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Posted on Wed, Oct. 21, 2009 10:57 PM
COMMENTARY
Blaine and I just need a little space, that’s all
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“Jason, healthy relationships are built on a foundation of trust,” Dr. Brian Anthony Homer, Kansas City’s leading sports therapist, explained to me Wednesday afternoon. “I’m advising you to honor the commitment you made. If you break your date Saturday night, you’re going to do serious damage to your relationship. The trust will be gone.”
It’s just one stinking game, Doc. I drove two hours in the pouring rain to sit through that nightmare of a game against Nebraska. I’ve been very loyal.
“Jason, you promised Blaine Gabbert you’d be at the Texas-Missouri game,” B.A. Homer said while reaching for a month-old copy of The Kansas City Star. “You promised right here in black and white. You specifically said you’d spend Saturday with Blaine and the Tigers and not Todd Reesing and the Jayhawks. And now you’re headed to Lawrence to watch the Hawks play the Sooners.”
It’s my boss. She’s insisting. She says OU-KU is a better game with a better writing deadline.
“Don’t you put this on Holly. You’ve been looking for a way out of your relationship with Blaine ever since Ndamukong Suh hurt Blaine’s ankle with a vicious cheap shot. Just be honest, Jason. You want out.”
No! I don’t want out. I just want to see other quarterbacks.
“OK, then why not drive over to Manhattan? The Wildcats can take control of the Big 12 North with a victory over Colorado.”
Grant Gregory isn’t my type of quarterback. Too experienced. He’s been around the block. South Florida, K-State, six years. No shot at the NFL. Gross.
“Talk about used up and put away wet. Jeff George played one year at Purdue, committed to transfer to Miami, changed his mind, went to Illinois and then played for half the teams in the NFL.”
Doc, that is so wrong for you to throw Jeff in my face again. You know how painful that is.
“Jason, you’re never going to have a healthy relationship with another quarterback until you get over Jeff. It’s why you bail at the first sign of trouble. Blaine is having a tough time playing on a bum ankle. He needs your support now more than ever.”
No, he needs a seat on the bench until he’s healthy. Gary Pinkel is causing the problems in my relationship with Blaine. Pinkel should sit Blaine.
“Pinkel knows more about developing quarterbacks than you. Pinkel understands the concept of sticking with a quarterback in sickness and in health. If Blaine is going to be a great one, then Blaine has to learn to play with pain. There’s a huge difference between pain and injury. The great ones play with pain. They only sit when they’re injured.”
The pain I was in last Saturday night watching the Tigers play Oklahoma State sure as hell felt like an injury. Doc, I love the way Blaine Gabbert can play quarterback, but right now, I’m not in love with the way he’s playing. Do you understand that difference?
“You love his potential, but you’re not in love with his performance the last couple of weeks.”
Exactly. He’s not standing firm in the pocket. He’s not stepping into his throws. He’s throwing off his back foot, which is causing his passes to sail high. His touch on fade passes is nonexistent.
“Sounds like you want to break up, Jason. That’s a long list of complaints. You can’t be happy in the relationship.”
It’s not a breakup. It’s just time apart, a little space for Blaine to grow up. You watch a quarterback hobble around game after game, repeat the same mistakes and you start to lose respect. I don’t want to lose respect for Blaine.
“If you bounce over to Lawrence and start slobbering about how great Reesing and the Hawks are, I know a lot of Mizzou fans are going to lose respect for you. You started out the year convinced the Tigers were the North favorites.”
That was before the ankle injury. That was before it became indisputably clear that there’s little discernible difference among Kansas, Mizzou, Nebraska and Colorado.
“I still think you should be in Columbia on Saturday night, watching the Longhorns and Tigers.”
I’m going to ask Todd to watch the game with me at the Yacht Club.
@ Go to KansasCity.com for Campus Corner, our college sports blog.
To reach Jason Whitlock, call 816-234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.
Posted on Wed, Oct. 21, 2009 10:57 PM
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