Chalk up another win!

Elite 8 | Detroit, Michigan | Davidson

After hearing all of the hype about Stephen Curry, I wasn't really sure what to think. After seeing him perform, my respect for him grew. Giving up a last second shot to his team-mate was a tough call for him to make, but he did it. As two defensive-minded Jayhawks zeroed in on Curry with just a few seconds left, he had to throw it all out there. The ball landed in Jason Richard's hands and he threw up a three-pointer.

If it goes in, Davidson wins and earns their piece of the Final Four. If it misses, Davidson loses by two points, and the Jayhawks advance as the fourth #1 seed in the Final Four.

Glancing off the left side of the rim, the ball misses the hole and the Jayhawks win!

That was one of the most agonizing games that I have seen in a while. It just looked like the 'Hawks weren't ready to play. Careless mistakes by the guys and questionable calls by the referees (equally bad on both ends of the floor) lead to a very low scoring Elite 8 game.

The 'Hawks came out on top though, winning by two, 59-57.

Leading the Jayhawk attack were Mario Chalmers and Sasha Kaun. Chalmers hit key three-pointers when no one else could make them in the first half, and Kaun gave the 'Hawks that much needed spark several times throughout the game. They each ended the game with 13 points and the Midwest Regional Final trophy.

Bill Self has earned his first Final Four appearance and now has the monkey off of his back. Let's hope that transfers into Kansas dominating and winning its first National Championship in 20 years.

So the Jayhawks will face off against the Tar Heels of North Carolina on Saturday just before 8pm. This will be a huge game for the 'Hawks, and may be equally as big as the actual National Championship game. If we come out swinging like we did against Texas in the Big 12 Tournament, it will all be fine.

Good luck 'Hawks and ROCK CHALK!

How Sweet, the Sweet 16 can be!

Tip-Off was at 8:57 or so on Friday night. In Detroit, KU was facing Villanova in the Sweet 16 game of the 2008 NCAA tournament. It was a bit nerve-wracking going into the game, but our worries were soon put at ease when the Hawks came out swinging.

I believe there were four alley-oop dunks within the first 8 minutes of the game by KU, and by four different players. Nova came out doing their best, but the first half ended with the score of 41-22.

The second half came and was out of Nova's hands for quite a while. There were spurts made, but the spurts were just not strong enough.

Each team had three players with double figures for scoring. Scottie Reynolds just didn't contribute enough with his 11 points, while KU's Brandon Rush led all scorers with 16. Coincidence, I think not.

The Sweet 16 ended Friday night with the Jayhawk win, 72-57. With Davidson knocking off Wisconsin in the earlier game, they will meet their demise facing KU on Sunday in the Elite 8. The tip-off is at 4:05pm CST and the winner will go to the Final Four in San Antonio.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK, GO KU!

Do you have what it takes?

This got past around my office earlier this week and it is too much fun not to share.

"If you can go longer than 18 seconds you are phenomenal. It's been said that the US
Air Force uses this for fighter pilots. They are expected to go for at least 2 minutes.
Give it a try but be careful...it is addictive!!"

It may seem like a simple game of move the red square and don't get hit, but it is so much more.

Check it out. My personal best is a bit over 20 seconds.

How did you do?

SMX Social Media - Long Beach, CA

Coming up in just under a month is SMX Social Media. This conference is put together by Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan, quite a big name in the Search industry. I saw Danny at the Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago and was very impressed with him. He is a down-to-earth guy and not just some intelligent stick-in-the-mud.

Key components to SMX Social Media will be learning how to harness the powers of popular sites now such as Facebook, Wikipedia, Reddit, StumbleUpon and more. For more in-depth program information, visit the agenda of the conference on the SMX Social Media website.

Located in Long Beach, California this year, the April 22-23 conference is sure to be a hit. This is a premier event for the social realm, as the SES conference I attended last year spoke very little about this medium.

Are you going to SMX Social Media?

And then there were 32...

The basketball game on Saturday evening proved to be a great exhibition of KU's talent. The vast majority of the game was not shown on tv. Due to the Stanford vs Marquette game going into overtime at the begining of the Kansas game, and the drubbing that KU was laying on UNLV towards the end of the game, CBS opted to show the other games at that time.

Mario Chalmers led the team again, knocking in 17 points. Robinson and Rush followed suit scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. KU laid down the law with the Runnin' Rebels beating them 75-56.

