6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2008
MEN'S GOLF
bwheeler@kansan.com
Jayhawks start season slow in Hawaii
BY BRYAN WHEELER
The men's golf team left the Kansas winter for three days for the 18th Annual Hilo Invitational Golf Tournament in Kona, Hawaii. The tournament, which was held Wednesday through Friday at the 6,738 yard Waikoloa Village Golf Course, where par is 70, started the spring season for the lavihawks.
Kansas finished 14th out of 18 teams with a total score of 858, 45 strokes behind tournament champion and Golfweek's No. 8 college ranked team, Stanford. According to the Golfweek performance ratings,
the tournament featured eight of the top 50 teams in the country. The jayhawks' finish tied its 14th place finish in last year's Hilo Invitational.
"It was the first competition of the season," coach Kit Grove said. "There's a lot of rust right now because we haven't played in a while."
Freshman walk-on Brad Hopfinger and sophomore Bobby Knowles led the Jayhawks individually.
Hoptingtied for 26th out of 96 players overall and started the first round with a career-best score of 66. He followed up the second round with 74 strokes. In the third round,
"As a walk-on, he exceeds all expectations of what you want out of a player." Grove said. "You wish you could have 10 more like him."
Hofinger shot a 70, giving him a three-day total of 210 strokes.
Knowles started the first round with a score of 73. Knowles continued to build off a solid start by scoring a 72 and a 71 in the second and third rounds, respectively.
"I was able to build on that success each day, which is something I haven't done before," said Knowles, whose 216 total tied him for 58th overall.
Freshman Nate Barbee tied for 68th place with a total of 217 strokes.
Junior Walt Koelbelt tied for 83rd place with a total of 221 strokes and junior Zach Pederson finished in 91st place with 227 strokes. The team finished each round in 14th place.
"We placed 14th, but we played against some of the best competition in the country," Knowles said. "Overall, it was a great time to be in Hawaii."
The team's next competition will be Feb. 25-26 in the All-American Golf Classic in Houston. The Jayhawks will be attempting to defend their team title in last year's tournament.
Edited by Nick Mangiaracina
BIG 12 BASKETBALL
Knight's son fills big shoes, feels pressure of job
Texas Tech coach Pat Knight, center, greets his players, including Tech forward Mike Singletary (32) and Charlie Burgess (42), as they take a time out in the first half the game against Baylor in Waco, Texas, on Wednesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pat Knight's first plan was to start his career as a head coach at some small "safe" school, far away from the imposing shadow his father would cast.
But then he realized how much he loved Texas Tech. So the son of the winningest Division I coach in basketball history happily stepped right into Bob Knight's shoes last week when his father unexpectedly resigned.
"I never wanted to take over for my dad," the younger Knight said Monday, exactly one week after succeeding the elder Knight as the Red Raiders' head coach.
"But then it got to a point where I really liked living here in Lubbock and I really liked the people. I love the university and I think we can really keep building onto something special here."
After 42 years, three national championships and 902 wins, Bob Knight surprised even his family when he stepped down, handling the keys to the program to a son who two years earlier had been named head coach-designate. The younger Knight said during the Big 12's weekly coaches teleconference Monday that he changed his mind about succeeding his dad a couple of years ago.
"I don't think I would have been able to live with myself if I'd taken a different route, maybe a safer route,
try to go to a smaller school or work it that way. Really, I just thought 'What the heck, I love it here,' he said.
"There's no sense uprooting myself, my wife, away from a place I like to live just because of circumstances — following my dad's footsteps, what are people going to say, pressure."
The timing could have been better. His first two games were on the road, at Baylor and at Nebraska, which led to two losses and dropped Tech's record to 12-10 overall and 3-5 in the Big 12. He'll still be looking for his first win when No. 18 Kansas State and super freshman Michael Beasley come calling Wednesday night.
"I kind of got baptized by fire," he said. "But the only bad thing is, I come off the road and now I've got to go face Michael Beasley. So it's still not getting any easier."
One of Knight's closest friends is Oklahoma State Coach Sean Sutton, who probably understands what he's going through as well as anyone in the world. The son of legendary coach Eddie Sutton, Sean was head coach-designate at Oklahoma State when his dad unexpectedly stepped down in February of 2006.
Sutton doesn't think Bob Knight did Pat any favors by leaving during the season.
"He's going to get the experience of calling time outs. He's going to get the experience of making substitutions," Sutton said. "But ... he's
Texas Tech coach Pat Knight, center, greets his players, including Tech forward Mike Singletary (32) and Charlie Burgess (42), as they take a time out in the first half game against Baylor in Waco, Texas, on Wednesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
stepping in with a really young team, going up against a pretty difficult schedule. All of a sudden, if he doesn't do as well, you wonder how the people are going to respond out there. I don't think it ever helps when something like that happens in the middle of a season."
"It was not the easiest thing by any means," he said. "But Pat's got a lot of support. I'll continue to support him and do everything I can to help him."
Sutton finished the season 5-6 after his father turned over the job to him.
"He's always going to be around, even if he's out of town. He's always going to be able to be around for me to contact," he said.
