Pub

[steve dave]

Barfknecht: Vintage Bill returns
By Lee Barfknecht
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

After covering Kansas State's spring football game last May, I recall thinking on the drive home that the Wildcats looked like a glorified small-college team.

Not very big. Not very fast. Not many playmakers. Not much of anything special.

Except for one thing.

There was this guy who wears gray slacks, a purple windbreaker and old-time Puma shoes. Coach Bill Snyder is his name and fixing up broken football teams is his game.

During the summer, K-State got a couple of late roster additions — junior college tailback Daniel Thomas and sixth-year quarterback transfer Grant Gregory from South Florida. Both have been solid.

Still, by late August, this had the look of a three- or four-win team.

Through some early season struggles, such as a loss at Louisiana-Lafayette and a 52-point drubbing at Texas Tech, someone we'll call Gentle Bill Snyder appeared.

Gentle Bill, often with a smile and self-deprecating humor, talked openly of his team's struggles and how he was teaching his players how not just to play but how to practice also.

While everyone pounded the drum in the Big 12 North for Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri, the Wildcats quietly put together a win here and a win there.

Now look.

After Saturday's 20-6 win over Colorado, K-State (5-3, 3-1) leads the North Division by a game over Iowa State, which it already has beaten, and by two and three games over the supposed favorites.

The bigger news, though, is Gentle Bill has stepped aside and Vintage Bill has returned.

Vintage Bill is a perfectionist. Vintage Bill can be grumpy if his teams don't get better day by day. Vintage Bill demands that the game be played to a certain standard.

Vintage Bill pounds his fist on the podium in postgame press conferences, like Saturday, even when his team wins but doesn't do it the right way.

“You don't want to hear what I said to them,'' he hissed.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, a longtime protégé of Snyder, chuckled Monday at how his former boss operates.

“I know he's always looking for more,'' Stoops said. “I spent a long time with Coach Snyder — seven years at Kansas State and I was around him for 10 years at Iowa. So I know all about him.''

Snyder was still unhappy Monday about Kansas State's second-half play against Colorado.

“It wasn't good, for a lot of different reasons,'' he said. “I was probably a little angrier than I should have been. Nevertheless, it's apparent we've got some improvement to make.''

All this is bad news for the rest of the North because the return of Vintage Bill means one thing: Snyder senses a real opportunity to win this division.

The three teams picked to finish atop the Big 12 North (Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri) have a combined seven-game losing streak. Kansas State has more conference wins than those three schools put together.

K-State, after a trip to No. 22 Oklahoma this week, plays Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska in consecutive weeks — the first two at home.

The trademark of Snyder's teams is to improve as the season goes on. If that continues while the favorites founder, Snyder could add one of the more unlikely titles to his Hall of Fame résumé.

Football: Big 12 ratings
1. Texas (7-0, 4-0)

Last week: Beat Missouri 41-7. Up next: at Oklahoma State, 7 p.m., ABC. A win this week, and the Longhorns are home free. Their last four games are Central Florida, at Baylor, Kansas and at Texas A&M.

2. Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-0)

Last week: Beat Baylor 34-7. Up next: Texas, 7 p.m., ABC. Things have been mighty quiet in Stillwater since early September. Have the Cowboys been loading up for a massive upset?

3. Oklahoma (4-3, 2-1)

Last week: Beat Kansas 35-13. Up next: Kansas State, 6 p.m., FSN. Who cares how many injuries OU’s offense has? As good as this defense is, a touchdown may be good enough to win from here on out.

4. Kansas State (5-3, 3-1)

Last week: Beat Colorado 20-6. Up next: at Oklahoma, 6 p.m., FSN. If Bill Snyder pulls off this upset, he should go straight into the College Football Hall of Fame.

5. Kansas (5-2, 1-2)

Last week: Lost to Oklahoma 35-13. Up next: at Texas Tech, 2:30 p.m., ABC. This becomes a virtual must-win game for the Jayhawks. The talent is there, but something still doesn’t seem right about ku.

6. Iowa State (5-3, 2-2)

Last week: Beat Nebraska 9-7. Up next: at Texas A&M, 2:30 p.m. The power of positive thinking and a whole lot of toughness are at work in Cycloneland. Soon to come is the making of bowl plans.

7. Texas A&M (4-3, 1-2)

Last week: Beat Texas Tech 52-30. Up next: Iowa State, 2:30 p.m. The Aggies’ 22-point road win over Texas Tech may be the most unlikely of the season next to William & Mary beating Virginia.

