THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Ryan Robertson shares his thoughts about "Senior Night" and his final season.
SEE PAGE 3B
College Baseball
The Kansas baseball team loses 10-1 to Nevada and drops to 2-2 for the season.
SEE PAGE 4B
Friday
February 19, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
Pro Baseball
Five-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens was traded to the Yankees yesterday.
SEE PAGE 5B
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Commentary
With the Kansas men's basketball team having a down year — down meaning losing more than two or three games for the year and not expecting a one or two seed in the NCAA tournament — a lot of discussion has been going on about the loyalty of the Kansas
Hidden fans can't defend rowdy repute
fans and whether they are truly some of the best basketball fans in the nation. Well, don't worry, Jayhawk faithful. You are still some of the best fans in the country; it is just hard for anyone to see you.
When watching Kansas games on TV, you rarely see the enthusiastic KU students standing the entire game and screaming at the top of their lungs. You don't see them all decked out in their KU clothes, with their
Brandon Jones
sports@kansan.com
guests painted, and holding the big signs they spent hours making.
What the nation sees while watching Kansas games on TV are the boring, rich, season-ticket holders who rarely sport KU gear and only will stand and cheer if something spectacular happens or the refs blow a call.
These season ticket holders are also the people who are seen doing the infamous "Rock Chalk Walk" at the end of the games that has given KU fans a bad reputation as fair-weather fans. I don't think I ever have seen a student leaving a game early.
Why is this all you see during games? Because these are the people who have the good seats, the seats running the length of the court that are in view during the entire game. The students are stuck in the corners and high in the rafters. Their only visible seats are those behind the baskets.
The Athletics Department brags that it gives the students about 40 percent of the seating in Allen Fieldhouse, but it fails to mention that these seats are some of the worst seats in the house. Let me give you my vision of the way it should be if the world were perfect and everything were fair and just.
First, any student who wanted a seat would have one. I know that in most years all the students who want basketball tickets have been able to purchase them, but I have been here in a year in which the student demand exceeded the number of student tickets and a lottery had to be held. This is our school. We are the reason that this place exists and we are the ones who pay tuition. If we want tickets to watch our team play, and we have the money to pay for them, we should get them.
Second, we would be given one side of the fieldhouse just like we get one side of the football stadium. I would suggest giving students the team bench side and then moving the TV cameras back to the east side. Can you imagine how much louder the fieldhouse would be in this situation? It would be like a wall of sound. And think what a great advantage it would be to have students right behind the visitors bench. "Sit down Norm" or "Manny sucks" would be an in-your-face cheer. Most importantly, the students would be in front of the cameras the whole game and the nation would see how great our student fans really are.
Want to see this plan in action? Watch a Duke game at Cameron Indoor Stadium where the students are given one entire side. "The Cameron Crazies" aren't the best basketball fans in the nation, they are just the most visible basketball fans in the nation.
I know that this column is wasted ink and paper because nothing will change at this University. After all, money talks and unless students can start shelling out several thousand dollars a year to the Williams Fund, don't expect any changes in the seating arrangements.
At a University that only cares about big bucks, corporate sponsorship, and more big bucks — the students are pushed aside. After all, students aren't very important, are they? Surely, the University could function without us, as long as the alumni, Target, Nike and United Missouri Bank continue to pour in the money.
Jones is a Lyndon second-year law student.
'Hawks need to win at Oklahoma
Kansas forward Jeff Carey battles Kansas State's Manny Dies for a basket. Kansas travels to Norman, Okla., for a game against the Oklahoma Sooners tomorrow. Photo by Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
By Kevin C. Wilson Kansan sportswriter
Let's just say that Norman, Okla., is probably not the Kansas men's basketball team's favorite place to play.
Although Kansas is 13-6 against the Sooners in the 1990s, the Jayhawks are only 1.2 in Norman since 1995. That lone victory came last season in a 70-88 squeaker.
"is going to be a big, big challenge for us," Kansas guard Ryan Robertson said. "I've played there twice, and both times they've been absolute battles."
The Jayhawks, 17-8 overall and 9-4 in the Big 12, are expecting another grudge match when they take on the Sooners at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Lloyd Nobles Center.
"it's going to be a hostile game," Kansas center Eric Chenowith said. "We only get one shot at them a year, and they played us really tough last year. It's going to be a fun game because there is going to be a lot of emotions and excitement."
That excitement can be attributed to the hotly contested Big 12 race, where five teams still have a legitimate shot at claiming the crown.
After starting the conference with a 4-3 record, Oklahoma, (19-7, 10-3) has won six straight games and moved into sole possession of second place in the conference.
With three games remaining in the regular season, Kansas finds itself in a three-way tie for third place in the Big 12, with Nebraska and Missouri, and in desperate need of win.