That ends the 1st weekend of action for the Jayhawks in Omaha.
Friday will match the Jayhawks against Villanova in the Sweet 16 in Detroit. With a win, KU will make the Elite 8 for the second straight year and be put up against the winner of the Wisconsin/Davidson match-up that will occur earlier that night.

Tip-off will be at 8:40pm on Friday night. All you can say is Rock Chalk, baby!!!

First Round of the NCAA Tournament

Didn't get to watch KU's game today, but I was able to listen to it on my old school Sony Walkman radio. I barely had enough reception to hear anything, but I made due.

The opening rounds are in Omaha, Nebraska for KU and today's game tipped off at 11:25am versus Portland State.

From what I could tell, it was lop-sided from the beginning. KU pulled away to an early lead, and was up by 23 at halftime, 49-26.

Same situation in the second half, KU dominated and won by 24 points. The final score was 85-61.

Brandon rush led all scorers with 18 points. If he keeps playing the way that he's played in the last few games, we'll be unstoppable!!!

Now we'll play the UNLV Runnin' Rebels on Saturday at 5:50 in Omaha. This should go as well as the first round game and then we'll be in the Sweet 16.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Fritz's Railroad Restaurant

On Saturday for lunch, we decided to go to Fritz's Railroad Restaurant in Crown Center. It was a short drive from downtown, only a few blocks, but it took several minutes because of the Big XII traffic.

We arrived at Crown Center and were pointed in the direction of the kids. Yes, the line at Fritz's was packed with kids and their parents going out for a nice saturday family lunch. My wife and her mother were not very excited about going to it, but her dad and I were pumped.

It was the first time that any of us had ever been there, and I can for sure say that I am excited to go back.

Once we were sat down, we looked at the menus and put together our order. Instead of ordering from a waiter or waitress, we ordered from a telephone. Each booth had a phone rigged up so that you could place your order.

I ordered Fritz's famous burger. The name has escaped me, but it was a double patty with ketchup and mustard and hashbrowns right in between the buns. A bit greasy for sure, but it was delicious. An order of krinkle fries accompanied my burger. My wife had a grilled cheese sandwich and onion rings. She wasn't too impressed with her sandwich but her dad and I were loving our burgers. Her mom got a chicken sandwich and a bowl of meat, I mean chili. Her sandwich was good but the chili was only meat, and not soupy at all.

It was $40 for four people and so that wasn't terribly expensive. The atmosphere was worth it for sure.

When the food arrived, it came by train. A track was set up a foot away from the ceiling and when the train came out, it dropped the food off at the proper table and lowered it down. You really have to be there to understand it, but I have a video that will show it as well. Hopefully I can get that uploaded to here.

All in all, a great experience. Definitely one for the kids, but the young at heart will enjoy it too.

Next time I am getting a conductor's hat!!!



Another Video, when our food is arriving.

Championship Game

Texas vs Kansas

2:10pm

The game went back and forth throughout the first half. KU would go up by six or seven and then Texas would drain a three. I don't think I have seen more threes in a game than today (27 overall)! The first half ended with a score of 46-45, Texas.

The second half began and it was neck and neck the entire way through. It was truly a game of spurts, and one of the best college basketball games I have ever seen.

Chalmers scored 30 points and had 6 assists and Rush scored 19 points and had 6 assists, both leading the Jayhawks to an 84-74 victory. Well done boys, well done!

It was enough to hold off Abrams and Augustine and Kansas pulled off the third Big XII Conference Tournament Championship in a row.

Texas has never one a Conference Tournament championship and I think we have taken it away from them the last few years.

Now on to the NCAA's fellas. Get ready to dominate!

Additional Notes:
Chalmers and Rush made the first team for the Tournament with Rush earning the MVP!
Augustine, Abrams and James also made the first team for the tournament.

Third Round - Semi-Finals

I'll be brief because I have much better things to talk about than recapping these games.

Texas won by 28, 77-49 against Oklahoma. Things just fell apart for the Sooners.

Kansas beat the Aggies from Texas A&M by 6, 77-71. Rush did have a career high with 28 points. He was the definitely the guy who stepped up and became the leader of the team for this game.

So Texas and Kansas were lined up to square off in the Big XII Championship game on Sunday!

Technorati set-up

I'm getting this blog set up on technorati. Technorati is a blogger search engine, if you will. I want this blog to appear there, and I want others to appear there, too. Here is what you have to do to get it set-up.

