Cats Pluck the Jayhawks

Some Wildcat news

I just love it when our Wildcats give those chickenhawks a beating ...and our women's basketball team did it in more ways than one this Saturday.

It was a good old fashioned butt whuppin': 72-39

Cats Crush the Crows

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) - Shalee Lehning had 14 points and 10 assists to help No. 20 Kansas State open defense of its Big 12 title with a 72-39 victory over rival Kansas on Saturday night.

Kansas State (14-0) is off to the best start in school history and has matched its second-longest winning streak, three behind the record set in 1981-82. The Wildcats have won nine straight home games.

Ashley Sweat scored 18 points, most coming on assists from Lehning, who also had six rebounds. Marlies Gipson anchored the defense, blocking five shots to give Kansas State its 15th win in 16 games against its in-state rival.

Kansas (11-3) had won four straight, but struggled mightily against the nation's best scoring defense, scoring a season-low in points and shooting 32 percent. Sade Morris was the only Kansas player in double figures with 12 points.

Lehning was at her do-it-all best early, knifing inside for shots under and around defenders' arms, driving and dishing to 3-point shooters on the wings. She set up Gipson for an easy basket midway through the first half by wrapping a bounce pass around a Kansas defender and later whipped a no-look pass to Sweat for another layup.

Lehning, the nation's assists leader (9.2), had eight by halftime, including three straight to Sweat in the closing minutes to put the Wildcats up 39-21.

It wasn't just Lehning. Kansas State played a near flawless first half, shooting 17-of-33 from the floor with just two turnovers, holding the Jayhawks to 9-of-24 shooting while forcing 11 turnovers.

The Wildcats continued to put pressure on Kansas in the second half, continuing to drive agressively to the basket, forcing difficult shots at the other.

Lehning was still going even with the game out of reach, racing the length of the floor then diving to save a loose ball off a defender - with 5:35 left and Kansas State leading 63-34.

Tuesday our men's team will take the baton and proceed to beat the whine and cheese crowd to the east. Yeah baby, it is that time of the year!

And to get us all in the mood, let's just watch some highlights from last year:

The Diva never gets tired of watching that....

Ho No, or Whatta a Little Spitzer!

This morning the Aging Disco Diva found herself in the midst of a crisis---I plunged my coffee scoop into the canister and came up with air. A look inside revealed a horror that rivaled anything Tobe Hooper could put on film---a few lousy coffee granules, not even enough for an espresso snort.

Wobbling and weaving under the effects of extreme caffeine withdrawal I managed to crawl into the exploding Pinto. Scraping dried, weeks old latte debris from the bottom of a discarded Styrofoam cup I found in the back seat and licking them off of my trembling fingers gave me the strength to drive the half mile or so to our local "Pay More and Buy Less" supermarket. I made a bee line to the coffee isle and dumped a scoop of industrial strength coffee beans into the grinder, placed my open mouth underneath the hopper and pushed the button.

Within seconds the twitching stopped and the fog began to lift. I placed twenty bags of coffee beans (enough to last the week) into the cart and headed to the check out.

While waiting in line I heard the most amusing conversation between two very old ladies with blue hair:

Blue hair #1: "I was getting so damn sick of all the Obama and Clinton news, I am glad that there is something else for the TV people to talk about"

Blue hair #2: " Well, I tell you what---he sure paid to play didn't he?"

Blue hair #1: "Can you believe how much money those people in New York pay for prostitutes?"

Blue hair #2: "I think those were Washington prostitutes, not New York prostitutes"

Blue hair #1: "Same difference...New York, Washington....they were talking about thousands of dollars for an hour....these were not ten dollar hookers that is for sure!"

Blue hair #2: "Dearie, ten dollar hookers were back in the Kennedy administration.... damn inflation"

Blue hair #1:"Well, that's true.... and you know it costs a lot more to live in New York than here, so paying that much for a prostitute makes sense"

I am not sure what was more surreal: Two little old ladies who could not have been a day younger than 80 loudly tossing the words "prostitutes" and "hookers" around like a bingo chips, or the notion that a couple of octogenarians would be casually debating the cost of living factors of being a whore in New York.

Writing a memorable or witty newspaper headline is an art and New York City newspaper editors have come up with some doozies over the years:

This one became the stuff of legends:

Today's New York Post front page made me laugh out loud:

Jon Stewart is a hoot, you just knew his take on it would be delicious:

Wildcat News

Michael Beeeeeeeeeasley

Freshman forward Michael Beasley became the second consecutive standout freshman to win both Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year accolades on Monday, as his selection highlighted the 2007-08 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Awards.

