Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Despite the Kansas football team's recent upswing, attendance numbers have not followed suit.
Thursday
November 11, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
SEE PAGE 3B
Kansas volleyball
Sophomore setter Molly LaMere continued her stellar season with 61 assists in last night's win.
SEE PAGE 2B
Pro football
Minnesota defensive end Duane Clemons was fined $7,500 by the NFL yesterday for punching a Dallas opponent below the belt.
SEE PAGE 2B
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Volleyball players rally for win against Sooners
Kansas middle blocker Amanda Reves' spike dribbles down the front of the Oklahoma players. Reves led all players with 19 kills in the victory. Photo by Eric Sahrmann/KANSAN
By Shawn Hutchinson sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks avoided a bullet last night.
The Kansas volleyball team squeaked out a nerve-racking 3-2 victory against the Oklahoma Sooners, rallying from 1-0 and 2-1 game deficits at the Horeisi Family Athletics Center. The Jayhawks improved to 17-9 overall and 8-7 in the Big 12 Conference, keeping their hopes for an NCAA tournament berth alive.
"I think we're shot if we don't win this one," his coach Ray Bechard said. "That's why I admire the team so much. We just would not go away."
It was the Sooners who wouldn't go away in game one. Oklahoma entered
the match 8-16 overall, but the Sooners capitalized off Kansas' 13 errors and zero hitting percentage and ran off with a 15-6 victory.
"We shouldn't
have come out and lost the first game," said Kansas middle blocker Anne Kreimer. "We need to work on avoiding holes like that."
The Jayhaws dug themselves out of that hole and blasted the Sooners for a 15-2 game-two win. Kansas, however, came out flat again in the third
game and lost 15-13.
The third game could have been a potential back-breaker for the Jayhawks. Kansas led 10-5 until Oklahoma was sparked on a kill by middle blocker Cathy Cook. From there, the Sooners caught fire and scored of the next 13 points.
The Jayhawks shook off a late Oklahoma comeback in game four, capturing a 15-9 victory. Kansas was led in the game by outside hitter Amy Myatt, who collected five kills, and middle blocker Amanda Reves, who had three.
The match's intensity picked up in game five, which was settled by rally-
As the millennium draws to a close, the Kansan will feature the lives and achievements of the 10 greatest athletes at the University of Kansas, as selected by former and current players, coaches, administrators and fans.
Top Athletes from the University of Kansas:
6. Jim Bausch track, football and basketball,
'29-'32
5. Al Oerter track and field, '56-58
Won four consecutive Olympic discus gold medals from 1956-1968
Made the longest throw of his career. 227 feet,11 inches, at age 43.
4. Coming Wednesday
kansas millennium athlete No. 5 al oerter
10. Lynette Woodard women's basketball,'78-'81
9. Jim Ryun track,'66-'69
8. Danny Manning men's basketball,'85-'88
7. Ralph Miller men's basketball, football,
'38-'40,'41
story by matt tait
Cruel twist of fate led this New York native to Olympic stardom
t wasn't even supposed to happen.
Not for a kid who grew up in New York playing stickball underneath the elevated trains. Al Oerter was supposed to play football, or even basketball. He was a 6-foot-4-inch, 225-pound monster. Track and field was not supposed to be his sport.
But it was his best one.
"I grew up on traditional sports in New York City," Oerter said. "We played stickball in the streets, and there was a lot of football, too. It was a great training ground for becoming an athlete, and I certainly loved sports as a kid."
He loved sports so much so that he played them nearly his entire childhood. Oerter was born in Astoria, N.Y., on Aug. 19, 1936. As a boy he played baseball and football and, as early as age 7, he frequently lifted weights. It wasn't until his sophomore year in high school that he got involved with track and field — almost by chance.
When Oerter was 16, his mother, who was suffering from cancer, died. His mother's death took an incredible toll on Oerter and he lost interest in sports.
He quit his high school football team that fall and continued to mourn his mother's death. In the spring, with his heart mending, Oerter regained his love for sports. But by that time, however,
Discovering the discus
the sports Oerter played were out of season — so he tried out for track.
"I just lost the love for sports. My heart wasn't in it anymore." Oster said
He first ran sprint events but realized that he was too big. So then he ran the mile but said he realized that it was too much work. Then the magic happened.
One day, while he was practicing the mile, an errant discus sailed on the track. Oerter picked it up and threw it back to his teammates who had lost it. The throw sailed over their heads, and Oerter's high school coach immediately made Oerter switch events from running to the discus. From that day on, the discus would be Oerter's event.
see OERTER page 4B
After graduating high school in New York, Oerter enrolled at the University of Kansas in the fall of 1954. His high school coach had been a student at nearby Emporia State University, and he often encouraged his athletes to attend his alma mater. But Oerter, who in only two years of discus-throwing had set a national scholastic record — 184 feet, 2 inches — chose the much larger nearby school.
photo courtesy of University Archives
Commentary
No excuses for Jayhawk football fans, empty stands
I couldn't believe my eyes last Saturday. I walked into Memorial Stadium with my contingent of friends about 15 minutes
before kickoff of the game between Kansas and Baylor. The empty seats in the north bowl and the student section absolutely baffled me. But it was, as Kansas City Chiefs radio man Bill Griggs would say, a "bee-yoo-tee-ful" day for football.
