Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
The Kansas men's tennis team won its first home match of the season Wednesday and heads tonight to face Ohio State.
SEE PAGE 10A
The Kansas Softball team begins its season today in Minneapolis, and ace pitcher Sarah Workman is back from the injured list.
Kansas Softball
SEE PAGE 9A
Friday
February 12, 1999
Section:
A
Page 7
Pro Football
The NFL free agent signing and trading period begins Friday. Will the Minnesota Vikings be able to keep their talent?
SEE PAGE 12A
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Commentary
Wednesday jinx: Jayhawks lose to Cornhuskers twice in a row
A lot of bad things happened Wednesday night.
The Kansas men's basketball team lost another home game, the third one this year. Kansas not only lost, but it blew another big lead (an 11-point lead in the last eight minutes).
The Jayhawks were beaten for the second time this year by Nebraska! Yes, by its basketball team, and although Nebraska fans probably don't care (they only cheer for their football team and then jump on the bandwagon of anyone who is good in other sports), it hurts the loyal Kansas fans to be swept by anyone in this conference — especially Nebraska.
The 'Hawks missed eight free throws in the final seven minutes of the game. A free throw should be the easiest shot in all of basketball. You are standing there all alone 15 feet from the basket without anyone in your face to distract you. You have 10 seconds of almost absolute silence — at least in Allen Fieldhouse — to concentrate and take a good shot.
You have practiced this shot millions of times before—or at least you should have if you are playing for Kansas. Free throws win and lose games, and missing eight in the final seven minutes of a crucial game is unacceptable for a Top 25 team.
Brandon Jones
sports@kansan.com
Jayhawk guard Ryan Robertson goes up for a shot as Nebraska forward Larry Florence attempts the block. The Jayhawks' next game is against Texas Tech tomorrow in Lubbock. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
Kansas made numerous turnovers — 20 on the night — and went into long scoring droughts that made for
an ugly game. That allowed Nebraska a chance to climb back into it.
The 'Hawks failed to capitalize on Texas' loss and blew a chance to climb into a tie with them for first place in the Big 12 Conference. A Kansas win would have put our Big 12 record equal with Texas', but we would be in first place by virtue of our victory over the Longhorns back in January. Now, we are in a four-team log jam for second place and our chances of winning a third Big 12 Championship are looking slimmer then ever.
Finally, the worst thing that happened Wednesday night was that I was unable to go to the game and was forced to watch it on ESPN Plus on my television. ESPN Plus, formerly known as Creative Sports, and before that Raycom Sports, is an absolute joke. That outfit could not be any less professional or provide a poorer quality broadcast if they tried. Am I bitter? Yes! I am tired of trying to watch games done by these jokers. What's the matter with them you ask? What's not?
Dave Armstrong is one of the worst announcers in the world. His annoying voice and constant screw-ups are unbearable. John Sunveld isn't bad, but he played for Missouri, and so I naturally don't like him and don't want him doing Kansas games. Kansas alumnus Chris Piper does some announcing and does a good job, but he isn't used enough.
The camera crew must be chosen randomly from the public, or maybe they are the winners of a contest or something, because they can't focus their cameras or zoom in closer to the action. You barely can read the signs on the scorer's tables.
They also don't like to show the action half of the time. On one of Bosche's three-point attempts, the camera left the ball as it was in mid-air and the next thing you saw was Chenowith rebounding. You had to assume it was a missed shot. They also are notorious for showing not-so-instant replays while action is going on, leaving you guessing what just happened.
Jones is a Lyndon second-year law student.
The sound and picture quality is terrible, too. I have to turn my television almost all of the way up to hear the game, and then I am blasted by sound when they go to commercials. The picture constantly went scribbly and was full of static during the game. At the end of the game, they put a message on the screen that they were having satellite troubles. This outfit has been doing Kansas and other Big 12 and Big Eight games for years. It should have its act together by now. It's time to try someone new. The School of Journalism's broadcast students or Sunflower Channel 6 could do a better job than these guys.