8. Texas Tech (5-3, 2-2)

Last week: Lost to Texas A&M 52-30. Up next: Kansas, 2:30 p.m., ABC. Mike “the Pirate’’ Leach can’t seem to get his ship to sail in one direction for more than a week while juggling QB injuries.

9. Nebraska (4-3, 1-2)

Last week: Lost to Iowa State 9-7. Up next: at Baylor, 11:30 a.m., Versus. Back-to-back home losses to unranked teams have shattered NU’s confidence. Maybe the only team with less is this week’s opponent.

10. Missouri (4-3, 0-3)

Last week: Lost to Texas 41-7. Up next: at Colorado, 12:30 p.m., FSN. The two-time North Division champions might have to win five in a row to extend their title run to three straight.

11. Baylor (3-4, 0-3)

Last week: Lost to Oklahoma State 34-7. Up next: Nebraska, 11:30 a.m., Versus. The Bears have scored just 7, 10 and 7 points in three conference games and are minus-5 in turnovers.

12. Colorado (2-5, 1-2)

Last week: Lost to Kansas State 20-6. Up next: Missouri, 12:30 p.m., FSN. Load up the moving vans. Dan Hawkins using his son at QB just one game after pulling another QB’s redshirt should be a fireable offense.

[ArchE_Cat]

Barfknecht: Vintage Bill returns
By Lee Barfknecht
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

After covering Kansas State's spring football game last May, I recall thinking on the drive home that the Wildcats looked like a glorified small-college team.

Not very big. Not very fast. Not many playmakers. Not much of anything special.

Except for one thing.

There was this guy who wears gray slacks, a purple windbreaker and old-time Puma shoes. Coach Bill Snyder is his name and fixing up broken football teams is his game.

  oh no he didn't

[steve dave]

Shot across the bow fired from the north right there.

[sonofdaxjones]

I don't think Puma has sponsored a college sports team since they sponsored ku back in the 80's . . . Puma . . .  seriously Lee??  (BTW Adidas sponsored K-State Hoops in Jack Hartman's last 4 years . . . they wore super bad a$$ Kangaroo Leather purple shoes with white stripes . . . and K-STATE in gold lettering on the back)

[Purple_PhotoShopper]

[catzacker]

All this is bad news for the rest of the North because the return of Vintage Bill means one thing: Snyder senses a real opportunity to win this division.

this kind of makes me chuckle because I think this is exactly the case.  through all the flaws (which are many), through all the talentless areas on both sides of the ball (which are many) this freaking team has a shot.  A legitimate shot to win 5 games and go to the Big 12 CG and Bill knows it and is trying to get these band of players who have basically known nothing but ass kickings and losing their entire playing careers to realize this and focus...I mean, he coached the '99 and '02 teams which were wildly more talented and they didn't win the Division.  It's like he's getting a shot at redemption for pissing away week after week of opportunities in the '04 and '05 seasons when the North looked like it does now.  

[1/64th]

Barfknecht: Vintage Bill returns
By Lee Barfknecht
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

After covering Kansas State's spring football game last May, I recall thinking on the drive home that the Wildcats looked like a glorified small-college team.

Not very big. Not very fast. Not many playmakers. Not much of anything special.

Except for one thing.

There was this guy who wears gray slacks, a purple windbreaker and old-time Puma shoes. Coach Bill Snyder is his name and fixing up broken football teams is his game.

  oh no he didn't

I stopped reading at PUMA SHOES.  If the guy can't recognize greatness (NIKE CORTEZ) then he does not deserve my readership.  Barfneck is such a....... :neck:

[ksu_FAN]

this kind of makes me chuckle because I think this is exactly the case.  through all the flaws (which are many), through all the talentless areas on both sides of the ball (which are many) this freaking team has a shot.  A legitimate shot to win 5 games and go to the Big 12 CG and Bill knows it and is trying to get these band of players who have basically known nothing but ass kickings and losing their entire playing careers to realize this and focus...I mean, he coached the '99 and '02 teams which were wildly more talented and they didn't win the Division.  It's like he's getting a shot at redemption for pissing away week after week of opportunities in the '04 and '05 seasons when the North looked like it does now. 

Yeah, real similar to the 05 season.  The schedule played out differently, but after starting 1-2 in the league, we had a stretch with the same trio of teams we beat this year and all were about the same caliber.  We went 0-3, two close losses to aTm and CU followed by a whipping in Ames.  Granted, we could've lost the ku game as easily as we won it that year, but in a down year for the north we lost to aTm, CU, and NU by a combined 7 points.  Had we won those 3 we would've been Big 12 Champs.  

