After 30 years of loving and supporting Bill Snyder as coach of our beloved football team, he has finally retired. We have waited anxiously for announcement of the new head coach and Chris Klieman of North Dakota State University has been named.
Although there have been mixed feelings throughout the fan base, Linda and I are excited about this hire and look forward to what he will bring to our program. We are really excited for the first game next Fall.
Linda picked me up from work and we headed straight to Kauffman Stadium for “K-State at the K” night. Everyone with special tickets received a special ball cap with a KSU PowerCat on the side and Royals written in purple across the front. By arriving at 5:15 (for a 7:10 game), we assumed we’d be pretty close to the front of the line for the special entrance (where the ball caps would be given out). We were surprised that there was already a pretty long line. However, it moved at a decent pace once the gates opened at 5:30.
Upon entering, we were given our ball caps and we searched out dinner as it was also “Buck Night” – hotdogs for only $1. These aren’t gourmet hotdogs, but they’re tasty and filling (and cheap for food in a MLB stadium). The opportunity to have honey mustard with the addition of sauerkraut, onions, and jalapeño peppers made the hotdogs that much better.
A cold beer goes well with hot dogs – and the beer I love to get when at Kauffman Stadium is a local Boulevard Tropical Pale Ale – refreshing, hoppy, and fruity!
The National Anthem was performed by a trumpet ensemble from Kansas State University and Willie mixed it up with Sluggerr.
The game was a good one. Very little offense, but amazing defense. The Royals turned at least 4 double plays in the first 6 innings (I didn’t keep track after that). The Royals finally started adding some offense late in the game, including a home run by Moustakas in the 8th inning. The final score was 4-0, but most cool was that Vargas pitched the entire game. One doesn’t get to witness that much in these days of modern baseball and carefully watched pitch counts.
The day was “National Doughnut Day” and neither Linda nor I got a chance to get any doughnuts, so we did the next best (and maybe better) thing – we got funnel cakes. So amazingly delicious.
The night was finished off with fireworks – a fun Friday Night activity after each of the Royals home games. Fireworks are a whole lot more fun when you’ve just one the game.
After a year of going back and forth about where she was wanting to go to college, Emily announced to me and Linda last night that she has chosen to go to K-State. This makes us so very happy, not only as K-State alumni, but because she’ll be going to school where her older sister is currently going. Having that support will mean so much. Also, she’s going to be around when we head to Manhattan for games.
She started looking at schools 2 years ago and was convinced she was going to go Boston University or Providence University. After visiting Boston, she ruled it out, but loved Providence. So, it was Providence for quite a while (assuming there would be lots of scholarship to help make it affordable). Then she visited Truman State in Missouri and fell in love. However, it was such a small place and she’s a city gal.
Iowa State came on the radar and she was full tilt for moving to Ames. A visit to the school helped solidify her resolve to go there. However, we explained to her that she really needed to give K-State a real chance to show her what they had to offer. She’s known K-State and Manhattan her whole life, but she needed to really know what she could get from it.
Linda and Emily visited K-State a couple days ago and she fell in love. She got all of the information she needed to about K-State and the programs in which she’s interested.
#EMAW
The picture shown is actually during the 4th quarter of a 55-0 blowout loss to Oklahoma University. If you look close, there is almost nobody left in the stands. How ashamed I was of my fellow Wildcat fans.
We were down 35-0 at the half and quickly gave up an interception resulting in a quick touchdown as soon as the 3rd quarter started. We never looked good, but I never considered walking out on my team.
The team needed us there and most of the 50,000 turned away on them. How shameful.
Better luck next time, K-State. I’ll be right behind you.
Although I couldn’t watch the game because I was working in the ER, I’m pleased to report that Kansas State handily won their first bowl game in 11 years. They dominated Michigan all around. Jake Waters and Tyler Lockett gave glimpses of what is to come next year.
Looking forward to watching more than the highlight reel from ESPN.com. I’ve got it DVR’d and am excited to watch us win the game.
Photo courtesy kstatesports.com
It was a frustrating first 3 quarters of football, but the 4th quarter was magical with the offense finally clicking.
It was the first win in many weeks – and it was the first time to see things go K-State’s way.
It interesting to see Sams throw for almost 100 yards, going 8-for-8; however he only had 16 yards on 13 carries. Waters, despite showing some more running abilities, threw awesome strikes at crucial moments. Lockett had 3 TD receptions, Thompson had one, and Hubert ran in for a score with 21 seconds left in the game.
It felt really good leaving Bill Snyder Family Stadium with a win. It’s been too long…
The Kansas State Alumni Association has pavers in their grand patio that are inscribed with personal messages. Linda and her father share a paver:
Maag Wildcats
Rodney 1966 & 78
Linda 1993 & 97
We often try to visit it. This time we figured we’d get pictures.
It was loud and rambunctious in Bill Snyder Family Stadium. There was only a few minutes left and Kanas State was leading over the #15 Baylor Bears 25-21. It looked like we could do it. But, once again, penalties and a turnover made the difference.
A late touchdown by Baylor made it 35-25, which makes it look like it wasn’t as close as it really was. We gave up 3 touchdown passes over 50 yards – quick strikes that felt like daggers.
The Cats played well and we kept up with a team that was getting 70 points a game. This one kind of hurt, but it just doesn’t seem to be our year.
We get a week off and then we take on West Virginia at home. Looking forward to that game as a possible first Big XII win.
Never give up – we love our Kansas State Wildcats.
You may have noticed that I’ve neglected the blog once again – not because I forgot about it, but because I didn’t want to write about the fact that the K-State football empire has begun to show signs of crumbling.
After the disappointing loss to North Dakota State, we came back and handily beat UMass. However, then we went down to Austin and was beat by Texas (a team that had all but fallen down). The following week, we marched in to Stillwater to take on an Oklahoma State team that had been beaten the previous week (despite being the front-running favorite of the Big XII). We stayed with them throughout the game, but literally gave it away with 4 turnovers and about 100 yards in penalties. We were actually winning with 6 minutes left in the game.
So – here it is in mid-October and I’ve not been to a KSU football game in almost a month and I’ve not had a victory to celebrate for a while. Therefore, not much I want to write about without getting this off my chest. It hurts to see KSU lose so much because we’ve been there before and I don’t want to ever be there again. It is so much more fun to celebrate wins. It makes it a lot easier to wear purple to work!
This afternoon we will host Baylor – the new frontrunner favorite for winning out the Big XII. They gathered more than 800 yards against West Virginia last week (the team that beat Oklahoma State the week before). The latest line is 17 points for Baylor – something I find interesting. Here’s hoping that it’s not any more embarrassing than that; and here’s really hoping that we can upset the order of things and actually win the game. I can promise that I’ll be rooting as hard as any K-State fan can! Go Cats.
The Cats played host to University of Massachusetts Minutemen last night for their last non-conference game (and last home game for a few weeks). UMass was supposed to lose this game; they fought hard at first, and despite a couple of nice drives, they only got 7 points for the whole game.
K-State, after 2 previous weeks of virtually no rushing offense, seemed to use the game as practice for all of their running plays. There was almost no passing in this game. Hubert finally got some big yards running – and even had a 43-yd reception for a touchdown. There was also a pick-6 by Daly (one of is 2 interceptions). Sams got to play a lot more snaps and we got to see even more of his amazing athleticism.
The weather was gorgeous – 80 degrees, instead of the 100+ that we’d had for the past two weeks.
The Cats head off next weekend to start Big XII play at Texas and then the following week at Oklahoma State. Texas is struggling, but OSU isn’t. It would sure be nice to be 4-1 when they return one to play Baylor. Go Cats.
