2014.05.20
Thursday, April 27, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
Senator objects to naming stretch of I-70 for Thomas
The Associated Press
Kansas City, Mo. — Missouri Sen. Mary Bland expected no dissent for her plan to name part of Interstate 70 near Arrowhead Stadium after Derrick Thomas, the late Kansas City Chiefs linebacker praised for his charitable and community work.
But Sen. Peter Kinder rose yesterday to question whether Thomas deserved the honor, noting reports that the athlete who died Feb. 8 fathered seven children with five different women. Thomas never married.
"Fatherlessness is one of the biggest
Thomas: senator objects to naming road after him
problems in our society. That can give rise to a whole raft of other problems," said Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau.
Two of the women with whom Thomas had children publicly have praised his relationship with the youngsters. Another said Thomas rarely visited their child. And court documents indicated frustration by one mother about Thomas' limited contact with their daughter.
Kinder also said that if Thomas, 33, had
lived, he might have faced charges of reckless driving from the Jan. 23 crash that killed a passenger in Thomas' vehicle and left the football player paralyzed. Bland's tribute to Thomas was left in limbo.
In an interview, Bland said Kinder was being narrow-minded and Thomas' personal behavior shouldn't overshadow his accomplishments.
"I don't think anyone can judge anyone else before judging themselves," Bland said. "I'm sad that this has happened."
Bland had expected easy approval, because senators have approved naming roads after St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer George Brett and the late golfer Payne Stewart, a Springfield, Mo., native.
"I think we need to be big enough to rise above his narrow point of view," Bland said of Kinder.
The Missouri House approved a similar proposal to honor Thomas by a 140-12 vote on Feb. 12.
Sen. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, said Kinder's argument also could disqualify Thomas Jefferson from receiving public honors.
Clay asserted that DNA testing showed that Jefferson likely fathered at least one, and possibly all, of the children of one of his slaves.
Blues clueless about early exit
Their glittering franchise record 114 point regular season and President's Trophy did
ST. LOUIS — Now comes the endless summer for the St. Louis Blues.
The Associated Press
them absolutely no good in the playoffs, where they succumbed to the sub-500 San Jose Sharks in Game 7 Tuesday night. They entered the postseason brimming with confidence, and left a shaken
team as the first No. 1 overall seed to be ousted in the first round since the 1991 Chicago Blackhawks.
"There's a lot of good things we did this year, but it's really hard to have such a good regular season and leave on such a bad note," said right wing Scott Young.
As their early off-season begins, the Blues have a number of "what its" to ponder.
What if leading scorer Pavol Demitra hadn't suffered a season-ending concussion March 24, breaking up the productive line and leaving a large hole in the lineup?
"I don't even think about it," general manager Larry Pleau said. "It's a hypothetical question, and we as an organization have never used excuses. There's no use in even looking back."
What if the Blues hadn't been among the also-rans in the bidding for Ray Borque, who boosted the Colorado Avalanche's back line and Stanley Cup chances instead?
What if all the weird bounces hadn't gone the Sharks' way?
- mostly, what if the Blues hadn't taken the Sharks lightly after going 4-0 in the
regular season. They fell behind 3-1 in the first round for the second-straight season.
"The team that won deserved to win," said San Jose coach Darryl Sutter.
Captain Chris Prenger is a Norris Trophy candidate as the NHL's top defenseman, as well as an MVP candidate. But he was on the ice for the Sharks' first two goals in Game 7 and wasn't effective throughout the series.
Asked what positives he could take from the Blues' franchise-record run, Pronger replied: "Not very much. You can have a good regular season, but everybody earns their stripes in the playoffs, and we didn't really earn too much this year."
Last year, the Blues survived their slow start to eliminate the higher-seeded Phoenix Coyotes on the road in overtime in Game 7 before losing in the second round to the Dallas Stars. This time the Blues appeared to relax after their 6-2 win in Game 6 in San Jose on Sunday.
"We should have learned last year that you can't spot teams leads in a series," Young said. "Last year we got away with it, and it caught up to us in the second round.
"This year it caught up to us in Game 7."
This year we are up to do in Game 7.
It may be that the Blues had to experience the lowest of postseason lows to reach the next level.
Coach Joel Quenneville was an assistant with the Quebec Nordiques in 1995 when they lost in the first round to the No. 8 seeded New York Rangers. The next year when the Nordiques had moved to Colorado and become the Avalanche, they won the Cup.
"I don't know if you need it," Quenneville said. "You go through changes as a team and an organization and you want to remember what transpired here."
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