Section:
B
The University Daily Kansan
Sports
It's good to be the king The Super Bowl Champion St. Louis Rams will play three games on Monday Night Football next year after a nine-year-drought.
Inside: Returning running backs David Winbush and Moran Norris are hoping to give Kansas football a strong ground attack next season.
SEE PAGE 3B
Inside: Kansas sophomore tennis player Quentin Blakeney was named men's Big 12 Player of the Week.
TULESDAY, APRIL 5, 2000
SEE PAGE 2B
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Shortstop John Nelson steals second base in the third inning of last night's game against Wichita State. Shocker Blake Blasi was unable to get the tag down and Nelson was called safe. Nelson led the Big 12 with 24 steals in 33 games going into last night's game. Photo by Jay Sheperd/KANSAN
Kansas slugs Wichita State
Jayhawks claim first victory against Shockers since '94
By Amanda Kaschuba
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Maybe it was the high socks
Or maybe the 'Hawks were just tired of losing to the Shockers.
Either way, the Kansas baseball team (19-15 overall, 6-9 Big 12) ended its seven-game slump against Wichita State (15-9) last night with a 10-5 win, capitalizing on momentum.
changing home runs and six scoreless innings — after a three-run first inning by the Shockers — from pitcher Pete Smart.
For the second straight game, the Jayhawks wore their socks up to their knees, and for the second time, it yielded the same result.
"It must be the socks," coach Bobby Randall said. "I never sensed that our team was worried or intimidated. I think the home runs shocked them. We could feel the momentum change after them."
It certainly shocked Shocker starting pitcher Brandon Sloan (2-4), who passed up major league baseball last year for another season at Wichita State.
In the second inning, with the 'Hawks down 3-0, Sloan gave up a two-run bomb off the bat of senior Shane Wedd — Wedd's
fourth of the season — which narrowed the gap to one run. Not only did the home run surprise Sloan, but it also shocked Wedd.
Junior John Nelson also broke out of his mini-hitting slump with his second home run of the year, a two-run blast in the sixth inning. Last weekend against Texas A&M, Nelson recorded only three hits in his 15 at-bats. But last night he jumped on the balls at the plate.
"Home runs are very uncharacteristic of our team," said Wedd, who went 2-for-4 on the night, including his fifth double of the season. "Quality pitching makes my eyes light up. You know you'll get good pitches and the pitcher will be in the zone. It was a good night for me to break out."
See 'HAWKS on page 10B
Jayhawks complete sweep of Creighton
By Matt James sports@kansan.com Associate sports editor
When first baseman Shannon Stanwix walked to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning, Kansas softball coach Tracy Bunge knew she was going to get a hit.
And Bunge was right. Stanwix sliced a fly ball into the left-field corner, and sophomore Megan Urquhart ran in from a third base and scored, breaking a scoreless tie and giving the Jayhawks a 1-0, extraining victory against the Creighton Bluejays. It completed a doubleheader sweep for the 'Hawks (21-18 overall, 1-3 Big 12), who shut out the Bluejaws 2-0 in the first game yesterday at Jayhawk Field.
"You could see a different hitter in her eyes when Shannon walked up to the plate the last time," Bunge said. "She was determined that she wasn't going to get beat. That's the kind of look as a coach that you love."
But until her game-winning double, Bunge wasn't loving what Stanwix was doing. She struck out in her first two at-bats, and in the fifth, backup catcher Katie Campbell pinch hit for her with runners on second and third.
It was one of those "gut things," Bunge said. "She didn't look good the first few times up."
And just one pitch before Stanwix's game-winning hit, Bunge's gut had convinced her to try a suicide squeeze with Stanwix. It almost worked — and almost back-fired.
"If it works, great, we win the game," Stanwix said. "The only
"She was determined that she wasn't going to get beat. That's the kind of look as a coach that you love."
Tracy Bunge Softball coach
thing about the squeeze was the pitch was pretty down and out. I ended up fouling it off, and it put me in a big hole. I was kind of laughing to myself when she gave me that sign."
Whether bunting or swinging away, Bunge knew the all-time Kansas home run leader would come through.
"We tried the squeeze with one strike, and Shannon made contact on a tough pitch," she said. "I knew she would get it down. That didn't work, so you give her swing backs and she comes up with a big, big base hit."
The doubleheader sweep was also because of pitcher Sarah Clopton's complete-game, two-hit shutout in the afternoon.
Men's golf takes third in tourney
She said she was glad the Jayhawks scored two runs in the first inning.
See SOFTBALL on page 10B
by Michael Terry sports@kansan.com Kansan writerwriter
Not even a career-best seven-under par 63 by senior All-American Ryan Vermeer was enough to drive the Kansas golf team to a second-consecutive team title this season.
The 'Hawks went into the final round of the 54th Annual Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif., within shooting distance of tournament leader Fresno State. Kansas was back just 12 strokes.
Sticks versus kicks
On the final 18 holes, though, the Jayhawks were unable to put a last-round surge together and finished the tournament in third place, shooting a team score of 857, 19 stokes behind Fresno State.
Vermeer was not the only Jayhawk enjoying sunny California. Senior Jake Istnick shot a season low three-round total of 213, finishing in a tie for seventh. His seventh-place finish was his third Top-25 finish this spring.