This year we've taken care of the "should've won" games and are sitting in a similar situation.  You have 2 "winnable" home games left, and even if you lose the 2 road games, you likely finish Big 12 North Champs.  I'm sure Snyder doesn't want to let this one slip through like we did in 05.

[mcmwcat]

“It wasn't good, for a lot of different reasons,'' he said. “I was probably a little angrier than I should have been. Nevertheless, it's apparent we've got some improvement to make.''

how mad did you really get at them Bill?

when our TE broke his arm playing touch football during a visit to ku i remember my HS FB coach, old man Kriewel, get so pissed one day he was like, "I'm so mad I could spit".

i wonder if Bill was like that saying some old timery saying that would have been real offensive in the late 1800s but now it's like, what the hell is that guy saying

[Big Sam]

Dudes, I can't believe you, on this board, are falling for this.  Barfknecht is like a nubby white-boy whitlock.  He is only saying nice stuff about Snyder now (someone he hates) because he is expecting KSU to get trounced in Soonerville on Halloween.  Then he can turn on Bill and the 'Cats with some inane rant that will include "just when I started to believe they were pretty good they showed their true colors vs. the Sooners....."

Man, I thought this board was a little brighter about this stuff.

/wish we had a smiley that had a lone tear trickling down the side of its face/

Sam S.

[steve dave]

Dudes, I can't believe you, on this board, are falling for this.  Barfknecht is like a nubby white-boy whitlock.  He is only saying nice stuff about Snyder now (someone he hates) because he is expecting KSU to get trounced in Soonerville on Halloween.  Then he can turn on Bill and the 'Cats with some inane rant that will include "just when I started to believe they were pretty good they showed their true colors vs. the Sooners....."

Man, I thought this board was a little brighter about this stuff.

/wish we had a smiley that had a lone tear trickling down the side of its face/

Sam S.

He is by no means a NU homer. 

[JTKSU]

The Eagle's rankings of the conference.  Love how CU and ISU are both ranked above us, even after our wins over them and our superior conference record.

Ranking the Big 12
1.Texas
2. Oklahoma State
3. Oklahoma
4. (tie) Colorado/ Iowa State
6. Kansas
7. Kansas State
8. Missouri
9. Nebraska
10. Texas A&M
11. Texas Tech
12. Baylor


http://www.kansas.com/sports/big12/story/1028460.html#ixzz0VANYPO8o

[mjrod]

“It wasn't good, for a lot of different reasons,'' he said. “I was probably a little angrier than I should have been. Nevertheless, it's apparent we've got some improvement to make.''

how mad did you really get at them Bill?

when our TE broke his arm playing touch football during a visit to ku i remember my HS FB coach, old man Kriewel, get so pissed one day he was like, "I'm so mad I could spit".

i wonder if Bill was like that saying some old timery saying that would have been real offensive in the late 1800s but now it's like, what the hell is that guy saying

He's karate chopping the podium.  You know he was watching Karate Kid earlier in the week.

[Big Sam]

Dudes, I can't believe you, on this board, are falling for this.  Barfknecht is like a nubby white-boy whitlock.  He is only saying nice stuff about Snyder now (someone he hates) because he is expecting KSU to get trounced in Soonerville on Halloween.  Then he can turn on Bill and the 'Cats with some inane rant that will include "just when I started to believe they were pretty good they showed their true colors vs. the Sooners....."

Man, I thought this board was a little brighter about this stuff.

/wish we had a smiley that had a lone tear trickling down the side of its face/

Sam S.

He is by no means a NU homer. 

But he is a serious douche and his prone to KSU-haterade.

Sam S.

[steve dave]

Dudes, I can't believe you, on this board, are falling for this.  Barfknecht is like a nubby white-boy whitlock.  He is only saying nice stuff about Snyder now (someone he hates) because he is expecting KSU to get trounced in Soonerville on Halloween.  Then he can turn on Bill and the 'Cats with some inane rant that will include "just when I started to believe they were pretty good they showed their true colors vs. the Sooners....."

Man, I thought this board was a little brighter about this stuff.

/wish we had a smiley that had a lone tear trickling down the side of its face/

Sam S.

He is by no means a NU homer.  

But he is a serious douche and his prone to KSU-haterade.

Sam S.

No he isn't.  You're just like everyone else on GPC that thinks everybody in the history of the media hates KSU.

Steve D.

[Bookcat]

8 turnovers=kick NU out of the conference