Kansas Legislature Defeats Prescription Cold Medicine Bill

The Kansas Legislature killed a bill in committee that would have required a prescription for the decongestant pseudoephedrine. Missouri is currently is considering a similar law. The chemical, which is the active ingredient in medications like Sudafed and Actifed, is used in the illegal manufacture of Methamphetamine. Some lawmakers would like to limit the availability of the drug to help in their fight against Meth, but others say making the medication prescription would put a burden on all people by making a costly and inconvenient trip to the doctor a prerequisite for using a safe and effective treatment for the common cold.

Currently, anyone purchasing medications containing pseudoephedrine have to provide an ID and purchases are logged in a database with info kept for two years. The system is real time and is designed to keep a "smurfer" as they are called from going from pharmacy to pharmacy buying small amounts of the substance.

The two states (Oregon and Mississippi) that currently have prescription pseudoephedrine laws on the books have reported a substantial decrease in Meth production. Laws like this can work, but we have to decide as a society if we are going to give up our rights to help fight the insidious Meth epidemic around the nation. I, personally am not in favor of these kinds of laws. I always stand on the side of more liberty, not less - but I do understand the other side. Meth is a horrible, horrible drug that truly destroys lives.

Sizing up Bill Self's Successes and Failures

Being a KU fan, I have nothing but respect and admiration for Bill Self. I am grateful that he is the coach of my alma mater and wouldn't trade him for any other coach in America. However, last year's loss to Northern Iowa still stings. This year's tournament could go a long way in shaping Self's present legacy.

Self's success can be hard to define. Apart from his first season, KU has won at least a share of the Big 12 title every year he has been coach, and pretty much dominated the league. However, during that span Self's teams have made only one Final 4, where they beat North Carolina and later Memphis to win the national title.

It is still early, but how do we look at Self? A good coach who, apart from one magical run, always falls short? This criticism seems unfair. Self's teams are almost always one of the tops seeds in the NCAA tournament, and no team is going to crash the Final 4 every year. As a result, KU has been given a "choker" label mostly due to its regular season dominance. However, the tournament results have been a little disappointing. Taking away the national title run, here is how the Jayhawks have done in the tournament:

2004 - 4 seed, Elite 8

2005 - 3 seed, first round

2006 - 4 seed, first round

2007 - 1 seed, Elite 8

2009 - 3 seed, Sweet 16

2010 - 1 seed, second round

The 2004 and 2009 seasons were viewed as successful runs, given that KU had little to no expectations in terms of competing for a championship. While the early exits seem often, lets not forget that every great coach is going to take his lumps. While Roy Williams never lost in the first round in his tenure as KU's coach, his teams lost in the second round five times during his 14 seasons, including three straight from 1998-2000. However, Williams' teams made four Final Fours in his tenure, despite failing to win a national title.

The counter argument to defending Self can be found in Michigan State's Tom Izzo. In Izzo's 15 seasons coaching the Spartans, his teams have six Final 4 appearances. However, like Self, he has one national title.

Does it matter how many times you make a deep run if you ultimately fall short of winning it all? Dean Smith, regarded as one of the greatest coaches in NCAA history, made 11 Final 4's during his 36 year tenure as North Carolina's head coach. His team won the national title twice. A deep run in this year's tournament would help erase some of the bad memories of early exits for KU fans, as necessary or unnecessary as that may be.

Colorado Snubbed from NCAA Tournament

Despite expanding the field to 68 teams and having less tournament-worthy "mid-majors," the NCAA selection committee just committed the biggest NCAA tournament snub in the history of the college basketball. While there are several other teams with arguments as to why they should be in the field, the Colorado Buffaloes have received the worst NCAA snub of all time .

You may not get into all of the math and statistics of college basketball like many college basketball followers, but even the casual fan can see at first glance that Colorado got hosed. The Buffs finished 21-13 overall and 8-8 in the Big 12. Not bad, especially in a tough league that featured five other tournament teams. Colorado beat several teams that not only made the tournament, but are a high seed as well. The Buffs beat Kansas State three times, while knocking off Texas as well. Missouri, who finished with the same Big 12 record as Colorado and had a terrible finish to its season, made the field as an 11 seed. Colorado beat the Tigers as well.