1. create a Technorati Profile: a username and password
2. claim your blog. you will do this one of three ways. I am claiming mine by adding this blog post.
3. Then click Release the spiders
4. That's it. now go in and fill in any additional info you would like in your profile and then you are done.

That was easy enough. Enjoy!

Ted's Montana Grill

Today we ate at Ted's Montana Grill in the Power and Light District. It was a packed house with all of the fans watching the Big XII tournament. We went towards the end of the Colorado vs Oklahoma game and apparently got there just in time. They told us it would be a 40-45 minute wait, but surprisingly enough it was only a 15 minute one. Right as we were being seated, several more people came in the door looking for a good meal.

As would be expected of this establishment, Bison was a main dish on the menu. Reasonably priced at $22.99 for an 11oz KC strip of it and $23.99 for a 14 oz ribeye, it was surprising to me. I ordered the ribeye and it was a delicious meal of Bison steak, roasted asparagus, a loaded baked potato and a biscuit. A very good meal indeed. My wife ordered the Brick Chicken plate and had a cheese and bell pepper topping on a chicken breast. A side of broccoli and baked potato accompanied her meal. It was a reasonable $9.99.

So not only is it a little bit different (it serves Bison) but it's also very reasonable. They had delicious looking dessert, but we were all too full to try any of it.

All in all, a good place to go. I think I can safely say that we will be returning to that establishment once we try the rest in the P&L district!

Have you had your helping of Bison today?

Second Round of the Tournament

Well today was the second round of the Big XII tournament. The games started at 11:30am and were finished just before 11:00pm. Another full day of basketball, but this time, we got to see our beloved Jayhawks play!

The morning session's games were less than exciting. The Oklahoma State vs Texas game was very sloppy, but it was close. Texas ended up winning 66-59. Texas scored the most points in a game today.

The Colorado vs Oklahoma game was close all the way through, except for the beginning when Colorado didn't score in the first five or six minutes of the game. Oklahoma pulled out with a 10-0 lead. Then Colorado went on a 14-2 run or so and made the game interesting. Oklahoma ended up winning 54-49.

So now in the first game of the Semi-Finals, Texas will face-off against Oklahoma. The top seed versus the four seed. This is the way it was supposed to work out. We'll see tomorrow who will reach the finals!

The evening session began with the Kansas Jayhawks vs Nebraska. KU looked pretty awful during the first half, committing careless turnovers throughout. They ended the game with 18 turnovers, 12 of them coming in the first half. Nebraska led at half 27-22, but KU was able to pull it together and make things happen on the court in the second half. The Jayhawks pulled away at the end to win by 10, 64-54. Again, not the greatest game though.

Finally, K-State and Texas A&M. It started out close, and A&M went slightly ahead. Up by 5, then by 7. It rocked back and forth throughout the majority of the game. A&M was lead by #22 Kirk who made several threes. With four minutes left in the game, Beasley and the wildcats went ahead by one. Then A&M regained the lead and kept it for the rest of the game. The wildcats had an opportunity to win the game with 7.9 seconds left and Beasley missed the lay-in, they got the rebound and sent it out to Pullen who missed. A&M was fouled on the rebound and drained the two free throws. A&M over KSU 63-60.

So now in the second game of the Semi-Finals, KU will play against Texas A&M. The number two seed versus the six seed. Not exactly how it was supposed to work out, but we'll take it. Hopefully the Hawks will have it in them to stomp the Aggies and reach the finals!

First Round of the Tournament

So i guess the afternoon session of the Big XII tourney was a bit more exciting than the evening session. Colorado crushed Baylor in double overtime 91-85. This was the first 12 seed to win a game in the Big 12 Tournament. Well done Buffs!

Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech with a 76-72 win also. Now Oklahoma State will face Texas this morning with tip-off at 11:30. I'll definitely be cheering for Okie State!

We attended the evening session last night and saw Nebraska beat Mizzou and Texas A&M beat Iowa State. We went there to cheer for Nebraska and Iowa State, and I even wore an ISU football tee-shirt (but I still had my KU hat on).

It's always good to see Mizzou lose, but really neither team played very well. And the ISU game was a little crazy because it was such a low scoring game.

Hopefully the games today will be a bit more exciting than the evening session's games played out to be. But I guess how can it not, since we're getting to see KU play!!!

Texas vs Oklahoma State 11:30am
Oklahoma vs Colorado 2:00pm

Kansas vs Nebraska 6pm
Kansas State vs Texas A&M 8:30pm

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, go KU!