Beasley becomes the fourth player in school history to be honored as the league’s Player of the Year and the first since the inception of the Big 12. He joins Lon Kruger (1973 and 1974), Mike Evans (1977 and 1978) and Rolando Blackman (1980) as Wildcats to be named to conference Player of the Year. He is the first player to earn the distinction of league Freshman of the Year and the 12th overall to be selected as either Freshman or Newcomer of the Year since 1970. Six freshmen (Bob Zender – 1970; Steve Mitchell – 1971; Lon Kruger – 1972; Mike Evans – 1975; Curtis Redding – 1977 and Ed Nealy – 1979) in school history have been named Newcomer of the Year.

In addition, Beasley was one of two players (Texas’ D.J. Augustin) to be selected unanimously to the All-Big 12 First Team. He is not only the school’s first unanimous first team honoree in the Big 12 era, but also the inaugural first team selection since the league’s inception. He is the first player since Steve Henson in 1989 to garner first team accolades from the league coaches. Beasley was joined on the all-conference team by teammate Bill Walker, who was selected to third team. The duo was also named to the All-Rookie Team by the coaches with Beasley being a unanimous pick.

Beasley was named the Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year by The Associated Press, Kansas City Star and Rivals.com as well as to the all-conference first team by all three organizations. Walker was selected to the Star’s All-Big 12 second team, to the AP's third team and to Rivals.com’s Big 12 All-Freshman team.

The former No. 1 high school recruit continues to make his case for National Player of the Year honors, as Beasley is averaging 26.5 points on 53.7 percent shooting (282-of-525), including 39.5 percent from 3-point range, with 12.5 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 steals and 1.2 assists in 31.3 minutes per game this season. As of Friday, he ranked among the top-5 in the nation in both scoring (third) and rebounding (first). He has recorded a double-double in 26 of 30 games and has totaled 23 games of 20 or more points. He leads the nation in double-doubles (26), 40-point games (three), 30-point games (13), 20-point, 10-rebound games (21) and 30-point, 10-rebound games (13).

Beasley already holds 27 Kansas State career, single-season and freshman records as well as 13 Big 12 single-game and single-season marks. With his 33-point, 14-rebound effort against Colorado on on March 4, he eclipsed Mitch Richmond’s (768; 1987-88) school single-season points record, while he broke the Big 12 record for double-doubles in a season with his 26th on the year. He is just the 27th player in NCAA Division I history to post 26 or more double-doubles in a season and the first since Utah’s Andrew Bogut (26) did it in 2004-05.

Kstatesports.com

Women's Basketball Team Earns Honors

Kansas State head coach Deb Patterson was named 2007-08 Big 12 Coach of the Year and three players were named to the All-Big 12 first and second team.

Patterson, K-State’s all-time wins leader with 239 during her 12-year career, led Kansas State to the 2008 Big 12 regular season title, the team’s second championship since 2004. The Wildcats became the first team in Big 12 women’s or men’s basketball history to go from last in the conference standings to first the next year. KSU finished 13-3 in Big 12 contests, one game ahead of second place Baylor. Kansas State is 21-8 on the year with four wins over Top 25-ranked opponents.

This is the second Big 12 Coach of the Year honor for Patterson, as she garnered the honor at the conclusion of the 2002 season. During her time at Kansas State, Patterson has averaged 20 wins a season and has guided the Wildcats to six straight postseason appearances, the longest current postseason streak at K-State.

The Wildcats had two players named to the All-Big 12 first team, as the backcourt of senior Kimberly Dietz and junior Shalee Lehning earned the distinction. The selections of Dietz and Lehning to the All-Big 12 first team are the first such selections for the Wildcats since the 2005 season. This is the third time in school history that the Wildcats have had two players on the All-Big 12 first team. In the program’s history, K-State has had six players earn All-Big 12 first team honors.

Dietz, a native of Boulder, Colo., leads the Wildcats in scoring this season at 15.4 points per game and ranks eighth in the league. During Big 12 play Dietz has turned up her game, as she has tallied 17.1 points per game to rank fourth in the league in scoring for conference games. Dietz has climbed the career scoring charts this season, as she moved into 10th all-time for career points with 1,321.

Lehning is the league leader in assists per game at 6.38 and ranks among the top-15 in seven statistical categories. The 5-9 guard from Sublette, Kan., is the shortest player to appear among the top-15 in rebounding and ranks 11th with 7.5 per game. Lehning is coming off a virtuoso performance with a career-high of 29 points and 17 rebounds at Kansas to help seal K-State’s Big 12 regular season crown.

On the All-Big 12 second team, junior Marlies Gipson represents the Wildcats. The forward from McPherson, Kan., ranks fifth in the league in blocks per game at 2.24, sixth in the league in rebounds per game at 7.8, sixth in field goal percentage at .520 and 21st in scoring at 11.7. Earlier this season, Gipson registered 21 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks at Oklahoma State to help her garner Big 12 Player of the Week honors for Jan. 28.