The real crime here is not so much Colorado being left out while less deserving teams such as UAB and VCU get in, it is that fans are going to be robbed of seeing some good basketball. You really think UAB, VCU, or USC can make a deep run in the tournament? The answer is no. If UAB or VCU makes it out of the first round it will then be destroyed in the round of 32. Thats why Colorado's snub is worse than the traditional bubble teams that don't get in - Colorado had a chance to go deep. We aren't comparing two mid-major schools that will both get hammered early. Colorado routinely beat good teams, and also gave league powerhouse Kansas two scares. This isn't your routine bubble punching bag, this is dangerous team from a BCS conference.

A big factor in the selection committee's criteria is the "eye test," or how a team looks simply based on watching their games. How does Colorado not get in based on this alone? Did the committee watch any of the recent games? Doesn't Colorado's third win of the season over KState or the Buffs' single digit loss to Kansas look better than UAB's loss to East Carolina in the Conference USA quarterfinals?

I realize Colorado had a weak non-conference schedule and has dropped some bad games this season. However, it is time for the NCAA tournament to select bubble teams that can do some damage, not serve as a punching bag for the top teams. UAB and VCU have no chance to go deep in this year's field, Colorado did. That is why this isn't your ordinary tournament snub, and hopefully the outrage over this injustice will lead to some changes in regards to how bubble teams are selected to the NCAA tournament.

Mizzou Squeeks into NCAA Tourney with 11 Seed

University of Missouri's Basketball team just barely slipped into this year's field of 68 teams for the NCAA Tournament. They secured an 11 seed in the West region - 11 and 12 seeds are generally reserved for the final at large bids into the tournament. Mizzou will play the Bearcats of Cincinnati University on Thursday night in an 8:50 Central time tip. The game will be played in Washington, DC - kind of ironic seeing as how this is the west region and you can't get much further east than DC.

Missouri was the last of 5 Big 12 team to get in the tournament. Most pundits thought Colorado would make it, but the committee chose UAB and Virginia Commonwealth instead. Strange, since Colorado finished with the same Big 12 record as Missouri with arguably better wins than the Tigers (they beat K-State 3 times) - in the Conference, anyway.

The Bearcats are a decent match up for the Tigers. It should, at the very least, be an entertaining ballgame is you like a fast pace. Cincinnati plays a similar style to Missouri's "40 Minutes of Hell". They both push the ball down the court and like to full court press. The 11 seed is actually a bit of a break for Missouri. Projections had the Tigers in the dreaded 8/9 game where the winner has to face the region's #1 seed. I don't think Cincinnati is markedly better than any 8 or 9 seed in the tournament. The highest seed Missouri could face if they beat Cincinnati is #3 Connecticut - a big step down from any of the #1 seeds.

Also on Sunday, Arkansas officially fired their coach renewing speculation that Coach Anderson could be headed to the University where he was an assistant for 17 years under Nolan Richardson. Coach Anderson reiterated what he said several weeks back that he is a Missouri Tiger and has no plans to leave, he would like to "retire here". I take the man at his word, and hopefully turning down Arkansas will be the end to yearly speculation of his leaving.

Kansas Wins Big 12 Tournament

For the fourth time in the last six years, Kansas and Texas met in the final of the Big 12 Tournament. Once again, Kansas defeated the Longhorns, heading into the NCAA tournament as a one seed with both the Big 12 regular season and Big 12 Tournament titles.

After losing to Texas in the regular season and seeing its 69 home winning streak snapped, the Jayhawks were out for blood in this one. All week, KU players and coaches mentioned that the death of Thomas Robinson's mother was a distraction before the team's last meeting, and this time the outcome would be different. Kansas backed up its talk with one of its best games of the season, torching Texas' defense (one of the nation's best) with a balanced attack.

If KU continues to play at this level, it will coast into the Final 4. However, the Jayhawks have a tendency to lay up at times, and the second round loss to Northern Iowa still lingers in the minds of the Jayhawk faithful. KU should have something to prove this year, which could be trouble for NCAA field.