Halfway to Nirvana?I have mentioned twice before that I’m a fan of Mike Shanahan and that I would love to see him come to K.C. Conflicting reports say absolutely yes and absolutely no. Who knows? The only thing I do know is that he is a proven winner. There will be those who say his winning was because he leached off John Elway, but you can make just about as good of an argument that Elway leached off Shanahan. BTW: My Shantastic headline is an unabashed leach job on the ESPN Shaq scrabble commercial – one of the best ever! Let’s face it. Everyone leaches off everyone. If you don’t think Pioli has leached off Brady, just wait until I present Pioli Drafts: Luck, Dumb Luck, and Brainwashing. Part II.

The deed is done. Chiefs coach Herm Edwards has been fired. The details are still filtering in, but ESPN.com is reporting that KC is close to hiring Mike Shanahan as the next coach, which of course spoils the tenor of my post earlier today. What a crazy business. Right now, we know that Herm is out. The Shanahan part, well, there are conflicting reports and it's not done yet.

Mike Shanahan exercised this morning.Rumors based on television reports bite. The whole Mike Shanahan-to-the-Chiefs buzz has had my b.s. detector beeping since yesterday afternoon. I just ain't buying it, especially since The Star's NFL writers aren't reporting anything. NFL.com's Adam Schefter, who used to work in Denver and is about as plugged-in as it gets, writes this on his blog:

Arizona vs PittsburghIn Part I, I took a little stroll down memory lane. I picked the all-time top-5 quarterbacks, running backs and receivers in the history of each franchise. Of course, some of those players are still around – specifically both quarterbacks. I’m going to do some present day head to head match-ups for this version of Super Bowl Analysis and will lead it off with the two signal callers – Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner.

Mike ShanahanI want to say right off the bat that this is nothing more than a rumor. I haven’t got the faintest idea what is going to happen with Denver’s former coach. For all I know, he is going to Europe to play 50 and over basketball. However, I commented earlier on a Bradford post about Cowher and Shanahan that I would be giddy to see him as the Chiefs head man. Why? Simple. He’s innovative and I like his offenses. I cannot stand conservative coaches in any sport. They make me sick. Milk toast. And, if that weren’t enough…

Missouri blocked OSU's comeback attempt.Let's focus on the big picture, shall we? Around these parts, we have been pointing at the Oklahoma State game as the milestone game on Missouri schedule ever since the Illinois loss. The game finally arrived; Mizzou won. That's that. At tournament selection time, the 'W' is all that is going to matter. A team -- Missouri -- that had to get a quality road win on their resume finally got one. As of today, the Tigers are an iron-clad cinch for the NCAA Tournament. From here on out, they can either improve their seed or play themselves out of the bracket. I'll take that rather than the alternative of having to play yourself in.

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, MoeFirst of all, I’m having fun making fun. I’m not an anti-Pioli guy (unless Herm stays). I am optimistic and I consider him a good hire. Besides, it was past time for Peterson to leave and we needed fresh blood. Still, so much has been made out of Pioli’s incredible finds in the draft, I decided it was time to evaluate whether he is really that good. As it turns out, I’m going to rip this myth to shreds!

LaceDarius Dunn 33 pointsThis isn’t exactly breaking news, but the Cats lost their last chance to save the season tonight. Baylor may have been ranked, but the game was in Manhattan and the line was pick’em. Losing by 18 was not on the agenda and not acceptable. Being 0-4 in the conference with an average losing margin of 16 points pretty well guarantees any last hopes of making the NCAA tournament … are shot. Of course, if your definition of saving the season means you prepare for next year, well then…

Junk stats making the rockin' sports world go round.What is a junk stat? It's term that's bandied about often among those who write about sports through the prism of statistics. We all admit to using -- and even liking -- junk stats. A junk stat is defined as something that while interesting and perhaps even revealing doesn't really measure anything. Batting average? That's the percentage of at-bats in which you get a base hit. It measures something. Quarterback rating? A junk stat. The sports world is full of junk stats already, so what's one more? Here's one to rate Big 12 basketball players.

Bill ParcellsOk, what are the odds that Bill Parcells is coming to Kansas City? One would assume them to be very small. We can analyze this situation to death. We can speculate on everyone from Herm Edwards to Tiger Woods. But, the belief that Pioli is going to do something simple is obviously, off the page. If that were true, a coach would have been picked by now. So, who can be blamed for speculation? Parcells name appears this afternoon because of a change of ownership in Miami. What does that have to do with us?

Mario LittleThe main thing I want to comment on is Mario Little (formerly Little Rusty). I have to admit, he looked exceptionally talented against A&M. You would have never known, or believed, that his entire KU career had consisted of only 11 points. Up until today, I felt like it had been a mistake to play instead of red-shirt. And, it still might be. However, he is definitely going to help this team this season. And, the reason I say so is related to my quiz question…

Jim HartI thought it might be interesting to begin my analysis of the two teams by looking at the most productive players at the key positions – quarterback, running back and receiver. However, I’m looking at them from an historical perspective – meaning, who were the top-five Steeler quarterbacks? There is room for debate – especially for the Cardinals receivers. But, overall, this gives you an idea of who came before? Who set the table? Who is part of the tradition for each franchise – assuming the Cards actually have a tradition?

An upset tonight of Kansas would do wonders for the NCAA chances of Josh Carter and Texas A&M.The new polls are out today in college basketball. It's Monday and that's when the polls come out, so you already know that. The voter polls hold less water than their counterparts in football. They really don't mean anything, nor are they particularly accurate. More and more, astute college basketball fans turn to RPI rankings because, after all, the season is about getting into the NCAA tournament and the RPI plays a part in that. The voter polls don't. Anyway, I was perusing the various polls and rankings and thought I'd mash them together to give you an idea where Big 12 teams stand in the grand scheme of things.

39% chance of rainUnfortunately, my favorite choice for Chiefs’ coach (Steve Spagnuolo) was scooped up by St. Louis. I figured he’d be in Missouri, I just never considered the Rams. Just a quick review and then we’re on to the most likely alternative.

Who's going to the Super Bowl? The Cardinals, that's who.Let's not go so far as to call this a live blog of the conference championship games because my attention was divided while watching. What follows are simply some things I decided to type while those games were playing out on my DVR. Read at your own risk.