6:52 p.m.: Leftovers from our Wednesday lunch chat:

1. Is a poke in the chest grounds for firing a coach? That's what KU players have accused Mark Mangino of doing -- poking a finger in the chest of a Jayhawks linebacker the day before the Colorado game last month. But that's so far. According to the Kansas City Star, other players and their parents are lining up with other stories of Mangino abuse. Here's my take: it depends on the context of the "poke.'' If it is a one-time thing, and the coach has no history of abuse, then I think you can let it off with a warning. But throw in KU's five-game losing streak, the lack of funds for the new $34 million football palace, and Mangino's appearance (KU is button-down and very image conscious) and you have a totally different story. I think under other circumstances, say, two years ago or even a month ago, Mangino would be let off the hook here. But again, we don't know the history built-up here. It's funny how people tend to pile on when a coach is down and out. Where were all these KU people with stories about Mangino during the 12-1 season two years ago?

2. Mangino was going to be on the hot seat eventually, if not this year. I think he's a good coach. His teams, before this latest slump, have been generally well-drilled. But he's not a "great'' coach with a stellar record. Granted, building KU up to a BCS bowl is tough duty. But under Mangino, the Jayhawks have been over .500 in the Big 12 only once in his eight seasons. Mangino made a KU career out of thumping Bill Callahan teams twice at home and making the Orange Bowl run in 2006. It should be noted that KU didn't play OU or Texas that year. It still counts, of course. But it should also be noted that Athletic Director Lew Perkins was the main reason KU made the Orange Bowl that year; the night that Big 12 North champ Missouri was losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, Perkins was on the phone selling the OB on the Jayhawks and talking down the Tigers. It was a masterful job by the AD. I'm not saying Mangino hasn't done a good job. But it's not quite as ingenius as the reputation.

3. Is Kansas overspending for football? I think so. I love Perkins' appetite for football, but if he is firing coaches based on money for football, I think it's misguided. Throughout its history, Kansas football has never followed up the big year. There's always been a flop, whether it's after the 1968 Orange Bowl, the big Glen Mason year in 1993 or the 2007 Orange Bowl. They just can't sustain. Why? I don't know. But I do know that Jayhawks don't care enough about football to keep pouring millions into it. At some point, somebody will put a stop to it. Maybe that's what the boosters are trying to tell Perkins now. Maybe the slow roll of income for that Gridiron Complex is KU boosters way of saying "we don't care."

Also, I love this little bit from last weekend: Right next to KU's Memorial Stadium sit two immaculate football practice fields, with fieldturf, a tall coaching tower and all the trimmings. A KU beat writer told me that the team doesn't practice on them. Never uses them. Why? Because they sit up high and are surrounded by a parking garage, street, buildings up on an adjacent hill, etc., and anyone can look right in on the practices. So two amazing practice fields sit empty every day. Wonder if they thought of that when they built them. That's a basketball school for you.

4. If Mangino is exiled from KU as expected, there could be two job openings in the Big 12 if Colorado happens and a third if you believe Mike Leach is making noise about the Louisville job (which has yet to open) or will jump at any job that moves. There are also possibile openings at Notre Dame, Michigan and Illinois. It could be a very, very busy off-season on the coaching carousel, with openings that will leave other big openings when coaches come to fill them.

5. Just got an email from Kevin McNabb with the Omaha Royals that Mike Jirschele will be back for his eighth straight season, and 11th overall, as Omaha Royals manager. Forget voting for mayor; pretty soon Jirschele will be eligible to run for mayor of Omaha. Oh, well, who better to turn out the lights at Rosenblatt Stadium next August?

--Tom Shatel

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