Section B · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, February, 1999
'Hawks hopes to avenge loss
Continued from page 1B
taking some of the scoring burden off junior Lynn Pride's shoulders.
Pride said Reves' work ethic and awareness on the floor was what made her such a good player.
"It's really great playing with someone like that," she said.
Reves' hard work definitely has produced results. The forward has become the Jayhawks' second leading scorer — the combination of Reves and Pride account for 43.8 percent of the team's scoring — and has played her best in conference action. She has averaged 11.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in Big 12 play.
Besides Reves' resurgence, the Jayhawks have learned something else about conference play — sometimes a team gets
Since the showdown in Boulder, both the Jayhawks and Buffaloes are undefeated and both have beaten a Top 25 team. Colorado beat then No. 23 Nebraska 70-53 on Jan. 23.
a second chance. The 22nd-ranked Jay-
hawks (16-6, 6-3) will realize that chance
tonight when they play Colorado (11-7, 4-
4).
"They've got the momentum going, and so do we," Washington said. "Hopefully, with them having to come to our place and the way we've been playing, we can put a good defensive effort on the floor."
Defense isn't the only area in which Kansas has improved. After being outrun by a deep Colorado team, the Jayhawks' bench play has improved tremendously.
"We just didn't have the depth (against Col
orado) — that was the bottom line," Washington said. "We did not have people to step up and give us the quality minutes that we needed. The last three games we've been getting some help from the bench. Heather (Fletcher), Selena (Scott) and Shandy (Robbins) have all done a nice job for us."
Despite the resurgent play and 18 game winning-streak the Jayhawks have at Allen Fieldhouse, the team expects a tough game tonight.
"I don't think they're in for a big surprise," said sophomore Jennifer Jackson. "Our Texas Tech game was on TV, and coaches talk to each other, so they're going to know that we've improved a lot. We're going to be a different team than they saw the first time, though, so hopefully we'll be able to come back, get the win and a little revenge for last time."
Continued from page 1A
sometime in the third quarter, the celebration began. What started as wild cheering and occasional tears of joy, flowed out onto the streets of downtown Denver and became a wild celebration.
Screaming and honking and cheering and still more tears filled the streets. This was too good to be true. Our team is now twice crowned World Champions.
Win celebrated in Denver
News stations were there filming it and occasionally were in the middle of it, and the police were there regulating it.
Flags were waving in people's faces and fans were bouncing into one another, but on this night at this point it didn't matter. I hugged people I would not normally hug and gave high fives to anyone with a hand. It was an incredible experience.
Some people, more infected with Bronco fever than others, jumped through fires started by stray fire crackers and got rowdier as the celebration grew longer and larger.
This alarmed police and the tear gas came out. Fortunately, by this time I had headed home to Fort Collins, but the scene was the same, screaming fans coupled with authoritative cops celebrating the feat that we had all waited so long for.
Throughout the state of Colorado, people, fanatics, filled the streets of their towns and screamed whatever came into their minds. This was an incredible moment for the entire state, all the painful memories and all the heart ache of those "other Super Bowls" had been erased.
Tait is a Fort Collins, Colorado junior majoring in journalism.
Renovations excite Kansas baseball team
By Matt Tait
Kansan sportswriter
Opening day for the Kansas baseball team is less than two weeks away, and last Friday the team got to practice outside for the first time. Andpracticing outside meant practicing in the newly renovated Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
Although practice was a little cold, the thrill of playing on the new field was enough to inspire the players and has them anticipating the season.
"We're at the point where we want to get outside and feel the dirt and grass between our toes," coach Bobby Randall said.
Weather permitting, the team will be feeling the cold and grus all.
dirt and grass all week.
Being outside and playing on the field will not only give the players a chance to get some live action but also
will allow them to develop a feel for the highly coveted "home-field advantage."
"This feels more like a Division-I ballpark now," said Sparky Wilhelm, senior third baseman. "Seeing it makes you take pride in the way you play and pushes you to represent your school better."
While taking greater pride in their playing is important to the entire squad, the players' excitement is in the possibility that the new stadium could increase attendance.
