"We aren't in Kansas anymore"

Dorothy: [has just arrived in Oz, looking around and awed at the beauty and splendor] Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.
Dorothy: [after a pause] We must be over the rainbow!
[a bubble appears in the sky and gets closer and closer. It finally lands, then turns into Glinda the Good Witch wearing a spectacular white dress and crown, holding a wand]
Dorothy: [to Toto] Now I... I know we're not in Kansas!


Right before the "Tunnel Walk" yesterday, the big screen showed a scene from the Wizard of Oz. It is the part where Dorothy tells Toto "We aren't in Kansas anymore". It fired up the crowd!! Everybody realized that Kansas, who hadn't won in 40 years years in Lincoln, had their hands full. Even on a freezing day with the wind blowing 30 miles an hour from the north the crowd warmed up and helped the team stay fired up for the entire game.

It was so cold this writer wished that Coach Mangino was close to him to get warm. It was that cold! This writer is pretty sure that Mangino could have eaten Toto by the end of the game. Don't get me wrong, Coach Mangino is one of the best coaches in college football. He has taken Kansas to new heights. But he looks so big in blue. Almost as big as myself.

The Nebraska offense played their best game of the year. The line played very well. Roy Helu ran very well. He is the fastest back we have had in a while. The 50 yard touchdown in the second half is my play of the year so far. It fired the crowd up as much as this writer has seen since the Stuntz to Crouch pass vs. Oklahoma.

Joe Ganz continues to play very well. He the best QB that NU has had in the past ten years. He fits this offense very well. He is a leader and a gutsy player. We will miss him next year!

On defense the front four are playing extremely well. As this writer has said before, Suh is an all Big 12 player. He is dominating. Not a bad fullback or tight end either. What a day he had.

The secondary and linebackers are ok but this is the area that is keeping us from being a Top 25 team. Thanks to a few dropped balls to open receivers yesterday or Kansas may have won the game. KU knew who to pick on yesterday. They constantly threw the ball at a couple of our cornerbacks and were very successful doing so. We are young in the secondary so we should only get better in the future.

Kansas didn't only lose the game 45-35, they lost a recruit also. Earnest Norman switched his commitment from Kansas to Nebraska yesterday. He is a 5'11" 220 lb linebacker from Texas. He is rated the 39th best middle linebacker by Rivals.

One more race this year for Nascar. Jimmie Johnson has the cup won.

Now a little bit of politics. This was in my bulletin today at Church.

A Grave Mistake and an Abiding Hope
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

Americans have made a grave mistake in electing Barack Obama to the presidency. Yet America herself remains great and is not a mistake, which is why so many of her citizens will continue, with even greater energy and determination, to defend her founding principles.

The man elected to the Presidency said during the campaign that he does not know when a human being starts to have human rights. How can one govern from that starting point of ignorance? Governing is about protecting human rights; to do it successfully, you have to know where they come from, and when they begin.

The President-elect has already failed that test miserably.

The American people do not share Barack Obama’s extreme and offensive views on abortion. They never have and they never will. The coming four years will see a widening gap between the people and their President on this fundamental issue. As Americans come to know how extreme his position is, the intensity of the struggle to protect these children will only increase.


One last thing. My #1 team, Oklahoma St., was beaten bad yesterday by Texas Tech. Here is my new Top Teams:

1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. USC
5. Texas Tech