Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Senior guard Suzi Raymant was named Big 12 player of the week after scoring 23 points in Saturday's win.
SEE PAGE 3B
Pro Basketball
K-State football coach Bill Snyder says that he is contemplating adding stronger teams to the Wildcats non-conference schedule.
SEE PAGE 2B
Tuesday
December 7, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
College basketball
The Kansas men's basketball team jumped to No. 4 in this week's AP poll; Cincinnati remained in the top spot for the straight week.
SEE PAGE 4B
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Title IX forces universities to drop male sports in an attempt to even the playing field
stories by brad hallier ** photo illustration by matt daugherty
Brandon Winn always wanted to be an athlete at Kansas.
He was a stand-out soccer player in the Kansas City area, a second-team All-Metro soccer player for Belton (Mo.) High School as a senior. He shattered several school scoring records. He was recruited by several schools nationwide to play collegiate soccer.
Why?
But Kansas did not recruit him.
Bob Frederick, athletics director, said that it would take a vast amount of money to add any sport, men's or women's, to the athletics department.
Kansas, as well as the entire Big 12 Conference, does not have varsity men's soccer. And because of Title IX — a part of the landmark Educational Amendments of 1972 that bans sex discrimination in schools — don't expect to see men's soccer added to the Kansas' athletics department.
"We haven't thought about it lately," he said.
While nobody would argue that Title IX
has been a great equalizer for women's collegiate athletics, that equality has come with a price. Across the country, as well as at Kansas, Federal regulations have changed the lineup of teams for men and women.
The last two sports to be added at the University were women's soccer and women's rowing in 1995.
"Soccer was added because of the interest of the sport in Kansas City," Frederick said. "And we added rowing because of the success of the women's club team here."
These sports gained varsity status, Frederick added, so that Kansas' athletics department would be in compliance with Title IX. But because of the federal law, he said men's soccer and men's rowing could not be granted varsity status.
Winn, who went on to be a NJCAA All-American at Allen County Community College and the schools' all-time leading goal scorer, and an NAIA All-American at Sterling College, said that he had heard constant rumors in high school and college about the possibility of Kansas getting varsity men's soccer.
"It was nothing I could consider true, but I did get my hopes up," he said. "There was no nearby team that I wanted to play for, and the only two (NCA4 schools) that I really talked to were Ohio State and UNC-Charlotte. But I didn't want to go that far away."
"I would have given up any scholarship to play for KU. I would have even walked on."
Winn said that because of the talent in the Kansas City area, Kansas could develop a strong men's soccer team. He added that the Big 12 could quickly become a powerhouse in men's soccer.
But Winn said that he doesn't think he was owed the opportunity to play soccer for Kansas.
"I don't have any regrets about my decisions," he said. "I played with a lot of friends, and I still got my education. In this day in age, everyone is trying to make things equal, but there could be a better
selection criteria."
n A national issue
The fall out from Title IX has left others in men's sports a lot angrier than Winn. Chuck Angelo had been a part of wrestling since he was a kid.
He competed in high school and college. Then he began a 26-year coaching career, most recently a stint of 18 years at Miami University in Ohio. Wrestling was his life.
But his career took an unexpected turn for the worse on April 16, when the Miami University Board of Trustees voted unanimously to eliminate three men's varsity sports — soccer, tennis and wrestling — because of Title IX concerns.
"I miss it a lot. It was a part of my life for 35 years," said Angello, who is still a physical education teacher and the club wrestling coach at Miami. "There is no funding, and (the athletics department) wants us to run out of money.
"I'm sure I won't be here next year."
See MEN'S on page5B
Kansas triumphs, prepares for duel with Creighton
By Melinda Weaver sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
After an exciting victory against No. 15 California-Santa Barbara on Saturday, the Kansas women's basketball team would like to continue its winning streak at 7:05 tonight against Creighton in Omaha. Neb.
No. 14 Kansas is off to a 5-0 start, the third-best start in school history, including two tournament victories in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout and the KU Credit Union Jayhawk Classic.
"They are a program with a very great tradition," coach Marian Washington said. "They have had a lot of winning ball teams and have very consistently been to the NCAAs. When it comes to women's basketball, they have been very successful."
This will mark the 22nd meeting between the two teams with Kansas holding a 14-7 advantage.
The Jayhawks will face Creighton, a 2-2 team coming off a 74-62 victory against Wyoming on Saturday.