The renovations have increased the seating capacity from 1,300 to 2,500. Included in that increase were 212 luxury box seats, which fans who desire a better view can purchase. This section is for season-ticket holders and features backs on the seats and front-row viewing.
On the field, things have changed, too. Randall said there was now more off-the-field storage space, and the dugouts had been doubled in size.
Sophomore shortstop John Nelson said, "Now everyone can fit when there is a rain delay."
The stands were extended down each baseline to accommodate the increased capacity, and a new press box was built. The concession areas were revamped, and the restrooms were rebuilt. An increase in space underneath the stands creates a courtyard-like environment. The whole complex is enclosed by a iron fence with light posts, resembling a new major league ballpark.
"It's a ballpark now, not a stadium," Randall said.
And with the renovated ballpark comes increased expectations.
"People are going to go out to see the stadium, and we hope they will enjoy the games and come back," junior outfielder Brett Kappelmann said.
The players and coaches said they realized that if the team was winning games, the fans would continue to support it.
"If we get good fan turnout, we can produce as good an atmosphere as any school in the Big 12," junior catcher Shane Wedd said.
The stadium, commonly referred to as "the Hog," will be dedicated March 6 in Forrest Hoglund's honor. Hoglund, an original donor of the park, donated an additional $1 million at the end of last year to make the renovations possible.
Coaches optimistic that Big 12 will have good representation in upcoming NCAA tournament
OSU's Eddie Sutton thinks four universities should make the cut
The Associated Press
Say all you want about power ratings, but the Big 12's basketball coaches generally think the conference is in good shape and will be well represented in the NCAA tournament.
The Big 12 is only rated No. 8 nationally in the latest RPI listing, which is something the tournament selection committee uses in determining the teams that will receive at-large bids.
The RPI comprises three factors — winning percentage against Division I teams, strength of schedule and opponents' strength of schedule.
Kansas, which spent its fair share of time ranked No. 1 the past two seasons, leads the conference with an RPI rating of 16. Missouri is next at 31, followed by Nebraska (44), Oklahoma State (46), Texas (50), Oklahoma (54) and Kansas State (69).
"There's no doubt, I think the league is down a little hit," Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said Monday. "Right now, I think there's five or six
teams that are really good ball clubs and can go play with a lot of people. I'll be very surprised if we don't get at least four teams (in the NCAA tournament)."
Kansas won the past two league titles easily, but now is among the teams chasing Texas for the championship. The Jayhawks fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 this week for the first time since January 1991.
"The last two years, we were really, really good, and there was a little gap between us and everybody else," Coach Roy Williams said. "This year, it is so competitive on every night that I think the homecourt advantage is less in effect this year than it's ever been in the league. You better be ready to play every night, regardless of who you play or where you're playing."
Baylor coach Harry Miller also mentioned parity when discussing the strength of the league.
"We've still got very, very good teams that people may underestimate," he said. "I think we're in a situation now where these people are beginning to knock off each other, but we've still got some teams that are good."
Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said the league's national ranking
could affect how many teams get invited to the NCAA tournament but said the same issue arose every year.
How many teams got in last year? Four? I don't see us getting less than four this year," he said. "I don't think it's going to be any different than last year, and I think it's because the league is so competitive inside the league."
Texas is just 12-9 overall because of a slow start against difficult nonconference teams. But at 7-1, the Longhorns are atop the league rankings, and they have a favorable schedule for the second half of the season.
If Texas is able to win the regular-season title, several coaches said that should be more than enough to merit an at-large bid.
"I'm fairly certain if they keep playing the way they are, they're not going to have to worry about that," Kansas State coach Tom Asbury said. "They're going to be worried more about seeding than they are 'if.'"
Texas coach Rick Barnes took a pragmatic approach in discussing his team's chances.
"I think right now you've just got to worry about winning basketball games," he said. "That takes care of everything else. If you win, you go. If you don't win, you don't go."
Missouri's Norm Stewart had the same outlook. He said it seemed every year people came up with reasons why some Big 12 teams should or should not be invited.
"The way I always tell our ball club, if you want to avoid that, take the doubt out of it," he said.
Texas has arguably the most talented starting lineup in the league, and the continuing emergence of center Chris Mihm has strengthened that argument.
