Well, I’ll be goll-darned!!  We got ourselves a good ole’ fashioned dustup in Larry-Town, and it ain’t even Ju-ly yet!!  And who bunched up the KU faithful’s panties this time??  None other than J. Brady McCollough of the KC Star via his Sunday expose of Carl Henry’s handling of his meal tickets sons Xavier and CJ.

So what’s the big deal??  Well, it turns our Carl has a few opinions of his own in regards to many things including: the talent level of his two sons compared to KU’s default ’09-’10 starters, Bill Self, cell phone etiquette, and the deliciousness of Oklahoma Chinese buffet (spoiler: it is delicious).

Not wanting the fire to die down on this off-season, mid-summer, time-filling, Royals-suck-and-are-unfortunately-the-only-team-in-town-actually-playing-games-this-week-so-we-have-to-find-something-to-get-excited-about story, the local media and blogosphere has been drumming up reaction to the story any way they can.  Most notably, Carl’s rebuttal on ESPN’s theshiver.com, then McCullough’s rebuttal rebuttal on 610’s Chris and Cowboy show.

So what’s everybody yelling at everybody about??  KU fans feel slighted, McCullough feels the need to defend his reporting, and Carl Henry is attempting damage control.

KU fans are pissed because of what they perceive as a slap in the face to the Jayhawk tradition and name; an idea that Carl Henry is indoctrinating in his kids the selfishness of NBA-ready high-schoolers, flaunting the system, and a lack of respect for the team game that has proven its worth in the form of a National Championship.  First off, this is not the first time a player has announced his one-and-done aspirations prior to his foot falling in Lawrence, and second, there is nothing in Bill Self’s past that would lead anybody to believe that he would play favorites, especially with two newcomers on a Sweet 16 team ranked preseason #1.

J. Brady McCullough has been playing the “What’s the big deal!! I really reported exactly what was going on…no bias…honest!!” card.  There is scant evidence of JBM being guilty of sensationalism in the past, but there’s also no reason to think he can’t be held responsible for painting a less than flattering portrait of the crown-jewels of Self’s 2010 recruiting class.  While it’s hard to ignore what seems to be Carl Henry’s blow-harded-ness, there seemed to be something missing from JBM’s story.  Namely CJ and Xavier Henry.  The last line of the story is: “For the moment, the Henrys want Kansas.”  Really?  The why not make the story about that??  The story is really more about the father than the sons, and that’s a shame.

The story should have been about how, while KU was not the boy’s first choice, and while there are good reasons (tooth reasons, people) why they aren’t going to be in Lawrence until the first semester commences, they are committed to playing at Kansas. Sure, their dream is to do well enough to be able to jump to the NBA next year, but no matter what happens, they are nothing but dedicated to a 4th banner. Thing is, I’m sure they are. In fact, I wish more players had the work ethic they seem to be exhibiting. I don’t’ think JBM had a secret agenda when writing the piece, but he definitely painted a sub-par character portrait of the Henrys. I personally think he got so much mileage from Carl Henry’s gums that the angle presented itself, and the article followed.

Which brings us to Mr. Carl Henry himself. You never want to rip on somebody for speaking their mind, but perhaps he was mis-represented by JBM a little bit. I tend to think that what actually happened was somewhere between the Star story and the Shiver report. That’s really beside the point. This is the first time that I was introduced to the Henry family, and to tell you the truth, whether Carl was mis-quoted or not, he still came off as pompous and ostentatious. The fact that the boys are living it up in luxury* is (wait…channeling my inner-Whitlock here…) fuel for the haters.

* The worst part of the “controversy” are those upset at the fact that they are living in CJ’s paid-for-in-cash pad, and rolling around in Hummers. They have every right to do so. CJ earned that money with the bonus he got when signing with the Yankees…get over it.

Carl didn’t help his cause by snubbing Chris and Cowboy later that week, but that aside, what more could he really say? Hasn’t he already said enough??

Really, this whole hullabaloo is much overblown. Xavier and CJ will be in Lawrence by August, and if the need to be put in their place, then Self will put them there. I have no doubt that this will blow over by then. Everybody needs to shut up and realize that this is KU is lucky to have both brothers on their squad.