Howl at the Moon!!!

Well after the evening session of basketball last night, we decided to give the dueling piano bar, Howl at the Moon a try. It was actually a lot of fun. I had heard that it was very expensive, so I had my reservations about this place.

Cover was $5 to get in, so that was less than the piano bar that we'd been to in WestPort, which was $7.

12oz Boulevard = $5. This is a little pricey since you can get a 6-pack of Boulevard at the store for $7.50, but it was still cheaper than some bars in KC.

22oz Fat Tire = $7. This may be the deal of the day, nearly two beers for just a smidge more than the 12oz Boulevard. Not too shabby!

The music there was great, too! They had at least 4 guys that would alternate. They would play the dueling pianos, electric guitar and drum set. The combination on some of the songs was really good.

They played a lot of the typical piano bar songs that everyone would sing to and then they got into the Fight Songs. I requested them to play the KU Fight Song, I'm a Jayhawk. They did it and then they played it until someone gave them more than $2. The next dude gave $22 and he was from Nebraska. So they played that fight song until someone gave more than $22. A nice KU alum (I'm assuming) gave a whopping $45 to seal the deal for KU. So they played our fight song a couple of more times and then we were declared the winners!!! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Now let's turn the Howl at the Moon victory against Nebraska into a Second Round victory tonight at 6pm. Rock Chalk baby, Rock Chalk!

I will try to post some pics of Howl at the Moon later. Stay tuned!

Have you howled at the moon lately?

Power and Light District

Since the Big XII Men's Basketball tournament is starting tomorrow, life Downtown is about to get crazy. From people running through the streets, to frustrated fans trying to find a parking spot, it will for sure be interesting.

I am definitely looking forward to trying out some of the new restaurants in the P&L district, right across the street from the Sprint Center.

We ate at Famous Dave's Barbecue joint a couple of weeks ago, and it was pretty good. I must say I haven't had BBQ for quite some time, and after eating there, it made me want barbecue much more often! For the lunch portion/price, though, it was well worth it. The menu selection is decent, and the BBQ sauces are even better.

Dare to try Devil's Spit, and there's no looking back - you are in for a treat. Mixed with several chili peppers and a variety of other ingredients, this flavor will knock your socks off. Definitely a delicious choice, but not for the faint of heart.

Check back as I give my perspective on the other restaurants that I dine at in the coming days.

Where have you eaten at in this new area of Downtown?

Big XII Tournament - Sprint Center

The Big XII Men's Basketball Tournament is getting ready to begin at the end of this week. The Kansas City Star has posted a brief article featuring the pairings of the first round of the tournament. For a much cleaner version of the bracket, the official Big XII website is your resource. This PDF version of the bracket gives the pairings in an excellent format and includes tip-off times.

Downtown is really gearing up for the fun to begin. Our apartment staff told us today that they would not be selling Parking Garage Spots to the public, and this was a great relief. Being only 4 blocks away from the Sprint Center can get pretty congested at times, and I am glad we won't have to compete with anyone for a parking spot.

Some Downtown business such as Perk Up,1103 Grand, are extending their hours for the tournament. Rather than remaining open until 9 PM, Perk Up will stay open until midnight during the tournament to capitalize on the thousands of people looking for an ice cream treat, or just some good old coffee.

Stay tuned to Downtown KC this weekend, as it sure will be something special!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

To Twitter or Not to Twitter?

Twittering or tweeting can be something that you do in your spare time, or it can be something that you do non-stop. The choice is yours. I choose to twitter whenever I am thinking about it, so probably not as often as I should.

An article that I found on Sphinn this evening from Cornwallseo.com, "Twittering Naked in the Bath" basically says that twittering is over-rated. I have heard this from many people. But if it is so over-rated, why are so many people still doing it?

I am not crazy about it, but I do enjoy it. It is a great way to snoop on others and see what they are up to, should they choose to tweet.

In fact, I will tweet this blog post as soon as it is published.

What are you tweeting about today?

Welcome to my world

Hello, Kansas City!

Well I have now set up a blog hosted on Blogger. I am going to give this a try. This blog really will be about A Little Bit of Everything. I plan to write about Kansas City SEO, Search Engine Marketing in general, Sports (especially of the Jayhawk persuasion), Food/Beverages. A variety of items, but some of my favorite things.

Come back often, as I will always have something new for you to view! At least I am writing this with that intention in mind!

Be sure to keep it real, while living the dream!

~mulvhawk