The 7-foot sophomore was the Big 12 player of the week after having 17 points and 11 rebounds against Oklahoma and following that with a 20-point, 17-rebound effort against Massachusetts. He has produced six straight double-doubles.
Texas A&M coach Melvin Watkins said Mihm was playing like a professional.
"Matter of fact, he should look at going hardship, I imagine." Watkins said, laughing. "I'd like to see that."
Olympic drug committee members consider drafting a drug policy and preventing IOC from enforcing decisions
The Associate Press
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The U.S. anti-drug chief criticized the International Olympic Committee yesterday, saying its legitimacy has been damaged by alleged corruption, lack of accountability and the failure of leadership in the Olympics bribery scandal.
"These events have tarnished the credibility of the movement," Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said during the opening of an anti-doping conference.
McCaffrey and European government officials demanded that a proposed anti-doping agency be kept out of the control of the scandal-tainted IOC.
The IOC's plan to develop uniform drug-related sanctions for all Olympic federations suffered another setback as one IOC executive committee member said that such a system would not stand up in court.
In his opening address to the three-day conference, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch called for a new drive to wipe out "this odious and unhealthy form of cheating."
Nine IOC members have resigned or been expelled for receiving cash payments, gifts and other favors stemming from Salt Lake City's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games. Representatives of several governments said the core of the IOC's credibility had been hurt.
But he could not avoid the focus of attention being turned on the corruption scandals, which have plunged the IOC into the worst crisis of its 105-year history.
McCaffrey urged the IOC to consider institutional
reform, open books and financial records. He called for an elected membership, which would be accountable and responsible.
The British sports minister was equally blunt
"Their internal system of organization and election must be based on democracy, accountability and honesty," Tony Banks said. "The British government expects the IOC to clean up its act."
German sports minister Otto Schilly said the IOC had to be completely reorganized.
The government officials repeatedly said the proposed anti-doping agency had to be fully independent and not controlled by the IOC.
Samaranch said the agency should be autonomous. During the weekend, he proposed that the Olympic drug chief Prince Alexandre de Merode head the agency on a day-to-day basis.
"We don't believe the IOC should be that agency. The issue of doping goes beyond the IOC," said Banks, who suggested the body be created under the aegis of the United Nations or World Health Organization.
On the controversial issue of drug sanctions, proposals of an IOC working group to streamline drug policies around the globe already ran into obstacles, and a plethora of different views were put forward at the conference.
Following the objections and reservations of several international federations, IOC executive board member Jacques Roges also came out against a uniform agreement binding all federations to abide by a unified medical code. The IOC proposal includes a minimum two-year suspension for serious doping offenses.
"You have to be reasonable; this is not a debate in black and white," said Rogge. "You cannot compare athletes. Some careers span eight years, some span 20 years. Sanctions have to be adapted to that."
In case of an imposed uniform code, he said civil courts would never accept it.
An IOC panel proposed that athletes face lifetime suspensions and fines of up to $1 million for serious cases of intentional doping and suggested selective bans for some first-time offenders.
The world soccer federation has said the proposals were too tough and unworkable, while the international swimming federation said a unified anti-doping stance would be impossible under such circumstances.
Olympic skating champion Johann Olav Koss, representing the IOC athletes' commission, said the group supported the two-year sanction and that it should be applied to all sports.
On a day when little went Samaranch's way, de Merode partly blamed him for setting the anti-doping program a decade back by opposing the establishment of an anti-doping agency in 1989 on budgetary grounds.
"Samaranch opposed this, as did practically the whole executive committee. It was shot down by 90 percent of the people who favor it now," de Merode told the Paris sports paper L'Equipe.
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The University of Kansas Chancellor's Student Awards Committee is accepting nominations for the following:
The Agnes Wright Strickland Award The Donald K. Alderson Award The Class of 1913 Award The Alexis F. Dillard Student Involvement Award The Rusty Leffel Concerned Student Award The Caryl K. Smith Student Leader Award
Nomination forms for these awards are available at the Office of the Dean of Students, 133 Strong Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045.
Nominations must returned to the Office of the Dean of Students by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 19, 1999.
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