Section:
Section B
The University Daily Kansan
Sports
Same old, same old
For the third straight game, the news staff pummelled the ad staff on Saturday in the Kansan's semi-annual softball game, 29-13.
Inside: Oklahoma swept the Jayhawks on its way to a second-straight Big 12 softball championship.
SEE PAGE 3B
Inside: The Sacramento Kings fought off elimination for at least one more game, beating the Lakers 99-91.
MONDAY, MAY 1, 2000
SEE PAGE 8B
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Rowing team hits rough waters
Kansas loses two on California trip
By Shawn Linenberger sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas rowing team's mid-season dominance hit a snag this weekend at
Redwood City,
Calif., but it appears as though the snag could be mended.
The Jayhawks,
whose last overall
loss came one
month ago against
No. 18 Iowa, fell to
two more ranked
teams, No. 9
Southern California
and No. 16
Washington State.
A gainst
Catholh: Says team can improve on this weekend's times.
Washington State, the Cougars finished in 6 minutes, 45.89 seconds, almost 4 seconds ahead of the Jayhawks (6:49.85). Kansas' first varsity eight
seconds cautiously. Against Southern California, Kansas ultimately was tied in three of four splits. A split is a 500-meter interval in a 2,000-meter race. Southern California, though, gained more than 2 seconds separation, just enough to seal the win.
sandwiched a victory between the two losses, defeating Stanford by nearly 4 seconds Saturday afternoon.
Kansas coach Rob Catloth said he was happy with the finish against Southern California, and that the short lapse could be fixed before the Central Regionals in two weeks.
"We were very pleased to be 3 seconds behind a Top 10 team," Catloth said.
"The 100 meters before the 1,000-meter mark is where we fell behind. In a couple of weeks we'll be able to put it all together in one race."
The Jayhawks finished 2 seconds behind the school record against Southern California. Kansas set the record last May in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships.
Assistant coach Heather Galvin said she was excited about the times the first varsity had been producing.
"It's kind of nice to see them hitting times like that in the middle part of the spring, when that was where we stood last year when we peaked," Galvin said.
Rob Catloth
"We were very pleased to be 3 seconds behind a top 10 team."
Kansas women's rowing coach
The Jayhawks were more pleased with almost defeating Southern California and Washington State than beating Stanford. The Cardinal weren't expected to give the Jayhawks a race, but Stanford lost by almost 4 seconds.
Still, Catloth said the Jayhawks raced well in the Stanford dual. He also said Stanford must have been gunning for Kansas, as they gave the 'Hawks a much closer race than they had expected.
The second varsity boat outcome was much like the first varsity's. The second boat defeated Stanford, but lost to Southern California and Washington State.
The varsity four defeated Oregon State but also lost to Washington State.
The Jayhawks will have a weekend off before entering the final step before the NCAA tournament, the Central Regionals May 13 in Oak Ridge, Teen. Galvin said that this weekend's results should carry into a strong showing at
KANSAS ROWING RESULTS
Dual races on Redwood Shores near Redwood City, Calif.
Saturday's results
First varisty
1.) Southern California, 6 minutes, 35.97 seconds
2.) Kansas, 6:38.88
Second varisty
1.) Southern Cal, 6:46.55
2.) Kansas, 6:59.35
Varsity four
1.) Kansas, 7:33.73
2.) Oregon State, 7:35.50
First varisty
1.) Kansas, 6:47.10
2.) Stanford, 6:50.79
Second varisty
1.) Kansas, 6:59.89
2.) Stanford, 7:14.35
regionals.
regionalism.
“This hopefully will be reflected in the polls,” Galvin said. “This will also give us the confidence going to centrals facing a number of Top 20 teams from our own region.”
ine Jayhawk's opponents in Tennessee will include No. 8 Michigan State, No. 11 Michigan, No. 14 Ohio State and No. 28 Iowa.
Men's tennis team perched on NCAA bubble
Sophomore Quentin Blakeney fires a return at the Big 12 Championships. Blakeney won his singles match in the fourth-seeded Jayhawks' second-win against No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Friday, but Kansas lost 4-0 to top seed Baylor in Saturday's semifinals and must wait to see whether it will be invited to the NCAA tournament. KANSAN file
Sports Columnist
Bv Brent Wasko
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — All the Kansas men's tennis team can do now is wait and hope.
After beating Oklahoma State 4-2 Friday afternoon at the Big 12 Championships and then losing to Baylor 4-0 in Saturday's semifinals, the Jayhawks are left wondering whether they will qualify for the NCAA tournament.
Seth Jones
With an overall record of 10-12, Kansas coach Mark Riley said he hoped that the strength of his team's schedule this season would get them in the tournament.
"We are definitely a bubble team right now," Riley said. "I think we'll probably make the tournament, because we finished fourth in a premier conference like the Big 12 and plaved a very tough schedule."
If the Jayhawks were to have any chance at the NCAA tournament, they knew they were going to have to get past Oklahoma State. They did just that, beating the fifth-seeded Cowboys 4-2.
Kansas got off to a great start, sweeping all three doubles matches for the doubles point. Junior Ed Dus and Sophomore Rodrigo Echagayar led the way for the 'Hawks at No. 1 doubles, defeating Matt Prentice and Eru Lindon. 8-5.
