THE UNIVERSITY BARY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2007
SPORTS
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
9B
Missouri strength coach Sean Edinger (shaved head), center, holds Missouri safety Cornelius "Pig" Brown as Brown is taken off the field on a cart after rupturing his Achilles tendon during the fourth quarter of a college football game in Missouri's 41-28 victory over Iowa State Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Brown is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Missouri fills leadership role
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — From a hospital room following surgery to fix his torn Achilles tendon on Sunday, Missouri strong safety Cornelius "Pig" Brown sent a message to his teammates that said "catch me if you can."
The message, communicated to his teammates by defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus during position meetings, referred to the record number of production points Brown scored two weeks ago against Texas Tech.
Missouri coaches give out production points following each game for tackles, sacks, interceptions and anything else that contributes to a win. For Brown's 14-tackle performance in a 41-10 win over the Red Raiders Oct. 20, he scored more than 70 production points. The tackles include 4 1/2 behind the line of scrimmage.
And though it will be hard for any player to equal that total in any of No. 9 Missouri's four remaining games, the message also meant new leaders needed to emerge on an improving defense.
"Pig set a real high standard," said Del Howard, who will back up Justin Garrett at strong safety on Saturday against Colorado (5-4, 3-2). "We're all going to try and match his intensity on the field."
A couple of weeks ago, Eberler moved Kevin Rutland, a freshman from Houston, from cornerback to safety in order to shore up the depth and this week, Eberler made a similar move when he moved Hardy Ricks to safety.
Ricks started eight games at cornerback as a true freshman last year and the first four games this year. But a shoulder injury suffered in preseason practice has slowed him some this year, and Carl Gettis has started all four Big 12 Conference games.
Howard is expecting to get the most significant playing time since playing in 12 games a year ago as a true freshman cornerback, when he made two interceptions. But Howard hasn't had trouble adjusting to a position he played while in high school in Dallas.
"You're the last line of defense so you've got to stay back," said Howard, who moved back to safety during spring practice. "You've got to watch everything."
"He's very physical, he's very intelligent on the football field." Eberlus said about Ricks. "We feel in time he has a chance to be a pretty good player back there in the secondary."
Missouri coaches feel the shuffling of the depth chart since Brown's injury, sustained in the fourth quarter of Saturday's 42-28 win over Iowa State, will make up for his absence. 'The bigger question is how to replace Brown's role as a leader.
The Missouri defense was in a similar situation last year when all-time sack leader Brian Smith broke his hip in the eighth game against Kansas State. From that point, the Tigers struggled to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks and stumbled to a 1-4 finish.
"Bottom line is: this is where we're at," Pinkel said. "You want a chance to win a championship, you want a chance to take this to where we need to go, then step it up."
Williams is already taking heading in that direction. When Williams visited Brown in the hospital on Sunday, Brown told him to "over prepare."
But Missouri coach Gary Pinkel thinks the 2007 Tigers have enough leaders, such as safety William Moore and defensive lineman Lorenzo Williams, so that a repeat performance does not occur.
"So that's what I'm going to do this week," Williams said. "I've watched about five games today, my eyes are a little bloodshot. I've been watching a lot of film."
BIG 12 FOOTBALL Kansas State on track to break season records
MANHATTAN — Jordy Nelson has a hard time making himself watch game film from a year ago.
While the senior receiver enjoys seeing the difference in Kansas State's offense from last year, it makes him cringe to go back and look at old tape.
"It's totally different," said Nelson, second in the nation with 126 receiving yards per game. "We watch some film from last year every once in a while, and it's kind of embarrassing to watch ourselves play because we're not even close to where we are right now."
Kansas State (5-3, 3-2 Big 12)
has already scored 310 points this
season, 14 more than in 13 games last year, and all of the Wildcat wins have come by at least 20 points. The Wildcat also have scored at least 39 points five times after doing it twice last year.
A second season under coach Ron Prince and offensive coordinator James Franklin has made all the difference.
"I think the second year for anything is always a better year," quarterback Josh Freeman said. "More people know what the coach expects, we know the offense better, and we're able to actually run it now instead of just blindly playing."
single-season school record — for 1,008 yards and seven touchdowns. He returned a punt for a 92-yard touchdown Saturday in a 51-13 win over Baylor and set a school record with 15 catches against Missouri State earlier this season.
Nelson is making a strong bid for All-America consideration, catching 76 passes — already a
Freeman and Nelson have made it click.
Freeman hasn't been bad, either.
The passing numbers and high point totals are nice,but the offense isn't quite where Prince wants it to be,particularly the running game,third-down conversions and scoring in the red zone (inside the 20).
