime lead of 13-10 and ended up winning 55-24. This is the first team all year to get over 21 points on the Cats, but it was also the 4th time we’ve scored more than 50 points.

We have moved to #3 in both polls and all the way to #2 in the BCS. Just keep getting better every day.

Additionally, Collin Klein is the front runner for the Heisman trophy for the second week.

Lets go, Cats. EMAW!

West Virginia falls hard to K-State

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Linda and I had several friends over to watch the game. We were kinda celebrating my birthday and hoping for a solid showing from the football squad. Linda grilled burgers and brats and we had lots of chips & dip and veggies & dip. We settled in for what most of us were hoping wouldn’t be an embarrassing loss.

Collin Klein and thee rest of the offense came out humming. Arthur Brown and the rest of the defense came out pounding. Just 2 weeks ago, WVU had jumped us in the polls and were touting the likely Heisman award winner. That team was not on the field last night. K-State dominated throughout the whole game. Finally, I think K-State is getting the national respect they’ve deserved for so long. Thanks, Coach Snyder!

We whooped and hollered all evening long. I’m amazed I have a voice this morning. During halftime, we celebrated the birthday with an ice cream cake.

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Cats outlive the Cyclones

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The Wildcats went into Ames, Iowa and fought for a victory. The last 4 years have been close games and this one was expected to be the same.

The final score was 27-21 – and it did come down to the last drives. There were a lot of penalties on both sides; it really was an ugly game.

Now we head to Morgantown, West Virginia next week to play the #5 ranked team. This should be a good game.