A departure  
I don’t do baseball but this column is a departure based on the latest events.  As a youth baseball was the game of choice, I loved basketball I just wasn’t as good playing the sport as I was baseball. On Wednesday the baseball writers failed to vote a single player into its Hall of Fame. I read no details however I would speculate it was based on athletes either admitted guilt or they might have been suspected of steroid use. I remember lunch time arguments regarding this issue. One co-worker stated; “steroids are not going to help you hit a baseball.” An opposing view was expressed; “instead of driving the baseball 400 feet you have the strength to drive it 500 feet.” I have no solution for the steroid issue hanging over baseball however it must be resolved in the future at some point. If the subject of steroids continues to prevail a player of this era might never be elected to the Hall of Fame guilty or not.

He might be one of the best
Nate Wolters plays ball at South Dakota State; he is a 6-4 190 pound combo guard. It’s easy to understand why you might be unaware of Wolters South Dakota State is certainly considered a mid-major (that word again). The Summit League probably contains the most “initial” schools of any in the nation; UMKC (University of MO-Kansas City), IUPUI (Indiana University and Purdue University at Indianapolis). Finally there is IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne (IN). Back to Wolters, his numbers have gone up each of his first three years at South Dakota State. He’s been first team Summit League (2011 & 2012), Summit League Tournament (2012). Last season he scored at a 21 ppg clip adding 6 assists per game to his totals. Several websites project him as an NBA draft choice; don’t be surprised if you hear David Stern or Adam Silver call his name in 2013. A local blogger witnessed Wolthers game against UMKC. Although he stated several positives he said; “we won‘t see Wolthers in the NBA.” I think he’s much braver than me; I wouldn’t make such a blanket statement.

Is this true?
I refrain from reporting unconfirmed stories but this one is different. If true this isn’t really shocking news to the residents of Sacramento or most NBA fans. The internet “blew up” on Wednesday with stories indicating the Kings were being sold to Seattle interests. If began with a tweet by the daughter of an NBA agent and was followed by a story written by veteran Yahoo NBA writer Adrian Wojnarowski. The Maloof brothers are finalizing a deal to sell the Kings franchise. The buyer is a Seattle group which would move the franchise to Seattle; might we say Seattle “Sonics” once again? The story is yet to be confirmed nor finalized. It raises a number of questions, the first the name Sonics and team records would revert to this new team. As for the Thunder they are an “expansion” team with Oklahoma City records established. A secondary question is raised regarding the Kings. The franchise has retired jerseys and records some dating back to the Rochester (NY) days. What happens to those records should the sale and move be approved? Before you Sacramento fans began crying about losing your franchise we cried in Kansas City in 1985, welcome to the sharing of tears. One key fact, life will continue to exist without the NBA; losing a team is not the end of the world it‘s close ----but not quite.

I grow tired of this!
It’s extremely difficult for me to ignore what I consider asinine comments. I wish I had the ability to simply pay no attention to them and move on but I can’t. I truly thought at one point with Mizzou in the SEC and Kansas in the Big XII all the stupid comments would cease. Every time the Kansas City Star prints a story on Mizzou athletics emails from Kansas fans are forthcoming. The “my team’s better than yours don’t bother me, as I indicated earlier it’s the letters that contain no relevancy. Two teams in different conferences don’t matter, Kansas fans continue to discuss anything connected with Mizzou. The larger problem is the choice, as an example two emails to the Kansas City Star. One writer gleefully pointed out the game against Alabama wasn’t sold out, another commented on a photo of Mizzou’s Laurence Bowers. My first response, why in the world should it concern a Kansas fan if the arena is full or not? I think I would be worried about the attendance at Allen Fieldhouse if I were him.  I'm not denying the tattoos on Bowers arm, they are clearly evident, the Kansas fan referred to them as “gang tats."  A couple of respondents (I would guess Mizzou fans) pointed out Thomas Robinson and the Morris twins arms were loaded with tats. I guess “gang tats’ are only relevant when they are on Mizzou players.  The writer detailed his bias (and ignorance) by overlooking Robinson and the Morris twins.