The top-seeded Wildcats will begin action at the 2008 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championships on Wednesday, March 12 at 12 p.m. K-State will take on the winner of Tuesday’s Iowa State/Colorado contest in Municipal Auditorium.

Technorati Tags: Eliot Spitzer, Michael Beasley, Deb Patterson, Kimberly Dietz, Shalee Lehning, Kansas State University, KSU, wildcats, college basketball

Friday's Gossip Tidbit and Wildcat Noshies

Today's Gossip News

Jackson 5 reunion? Don't hold your breath...

In November, Jermaine Jackson told the BBC that the group "is in the studio at the moment" and a full-scale reunion is set for "sometime in 2008." "We feel we have to do it one more time. We owe that to the fans and to the public," he said.

"In the studio at the moment" ? Sorry Jermaine, but your brother, shopping for drapes to hang over his turkey baster kids' faces, in a store named "Studio" does not set the stage for a reunion.

Unfortunately Michael is now a complete nut bar with extra cashews and I don't think we will ever see him performing again. He is just too fragile mentally.

A recent picture of Jermaine just reinforces the idea that plastic surgery is not a friend to the Jackson family.... (except maybe Janet---plea to Miss Jackson--PLEASE, no more surgery...you look fine, if it ain't broke don't put it under the knife)

Seriously...I don't know if it is the hairstyle or old plastic surgery gone to hell, but Jermaine looks like a California Raisin now...




Remember when the Jacksons were good looking?

Look at the picture of young Michael above, wasn't he adorable? For all you young pups who only remember Wacko Jacko, this is what the Jackson 5 looked like:

I thought Michael was friggin' gorgeous as a kid and could not understand his desire to go under the knife, but after his first few surgeries he still looked pretty good:

But then....OMF'nG...more is not better:

Sigh, what a waste of talent. When I listen to "Thriller" now it makes me so sad.

Wildcat News

Our Wildcat's women basketball team kept the basement of the Big 12 occupied last season, but my oh my, whatta a difference a year makes. We were picked to finish in 8th place this year, but the ladies had other ideas:

Kansas State (21-8, 13-3 Big 12) became the first team in Big 12 history to finish in last place one year and win the conference the next. The Wildcats finished with a 4-12 conference record last season and tied with Kansas for last place.


What made this even sweeter is that we beat the Chickenhawks IN Lawrence, not at home, to win our championship.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Shalee Lehning had a career-high 29 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to help Kansas State win the Big 12 regular season title with a 61-50 win over Kansas on Wednesday night. Kansas State (21-8, 13-3 Big 12) became the first team in Big 12 history to finish in last place one year and win the conference the next. The Wildcats finished with a 4-12 conference record last season and tied with Kansas for last place.

The Wildcats, who were picked to finish eighth in the conference by the league's coaches before the season, won the title outright when Baylor lost to Oklahoma State on Thursday night.

Lehning went 10-of-17 from the field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line.This was her third straight double-double and the 12th of her career. It was Kansas State's 14th win in the last 15 games between the in-state rivals. Kansas (15-14, 4-12) lost their fifth straight. The Jayhawks shot only 39 percent from the field and were out-rebounded 37-28. Kansas State led 27-23 at halftime and pushed the margin to 13 at 48-35 on a layup by Kari Kincaid with just over 12 minutes remaining. But the Wildcats didn't score again for five minutes, letting Kansas back into the game. A 15-4 Jayhawk run cut the lead to 52-50 with 4 minutes remaining, but Kimberly Dietz hit a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats back up by five. Lenning then converted on a three-point play to push Kansas State's lead to 58-50 lead with three minutes left. Dietz added 15 points and Marlies Gipson had 10 points and four blocks for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats will enter the Big 12 Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Kansas will be either the 10th or 11th seed.

Another great video of Clent's proposal

Here is yet another great video of Clent Stewart's proposal to his girlfriend before the last home game. For anyone who is not a Kansas State follower, the little guy in the suit who is hugging all the basketball players at the end of the clip is our University President Jon Wefald.

President Wefald is our national treasure and will be harder to replace than any coach or player. His unbridled love of everything purple and his support of all our athletic programs is nothing short of amazing...and if you ever run into President Wefald be sure to ask him if K-State has ever had any Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater and Udall scholars, LOL. The Wildcat Nation understands this joke.

Gratuitous Eva Mendes Friday


It's Friday...so here is CoCo's Eva Mendes fix for the weekend:

Technorati Tags: jackson 5, michael jackson, jermaine jackson, kansas state university, ksu, wildcats, college basketball, shalee lehning, kimberly dietz, clent stewart, proposal, Jon Wefald , Eva mendes

African Crotch Disease

Read It and Itch

This morning as I nibbled daintily on my cholesterol clogging pastries and serenely sipped my double-strength espresso I stumbled upon the latest Amy Winehouse news: She has the creeping crud on her face and it is highly contagious.

