6.18

I noticed on facebook that today is a special day for many people in my newsfeed.  Birthdays, weddings, the Ali Kemp anniversary.  This date has been etched in my memory, to the point that the assembly of numbers 618 pop out at me constantly.  The time of day, an address, a room number, a course listing.  This day seems to hold so much weight for people in my circle of the universe and it's an interesting thing, to sit on the sidelines and observe their piece of this day's history.

It's been 4 long years, and there are many more to come.  So many milestones have passed without her already and it's still unfathomable to think of the future without her.  The scary dreams have passed and the guilt comes and goes.  This year I felt good when I woke up, and we went swimming and I ate breakfast and had a reasonably productive day at work.  I felt happy, bolstered by the good choices I made throughout the day.  I like thinking that she's proud of me for getting up in the morning and exercising, eating healthy, going to work, not spending money and being kind to others.  Tonight I'll take a walk, enjoy a quiet moment on my own and then go through a closet and throw something away - just for her.  This is how I honor her, how I retain sanity on this day and all the others.  One penny saved, one good deed, one productive chore, one healthy choice.  It's the best I can do, and I know she'd like that.

Mama, I'll miss you at 6:18, on 6/18, while walking past the house at 618 17th St.  And I'll miss you all the other times too.  Lub lub.

The Late, Great, Signing Day Report - 2012

You know you can make this your facebook cover photo, right?  http://www.kstatesports.com/ot/wallpapers.html

In keeping with tradition, I'd like to finally discuss signing day 2012, 4 months after the fact.  Y'all have been waiting patiently, right?  I thought so.

The most important thing to take away from this signing class is that Snyder is finally building his team.  It takes about three years to undo the mistakes of the previous coach and to be able to build depth for future teams instead of just plugging immediate holes.  Hence, for the first time in years, we have more 4 year recruits than transfers, and they're spread out evenly among the offense and defense.  Depth is a concept that seemed entirely lost on Prince, as he had absolutely no idea how to foster a competitive environment.  He seemed to operate solely under the notion of Freeman is our King which led great Kansas players such as Ian Campbell and Marcus Watts to sadly twist in the wind and squander their tremendous potential.  Campbell and Watts weren't given the great gift of timing that Jordy Nelson had and it makes me sick to my stomach to think how different their futures are now.  /End rant.

Anyway... this signing class is exciting for multiple reasons, but let's start first with the specifics and then go to my handpicked standouts.  Of the 26 signed, 20 were high school seniors and 6 juco transfers.  11 for the defense, 13 for the offense and 2 free agents.  The offensive picks only include 3 linemen, which is troubling, and 5 wide receivers, which seems excessive for our style of offense.  Only one safety in the defensive class, which seems odd, but maybe that's a stylistic choice that I just don't understand.  Now on to my predictions for breakout stars in 2012:

Ellwood Clement & Tavon Rooks - Offensive Line

I'm hoping that Clement and Rooks can get in there and start producing immediately because the OL is making me crazy nervous.  We have BJ Finney at Center, a true Snyder prodigy and roomie of Colin's, which helps immensely.  He did his best to turn a bunch of lazy but talented seniors into a unit last year, despite injuries and lack of depth, and they were inconsistent at best.  They're going to need to be a lot stronger this year to get Rose, Hubert and Klein the snaps and variations that they need to spread out the offense and keep Klein healthy through this season.  The news broke this week that Foketi has left the team, which I don't think is a huge loss.  He was never as consistent as he was supposed to be last year, and never seemed to fully buy in to the family approach.  It's going to take a healthy and consistent unit to battle the Big 12's improved rush defenses this year, and they could be great assets.  Dickey has is work cut out for him this year.  We'll know very quickly if Finney really earned that Sophomore Captain status.

Kent Gainous - Safety

I need Gainous to be terrific.  I'm worried about our safeties and cornerbacks this year with the losses of Pearson, Hartman and Garrett.  They were all undervalued and only seemed to be mentioned when a play managed to slip past them.  They gave us a fighting chance all year long in close games and their spots were never highly contested.  I think we have a real lack of depth in those areas that everyone is too afraid to talk about and our pass defense could suffer greatly without them.  Gainous' name keeps popping up in preseason blogs, and I'm taking that as a positive.  My prediction?  If we win 10 games this year, Gainous will be a big part of it.

Chaquil Reed - Defensive Line

What a great name.  Sure fits in nicely with Meshak Williams and Javonta Boyd.  I think Reed and Wesley Hollingshed have a great chance of starting this year and filling the tremendous shoes of Ralph Guidry and Jordan Voelker.  I favor Reed a bit since he's a former teammate of our savior Arthur Brown.  Butler players sometimes have a harder time adjusting to the Snyder system, so here's hoping he puts in the work this summer and is fully conditioned before camp starts.  We need healthy new players with a high football IQ to keep the defense progressing under Hayes' system.  The wildcard with the defense is the new addition of Cox as Linebackers coach.  I'm sure Coach knows what he's doing but it still makes me nervous.  I'd like to see one these new guys make some serious waves during conference play to settle my nerves about our defensive future.

Steven West - Wide Receiver

We officially lost Brodrick Smith in the offseason, which isn't surprising but still hurts.  I don't know if it was academics or if he just didn't fit into the new family, but since his injury in 2010, he hasn't come out with the same fire.  He was a great target for us and had the speed and length to get free when Haper/Thompson/Lockett couldn't, and I think West will fill that hole nicely.  There's a ton of competition at WR this year, and it's possible that he'll redshirt, but I have a good feeling about him.  Probably means he'll redshirt, but hey, I can't be right all the time.

Marquez Clark - Wide Receiver

Steven West is the long shot, but Clark should definitely be in the mix this Fall.  The latest "roster" gives him a slight edge over Lockett, which is great news.  Now if the line will just hold up their pass protection and Smith can actually teach the receivers how to run the proper routes, we might have a bona fide deep threat this year.  Darnell McDonald, anyone?

Glenn Gronkowski - Fullback

He will almost 100% redshirt this year, but I would love nothing more than to see him mess some people up on special teams.  Gronkowski is, in my mind, Tim Riggins come to life, though I also picture him with a proclivity for fumbling.  No way he starts in place of Braden Wilson, and I hope he will be something special in years to come.  For now though, it's good to dream.

As usual, not much of note came out during Spring practices or the Spring game except that Snyder was a teensy bit happier/more optimistic than previous years.  A big chunk of the signing class weren't on campus in the Spring so there are still a lot of variables in play.  Camp reports should be exciting.  Stay tuned for more wildly speculative reporting from yours truly.