Notes and quotes while wondering if the Chiefs have any intention of hiring U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix to root around their locker room to see if he can uncover anybody who can play defense. …

The occasion was hardly the equivalent of the Hatfields presenting a rocking chair to the McCoys, but Roy Williams’ white-dove gesture of honoring former Missouri coach Norm Stewart before Monday night’s Kansas-Texas game punctuated the strong bonds of the coaching fraternity. Next thing we know, Williams will be bringing Billy Tubbs to Allen Fieldhouse and giving him a collection of Jack Nicholson films. …

Did you know a Kansas University graduate is a head coach in the National Football League? Jack Del Rio, the Jacksonville Jaquars new field boss, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from KU while with the Chiefs in 1990. Del Rio played collegiately at USC. …

Further proof you never know what former Kansas All-American Drew Gooden is going to say: Asked by the Dallas Morning News about his youth, Gooden quipped, “I grew up playing baseball. I was supposed to be the next Randy Johnson, but I don’t have the arm anymore and I can barely swing a bat.” Hmm … How can you be the next Randy Johnson when you’re right-handed? …

Will KU’s Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich be back-to-back selections in the June NBA Draft? On the Web site nbadraft.net, a mock draft updated this week has Collison listed as the No. 16 selection by the Philadelphia 76ers and Hinrich the 17th pick by the New Orleans Hornets. …

Former Kansas University quarterback and basketball player Mario Kinsey hasn’t shaken off the rust at Sam Houston State.

Kinsey is averaging 4.4 points off the bench for the Bearkats while shooting just 38.6 percent. Kinsey has played in nine games since becoming eligible at the semester. …

In case you missed it, Rip Scherer, KU football’s offensive coordinator in 2001 under Terry Allen, has been hired for a similar post at Southern Mississippi. Scherer didn’t coach in 2002 while Kansas paid him $100,000 under the terms of his two-year contract. …

Meanwhile, KU coach Mark Mangino has an opening on his staff now that defensive ends coach Travis Jones has departed for Louisiana State. A reader suggested John Mumford as a possibility. Mumford, a former Lawrence High football player, has been defensive line coach at Army for the last three years. Mumford’s wife, the former Leslie Green, is also from Lawrence. …

It’s awfully early, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball race ended in a four-way tie with Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas all finishing with 13-3 records. Boy, wouldn’t that throw a monkey wrench into the pairings for the postseason tournament. The Big 12 has seven tiebreaker criteria and would probably have to use them all. …

Does anybody remember the experimental rules used in November during the Preseason NIT? The free-throw lane was widened by two feet on each side and the three-point line expanded nine inches to 20 feet, 6 inches. Hardly anybody noticed. …

If it seems to you that veteran officials Steve Welmer and Tom O’Neill have worked about half of KU’s basketball games this season, the familiar duo actually have worked only four of the Jayhawks’ first 19 games. Welmer and O’Neill aren’t even the leaders in the clubhouse. Kerry Sitton has worked five KU games. …

Roy Williams said it about Arizona: “I don’t see anybody else having the ability to withstand problems as well as they can.” Williams was referring to the Wildcats’ depth, not the Great Lawrence Motel Vending Machine Caper. …

Although KU’s women’s basketball team hasn’t made as much improvement as fans and administrators had hoped after last season’s 5-25 clunker, coach Marian Washington’s job is almost certainly secure through the 2003-2004 season because that’s the year her three-year contract expires.