THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2008
SPORTS
3B
BASEBALL
Coach bats around wardrobe ideas
Shawn Shroyer: "Well, this time last year, you would have been having practices, but because of the new NCAA rules you can't start practicing until Feb. 1. Do you feel
like you should be out doing something?"
Ritch Price: "I'll tell you what, my wife told me last night that I'm wound tighter than a drum. It's the longest I've gone without coaching baseball in 30 years. It's been hard for me to deal with Yesterday
Price
I did my charts and everything for the season, so right now we're just doing all the preparation things. It's definitely a weird feeling."
SS: "Uniform-wise, I heard yesterday, you guys are going to have some Expos-style hats. How of often are you going to break those out?"
RP: "We're going to wear those with our red tops. That's Ryno's suggestion. He loves the Expos hats, so we actually copied that three-color tier. To me, it looks like a surfer/skateboard hat from California, but the players are absolutely in love with them. I'm sure when the students see them, they'll be the No. 1 seller in the bookstore."
SS: "So are you going to kind of be like the Oregon football team with all these uniform combinations?"
RP: "Yeah, a little bit. One of
the things we're going
try to do is wear our
blue top at home on
a Tuesday night
and, if we play a
two-game set, we'll
switch to red on
Wednesday and
we'll wear
the traditional
white
on Friday
Saturday. Usually we go to blue on Sunday, which has been our tradition."
SS: "Moving on to the Major Leagues, they announced this year's Hall of Fame class a couple weeks ago. What did you think of Goose Gossage getting into the Hall?"
RP: "I was thrilled for him. I was at the Orange Bowl actually when that was announced and I read that one great stat in the paper that he had 52 saves where he entered the game in the seventh inning. And in this day and age when you watch Trevor Hoffman, who I think will be a first ballot Hall of Famer and is one of the greatest pitchers of his era, he pitches the ninth inning. You never see him in the seventh. That's
SS: "Do you think any guys were left out this year?"
somebody else's job now. Gossage pitched in a different era and I think his numbers were very, very deserving of the Hall of Fame."
RP: "You know, the criteria is interesting. I read all the debates about who got in and who didn't get in. I've been a Cub fan my whole life and I was disappointed Ron Ceyd didn't get in. I think his numbers are as good as guys already in the Hall. The interesting thing is going to be pens to Mark McGwire
when this whole thing plays out. If he doesn't get in, I think you could see a situation with Barry Bonds maybe not getting in, which would be amazing politically as far as debate in the game."
SS: "Speaking of Bonds, you said you grew up always tening and watch-the Giants. What think will ha-p them now that gone?"
the whole team has really aged in the last three years. Now they need to get younger. The one thing about the Giants is they have good pitching. If you look at the Padres, they don't score many runs, but they pitch and they play defense. I think they'll actually be better moving him and moving a couple of the other
guys, I think you'll actually see the Giants be better."
SS: "And you can't turn on SportsCenter without hearing stuff about steroids. What are your thoughts on steroids in ball?"
about steroids. What are your thoughts on steroids in baseball?"
RP: "It needed to be addressed. In college baseball, if you test positive for steroids, it's a one-year ban. There've been some college guys
who've been caught and suspended for an entire season. If those rules were in place in professional baseball, they wouldn't even be having this problem. You would hope that a kid could go chase his dream and not have to get into the steroid use in order to advance to be a professional baseball player at the big league level. If you didn't do it, I think it was a disadvantage, so I think it's a great thing that they're finally cleaning it up."
SS: "Can you make any sense out of the Roger Clemens situation? Nobody else seems to be able to"
RP: "The thing that's amazing to
thing that amazing me about the whole steroid use thing is you're talking about hundreds of guys
but they're singling out the two or three superstars. Clemens is
getting the same scrutiny right now that Bonds has gotten. He's become the poster child. Whether he's guilty or he isn't guilty, it's got to be an awful thing for his family and his career as he finishes up. You wouldn't want to see anybody go through it, but I also think it sends a message to every young guy who's coming up because it's a pretty humiliating experience for Clemens right now."
