Section:
B
The University Daily Kansan
Anything for ratings
Sports
With TV ratings down, the NBA will be imposing a $100,000 fine on coaches who refuse to wear a microphone during certain games.
Inside: The Kansas baseball team will try to do something tonight its had trouble doing beat Texas.
SEE PAGE 2B
Inside: Updated brackets from the men's and women's Big 12 Tournaments.
SEE PAGE 4B
FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2000
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Four 'Hawks to go to top track meet
By Sarah Warren sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswritter
Ryan Speers is in.
the sophomore shot putter jumped off the provisional bubble Monday when he made the list of official qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Ranked 15th in the nation, Speers made the list of 17 collegiate throwers who will make the trip to Favetteville. Ark., for today's meet.
"Monday night about 7 or 8 o'clock Laurie [coach LaRowe] called me," Spears said. "I'm
Three other Jayhawk athletes will join him at the meet - junior pole vaulters Andrea Branson and Ashley Feinberg, and junior miler Charlie Gruber.
"To just make the provisional standard is a big accomplishment, and going is a big deal," said coach Gary Schwartz. "We're happy we have two girls and two guys going."
Branson: In a good position to come out a NCAA champ
Getting there was tough enough — only 270 qualified
athletes were invited to the meet. But now Branson, Feinberg, Gruber and Speers face an even tougher challenge: being consistent.
"If you look at the results of this meet, generally people don't throw what they're supposed to," Speers said. "So if I throw as I should, then it'll just take care of itself."
"I think the challenge is to stay focused, and I think that if you do that, if you do the performance that you did to get into the meet, that's how you can get to place," Schwartz said. "And if you try to do what you are capable of at the meet, rather than trying to do something out of this world, then you will be very happy on Saturday night."
The key to a top-notch performance is staying focused. he said.
Branson, based on past performances, has the best shot to come home happy.
She placed third last year, behind this year's leaders Tracy O'Hara of UCLA and California Polytechnic's Paula Serrano.
"Emotionally, she has quite a bid to go for the top," said Rick Attig, combined events coach. "Some of the people may not have the respect for her that they should, and so she's in a great position to do well. She's in perfect position to come out as NCAA champion."
And the other athletes' chances aren't so bad either. Gruber, ranked sixth, has a shot of placing in the mile after finishing 11th in the 1500 meters at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships. Feinberg, ranked 13th in pole vault, is capable of earning All-American honors by placing in the top eight — if the tendinitis in her left knee holds up. And Speers, well, he's just tickled to be making the trip.
"My goal all year was to make it to this meet," Speers said. "So I'll take just going."
Jeff Boschee passes the ball to another Jayhawk. Boschee finished with a game-high 21 points and went 7-9 in three-pointers against the Wildcats. He broke former Jayhawks' Billy Thomas' and Terry Brown's single-half school records with seven. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
'Cat thrash fever
Boschee's three-pointers help bury Kansas State
By Shawn Hutchinson
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
KANSAS CITY. Mo. — Step one of Kansas' four-step plan went off without a hitch yesterday afternoon.
Tournament title. The Jayhawks need three more victories in three days to accomplish the task, and they just might have found the key to their title hopes — sophomore guard Boschee.
Jeff Boschee hit a school-record seven three-pointers in the first half, and that was plenty enough to carry No. 24 Kansas past Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament at Kemper Arena.
"We got it inside, and that opened it up for me outside," said Boschee, last year's tournament MVP. "Guys were setting screens and getting me open, and I was able to hit the shots. Since I've been in college, I don't think I've ever felt like that. Everything I shot, I thought it was going to go in."
With the 84-60 win, the Jayhawks improved to 23-8 overall and took the first step to capturing their fourthstraight Big 12 Conference
Just about everything did. Boschee missed his first three-point attempt of the game, then reedel off seven consecutive fireballs as Kansas went into halftime with a 50-23 lead.
Boschee's three-point clinic broke Billy Thomas' and Terry Brown's single-half school record, and Boschee still finished with a game-high 21 points despite missing his only shot of the second half.
"He really carried us in the first half," said Kansas guard Kenny Gregory, who slammed home several rim-rattling dunks and scored 12 points. "He helped us get the momentum, and it carried us all the way through."
See COWBOYS on page 6B
Putting drills prepare golfers
Bv Michael Terry
sports @ kansancom
Kansan sportswriter
The men's basketball team is not the only team competing this weekend.
Kansas coach
Nicole L
Hollingsworth
said that
should not
affect the team
and that the
key to a good
finish would
be a consistent
short
The Kansas women's golf team has been putting all week long in preparation for today's Second Annual Springlake Classic in Sebring, Fla.
This will be the Jayhawks' first time competing in the tournament.
"This week, we really stayed focused on chipping and putting," she said. "Hopefully, all the hard work we've put in will pay off, and we will be able to get ourselves in a position to win."
game
Kansas coach
Hollingsworth's message has not landed in the rough — Jayhawk golfers have heeded her advice and have been working on their touch around the greens.
Senior Sue Tessary, who is com
ing off a second place finish in North Carolina, said she planned on improving her short game for this tournament and wanted to be in the running for the all-around title. With all of the preparations this week, Tessary said she was confident about the tournament.
