Quick hits

Lost in the shuffle of the opening day loss, 4-2 to the Los Angeles Angels, something we're probably going to see a lot of this season, was the reopening of the George Brett Bridge in time for the first pitch.  It was really remarkable to me that the contractor, Clarkson Construction was able to get this done in the time allotted.  The bridge was imploded on January 14th, following the Chiefs final game, which was later than expected following a season that included a home playoff game.  Had the bridge, with it's I 70 access not been completed in time, it would have been all that much tougher a sell to get people into Kauffman Stadium.  Realistically the Royals could struggle to avoid losing 100 games again this year.  But it does make it easier for us to make a snap decision to head out to the park on a warm summer evening.

To Missouri fan who's self loathing knows no limit seems to be uninformed as to what is what's going on with Oklahoma's search for a basketball coach.  Athletic Director Joe Castiglione has now struck out with his first 4 choices after firing Jeff Capel.  Local media guy Kevin Harlan said on the Border Patrol said that coaches seemed to be running away from the job and apparently he's correct.  At last count Bruce Weber, Dave Rose, Lon Kruger and Buzz Williams have declined offers from the Sooners.  Apparently a portion of the OU fan base is worrying that they're about to drop into obscurity in the new Big XII conference and they'll become the new Nebraska, all football.  It's odd when so many of our fans wish we had Joe C. back in CoMO instead of Alden.  OU makes between 30 and 40 million a year than the Tigers and aren't having much luck showing anymore success.  And if you want to mention how far ahead their football program is to ours, may I at least remind you of the score last season.

Speaking of football, there was nothing going on with the students out on spring break, but there's a lot of speculation that James Franklin being the starting quarterback on September 3rd at the opener against Miami of Ohio may be premature.  Tyler Gabbert has continued to look good leading the offense and has moved into pretty much a co-number 1 right now.  Brad Madison, while not making people forget about Aldon Smith appears to be developing into a dominant pass rusher, and Kony Ealy may well move into the 3rd spot in the rotation.  Despite losing 3 starters the defensive backfield looks to have more talent than ever.  If Dominique Hamilton comes back from an injury and Sheldon Richardson makes it on campus this could be a very formidable defense.  Some questions still on the offensive side of the ball, including the young receivers moving up and threatening for jobs and whether one of the running backs will be able to stake a claim as the premier back.