SS: "%
team is going to
be playing in
a tournament over spring break just outside of Sarasota, Fla., so are you going to sneak away to watch any spring training base-ball?
SS: "And looking ahead, your
there, so I'll try to get by the ballpark and say hi to Mike Zagsursi. I may take our guys so our kids can get into a minor league complex and see some of our players who are in those systems. What a great motivational factor that would be because they all have the same dream."
SS: "For sure. And this summer you're going to be going all over the world with the USA Baseball National Team. Have you been brushing up on your Czech?"
RP: "You know, I'm an American through and through. I'm going to just follow the line with regards to that. It's going to be a unique experience and it's something I'm certainly really honored and thrilled to have the opportunity to do. Not only for me personally, but I also get to sell the University of Kansas in the process and represent our baseball program and I'm going to try to
RP: "If my guys are down there during that time, I'm going to try to get over and see some of our ex-players. I know the Phillies are down
going to try to do that in a first class manor.
SS: "And, last question for you,
I can't let you out without getting your Super Bowl prediction."
RP: "I don't think you can bet against the Patriots with the way they're playing right now. It's been remarkable to watch. They had two or three of those games where they could
we lost regular season games and found a way to win late. I remember when the 49ers were 17-1 and I watched the final game at Stanford Stadium in person when they won the world championship. It was amazing to watch a team chase perfection like that because they were about as professional as you could be."
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ASSOOCIATED PRESS
Switzerland's Roger Federer, right, talks with James Blake of the United States at the net after winning their men's singles quarter final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday.
Federer advances after defeating James Blake
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Federer is seeking to win here for the third straight year and pull within one of Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.
Top-tanked Federer ran his record against Blake to 8-0 and advanced to the Australian Open semifinals with a 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory Wednesday.
He next faces No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who beat No. 5 David Ferrer 6-0, 6-3, 7-5.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer has a lot of reasons to like James Blake.
Federer had to be nearly perfect to beat Blake, who used his powerful forehand to keep the Swiss star from taking control of point.
"Playing against James, it's always great fun," said Federer. "He's dangerous when he's even behind in the game."
》 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Blake's feelings about Federer were similar - to a point.
"He seems like one of the guys in the locker room," Blake said. "Then you go out there, he beats you."
The fans in Rod Laver Arena
were on the edge of their seats as neither player gave an inch.
With a tiebreaker looming in the first set, Federer was at his usual best under pressure, breaking Blake as he served at 5-6.
Blake saved two set points while serving at 4-5 in the second set and three more after falling behind 6-2 in the tiebreaker. Federer finally cashed his sixth set point.
Federer was cruising at 5-1 in the third set when Blake, refusing to yield, ran off three straight games. Federer finally held to finish it.
"I really went in thinking I had a good chance to win," Blake said. "I thought I played pretty well. But he came up with some of his best at the right times, and that was the difference."
Russia's Maria Sharpava, ranked fifth, plays No. 3 Jankovic next, while No. 4 Ivanovic will play No. 9 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2 Wednesday.
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- FOUNDATIONS OF ZEN An Introduction to Zen Practice January 31 and February 7, 7:00 pm A class open to all, regardless of experience. Taught by dharma teacher Jane Gnojek. Suggested donation: $20.
ZEN
1 DAY ZEN MEDITATION RETREAT February 9, 9 am - 4 pm Orientation for beginners, 8:30 am Open to all, regardless of experience. Led by Judy Roitman, guiding teacher of the Kansas Zen Center. Suggested donation: $25. Bring a brown-bag lunch. Please reserve your space in advance at (785) 331-2274 or info@kansaszencenter.org.
KANSAS ZEN CENTER
1423 NEW YORK STREET
LAWRENCE, KS 66044
(785) 331-2274
www.kansaszencenter.org.