Junior Sarah Mahoney said that her short game had improved and even benefited from this week's wedge sessions.
"In the last tournament, I struggled with my short game on a couple of holes and that really hurt my chances to contend," she said. "I plan to eliminate that problem this weekend and hopefully help the team compete for the team title."
"This is my last semester playing golf as a Jayhawk, and I want to play up to my potential," she said.
Tessary is not the only Jayhawk who's been chipping away at her short game.
"The short game is where you can save those extra strokes during a tournament, and that can be the difference between a first or fifth place finish," Mahoney said.
Mahoney said that the hard work the team had put into the short game this week had added to the overall confidence and belief that the team could win.
For that to happen, it will come down to chipping and putting.
'Hawks aim for road sweep
Team wants to continue recent offensive surge
By Rebecca Barlow sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
This weekend, it will have the challenge of playing six games in three days. Coach Tracy Bunge said she had confidence that her team could sweep all six games this weekend.
The Kansas softball team will see if its road woes have finally ended at the Tennessee Invitational this weekend.
The Jayhawks are 9-11 on the road, but they won their last two road games against Missouri-Kansas City on Wednesday. Overall, Kansas is 10-11.
"That would be a real confidencebuilder for our team." she said.
The Jayhawks will play Eastern Kentucky at 3 p.m. and Tennessee at 5 p.m. today. They will continue play against Eastern Kentucky at noon and East Carolina at 2 p.m. tomorrow and will conclude the tournament by playing East Carolina at 9 a.m. and Tennessee at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Jayhawks got a glimpse of, but did not play against, Eastern Kentucky earlier this season at the Triangle Classic Tournament in Raleigh, N.C.
The 'Hawks will have to play with two of their top players still injured this weekend.
Sophomore center fielder Shelly Musser still is recovering from a concussion she suffered two weeks ago in a game against Creighton. However, she did play a couple innings in the win against UMKC.
However, Kansas' offense has come alive in the last three games, totaling 24 hits and 11 runs. Senior shortstop Christy McPhail led the team offensively against UMKC with a double and a triple on Wednesday. Sophomore outfielder Leah Tabb also helped out offensively with a solo home run.
Senior pitcher Sara Clopton still is not at full strength. She has been ill and has missed time on the mound.
"We just need to have fun and play hard this weekend," McPhail said. "We still haven't played to our capabilities, so that is our goal going into the weekend."
Sports Columnist
Seth Jones
sports@kansan.com
Web sites let fans keep up with favorite sports teams
There has been a recent major addition to the Jonesey household.
Now my Mom can send e-mails, check Home and Garden TV's Web site and even read her favorite columnist's columns at kansan.com. She can read my columns, too.
There are no new children running around my parent's house, but they do have a new baby: a brand new computer.
So, in honor of my Mom's leap to the World Wide Web, I present Jonesey's guide to sports Web sites.
First of all, everyone needs to stop by nike.com/bracketville and vote Roy Williams for mayor. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican — Williams is still the obvious choice.
With the Big Dance right around the corner, collegerpi.com is the best place to find out about bubble teams and the seedings for the tournament. Last year, this site correctly predicted 32 of the 34 at-large bids. Currently, it has Kansas as a six seed in the West against 11-seed Southern Methodist at Minneapolis. How long does it take to road trip to Minnesota?
I hate to admit it, but the best place to get the news in the sports world is espn.com. The only reason I hate to admit that is because I fear anything that is Disney-owned. Call me paranoid, but one day Michael Eisner is going to have everyone marching in single-file lines while wearing mouse ears. Just wait.
I know students don't gamble. Just like they drink moderately (zero to five drinks) when they drink. But sandbox.com makes gambling on fantasy sports easy. Sadly enough, my fantasy basketball squad, the Aquanian Aquabats, is stuck in fifth, and my jerk roommate's team is in first. Paul Pierce's 44.7 fantasy points per game just isn't getting it done when a guy like Kevin Garnett averages 68 fantasy points.
If basketball is your religion, hoopstv.com claims to be your temple for worship. We all know that Allen Fieldhouse is your temple, but hoopstv.com is trying. Its "Smack" section is good for a laugh, plus it has highlights of high school ball.
How convenient is this site? I've known guys that hold conference calls involving three different states to draft their fantasy football teams. This Web site does the draft for you, plus it tabulates the scores — one of the more annoying facets of fantasy sports.
A site I check daily is britneypears.com — whoops, I meant jayhawks.org. How embarrassing. But you can stop by this site, maintained by the Kansas Athletics Department, and check scores, stories, schedules and even operate the Memorial Stadium Web cam, a camera mounted high up on Memorial Stadium that you can control live with your mouse. Cool, huh?
1
If you want to get involved in a debate about Kansas basketball, go to kuhoops.com. The message board on this bad boy always is loaded with opinionated fools who think they know their Kansas basketball. Stop by and school some sucker.
Want to find out about the best high school ballers in the nation? Allstarreport.com has video of the kids with crazy games. Check the video of Travon Bryant, see Bob Gibbon's Top 100 high school players and find out who committed where.
All the rest of the Web sites I check involve scantily clad women walking around a house, so I better stop now.
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Jones is a Mulvane senior in journalism.