Tuesday, April 13, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Kansas swimmer aims for target of next Olympics
Continued from page 1B
Although Painter may not frequent drinking establishments, teammate Jon Reyes said he still knows how to have a good time.
"He does have a pretty big group of friends, but he's not going to go out and drink at the bars because it would look bad for the team," Reyes said. "He's a lot of fun. He always has a good time no matter what he does."
In Colorado, Painter finds entertainment in the outdoors. Painter often misses the wilderness of his home state.
"I used to ski. I love the outdoors. I don't get a chance to go camping anymore." Painter said. "That's one of my regrets, actually, I don't get a lot of time to spend in the outdoors."
One thing that does stay the same no matter where in the world Painter goes is his passion for music. He is always trying to uncover new bands before anyone else does.
"I like to find new stuff that no one else has heard. I listen to rap music, hip-hop. I have over 250 CDs." he said.
"I actually get along with my family. I like them," he said, laughing. "My mom, she's a sweet lady. She takes care of us all the time. When I'm feeling bad, I can always talk to my mom. My dad, he's been my coach, but he's also been my dad. My brother, he's a little hellion, but he's learning. I think my parents raised me and my brother really well. I like my parents a lot."
Another thing he misses is his family.
Possibly a return to Australia? To Sydney? In the summer of 2000?
"I'm going to have to work hard and get back on my game to make it but it's a definite possibility," Painter said. "There are five guys in the U.S. that could do it, and I'm one of them ... definitely."
Painter said that his family had always been supportive of his swimming career and that he thought the future could bring some exciting credentials.
Reyes, who trains distance freestyle with Painter, said he thinks Painter has what it takes to be an Olympian
"I think he can do anything. I think he has a legitimate shot to medal at the Olympics," he said. "He's the best swimmer I've seen. A lot of people think he's just got a lot of talent, but it's his work ethic. He works hard every day."
Painter will not stop until he's satisfied, a time that may never come.
"I'm not happy, I'm never content. I just always think I can do better no matter what I do," he said.
Edited by Tara Hinkhouse
By Michael T. Rigg sports@kansan.com Kansan writerwriter
Allen looks to fill gaps at linebacker position
Losing all four starting line backers to graduation usually is a problem for most college football teams.
Not so for Kansas, said coach Terry Allen.
"I actually think our linebackers might be better this season," Allen said.
Coming into spring drills, the Jayhawks had only three line-backers — Tim Bowers, Andrew LeClair and Scott Rogers — who received playing time at the position last fall.
Along with the three returnees, Allen and his staff
will look at several players to fill the gap that last year's seniors left.
"Obviously, we have a lot of new faces at the linebacker position." Allen said.
Among the newcomers is Algie Atkinson, who played on special teams last season, Dariss Lomax, who was academically ineligible last year, junior-college recruit Chaz Murphy, converted defensive back Ocasio Cofield, and Scott Rogers, who played for the Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes last fall.
These new faces will continue to move around until the best group is on the field. Allen said.
"We may look at some more
people inside from that outside linebacker group, and we may start moving our front around to take advantage of the linebackers and what they can do." Allen said. "It's kind of a continuous mix."
Rogers thinks the rivalry maintains the players' competiveness through the monotony of everyday drills.
"As of right now, none of the linebackers really know who's starting," Rogers said.
Spring Football Notes
Which players would play at what position came into a better focus yesterday, as Allen released the first depth chart of the spring season.
As usual, the first team on the
chart was filled with regular names — Zac Wegner, David Winbush, Dion Rayford. — but it also had its share of surprises.
Among those are the defensive secondary, where only Andrew Davison has sewed up a starting position, and at tight end, where David Hurst, who redshirted last season, is listed ahead of Jason Gulley, who started the final seven games of last season.
"If we were to play tomorrow, David would start," Allen said. "But I think we can be very good with either of those two guys."
Defensive backs Chad Coilner and Muhammad Abdul-
Rahim are also among those who started last season and are still competing for starting jobs. Allen said.
■ Count backup safety Bilal Cook as another player who will lose time this spring because of an injury, Allen said. Cook has a reoccurring hamstring problem and will not see action for the rest of spring drills, he said.
The Jayhawks pushed practice yesterday back an hour, leading some players, such as center Chris Enneking, to miss practice because of classes.
Kansas will practice at its normal time of 3:20 p.m. today, Allen said.
Wizards struggle for goals, increased attendance
—Edited by Tara Hinkhouse
Continued from page 1B
"We felt we would do well the first game with attendance, and we did, and then we knew we would have a dropoff this game and the game on the Saturday before Easter," Newman said. "We knew these games would be well attended, so we hadn't put a whole lot of effort into promoting them. We're focusing on five or six games this year to help drive our attendance up instead of trying to make something happen all 16 games."
There have been efforts by the Wizards this year to get more fans at the games.
Fans had a reason to get excited on Jan. 28 when the Wizards shipped goalkeeper Mike Ammann and midfielder Mark Chung to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars for two of the most famous names in U.S. soccer history — goalkeeper Tony Meola and defender Alexi Lalas.
New season-ticket sales doubled after the trade, said ticket manager Dan Fagard.
"Ticket sales have gone up in general," Faggard said. "There is more interest in single-game tickets now with the general public."
The Wizards also joined forces with the Kansas City Chiefs. On Feb. 18, Carl Peterson, Chiefs president, general manager and CEO, announced that the Chiefs would execute all functions related to the sales, marketing, promotion, ticketing and advertising of the Wizards as well as those associated with the Chiefs.
But still, attendance numbers have not been impressive this year.
Soccer is not a foreign sport to the area. The Kansas City metropolitan area has a higher number of youth soccer players per capita than any other major metro area. In the mid-1980s, the Kansas City Comets of the now-defunct Major Indoor Soccer League, would routinely sell out games. In 1984-85 the Comets sold out every game at Kemper Arena with an average attendance over 15,000, a number the Wizards have yet to touch.
Brad Likens, Overland park senior and lifelong soccer player and fan, said that he doesn't think the people in Kansas City are too familiar with the Wizards yet.
"I also think that indoor soccer is more for the non-soccer people because it's faster-paced," he said. "Plus the Comets and the MISL had been around for a few years already."
The Wizards have a student promotion every game. Newman said that anyone showing a student identification can get discounted tickets.
Newman added that the Wizards would like to get the word out to people outside of Kansas City.
"We're definitely looking into Lawrence and other areas, but obviously we're interested in the Kansas City market now." Newman said. "Hopefully those people who come to the bigger nights with a better atmosphere and crowd will have more of an inclination to try our other games."
—Edited by Matt Merkel-Hess
Wizards midfielder Alexi Lalas looks for a teammate to whom to pass. Even with the addition of several popular U.S. stars such as Lalas, the team still is seeing many empty seats. Photo by Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
"I thought I knew the secret to getting rich
Then I saw this ad!"
Now hiring. Full and part-time postitions. avail. $17.50/hr. Call Brian A. at 864-4277.
What are you going to find? Kansan Classifieds 864-4358
A