Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio died yesterday at the age of 87.
Tuesday March 9,1999 Section: B Page 1
SEE PAGE 6B
Big 12 Basketball
Five Big 12 Conference teams made the NCAA Tournament, but none are seeded higher than No. 6.
SEE PAGE 3B
K-State Basketball
Even with 20 wins, the Wildcats didn't make it to the NCAA Tourney. They will play in the NIT.
SEE PAGE 3B
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Commentary
DiMaggio's character was unparalleled
Seth Hoffman
sports @ kansan.com
Once in a while, a person makes such an impression on us that when he leaves us, he takes a part of us with him. Joe DiMaggio was one such man. He left an indelible impression on millions of people in the U.S., including myself, though many of us never saw him play.
It's hard to pick out a single reason why DiMaggio is more a part of our culture than any other player.
Other sports figures married celebrities, but only Joe married Marilyn Monroe. Other baseball players had extended hitting streaks, but only Joe did it for 56 games. Some have even
played in more All-Star Games, but Ernest Hemingway and Simon and Garfunkel never wrote about Reggie Jackson or Nolan Ryan.
But the innumerable feats on the diamond were secondary to DiMaggio's appeal. More impressive than any hitting streak was the quiet dignity with which he carried himself.
weekly delivery of flowers to her grave. That was the dignity he carried with him to his death.
It is hard to imagine DiMaggio addressing the crowd mid-game after breaking the hitting-streak record or climbing into the stands to hug any人. Instead, he maintained a low profile, and when Monroe died, though they'd divorced years before, he ordered a
In November, when he was drifting in and out of a coma, news reports gave his up-to-the-minute condition, the first words out of his mouth were orders to quit reporting on his every breath.
This summer, while in New York on vacation, my family got a glimpse of this private man. My brother, father and I spent a warm afternoon watching the Yankees trample the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. For the three of us, baseball fans before all else, it was a perfect way to spend the day.
After the game, we rushed to St. Patrick's Cathedral to meet my mother and sister for five o'clock Mass. We made it just as the service was beginning and quickly found a seat near the front.
Soon after church began, my brother walked out on a fruitless search for a public bathroom in the cathedral. It took him a long time to return, so every few minutes I would turn to see if he was lost at the back of the church.
The first time I turned I saw an older man in sunglasses sitting several rows behind us. Strange, I thought, for an oldtimer to wear-Ray Bans in church, but it was New York. A second turn a few minutes later revealed that this was no ordi-
nal old timer: It was Joe DiMaggio.
My first instinct was to inform my father, sitting at the end of the pew, about Joe's attendance at St. Pat's, but truthfully, I didn't want him to follow the collection plate back and ask for an autograph. Instead, I whispered to the rest of my family, "Joe DiMaggio's sitting behind us. Don't tell Dad." They all understood the gravity of the situation and kept quiet.
My father wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary when he walked
See BASEBALL on page 6B
Kansas forward Nakia Sanford grimaces in an effort to score while surrounded by Iowa State defenders during the Big 12 Tournament. Sanford, a senior facing what could be her final game, will try to lead the Jayhawks to a victory against Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
Five women's teams from Big 12 to play in NCAA Tourney
The Women's Big 12 Conference believed that its play had spoken for itself, and the NCAA selection committee was listening.
By Matt James
mjames@kansan.com
Kansas swriter
Prior to the Big 12 Tournament, only the top three teams had posted 20 or more wins, and Kansas coach Marian Washington was worried the league would only receive three bids.
Sunday the committee chose five Big 12 schools to participate in the field of 64, including Nebraska, 21-11 overall, and Texas (16-11), whose 10-6 conference record outweighed the fact that the Longhorns didn't win a game in the Big 12 Tournament. Those two joined league frontrunners Texas Tech, Iowa State and Kansas to represent what the selection committee's statistical formula called the second best conference in the nation.
"I think we're deserving of more than that," she said. "Any great conference with the kind of parity we have is going to beat up on each other. The committee has to realize that this is a great conference."
The SEC and Big 12 will no doubt continue to be compared as the top two conference's play head to head twice in the first round. Nebraska squares off against Kentucky and Texas plays Auburn.
Only the Southeastern Conference was rated higher, receiving a record eight tournament bids.
Iowa State and Texas Tech face underdogs Santa Clara and Stephen F. Austin, respectively.
According to Bernadette V. McGlade, chairwoman of the NCAA Women's Basketball
Committee, the selection committee put considerable stock in the rating percentage index, a system based on winning percentage and schedule strength.
"When we total our RPI, it is not based on the national polls and some of the info that the public sees all the time," she said on ESPN's Selection Sunday show.
Iowa State was named the No. 4 seed in the Midwest region; Texas landed in the East region as a 12 seed; Nebraska was placed in the West region as an 11 seed, while Texas Tech and Kansas are the second and ninth seeds in the Midwest region.
The RPI rankings, which listed the Lady Raiders fourth in the nation, did not help Tech wrestle the final top seed away from Connecticut, which claimed the No.1 spot in the Mideast.
"There wasn't one major difference, and there were other possible teams in the hunt like Colorado State. We took all the info we had in consideration to make the pick. All the teams in the hunt had great overall records and had won or were in the hunt to win their conference tournaments."
The Kansas players needed no reminder of how tough their conference schedule was and said they are glad to be facing a new opponent in Marquette.
McGlade said the decision was a tough one.
“五 Big 12 teams made it in so that says a lot about our conference as a whole,” said sophomore Jaclyn Johnson. “The second half of our season hasn't been the greatest, but we're working through that now. So hopefully we'll get back to playing the old Kansas basketball.”
