This last Saturday in Lawrence, Kan., I found out what makes a man and what makes a mouse.

I traveled to the University of Kansas to cover the Iowa State football game against the Jayhawks and found one mouse on the Cyclone roster and one in my motel bed.

Let me start with the latter and not the former.

After watching the Cyclones get shelled by a score of 34-7, I needed to get some sleep. I decided to head for bed in a motel roomI had arranged to get.

As I plopped into bed and began to watch what was the end of a replay of the game on some Kansas cable channel, I listened as the color commentator chastised the ISU coaching staff for leaving their starters in at the end of the game.

Kansas had its second string players on the field (hell they could have brought them in after halftime) and the Cyclones scored their only touchdown of the game on a pass from Todd Doxzon to wide receiver Ed Williams with only a few minutes left.

This commentator claimed ISU left its starters in to give Troy Davis more yards and keep him in Heisman contention.

Just as I was about to scream at the TV for allowing such crap to be put on the air, I glanced below the TV and saw a MONSTER mouse run across the room.

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

To make a long story short, I ended up sleeping in my car that night with a sleeping bag and my Cyclone winter jacket on a chilly 40 degree Kansas night.

So I’m not Conan the Barbarian. As far as I know, bravery was not a requirement when I accepted the job as sports editor of this newspaper.

So call me a wimp or, better yet, you stay in a Lawrence motel with the wild animals and see if you live — either way, I’m sure I would have plenty to write about.

Which brings me to my former point — the mouse on the ISU football team.

Throughout this football season, ISU quarterback Todd Doxzon hasn’t been easy to get a hold of. After every game the press inevitably wants to interview the junior from Omaha and after every game inevitably Doxzon doesn’t show up.

A lot of this has to do with his injured ankle. Usually after a game he gets treatments for the injury to make sure he’s alright.

OK, I can understand that. You don’t want your starting quarterback getting hurt in a five minute press conference anymore than you want him getting hurt on the field.

But after Saturday’s game at Kansas, Doxzon was carrying his bag out of the locker room just like the rest of his teammates.

But unlike the rest of his teammates, who answered some difficult questions about a tough Cyclone loss, Doxzon’s comment was, “I don’t want to talk to anybody.”

Pretty brave, huh? Now granted, he’s not required to talk to the press, but, as messengers to Cyclone fans everywhere, wouldn’t you think he would want to embrace them and not push them away?

I guess being the leader of a team doesn’t mean you have to succumb to those nasty newspaper and television reporters like the rest of your teammates. You get to be quiet as a mouse.

Doxzon is a competitor and a good quarterback and nobody enjoys losing, but you have to take the good with the bad. Unfortunately, Cyclone fans probably won’t know what was on Doxzon’s mind after that tough loss.

I know what all of your sarcastic minds are thinking: “Well, you were really brave sleeping in the car.”

But I didn’t run away with Cyclone fans everywhere watching me.