Knight said he plans to talk frequently with Sutton, and will not be bashful about making full use of his dad's advice.
Pat Katrin doubts his dad will ever coach again. But he's not absolutely certain.
"But then again, it's a great mind sitting out there. Who knows? After a couple of years, maybe. But right now I don't see it because I know how miserable he was, and how bad he was feeling when he got out."
"He was tired. He was really tired," he said. "He was just worn out. I tell you, he looks better than he's looked in a long time. Relaxed. Feels good. I told him he's going to look better than me in about a week.
Another Big 12 coach who followed his famous dad into coaching would advise Pat Knight not to pretend that there isn't any pressure,
"A lot of times sons follow dads in their chosen profession," said Baylor's Scott Drew, who took over for his father, Homer Drew, for one year at Valparaiso.
"You feel like you do have big shoes to fill and you don't want to let them down, or the fans down. So I know there is that pressure."
》 NASCAR
Drivers rev-up fans with antics
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Two-time series champion Jimmie Johnson took a trip to the Florida Keys. Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. visited Sea World. And some of NASCAR's top officials played golf.
Cheating scandals rocked the Daytona 500 the previous two years, tarnishing NASCAR's most prestigious event and turning the attention to the uglier side of racing. It made for a busy Monday and Tuesday at Daytona, which is traditionally closed to crews on those two days of Speedweeks.
Five teams were popped last season and six people were kicked out of the season opener, nearly turning NASCAR into a national laughing-stock in the days leading up to the Super Bowl of racing.
Not so this year. The only Speedweeks drama so far has revolved around an alleged fat joke to Tony Stewart that may have earned Kurt Busch a left book. It
Instead, NASCAR officials huddled in their offices to determine punishments, while the offending teams waited nervously for the hammer to drop.
All was quiet — for a change — at Dayton International Speedway on Monday, just the way NASCAR wanted it.
apparently happened in the NASCAR hauler — no one involved will discuss the particulars — but that hasn't stopped the entire garage from spreading a tale that's growing faster than Stewart's hair.
And it did.
they headed toward pit road.
"We want the drivers to be themselves," president Mike Hiteon said, "Our sport has done very well on (its) character ... and the character of the sport is built by all the drivers that participate, as well as owners, the other penalties."
So when Stewart and Busch tangled during a lively practice session on the first day of the season, the entire industry waited to see how NASCAR would react. The drivers made contact on the track, and an angry Busch repeatedly slammed his car into the side of Stewart's as
"You've got to have something to keep the fans excited and say 'Hey, this is my man.' "
The attention had shifted away from that in recent years, with sagging television ratings and a decline in attendance as fans grew bored with the racing and bland drivers afraid to show any emotion. France heard the rumblings and began to rethink NASCAR's behavioral guidelines.
NASCAR opened this year hoping to get back to the basics. After several changes, large and small, to its top series, chairman Brian France wants to make 2008 be about the action on the track and the characters who comprise the most popular form of racing in the United States.
But, hey, that sure beats talking about cheating.
A heated argument ensued inside, and perhaps even a punch. Unable to get the drivers to cool off, NASCAR kicked them out of the truck and told them to return in the morning when they'd calmed down a bit.
That second meeting was used to warn both drivers to steer clear of each other and stop messing around. NASCAR reserved the right to penalize them, but so far has done nothing.
Stewart then blocked the entrance to the garage with his car, and appeared to be trying to get out of his car when his crew members rushed onto pit road to intercept him. Busch then drove his car around Stewart's, and both drivers were called to NASCAR's office.
Car owner Richard Childress said the entire incident was good for the sport.
"You've got to have a little controversy thrown in there," he said. "You've got to have something to keep the fans excited and say 'Hey, this is my man,' I kind of enjoyed seeing it. As long as nobody gets hurt, a little scuffling never hurt anybody."
The incident certainly didn't hurt NASCAR, as overnight television ratings for both Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout and Sunday's qualifying for the Daytona 500 were
RICHARD CHILDRESS car owner
both up from
2007. Fox's
broadcast of the
Shootout
was up 7.1
percent from
last year, while
qualifying was
up 8 percent.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., winner of Saturday night's race, came to
Daytona skeptical of NASCAR's plan to allow more emotion. But after watching the drama surrounding Busch vs. Stewart unfold, he changed his mind.
Not only does he now believe NASCAR is going to loosen the reigns, he thinks it will help lure fans back to the sport.
"I think the Web sites, the hits over the last 24 hours, 48 hours, I've heard some good things about that. It just brought a lot of attention to this race," he said. "Speedweeks, you know, they needed a shot in the arm and what happened in practice gave it that."
"I think they are going to go back to letting us run over each other, so just get ready. I'm going to walk around with my dukes up all day long. Be ready, I'm telling you, you got to watch both hands."
This is the stuff NASCAR wants people talking about. The excitement of Saturday night's race, the fabulous finish in which Earnhardt pushed past Stewart to steal the win, and the feud between two former champions.
Series officials claim they want to return NASCAR to the way it was when the fans fell in love with it.
So far they're off to a pretty good start.
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