One of the keys to victory will be stopping the outside shooting threat of junior guards Angela Timmons and Krissie Spanheimer. Timmons averages 14.5 points per game
"Our defense will be very critical in this game," Washington said. "We have to keep a hand in the shooter's face. We will see more three-point shots than we will have seen this season, and their point guard can shoot an NBA-range three."
women's BASKETBALL
Kansas starting, point guard Jennifer Jackson will miss Tuesday's game, as she will undergo right ankle surgery in Birmingham, Ala. The injury has troubled her for most of her career, and the surgery should help her play pain-free in the future
and Spanheimer averages 10.5
"We have Selena (Scott) and Casey (Pruitt) that have shown they can come in and play," Raymant said. "Even though Jennifer is a great leader, our other guards can play well, and I don't think we
Senior guard Suzi Raymant said that Jackson's injury would put more pressure on the other guards but that she thought the team would not skip a beat.
See JAYHAWKS on page 2B
Jayhawks blow into Windy City
By Matt Tait
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks are headed back to Chicago — by invitation only.
Though the Kansas men's basketball team has advanced to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight only once in the last five years, it has played in the annual Great Eight in Chicago every year of the tournament's existence.
The Great Eight was designed to get the eight teams that advanced to the Elite Eight the season before, making for competitive games and great hype. Based on that criteria, Kansas should only have participated once
When No.4 Kansas, 60, plays No.5 Michigan State, 6-1, at 6 tonight in the United Center it will mark the fifth year of the event.
— after the '96 season. However, each year there have been a few teams from the elite field that either did not, or could not, participate. When that happens, the organizers of the event are allowed to invite any team they want to fill the spots. Because Kansas is a tradition-rich, big-name basketball school, the invitation has been extended.
Unlike Kansas, the Spartans were in the Elite Eight last year and automatically qualified. In fact, last year's Spartan team advanced to the Final Four before losing to Duke.
Entering the season, the Spartans were
See SPARTANS on page 2B
The Starting Lineup
KANSAS
JAYHAWKS
6-0 overall
Michigan STATE SPARTANS
6-1 overall
G CHARLIE BELL 6-3 Jr.
G DAVID THOMAS 6-7 Jr.
F MORRIS PETERSON 6-7 Sr.
F ANDRE HUTSON 6-8 Jr.
C A.J. GRANGER 6-9 Sr.
United Center - Chicago
TV: ESPN, C4; 44: 748; 105.9 FM
TV: ESPN, Ch. 44; Radio: 105.9 FM
Time: 6 p.m.
Countdowns: Five reasons lists don't work
It just cries out for one of those lists.
You know the kind — "The Greatest 100/50/10
The last Kansan sports column of the millennium - quite a responsibility.
Greatest 100/50/10 Athletes/Teams/Games of the Decade/Century/Millennium."
One of those lists that attempts to put everything in perspective and wrap history up into a nice, manageable, little ball.
Unfortunately, history never cooperates. Despite our best attempts to capture it in time lines or charts or
hists, there's always something missing. Forgive the sports analogy, but it's like trying to understand a basketball game by reading the box score. You can read each player's stats and the final score, but you'll never know who dove on the floor for
Derek Prater sports columnist sports@kansan.com
loose balls or who hit the big shot that changed the game's momentum.
These lists are really best at stirring up controversy and ticking people off, which is what any good sports column should do anyway.
So here's the list for the last Kansan sports column of the millennium — "The Top Five Reasons That These Lists Suck."
Reason No. 5 — Snubs. No matter how big the list is, there are going to be glaring omissions. I don't care if it's the greatest thousand athletes of the century, the list still will be incomplete and leave almost everyone saying, "But what about this guy or gal."
Reason No. 4 — Old White Guys. They're the ones who usually put these lists together, and the phrase "Out of touch" immediately comes to mind. Old white guys are more likely to include old white athletes on their list as they recall the good old days when the game was played the way they think it was meant to be played
Reason No. 3 — Young White Guys. Like me! How in the world am I supposed to compare Wilt Chamberlain to Bill Russell when I never saw either of them play? Nonetheless, writers even younger than me (26 if you're curious) don't hesitate to expound on the greatness of legends such as Babe Ruth. No doubt he was great, but have you ever heard the expression, "Write what you know?"
Reason No. 2 — Evolution. The Kansas Board of Education may not believe in it, but it certainly exists in the world of sports. Athletes today are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. Could Wilt, in his prime, score 100 points in the NBA today? Not a chance.
Reason No. 1 — Me. And you, too.
No one consulted us when they put these lists together. Are our opinions any less valid when it comes to accessing greatness? "Great" is a pretty vague word. We know it means exceptional, but just what are the criteria? Often these lists are accompanied by some set of criteria, but it never includes the words "personal taste." I would contend that personal taste has a lot to do with accessing greatness.
I hope my list didn't irritate anyone too badly. Apparently, I did enough of that last week.
Speaking of last week, Eric Chenowith should be feeling good about himself after a nice game on Sunday and the swift defense against my column provided by the local media sycophants (look that one up Chris Piper).
Good luck to Chenowith and the rest of the 'Hawks (women included) in the next millennium.
Prater is a Lawrence graduate student in journalism.
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