"There's always a sense of urgency, but there might be a little more now." Chenwish said. "We want to start a run going into the Big 12 tournament and the NCAAs. We hope to come out with a victory."
To claim that all-important win, Kansas will have to contain the Sooners and dominant the inside game. Junior forward Eduardo Najera ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in both scoring and rebounding with averages of 15.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore post player Ryan Humphrey is also a force in the paint for the Sooners, as he contributes 11.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
"Just from playing them last year I know that Najera is a physical and intense player," Chenowith said. "I've played with Ryan Humphrey since high school, and I know he's been developing his game a lot since he's gotten there. He's a tough player."
Robertson agreed with Chenowith's assessment of the importance of Oklahoma's inside presence.
“The thing with OU is that they are very talented.” Robertson said. “I’ve seen them play a couple times and I think their greatest strength is their offensive rebounding. Sometimes I feel like their offense is to just to throw it up there and let those big guys go up and get it and score. We’re really going to have to work hard the next three couple of days at hitting the boards and trying to keep their big guys off them.”
Edited by Kelli Raybern
The Starting Lineup
KANSAS JAYHAWKS 17-8 Big 12, 9-4 overall
F T.J. Pugh 6-8 SR.
F NICK BRADFORD 6-6 JR.
E ERIO CHENWITH 7-0 So.
G RYAN ROBERTSON 6-5 SR.
G JEFF BOSCHER 6-1 FR.
Oklahoma
SOONERS
19-78g 12, 10-3 overall
F EDUARDO MAJERA 6-8 JR.
F ERIC MARTIN 6-5 SR.
C RYAN HUMPHREY 6-8 So.
G MICHAEL JONKSON 6-0 SH.
G ALEX PAULDING 6-3 So.
Loyola Robles Center * Norman, 2:30 p.m.
TV: Ch. 9
Radio: KLZR_105.9 FM
Football schedule set for next season; seven to be at home
By Michael T. Rigg
Kansas sportswriter
Kansas finalized its football schedule for next season Wednesday, which features seven home games.
That has happened only seven other times in KU history.
The Jayhawks will kick off their season and unveil the second phase of the Memorial Stadium renovation Sept. 11 with a home game against Cal State Northridge, a Division 1-AA team.
"We are especially excited about having seven quality opponents coming to Memorial Stadium," Coach Terry Allen said.
After their season opener against the Matadors, the Jayhawks travel to Boulder, where Colorado will try to avenue last season's 33-17 loss here.
After Colorado, the team will play two at home. The first is scheduled for Sept. 25 against San Diego State on Band/Parents Night; the second is on Oct. 2 against Southern Methodist for Homecoming.
Phase one of the renovation was completed last fall. The second phase includes press box renovations and the addition of a video board.
Kansas faces what appears to be the toughest part of its schedule when it travels to Kansas State and Texas A&M for its next two meetings.
"We have an ambitious schedule that will present a wide variety of challenges for our team in 1999," Allen said.
"We were put in the last minute position of having to find a home game when North Texas requested a delay in their agreement to return a game in Lawrence," Allen said. "We were happy to find a quality opponent in Cal State Northridge."
Then comes back to Memorial Stadium to play Missouri and Nebraska.
Of the 11 teams the Jayhawks face next season, six played in bowl games following the 1998 season.
Kansas was planning on opening its season against North Texas, but those plans fell through.
North Texas fans can take comfort in knowing that an agreement is being finalized to put the Eagles on the 2003 schedule.
The Jayhawks wrap up their season Nov. 20 against Iowa State.
Edited by Keith Burne
KANSAS 1999 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 11 Cal. State Northridge 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 18 at Colorado TBA
Sept. 25 *San Diego State 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 2 #Southern Methodist 1:00 p.m.
Oct. 9 9 at Kansas State 1:10 p.m.
Oct. 16 at Texas A&M TBA
Oct. 23 Missouri TBA
Oct. 30 Nebraska TBA
Nov. 6 Baylor TBA
Nov. 13 at Oklahoma State TBA
Nov. 20 Iowa State TBA
Nov. 20 Iowa State TBA
*Band/Parents Night
Homecoming
Marian Washington watches her team during practice. Washington will win her 500th game if the Jayhawks beat the Oklahoma Sooners at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Augustus Anthony Piazza/KANSAN
Final home game could be 500th win
By Matt James
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas will try to give the Sooners a little history lesson tomorrow night.
Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale
oklahed her team wasn't aware of the potential milestone.
Coach Marian Washington will have her final chance of the season to win her 500th career game at home as her 21-ranked Jayhawks battle the Oklahoma Sooners at 7:05 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
"All we're thinking about is trying to make the (NCAA) tournament," she said.
While the Kansas coaching staff said that every team was concentrating on preparing itself for a late-season run, it was disappointed that Oklahoma hadn't taken notice of the occasion.
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"I think that all of us have a
See WOMEN on page 3B