'Hawks to face Tech; dominance on the line
By Kevin C. Wilson Kansan sportswriter
In a season full of broken streaks, the Kansas men's basketball team hopes to keep one intact this weekend when it battles Texas Tech tomorrow in Lubbock.
The Jayhawks, 16-7 overall and 8-3 in the Big 12 Conference, are 9-0 all-time against the Red Raiders, including last season's 88-49 drubbing in Lawrence They will be looking to continue that undefeated streak tomorrow.
Kansas will have to rebound from a disappointing 64-59 loss to Nebraska on Wednesday night that ended its three-game winning streak and dropped the Jayhawks into a four-way tie for second place in the Big 12 with Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma.
"It has been an up and down year, and this is definitely one of the down times," Kansas center Eric Chenowith said of the Jayhawks, who hadn't lost seven games this early since the 1988-89 season. Roy Williams' first as head coach.
Kansas had an opportunity to climb into a first-place tie with Texas after the Longhorns lost to Oklahoma on Wednesday night. Instead, the Jayhawks tightened up the conference standings by losing to Nebraska.
"We've been fighting to get back in the race and all of a sudden, Texas loses serve, and we do too on the same night," Kansas guard Ryan Robertson said. "We're in the exact same position as we were before the night started, except we let Nebraska and Missouri back into the race. It's still tight, and there's still a lot of basketball to be played."
And right now the most important game for the Jayhawks is Saturday's tussle with the Red Raiders, 11-13 overall and 3-8 in the Big 12.
After starting the Big 12 season at 2-2, Texas Tech dropped six games in a row before tasting victory again on Wednesday with a 75-66 win against Baylor.
The Red Raiders are led by their experienced backcourt tandem of junior Rayford Young and senior Stan Bonewitz. The ultra-quick Young leads the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game, and the multi-
talented Bonewitz adds 11.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.
Junior forward Cliff Owens contributes 11.3 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game for Texas Tech.
To continue its dominance of the Red Raiders, Kansas must beat them in Lubbock Municipal Coliseum.
where Texas Tech is 8-5.
"Our best performances have been at other places," Williams said. "It's such a good group of kids that maybe they feel more pressure at home."
After Wednesday's loss to Nebraska,
See STREAK on page 9A
Baseball team ready to open its season at Texas-Arlington
By Matt Tait
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas boys of summer are looking forward to starting their season in the sunshine.
The baseball team will play a three-game series this weekend at the University of Texas-Arlington, where weekend forecasts have predicted highs in the 70s. But having held two scrimmages outdoors in the variable conditions of Kansas, the team is prepared to deal with whatever the weather may be.
"We've had one nice day and one cold day, so I'll be ready for whatever the temperature may be at UTA," junior pitcher Rusty Philbrick said.
Philbrick, who is slated to start the season opener, had the team's leading earned run average last year. He said he was comfortable with this year's pitching staff.
"I feel confident with every person who goes out there to pitch." Philbrick said. "We've had two scrimmages outside, and everybody was hitting 65 miles per hour or above. That's the first time that has happened since I've been here."
Coach Bobby Randall also said he was impressed with his team's pitching.
"Ilike the pitching better than I've ever liked it before," Randall said. "We've never had the commodity in the past to have pitchers injured or pitch below expectations."
Randall said that most of the players on this year's roster threw hard and that pitching and catching would be the key to defeating the Mavericks.
Randall said, "They don't run a lot, but if they see that (catching) as a weakness they'll probably take advantage of it."
"We've got to be able to stop the running game,"
Injuries are also a concern for Randall.
Projected starting center-fielder Brett Kappelmann and projected starting left fielder Harrison Hill are nursing leg pulls. Also, Randall said, third baseman Sparky Wilhelm has a sore back.
The injuries have forced Randall to jostle the lineup a little bit, but he said he was confident with the team that would take the field.
"We've got potentially one of the best infields I've ever coached," Randall said. "They all play good defense, and offense too, and they run well."
The infield is anchored by experience, but the outfielders are young. Freshmen Jason Appuhn, centerfielder, and Matt Van Alsburg, leftfielder, will join sophomore rightfielder Doug Dreher.