For Vermeer, his secondround 63 smashed his previouslow round by two strokes. His seventh-place individual finishalso marked his fourth consecutivetop-10 finish and his eightin 11 tournaments this season.
The Jayhawks scoring was rounded out by junior Andy Stewart with a 218, sophomore Casey Harbour 222 and junior Conrad Roberts with a 223.
RESULTS
No. 7 Ryan Vermeer 75 63 73
211
No. 11 Jake Istrick 71 72 70
213
No. 28 Andy Stewart 70 72 76
218
No. 59 Casey Harbour 71 76 75
222
No. 65 Conrad Roberts 75 69 79
223
Soccer borders on the sublime
And then, excitement! At last, a Blades player, with a name composed of 17 consonants and one vowel, got the puck on a breakaway. He charges the goalie while all other players trail him. The crowd rises in anticipation. He jukes left, then right... and then... he shoots the puck directly into the goalie's stomach. The puck disappears from view.
The score was tied, one to one in the second period, and if the Kansas City Blades hockey team wanted to keep their playoff dream alive, they needed to beat the Manitoba Moose.
The crowd still stands, but now with a quiet confusion about them. Then, the man with 17 consonants, unable to stop in time, crashes into the goalie. Then, the four players who were sprinting after him follow suit, and crash into the first two
Suddenly, amidst the bumbling, a red light turns out. The crowd erupts. Blades, two, Moose, one.
This is hockey, and this sucks.
Fans act like zombies as they watch the Zamboni roll by. These same people are amused by watching their neighbor mow their lawn.
The players come out, and 12 large men skate after a puck the size of a can of Skoal. Only a person with super-vision can keep their eye on the puck when it's on the opposite side of center ice.
Going to a hockey game is like paying someone 10 bucks to call vog stump.
Let's identify some of the cases of stupidity that occur during a hockey game.
In between periods, the Blades set up a promotion where they pour syrup all over three fans, and then give the fans 30 seconds to roll around on a mat and try to get money to stick to them.
The players try to body-check one another into the boards, and regardless of their success rate, the crowd goes "ooh." Meanwhile, an adult lies on the ground, stunned and with just a little more brain damage because he skated into a wall again.
Five minutes into the game, an errant shot files into the crowd, hitting a 12-year-old boy. His mother tries carrying him to the emergency medical booth, but she drops him on the stairs.
I guess I was wrong. Going to a hockey game is like paying 10 buckts to be called stupid *and* to get slapped in the face.
Indoor soccer, on the other hand, is a beautiful sport. A game of skill, speed and strength, a fan doesn't need to depend on some toothless guy getting beat to make the game entertaining
Most people who say they enjoy hockey enjoy it for one reason — the fights. In my fifth hockey game, this was the first time I saw a fight. And to tell you that the three fights I saw in the final minute of the game made up for the 59 minutes of stupidity I had to endure would be a lie.
See SOCCER on page 4B
Columnists Seth Jones (in yellow) and Michael Rigg give opposing viewpoints on the Kansas City Attack and the Kansas City Blades. Photo illustration by Jay Sheepd/KANSAN
Hockey events lively, fun on ice
I once played soccer as a slightly overweight preteen who hogged the halftime orange slices. I'm sure most of you did the same. My dad even tried coaching it. I'm sure all of your parents did. Soccer is even the top sport played by youths in America.
Soccer. in many wavs, is like Candyland.
But then, in one widespread stroke of genius, every one stops. Why? Maturity plays a role, as you decide that you don't want to spend your Saturdays running around in knee-high socks chasing a little white ball around a grassy field. Parenting plays a part as well, as every father knows that in high school, real athletes play real sports. But I think it all can be traced down to one unallenable fact: Soccer is the worst sport ever.
Three hours of a watching overpaid pretty boys chasing down a ball they can't even catch and playing games that are usually 1-0? Gee, where do I sign up?
Everybody used to play it, heck, even a few enjoyed it. But there reached a time in all of our lives when it just wasn't cool anymore.
It's no wonder European soccer hooligans riot so much — they'd do anything to keep from having to watch the disgustingly boring game.
Heck, I would have done the same at the Kansas City Attack game I went to last Thursday, but I couldn't successfully goad anyone in the press box to a good old-fashioned, beer-swiggin', seat-tearing, punchthrowing, hooligan brawl. It was just one of the long strings of disappointments I had that night.
Most of the crowd — actually, with the low number of people there, it was actually a gathering — was made up of girls under the age of 10. For the paltry few that were in attendance, I think they probably should consult professional help. Because spending an obscene amount of money (tickets start at $11) for three hours of pain didn't seem to make much sense to me.
But then it dawned on me. These were the same types of people who request no anesthesia on the operating table and the same group of folks who stayed for the entire showing of *Mafa*!
Some people, I guess, are just addicted to pain. It just turns out I'm not one of them.
Speaking of pain, the play was boring and repetitive. The players tried to fight — like in the great game of hockey — but it turned into a nail-scratching, hair-pulling, full-fledged cat fight between Kansas City's scraggly Wes Wade and Wichita Wings goalkeeper Chris Damico. And by calling it that, I apologize to cats everywhere.
See THRILLS on page 4B
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