by joanna

It’s Monday! I don’t know why I put an exclamation point there, but I did.

So I’m going to take this blog post back to the way I used to do fairly frequently in the early years — making this non-sports. If you want to chat sports, go ahead. The discussion is open.

But here’s my question: You have a week without your kids or your parents (depending on your age, here), what do you do with it?

I just spent an entire week without my boys and my husband and I had a date every night, caught up on our DVR’ed TV shows and went to Grownups (which is hilarious). I also painted two rooms and stained our deck. It was excellent.

by joanna

Since we’re in the middle of the summer, what should athletes be doing now? Are the pickup games the most important? The individual workouts with coaches? The weight lifting? Some time off?

I’d love to hear your take.

After putting up 9.8  points per game (second among 2012 players) in the invite only National Basketball Players Association Top 100 camp last week, Perry Ellis will head to a few more elite camps in the next couple of weeks to try and tune his game for the upcoming season. His stops include Chicago for the Kevin Durant Basketball camp and then a LeBron James-taught camp in Ohio.

by joanna

You know, I wrote that headline and laughed to myself. As if national attention is anything new to Ellis. Here’s a USA Today story on Ellis.

There’s lots of stories on Ellis that I don’t put up. Pretty much every college that has shown interest in him writes about him often because they’re trying to keep their fan base up to speed on a possible future player. I put this one up, though, because recently someone on the blog questioned Ellis’ skill and the attention he gets.

Again, I laughed to myself. The kid is legit.

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by joanna

Our series of offseason interviews with area coaches continues today with  Andover Central football coach Tom Audley.

If you’d like to hear from a specific coach, regardless of sport, e-mail me at jchadwick@wichitaeagle.com.

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by joanna

Ah, the signs that we’re nearing the start of football season — Lushous Lou battling with someone about K-State and Derby. The commentary is always amusing and rarely crosses the line — and it’s usually endless.

So what’s on your minds today?

Anyone want to talk about that amazing USA soccer game on Wednesday? Such an exciting finish.

How about Wimbledon’s endless match?

Maybe you want to chat about summer sports. Feel free to put your thoughts out there.

by joanna

The topic I’d like to offer today — and this is the open discussion post, so you can always change it — is why Kansas athletes head out of state. This can be for any sport, but I’ll get it started with football.

This is always a popular topic, and it’s understandable when you look at some of the best talent this state has had — has gone elsewhere. The most recent is Circle’s Jordan Phillips, who made an oral commitment to Oklahoma. He follows other Kansas kids — Jaydan Bird, Blake Bell and Justin McCay. The Brown brothers left the state, Blaize Foltz went to TCU, Bubba Starling has committed to Nebraska, Joseph Randle to Oklahoma State, Devin Hedgepeth to Oklahoma State.

I have no problem with athletes going where they want and where they’re comfortable. But why aren’t they feeling that about in-state schools?

by joanna

This is an age-old debate — and usually one that is heated. Are cheerleaders participating in a sport? That’s a question that is now part of a lawsuit.

What are your thoughts?

BY JOANNA CHADWICK
The Wichita Eagle
The football scholarship offers kept coming in for Circle’s Jordan Phillips, a 6-foot-6, 300-pound lineman. Offers from Oklahoma, Auburn, Colorado State, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and UCLA.
The pressure was mounting, so Phillips chose to make an early decision. He has made an oral commitment to Oklahoma.

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by joanna

I put up the Scout.com rankings last week, and now here’s how Rivals.com has ranked Kansas football players.

(Please note that I have not had any part in either of these rankings.)

The No. 1-ranked player is Bubba Starling, from Gardner-Edgerton. He has committed to Nebraska for football and baseball. The No. 2-ranked player is Circle’s Jordan Phillips, who has committed to Oklahoma. (Check out my story on his signing.)

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