Junior Shane Wedd will catch for the Jayhawks, and seniors Chad King and Wilhelm will handle the corners — first base and third base, respectively. Sophomores Brandon O'Neal and John Nelson will return this year at second base and shortstop.
For Nelson, the series against Texas-Arlington is a homecoming of sorts. He grew up in Denton, Texas, about 45 minutes from Arlington.
He said he was looking forward to the trip.
"I'm excited to see my friends and family and hopefully show them a good ballgame," he said.
Tomorrow's double-header and Sunday's series finale both begin at 1 p.m.
Jackson provides leadership for rising 'Hawks
By Matt James
Kansan sportswriter
Jennifer Jackson is the outside threat on a team that does its best work in the paint.
The 5-foot-10 guard may look small compared to the rest of the Kansas starting lineup — the other four starters' average height is 6-2 — but when it comes to team importance, she looms quite large.
The sophomore point guard never has been more crucial for the Jayhawks as they attempt to win their sixth-straight game tomorrow against Nebraska.
Kansas (18-6, 8-3) welcomes a quick and talented Cornhusker team to Allen Fieldhouse for a 2:05 p.m. game.
Coach Marian Washington switched to a taller lineup, and Jackson has been the starting point guard ever since. The fit has been close to perfect.
That game, in which the Jayhawks committed a season-high 34 turnovers, marked a turning point in the season for the team and for Jackson.
The team has a score to settle with Nebraska (16-8, 5-6), who crushed the Jayhawks 62-82 Jan. 16 in Lincoln, Neb.
The Jayhawks are 5-1 with Jackson at the point, are committing only 17 turnovers a game and have vaulted themselves back into league title contention, a possibility that seemed doubtful three weeks ago.
The Starting Lineup
KANSAS
JAYHAWKS
8-3 Big 12, 18-6 overall
When Washington recruited Jennifer Jackson out of Tuscaloosa Academy in Alabama, she wanted her to be a shooting guard. Jackson averaged 24.3 points per game in high school, as she lead her team to a 26-0 record and won Alabama player of the year for the second consecutive season.
NEBRASKA
CORNHUSKERS
5-6 Big 12. 16-8 overall
But when the Jayhawks needed her ball-handling skills six games ago, Jackson accepted the challenge.
"It put me in a role where I don't look to score as much as I have been, but as long as we're winning, I'm happy." Jackson said. "I've been a point guard since I started playing basketball. It's nothing new to me."
Jackson hasn't disappeared from the offense by any means. She still knocks down her deadly overhead jump shot when defenses sag in on the Kansas frontline — a shot she mastered while pretending to be Larry Bird as a youngster.
Washington said she has always been confident in Jackson's ability to run the point.
What the Jayhawks will need from Jackson tomorrow is solid ball-handling against a swarming Cornhusker press.
"Jennifer has been asked to do a lot for this team, and she's done a great job," she said.
"Anytime a team presses, the point guard is going to have added pressure," she said. "We've been working all week on a game plan. We have to go out and make sure we break their pressure and make them pay when they put two people on the ball."
"The thing I respect most about Coach Washington is the fact that she acts the
Jackson said Washington, who could win game number 499 tomorrow with a victory against Nebraska, was a major factor in her decision to come to Kansas.
Making teams pay is exactly what the hustling floor-leader has been doing. Her 1.29 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 10th in the B12 Conference.
Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington yells instructions to her players. Washington is nearing her 500th career victory as a head coach for the Jayhawks. Photo by Jay Sheepard/KANSAN
same way now as when she came in my living room to recruit me," she said. "She's a very genuine person, and that's one of the best qualities you can have."
The No. 21-ranked Jayhawks are just one game back of league-leading Texas Tech going into tomorrow's game. Kansas is in a second-place tie with Iowa State after the Cyclones lost at Kansas State Wednesday night.
"This team is very focused right now," Jackson said. "Everyone understands their role and what they need to do, and I think we're going to go as far as we ever have."
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