It was sunny and warm, with not a cloud in sight.
Brad Hallier
associate sports editor
sports@kkanan.com
More importantly,
our Jayhawks were
coming off a near win
against Nebraska the
But where the heck were the students? I bet nobody who had tickets for the basketball game Saturday night missed it. What more could a Kansas football fan have asked for last Saturday?
previous Saturday and a shutout against Missouri the week before that. They were playing their best football of the season. Pulverizing the Bears 45-10, the Jayhawks didn't disappoint those who did show up.
A top-10 team? Heck, the Jayhawks accomplished that in 1995. Even then, when the Cornushkers came to town, the stadium was half-filled with red-clad Nebraska fans. If nobody cared then, why would anyone care now?
A good team? Well, I hate to break it to the students who stopped coming after the San Diego State debacle, but we are a very good team now. The Nebraska game was no fluke. And Missouri can be a good team, witnessing its near win at Colorado. So yes, we do have a good team that still can finish 6-6.
So what other excuses are there to not go to football games? They last too long? Sure, sometimes a game can last more than three hours, but thousands of you have no problem sitting hours, or even days, in advance for basketball games at Allen Fieldhouse. There goes that excuse.
Oh, now you are blaming the time factor. Sure, with a 1 p.m. start time, many students still are suffering from Friday night hangovers, but I would bet that nobody would a m.a. basketball game. For that matter, it wouldn't matter what time the basketball team played for most students.
I know that Kansas football has been stuck in mediocrity for years. At times it can be dishheartening, especially after the San Diego State game. But c'mon, it's football. Football fans are supposed to be at all the games, tailgating in any weather, eating Bratwurst, getting drunk and talking about how their team is going to pull out the win.
One more home game remains this season, Nov. 20 against Iowa State. It is senior day, and the weather probably will be nice again. If you don't have tickets, simply walk to the fieldhouse, or even to the stadium 15 minutes before kickoff and fork over five bucks. That's not much, only about 50 percent of what many students spend at a bar on any given night.
Hallier is a Mission senior in journalism.
California recruit signs letter of intent to play for 'Hawks
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
By Matt Tait
It's official.
Stevenson, who verbally committed to Kansas shortly after his visit to Late Night with Roy Williams last month, signed yesterday at his high school, Washington-Union, in the presence of his
It's on the first day of the early signing period for high school seniors, 6-foot-5 inch guard DeShawn Stevenson of Fresno, Calif., announced that he signed his national letter of intent and sent it to Lawrence.
mother and father, his coach Larry Trigueiro, his teammates and several members of the local media.
Stevenson was highly regarded by several recruiting publications, including Bob Gibbons All-Star Report, which tabbed Stevenson as the third-best prospect in the nation.
For Stevenson, signing with Kansas was a moment he had been waiting for forever.
"I chose Kansas because it's a great program with a great coach who learned from Coach (Dean) Smith, the greatest coach in the history of college basket.
ball," Stevenson said. "I think I fit in real well with the team, and I'm very happy with my decision."
For Trigueiro, it was a moment of extreme pride.
"It's definitely a proud moment for me to send a player of mine to a program like Kansas," Trigueiro said. "He was recruited by five great schools and I don't think he could've gone wrong anywhere, but I think Kansas was definitely the right decision."
Stevenson, will become the 17th Californian to play for Kansas coach Roy Williams in his 11 years at Kansas.
While Stevenson is Kansas' most recent California recruit, there is a possibility that he will be joined by No. 18, if 6-8 forward Travon Bryant, of Long Beach, Calif., decides to become a Javahawk.
Bryant, who visited Kansas with Stevenson at Late Night in October, said that Kansas was a school he had been considering since eighth grade. But Kentucky and Missouri also are among his favorites.
Bryant said that he planned to sit down with his mother in the next couple of days and talk about his intentions before making a final decision, but that he hoped to pick a school before the early signing
With Kansas' depth at forward, Bryant said that playing time had been something that he had begun to worry about but that the Jayhawks still remain the slight favorite.
period ends Wednesdav.
"Kansas sticks in my mind." Bryant said. "But anything can happen. It's been fun, but I just want to get it over with so I can get on with my senior season. I hope to make a decision by Wednesday."
If Bryant does not decide before Wednesday he will have to wait until the spring to make any official commitment.
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- Edited by Chris Hutchison