The sophomore is on pace to shatter Kansas State's single-season records for completions, attempts and yards, going 209-of-329 for 2,174 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Associated Press
That's where the similarities end.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Someone once told Paul Goydos he should go into the record books for his victory at the Sony Open for becoming the first player to win a PGA Tour event against a field that included a 5-foot boy and a 6-foot girl.
One was Tadd. Fujikawa. The other was Michelle Wie.
Both are teenagers from Oahu who turned pro before they finished 11th grade and before they had a driver's license. Both have been criticized for giving up their youth. Neither of them has made a PGA Tour cut as a professional.
"She's bigger than me — definitely bigger," the pint-sized Fujikawa said with a laugh Tuesday morning on the Palm Course at Disney, where he has received a sponsor's exemption at the tour's final event of the year. "Some people compare me and Michelle, but I don't think that's a true comparison. We're totally different."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Young phenoms struggle to qualify
>> PGA
So totally different in so many ways.
Wie's career was orchestrated, if not manipulated. She played 29 times against the pros before she became one herself a week before her 16th birthday. Her market value rose until she cashed in on endorsements with Sony and Nike, eventually Omega, and had a total income of about $20 million after one year.
She signed a management contract with the William Morris Agency, known more for its Hollywood stars than golfers. Now in her freshman year at Stanford and rarely breaking par, some wonder whether Wie's best golf is behind her.
Fujikawa also took the fast track, but he is starting slowly.
The Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney is his third sponsor's exemption this year. He missed the cut at the Reno-Tahoe Open
and the Fry's.com Open in Las Vegas, only breaking par once. He missed the cut in two Nationwide Tour events. His last exemption of the year will be the Casio World Open in Japan next month.
Yet, the kid is showing no signs of being discouraged.
Fujikawa felt it was his best route to becoming a better golfer, not an instant millionaire. His mother works at an auto body repair shop. His father works in construction. It was a strain on the family for him to seek better competition, which means leaving the islands.
"Hopefully, within the next five years I can get my card," he said. "That's one of my main concerns. As long as I have that goal and stick to the plan, it should be fine. I don't want to rush into anything. It's tough. But I'm learning, and I'm definitely improving."
If there is no rush, why turn pro?
He and his mother, Lori, spent a month on the mainland last year after the U.S. Open to play junior circuits. She brought a rice cooker from home and purchased a frying pan at a retail store, then found the cheapest hotel with rooms where she could cook.
"Financially, we're not that high up on the list," he said.
This clearly was not a get-rich-quick scheme. Fujikawa was decked in Callaway garb at the Reno-Tahoe Open and wore Taylor-Made at Disney and he continues to test equipment. More than three months after turning pro, he still doesn't have an endorsement deal. His only earnings since he turned pro has come from pro-ams.
"I left the pan in the last hotel room we were in before going back to Hawaii," she said.
When they were on the same golf course in January at the Sony Open, Jikawa stole the show. Four days after he turned 16, he became the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut on the PGA Tour, and the buzz didn't die until he finished in a tie for 20th. He followed that by winning the Pearl Open, where about half the field is comprised of Japanese pros.
With most of the attention on Wie trying to become the first woman to qualify for the men's U.S. Open last year at Canoe Brook, Fujikawa became the youngest qualifier at age 15 when he won the sectional in Hawaii against a 10-man field.
Suddenly, the attention and the temptation became too much to ignore.
If Wie's career was carefully planned, Fujikawa's was almost by accident.
Friends of the family asked Bell if he could recommend an attorney, and with his workload quiet, Bell flew to Honolulu. When he met with Mrs. Fujikawa, she had an 8-inch stack of business cards from people wanting a piece of the kid.
"It's not about fast money. If it was, we'd have had that by now," said Kevin Bell, his agent and an attorney for Patton Boggs specializing in intellectual property and patents. "This is about wanting to further his golf career."
"She said, 'I've never needed an attorney my whole life.' Bell said.
The offers ranged from doing a PSA for a recycling company to making a special appearance an option. The first concern was making sure Fujikawa didn't violate his amateur status, but Bell sensed the boy wasn't long for amateur ranks, and that his parents knew it.
"They were afraid to let him go pro," he said. "But they were equally scared of holding him back. He's mature about his golf game. He wants to be treated like a pro, and he acts like one."
Fujikawa knows he has a long way to go. He has a history of beating the odds, starting with being born $3 \frac{1}{2}$ months early, so small he could fit into his grandfather's palm. He was hospitalized for three months and given a 50-50 chance to survive.
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