Sophomores Quentin Blakeney and Alex Barragan won their singles matches at No. 3 and No. 6 singles respectively, putting Kansas just one point away from clinching the overall victory. At No.1 singles, Echagaray
See 'HAWKS on page 2B
Baylor knocks Jayhawk women from Big 12 tournament
walks off the court.
Right: Chang prepares to backhand a return. She lost to Baylor's Karin Andersson 6-4, 6-3 in the Bears' 5-2 win against the Jayhawks in Friday's second round of the Big 12 Championships.
KANSAN file photo
Above, Kansas freshman Tiffany Chang walks off the court.
By Zac Hunter sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas women's tennis team lost 5-2 to Baylor in the second round of the Big 12 Championships on Friday.
Heading into the match, coach Jenny Garrity said she liked the way the sevent-seeded Jayhawks matched up with No. 2 seed Baylor, but the Bears won four of the six singles matches and needed to win only one doubles match to advance.
After the match, Garrity's sentiment hadn't changed.
"I think Baylor is an extremely beatable team," she said.
Senior Brooke Chiller, in her last Big 12 match, lost to Jahnavi Parekh 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Chiller said the team was confident heading into the rematch
Jenny Garrity
"We fought to get ourselves in a position to win,but we just couldn't do it."
Kansas women's tennis coach
with Baylor.
The last time the teams played, Baylor won 6-3 in Lawrence. The 'Hawks were tied with the Bears after the singles, but they were unable to take two of the three doubles matches.
we competed well in singles," Garrity said. "We fought to get ourselves in a position to win, but we just couldn't do it."
This time Kansas needed a doubles sweep to get the victory, but it did not happen. Chiller and sophomore
See WOMEN on page 2B
sports@kansan.com
Books, not balls, key to success
Just before the shots came around at the Lyon, I felt a pair of large hands grab me around the neck. I turned slowly and saw a large man with long gray hair, a shaggy mustache with a beard, wearing a really loud Hawaiian shirt. His grip wasn't loosening.
It was the end of the semester and the final edition of The University Daily Kansan had gone to press. A bunch of us from the newsroom went down to the Red Lyon to celebrate another semester completed. Chris Fickett was doing his duty as sports editor and buying all the sports writers a shot of Jazmerreister.
"How many times have you been greeted like this by someone who got pissed off by something you wrote?" he asked me.
nat was the first time I met Rick Younger, owner of Rick's Place, 623 Vermont St. It turned out I didn't have to smash my bottle of Bud against his face. Rick was just kidding with me, and he actually is a loyal reader of my columns, not an angry psycho.
my coltins.
Since then, I've frequented Rick's Place for an occasional alcoholic beverage and a fair share of sports wisdom. It turns out that Rick used to play pro baseball — for an entire four games. He also holds two Kansas baseball pitching records from his playing days in 1968-69, when he played at was then Quigley Field, now Hogwil Ballpark.
The other record he doesn't talk about as much. For a while, he had one of the lowest ERAs in Kansas baseball. But he just shrugs and says that it was a long time ago.
He sweeps that he is responsible for all the trees behind the field. "It seems everywhere I played, they had to plant trees behind the stadium to try and knock down some of the balls that were hit off me."
Regardless, Rick left Kansas for the Cleveland Indians and one of the organization's farm teams. That's when Rick went to Elmira, N.Y., the town where his career would come to an end. In his fourth game with the team, Rick left the mound to cover third. When the ball came back to him, he was on the bag and took a pair of sharp cleats to the knee. It happened 30 years ago, but he can still show you two cleat marks in his left knee.
With his athletic career finished, Rick came back to Kansas and got a degree in English and journalism. Then he joined a band and played drums for almost nine years. He gave up drumming in 1980 and came back to Kansas to get a degree in business.
"It it didn't hurt until I made it back to the dugout, and my coach yelled out, 'You still bleeding?' I turned around to see who he was talking to, 'Rick said.' "Then he said 'Younger! Are you still bleeding?' I looked down and my pants leg was soaked with a mix of dirt and blood. That's when it started to hurt."
"I can read, write and add, so I own a bar," he says. "But sometimes, my adding isn't that good."
He grabs a baseball off a shelf behind the bar and gets a serious look on his face. "The best way to bean a guy is to throw right at the zipper on his pants. Then they panic, and turn rather than get out of the way. You hit 'em right in the butt. That's why Jesus gave us all butts, so we don't get seriously hurt from bean balls."
From behind the bar, usually while pouring an ungody amount of Crown Royal into a mixing tin with ice, he talks about how baseball has changed.
"Used to be, a guy hit a home run off you, the next time he got up to bat, you beamed him. It was almost courtesy," he said.
It's been 30 years since Rick threw a serious pitch, but he's more than happy being a bar owner in the same town as the university that he loves. He's built a bar where people can play shuffleboard, to the Beastie Boys, drink some beers or just talk sports.
"I think Kansas athletics are in very good shape right now," he said. "You've got a bunch of coaches who really care about their players, and that's what is important."
"But the most important thing is for these guys to go to class. Someday, you can't throw it past a guy anymore, or you can't put the ball in the hole like you used to. That's why the education is so important."
Jones is an Mulvane senior in journalism.