Not everybody is a fan of Pittsburg State coach Chuck Broyles.

Some think he's brash, some think he's arrogant. Some even harsher, more personal words have even been used in our brotherhood of sports journalists.

But I think that, perhaps because Broyles and I are closer in age than I'd like to admit, I just understand him a little better than most.

In short, I GET his sense of humor.

He challenges reporters who set up their questions with a statement before they ever get around to asking the question-- myself included – and tries to put you back on your heels.

Like a cat who has a mouse under its paw, he likes toying with us just a bit. When I can just sit back and observe, I like his little game.

“Coach, Northwest converted 9 of 12 third-down situations today, and ...”

“Yes, and what do you think I should have done about that?” he counters, interrupting to begin the game.

The tip of his verbal foil has hit its mark, but the reporter then counters, asking the question about Northwest's tendencies and whether they had changed.

At that point, you usually get a thoughtful, brutally honest and insightful answer.

“They just out-executed us,” Broyles said honestly, taking a humorous verbal swipe at his own secondary, saying they were about the only four people in the 21,000-plus crowd that didn't know that Kendall Wright was going to get the football in those situations.

Now that's funny. I don't care who you are, or even if you don't care for redneck humor.

Because Broyles can turn on the “aw, shucks” charm as fast as anyone.

But he can also show you the tough, never-give-up attitude that has made him so successful – except, of course, in the past three seasons in the Fall Classic against Northwest.

“The only thing they have is a leg up in the conference,” Broyles said, giving every indication the Gorillas could be on a collision course with Northwest come playoff time.