The singer has been diagnosed with impetigo, her spokesman confirms to PEOPLE.

It's a bacterial skin infection that causes pimple-like lumps – and is "is highly contagious, and scratching or touching the sores is likely to spread the infection to other parts of the body as well as to other people," according to the Mayo Clinic's Web site. As for how the singer's feeling, "She's fine," a pal tells PEOPLE. "She's not hiding away. She's never been one to care what people think."

That is almost enough to take a Disco Diva off her feed... Yuck, whatta visual.

Unfortunately Amy's creeping face crud story brought back some nasty flashbacks from my diva-in-training days.



It was the last month of school, during my senior year, and we had just finished a particularly brutal track practice and I was in agony. My blisters had blisters and I was literally dragging my polyester clad butt from the locker room down the hall to the door that led outside. My best friend, who was also on the track team, and I had taken off our track shoes and peeled off our socks (and half of our skin) and were walking barefoot down the hall when our very, very crabby and pre-PC school janitor (they were called janitors back then) spied us crawling down the hall and yelled:

"Hey, what in the hell is wrong with you girls? Put your gawd damn shoes back on before you catch African Crotch Disease!"

As tired as we were we still had to laugh...AFRICAN CROTCH DISEASE? WTF was that? What happens if you catch it, do your naughty bits get all hot and steamy? Do you suddenly sprout crotch vines? Do jungle sounds emanate from your panties? It became the diagnosis for everything that ailed us: Developed a cough? African Crotch. Got a big zit on your nose? African Crotch. Pulled a hamstring? African Crotch.

Yucka, yucka, yucka... until the week before graduation when I noticed that what had started out as a tiny pimple on my check, close to my ear, was growing larger and nastier by the hour. I slathered on industrial strength zit cream every five minutes but that just made it worse. I managed to hide the growing nastiness by pulling my hair over my face (very 1970s--no one thought anything of it) until my mother, in disgust bellowed "How many times do I have to tell you to get your hair off of your face, how can anyone see you if....." and as she flicked my hair back she saw my shame: Yes, I had not heeded the janitor's warning and now had a rampant case of African Crotch Disease... for the whole world to see. Literally keeping me at arm's length, she dragged me to the doctor's office where I could feel every eye on my face and could almost hear people whispering "OMG, look at her---she has African Crotch Disease! I bet she was walking barefoot and caught it. Dear God, why didn't anyone warn her?"

Our family doctor took one look, turned off the overhead lights, and shined a black light on my face crud. My mind spazed with the thought that I was going to end up in a medical journal "Girl with Rare African Crotch Disease found on Long Island"

Sheyat, why hadn't I kept my damn shoes on after practice that day?

The doctor gave a laugh (What a callous bass-tard! If it is fatal will he roll around on the ground in mirth? )

"That's quite a well-developed ring worm she's got there!"

I had ring worm? Not African Crotch Disease?

Turns out that picking up stray kittens and rubbing them on your face is just as stupid as walking down the hall of your high school barefoot.

My friends of course, did not buy the ringworm diagnosis, and I became known as the girl with African Crotch Disease...and oh yeah, my graduation pictures were f'n lovely, with huge bandages on the side of my face.

Wildcat News

The Wildcat women had a great weekend, smacking the Mizzery Tiggers around 81-52:

Kicking Butt and Takin' Names


Shalee Lehning matched her career high with 21 points, and No. 21 Kansas State moved into a first-place tie in the Big 12 with an 81-52 win over Missouri on Saturday.

The Wildcats, picked to finish eighth by the league's coaches in the preseason poll, are tied with Baylor, which lost at Texas A&M earlier in the day.

A win at Kansas on Wednesday would give the Wildcats at least a share of their second-ever Big 12 title.

The victory gave Kansas State (20-8, 12-3) its fifth 20-win season in the last six years.

Lehning also had 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season, made all seven shot attempts and was 7-for-8 from the foul line.

Kansas State senior Kimberly Dietz scored 19 points and was 5-of-12 from 3-point range in her final home game. Marlies Gipson and Ashley Sweat each added 13 points.

The Wildcat men played this weekend too. How did they do, you ask? The Wildcat women had a great weekend, smacking the Mizzery Tiggers around 81-52...

Sigh

Other Wildcat news

In what is an unprecedented move, the Big 12 announced today that it is changing the name of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week Award to the Michael Beasley Award and it has gone ahead and named Michael as the recipient for the remainder of the season....

déjà vu all over again...and again...and again...and again...and again






Technorati Tags: Amy Winehouse, impetigo, kansas state university, ksu, wildcats, college basketball, shalee lehning, kimberly dietz, marlies gibson, ashley sweat, michael beasley