THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011
PAGE 2B
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Sometimes you are going to have a bad first half and it continues on into the second half, whereas we were able to turn it around."
— Senior guard Conner Teahan after Saturday's 70-42 victory over the University of South Florida
FACT OF THE DAY
After scoring 24 points against USF, senior guard Tyshawn Taylor has tallied double-figure points in all seven games this season.
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: Kansas made six 3-point shots in the second half on Saturday.
What game this season featured a half with a season high seven 3-point shots made?
How will the Big 12's new mascots fit in?
MORNING BREW
As the dust has mostly settled on conference realignment in the Big 12, nearly every angle of the different schools' moves have been beaten to death — athletics, academics, economics, etc.
However, an incredibly important consequence of realignment has been largely and irresponsibly ignored: the issue of mascot environment.
We all know how comfortably or awkwardly TCU and West Virginia's sports programs or fans might fit in with other Big 12 schools, as well as what the conference has lost or gained by Missouri and Texas A&M's departure.
But what about the furry/bearded/bumpy/ terrifying mascots that symbolize everything that the school stands for? Are they a good fit for the Big 12?
First of all, West Virginia brings a very peculiar mascot to the Big 12 with the Mountaineer. With the departure of Colorado, the only Big 12 member situated anywhere close to a mountain range, does the Mountaineer have any place in this conference?
Probably not, but dollars drive realignment,
not mascot comfort, so both the Mountaineer
and his new Big 12 companions will have to adjust.
It seems very likely that the Mountaineer will find himself completely out of sorts in the flatlands of the Midwest, especially with the equipment he must carry around. His large wooden rifle will be no match for Pistol Pete's fast draw, and it'll be a miracle if he can survive the heat of football season in Texas with that thick furry racoon-skin hat and bushy beard he has.
If West Virginia wants any chance of being taken seriously in the Big 12, the Mountaineer will have to carefully consider a wardrobe
more suited for prairies than the highlands of the Big East.
On the other hand, it's doubtful that any mascot will have better home field advantage than the Mountaineer. Yes, Colorado had the advantage of high elevation, but Ralphie the Buffalo wasn't nearly nimble enough to take advantage of the terrain. Texas' lethargic longhorn was probably just as suited for the landscape.
The Mountaineer, on the other hand, will completely outmatch mascots like Iowa State's Cyclone or Oklahoma's wagon-bound Sooner in the highlands. Bruiser the Bear from Baylor may be the only mascot suited to take on the Mountaineer.
TCU, on the other hand, brings a much bizarre mascot with the Horned Frog, technically named SuperFrog. Imaginative name aside, a quick Google search reveals that the first problem with SuperFrog is that he actually a horned lizard, and not a frog at all. Horned frogs actually live in South America and Asia — nowhere close to Texas.
And while the symbol of a small, quirky reptile that can shoot blood out of its eyes may fit TCU's former status as a powerful
football school in an insignificant conference, it may find itself outmatched facing hardened big-time mascots like Big Jay and Texas Tech's Red Raider.
It's probably a safe bet, however, that Willie the Wildcat will lose his head (which constitutes all of his mascot-ness) move SuperFrog ever pull his blood-squirting move.
Edited by Jayson Jenks
NFL
Kansas City ends four-game losing streak
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — Jay Cutler was lost two weeks ago after breaking his thumb. On Sunday, the Chicago Bears watched with a sickening feeling as star running back Matt Forte walked gingerly into the tunnel with a knee injury in the first quarter.
So, what else can happen to a team still clinging to its playoff hopes?
"It's not a running back. It's Matt Forte," star linebacker Brian Urlacher said after 10-3 loss to Kansas City.
Nothing went well for the Bears during the dismal home-field performance.
Without Cutler and then for most of the day Sunday without Forte, who has a sprained right knee, the offense for the Bears (7-5) really began to wobble. And the result was sort of ugly.
The Bears' only points came on a 32-yard by Gould — after an
illegal formation call on Chicago wiped out a TD pass from backup quarterback Caleb Hanie to Marion Barber.
In the fourth quarter, Hanie found the range on four straight completions and it appeared the Bears were finally on their way to a touchdown.
But Hanie's very catchable pass to Roy Williams in traffic went off the receiver's hands, hit a Chiefs defender and Kansas City's Jon McGraw picked it off in the end zone.
"Don't blame one guy for this loss," Bearss coach Lovie Smith said. "We had a big say in what happened today. ... Caleb was part of it. Caleb needs to make improvements like we all do and we all will."
Chicago's defense gave up the game's lone TD on a pass from Tyler Palko to Dexter McCluster on the final play of the first half.
Both Urlacher and safety Chris Conte went up to bat the ball down, but instead knocked it right to McCluster.
"We knocked it down. Chris and I, we both hit it. I don't know if it went straight or it went backward. I guess I should have caught it or tried to, but it's just not what we do. We've never done that. So I just try to knock it down."
The Chiefs (5-7) ended their four-game losing streak. Who knows if the quarterback debate is over.
Kansas City got a 21-yard field goal from Ryan Succop in the third quarter to make it a seven-point game. And Justin Houston had three sacks for a K.C. defense that hounded Hanie most of the day.
Forte, third in the NFL in rushing entering the game, took a hit to the right knee from Derrick Johnson on a run for no gain deep in Chicago territory with 6 minutes left in the first period.
"It's not a good feeling when you see your star tailback go down with a knee injury," Smith said. "Part of the game. We'll just keep our fingers crossed and hopefully it's not that serious."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Chiefs running back Dexter McCluster (22) is tackled by Chicago Bears safety Chris Conte (47) and linebacker Lance Briggs (55) in the second half of an NFL football game in Chicago Sunday.
THIS WEEK IN SPORTS
Sport Mon. Tues. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat. Sun.
Football
vs. Long Beach State 8 p.m.
Lawrence
vs. Ohio State 2:15 p.m.
Lawrence
W. Basketball
vs. Wisconsin 7 p.m.
Lawrence
Swimming
Visit Kansan.com to view photo galleries, rosters and stats.
Cross Country
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