Edited by Tara Hinkhouse
Resurgent Earl treks home for tournament
By Kevin C. Wilson
kwilson@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Forward Lester Earl speaks with the media about his upcoming trip to his home state. Earl found out yesterday that the Jayhawks would be playing Evansville in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Earl is from nearby Baton Rouge, La. Photo by Graham K.Johnson/KANSAN
When the Kansas men's basketball team learned it was going to New Orleans for first round of the NCAA tournament, no one was more excited than Lester Earl.
"I'm very happy. I heard New Orleans was an option and that's all I've been talked about," said Earl, a junior forward from Baton Rouge, La. "I can't believe it. I'm speechless right now. I miss the food. I miss my family. It's emotional right now."
Earl's family may be the only people in Louisiana who will be welcoming him back with open arms. The 6-foot-8 junior transferred to Kansas from Louisiana State University after playting half of his freshman season for the Tigers. An investigation into his recruiting resulted in LSU being placed on probation, and Earl can expect a multitude of negative stories to be published about him during this week.
"I am not concerned. The media will do what they want to," Earl said. "We will focus on the task at hand and on winning the first game."
Kansas coach Roy Williams said that he wasn't concerned with the possible response in Louisiana either.
"New Orleans will be a good first round site, and the people will support the teams that are there," Williams said. "There probably will be a little side bar attention to it, but it's such old news hopefully the writers will be intelligent enough not to cover something they've covered five million times already."
But how will Earl handle the responsibility of playing host in his home state for his out-of-town teammates?
"I'm going to show them all the good stuff that is down there," Earl said. "I'm going to try to get them on some catfish. I know they're tired of eating steaks right now."
At least one dayhawk said he was ready to experience the authentic cuisine of the Biz Easy.
"I've never had real Cajun food, but I guess I'll try
it," sophomore center Eric Chenowith said. "It's going to be all basketball there, though."
And basketball is what Earl has finally been able to play after undergoing surgery four times since high school and missing 11 games this season because of injuries. The lanky forward scored 11 points in the Big 12 Conference tournament final and saw action in the last eight games.
"I'm just trying to make a contribution to this team," said Earl, who averages five points and 3.6 rebounds per game for the Jayhawks. "I feel like I'm regaining my health little by little, and it's my turn to do as much as I can."
Kansas senior T.J. Pugh, who has also had to battle through numerous injuries this season, said Earl had been an inspiration all season.
"To come off the bench and do the things that Lester has done this year, you have to admire," Pugh said. "I think Lester's adopted the attitude where he wants to contribute, and he wants to help us, and he does that in a number of ways.
"He goes out and plays as hard as he can, and he's all over the place for as long as he's in there. That gives us a big boost. And a lot of times that attitude is contagious."
—Edited by Chris Fickett
Commentary
Despite season success, 'Hawks will founder
I believe in miracles, upsets, luck and freak victories.
But I am not sure I believe any of that will happen in the NCAA Tournament this year for the Kansas men's and women's basketball teams.
I have been listening to Kansas basketball games since I was inside my mother's womb. So while I would like nothing more than to see the Jayhawks advance far in the tournament
Spencer Duncan
sports@kansan.com
reastistically, the odds are against it. Neither team will make it past round two.
Here are my reasons.
The women have played tremendous basketball and managed to win 22 games without senior starting guard Suzi Rayman, the team's only three-point threat, and forward Nikki
White, who the Jayhawks needed for depth and power under the basket.
The women received a No.9 seed from the tournament committee, an extremely low seed for a team with a No.25 national ranking.
Despite the injuries, the Jayhawks have soared, finishing third in the Big 12 Conference and staying ranked for half the season.
In round one, Kansas faces No. 8 seed Marquette, a 21-7 team that won a weak Conference U.S.A. and was not ranked in the top 25.
Kansas can get by Marquette.
The problem is the Jayhawks must play the winner of the game between No.1 seed Purdue and No.16 seed Oral Roberts.
Here are some crib notes on the Boilermakers: They are ranked No. 1 in the country, are 28-1 overall, earlier in the season they defeated three-time defending national champion Tennessee and the games are being played on Purdue's home court, where Purdue is undefeated this season.
Kansas and Purdue will meet in Round Two and that does not bode
Last year's Kansas team was more consistent, scored more points and was a legitimate shooting threat from the outside.
well for the Jayhawks.
This year's team is not these things, and that is the reason Kansas will lose.
Things don't look much better for them.
The fact that Kansas won the Big 12 Conference Tournament and has won six of its last seven game, indicates the Jayhawks are peaking at just the right time — something they have failed to do in years past.
Kansas must play the winner of the first round matchup between No. 3 seed Kentucky and No.14 seed New Mexico State.
That is why the sixth-seeded Jayhawks will have no problem beating first round opponent Evansville.
Kentucky will win and the Jayhawks, for the second time this season, will have to face the defending national champion Wildcats.
But like the women, the men will face a daunting second round team.
And Kansas is its own worst enemy. One day, guard Jef Boschese hits five three-pointers; the next, he can barely hit a shot from anywhere on the floor. One game, center Eric Chenowith scores 20 points; the next, he scores five. And Kenny Gregory and Ryan Robertson are enigmas, wavering between scoring and watching.
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The Wildcats easily handled Kansas in the first meeting in Chicago, grabbing a 63-45 victory. And although Kentucky has lost eight games since then and struggled much like Kansas, the Wildcats are a better team.
Kentucky may not be the best team in the country, but it does not hurt that its senior class is 18-2 in NCAA Tournament play and owns two national championships. That experience goes a long way.
- Edited by Jodi Smith
I wish both teams luck and hope they prove me wrong, but it is going to take a miracle, some luck, an upset and a freak victory.
Duncan is a Topkea senior in English and journalism.