Though I sometimes like to think so, I am not always right.  I always try to do my best to gather all the available information, read, consider and analyze it, and then make a judgment about what it all means.  Sometimes my conclusion is quite prescient.  Other times it's quite wrong.

This is one of the latter times.  As such, I want this to be considered my official apology to Luis Colon.  Lu, if you read this, you can ask my fiancee how incredible it is that you're hearing me say "I'm sorry."

You see, back in July 2007, I called for Colon to be dismissed from the K-State basketball program.  He had just been charged with simple assault for punching a student on campus.    During the previous season, he had been ejected from a game against Cal for sucker punching a Cal player.  Further, I didn't consider his play that first year anything resembling impressive.  In short, I thought he was an overweight, uncoordinated, unskilled hothead.

Nearly two years later, I'm apologizing.  Colon has gone from overweight to in-shape.  Really, his body makeover during the last offseason was nothing short of amazing.  He's also gone from a guy who averaged 2.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in 29 games to a guy who averages 5.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.  Not numbers that will garner all-conference honors, but on this team, Big Lu isn't expected to score.

More importantly, Colon appears to have his emotions in check.  No more punching students on campus -- a later, anonymous message in response to my post advocating his dismissal from the team claimed the fight was a response to a racial confrontation -- no more rabbit-punching opponents, no more pouting and throwing his headband.  Now he hustles up and down the court like his life depends on being the first player back on defense.  I wish I had some video of Big Lu pumping those arms up and down the court.

There's always a place at K-State for a role player who busts his ass for the team, the school and its fans.  We appreciate it, Luis.  Keep it up.

We've had just enough discussion about this recently to warrant an open thread.  Then, of course, Panjandrum's most recent Adventures post brought the issue of whether Shiner Bock is an overrated Texas beer to the forefront.

Also, given that it's New Year's Eve, maybe this discussion will give someone -- probably me -- an idea for a new beer to try tonight.  Anyway, have at it, discuss your favorites and your least favorites, and have a happy New Year's.

And for God's sake, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!!!

Who: K-State vs. Wagner

When: December 30, 2008 | 7:00 p.m.

Where: Manhattan, Kan. | Bramlage Coliseum (12,258)

Media: 1350 KMAN | Fox Sports Kansas City

Not much to this one.  Panjandrum and I will be out on this one, here's hoping EMAW and the rest of you can fill in for us.

Go Cats!

Yeah, yeah, I haven't posted anything in about two weeks and this is the best I could come up with.  Sorry, it's slow right now.

Sometimes you just have to hand it to a guy.  Just when I thought I couldn't dislike Lew Perkins anymore, he goes and does this.  For those who forgot, here's the breakdown in a nutshell:

--Lawrence-area t-shirt retailer (Joe-College.com) sells funny* shirts, sometimes using the color blue and the word "Kansas"

--KU decides it doesn't like the shirts and sues the t-shirt retailer, who isn't licensed by the university, for infinging on its trademarks.

--Jury finds about one-fourth of the shirts in question infringe on KU's marks, and awards a whopping** $127,000 to KU.

--Less than a year later, KU is apparently pissed that this guy has the audacity to continue running his business, and asks the court for costs of $110,000, attorney's fees of $1.26 million, and fines of $1,000 per day for each day Joe-College continues to sell shirts that are apparently on the banned list.

OK, so let's get this straight.  In the initial case, the KU athletic department got $127,000, and now they're asking for nearly that much in costs and $1.26 million in attorney's fees?  Even at a fairly high number such as $500 per hour, which may be what its attorneys are charging, given that they're based in Atlanta, KU's attorneys would have to have spent 2,520 hours on this case to justify $1.26 million.  Granted, I don't know if that includes the trial, but even so it still seems like a lot for what was approximately a two-week trial.  Larry Sinks, the owner of Joe-College, apparently 'only' tallied about half a mil in attorney's fees.  I'm not saying it's impossible that KU could prove its attorneys cost this much, but I'm hoping the judge doesn't permit it in this particular case.

We should be clear about my next point.  Perkins and the KU athletic department are not claiming they own the word "Kansas" in all contexts, but rather when it is used in reference to KU.  Fair enough.  But in the KC Star article linked above, check out the picture.  How is that shirt, a pink hoodie with the word "Kansas" on the front, clearly related to KU?  The federal jury in Topeka said it was.  Far be it for me to question the judgment of 12 fine Kansans, but c'mon.  And that's to say nothing of Sinks' assertion, via Jason Whitlock, that a witness for KU testified that they own the color blue in the state of Kansas.  I'd laugh if I didn't think some KU fans and officials were arrogant enough to actually believe that.  Not all.  Some.

This whole thing makes me wonder if there isn't some personal history between Perkins and Sinks.  Joe-College is one of many t-shirt retailers in Lawrence.  I'm not specifically calling into question any particular entity because I don't have any special knowlege, but is everything sold by Jocks Nitch, Francis Sporting Goods, Jayhawk Spirit, and other Lawrence retailers officially licensed KU gear?  Lawsuits don't make friends, but I'm guessing there might be a little more than just the lawsuit behind Sinks' comment in a recent University Daily Kansan article, in which he called Perkins, and I quote, an asshole.

So, why did I write about this?  First, because it's kind of slow right now.  Do you really want me to preview our game with Wagner tomorrow?  Didn't think so.  Second, because of my strong dislike for Perkins and the school down the river.  Third, because I think this lawsuit is a waste of time and money aimed at using the university's athletic department money to fund a personal vendetta between Perkins and Sinks.  As Panjandrum commented here recently, I hope karma is a big fat bitch waiting around the corner to deal Perkins a wicked backhand to his already-mangled nose.

We could only be so lucky.

*Whether the shirts are really funny is obviously a case-by-case inquiry.  Some of them are.  Some of them aren't.  The fact that I'm taking the side of a t-shirt retailer who markets shirts lampooning my own alma mater should say something about how strongly I dislike Perkins.

**Here, by "whopping," I mean "pittance"