Does the jersey really matter?
There was conversation at the time Tony Gonzales left the Chiefs to play for the NFL Falcons. The discussion, would this brilliant tight end be enshrined in the Hall of Fame as a Kansas City Chief or Atlanta Falcon? If I remember Joe Montana was inducted in the Hall of Fame as a 49er although his last team was the Chiefs. Is the jersey really important at that particular time? Will Steve Nash wear a Suns jersey or Laker jersey when he’s elected? He could wear a Mavs jersey as well, he played for them too. I posed the question because it’s my belief the jersey issue on the football field or basketball court is probably more important to fans than the athlete.

As for Nash who could have foreseen the HOF career when he was drafted out of Santa Clara. Quickly, how many NBA players can you claim have Santa Clara roots besides Nash and former Laker Kurt Rambis? Didn’t think so, no disrespect intended for the university but it’s not been a hotbed of NBA talent. This 6-3 Canadian by way of South Africa has certainly carved out a niche in the NBA. Nash is 39 now and certainly his skill level has eroded but the guy can still play. I don’t know if he has a nickname however I certainly have one for him. To me he’s the Energizer Bunny he keeps going and going, going all the way to the Hall of Fame.

I write this in advance
This is written in the morning prior to the Thursday night game so I have no idea of the outcome. I wrote it because I thought it might detail the significance of an ages old rivalry. The Mizzou-Kansas rivalry is probably not going away anytime in the future if it follows the established pattern of Louisville-Kentucky. There are key differences; unlike here (Missouri-Kansas) the two schools are located in the same state. In addition they never played in the same conference yet their rivalry is quite evident and intense. Louisville and Kentucky are a little over 2 hour’s drive-time campus to campus, much closer than Lawrence Kansas is to Columbia Missouri.

A local television station sent a crew to Lexington Kentucky to conduct interviews with Kentucky fans. Those interviewed echoed a common theme; they would root for Mizzou should the Tigers win against Colorado State. The win would set-up a Mizzou-Louisville game on Saturday. Interesting they preferred to root for a "new" conference member over an in-state school. A historical note, Kentucky and Louisville refused to schedule the other in basketball for decades. Finally the Kentucky legislature had to step in and force the schools to play one another after a threat to withhold state aid.

Regular season or post season?
A long standing debate has raged on the value of post-season conferences, it will occur again this year.  Liberty University won the Big South post-season tourney, the win was Liberty's 15th of the season.  15 wins to accompany 20 losses, Liberty qualified for the NCAA post-season tourney.   Liberty is not the first team to qualify with a losing record just the latest. Former Jets and Chiefs Coach Herm Edwards once coined a phrase which is now classic; “you play to win the game.” If we use that as a basis no one need be critical of Liberty they did what they were supposed to do, they played and they won the game! They lose to North Carolina A&T 73-72 in their first tourney game so I guess my concern was of little value.

What if ______?
Next month the Lakers will host another jersey retirement ceremony.  This time the prodigal son returns, Shaquille O’ Neal. At the time this was announced last year it probably caught many Laker fans off-guard. Many fans (including this writer) held a grudge against Shaq because of the drama that had been generated over a season. In fairness to him Kobe deserves to share in the criticism too. The impetuous youngster was unwilling or unable to mend the broken relationship between the two. Dr. Buss made the call, he chose to trade the older Shaq and retain the younger Kobe. In the end it was the owner who stated it was appropriate to retire Shaquille O‘Neal‘s number 34 jersey.

It‘s sad Dr. Buss didn’t live long enough to witness the ceremony. I’m sure video of the Jamal Wilkes jersey ceremony was shown to Dr. Buss. The jersey retirement caused me to ponder what if? What if Shaq and Kobe could have co-existed longer? The Shaq we witnessed playing for the Celtics and Cavs had begun to show his age. He was never the best conditioned athlete yet Shaq was in his prime at the time he left for South Beach. Shaq-Kobe won three consecutive championships and played in one championship series they should have won. How many would this combo have won injury free and most critical willing to work as teammates? We can only speculate at this point that “train has long-since departed the station.” Three or four additional championships sound unreasonable?