FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3B
MLB
Fans welcome ex-Expos to Washington
BY HOWARD FENDRICH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — It didn't take long for this troupe of ex-Expos to figure out they weren't in Montreal anymore.
There was the sellout crowd of 45,596, jumping in place to celebrate each of the Washington Nationals' runs in a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks last night, making ol' RFK Stadium sway like it hadn't for
baseball in 34 years. There were the fireworks, before and after the game, and first place in the NL East.
President Bush walked into the Nationals' clubhouse before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. He shook hands with each player and stopped at veteran reliever Joey Eisen.
And then there was the visit from the Commander in Chief.
"Eischen, right?" said Bush, a former owner of the Texas
"He remembered trading me," Eischen said, his eyes wide. "That was pretty cool. I was some Single-A punk he got rid of to get a major league pitcher. It was gratifying."
Rangers.
The whole evening just got better and better for the Nationals and their new fans, decked out in a sea of red caps with the same cursive "W" the Senators wore before leaving for Texas in 1971.
Honestly, it was more than I expected. They lived and died with every pitch," left fielder Brad Wilkerson said. "You know it's going to be a great place to play."
Baseball is all about getting home, and this was an all-day celebration of a team longing for stability and a city yearning for a tenant. The District lost two teams to other cities.
"It was amazing to see.
Baseball fans in Washington hadn't been able to root, root, root for the home team in more
than 12,000 days. And they made up for yesterday.
They applauded the local high school band that opened the pregame ceremony about 1 1/2 hours before the first pitch. They applauded the high notes in the national anthem. And the flyover by military jets. And the introductions of everyone associated with the Nationals, right down to the assistant clubhouse manager.
"It's a good sports town. Yall's baseball fans never left. The base.
ball team did," Eischen said.
Even the visitors took note of the raucous support.
"Us, as players, we're excited not to be playing in Montreal," Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez said. "We had what 40,000 or 50,000 people tonight? If we had been there, they'd have had 2,000."
Indeed, the Expos averaged fewer than 9,400 fans in 2004,the last of a trying few seasons in Canada.
Baseball
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
throwing for a 3.33 ERA. Even in the loss against the Mavericks, the pitchers had little trouble completing eight strikeouts.
"Their pitching numbers are phenomenal. To pitch against metal bats and to have played over 30 games and have that ERA is just phenomenal," Price said.
Despite their No.12 rank
ing, the Bears have flaws, and Price said the Jayhawks intended to expose them this weekend.
"We've got a series at home against a top-15 team in the country, but if we pitch and give our team an opportunity to win, I like our chances," Price said.
The Jayhawks will take those chances starting at 7 tonight.
Colaianni
— Edited by Lori Bettes
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Coming out of tomorrow's game, one quarterback may emerge as the front runner to take the starting job. Will it be junior Jason Swanson? Sophomore Adam Barmann? Or maybe even junior Brian Luke? Certainly, those three individuals will do their best to impress coaches, and fans, in their quest for the starting job.
The transitions on the offensive line, including Todd
Hasselhorst moving to center, will be significant.
The fact of the matter is that the players need to see your support. Don't wait until the season opener in September. These players are working out now and need to know that the student body is behind them.
Show the team that you appreciate the drills they have gone through for the past month during practices.
- Colaiani is a McLean, Va., sophomore in journalism and political science.
Banquet
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
basketball, handed out team awards. Senior forward Wayne Simien won the Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen Most Valuable Player Award. He was also the recipient of the Danny Manning Mr. Jayhawk Award and the Bill Bridges Rebounding Award.
Junior guard Jeff Hawkins received the Ted Owens Defensive Player of the Year Award, and freshman forward Sasha Kaun was the recipient of the Clyde Lovellette Most Improved Player Award.
"This is one of the best awards, because it was voted on by my teammates, the people that I love," Simien said of the MVP award.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway applauded the seniors, who will all graduate in May, for their achievements on and off the court.
The seniors' work in the classroom was recognized by more than just University officials.
"I had been trying to recruit a young man who scored perfect on his SATs and perfect on his
ACTs." Hemenway said. "We didn't think we had a chance because he had offers from all of these Ivy League schools. But we had one advantage: he was a basketball fan."
Hemenway said he found out today that the student decided to go to the University because he idolized the four seniors.
The seniors each received the Senior Awards and the James Naismith Captains Awards. Each of them spoke at the podium for the final time.
"I have no negative feelings about anything in my body." Langford said.
Langford cleared up rumors that he had acrimonious feeling toward Kansas basketball.
Lee and Miles thanked their teammates and told fans to be excited about next season.
"Trust coach Self," Lee said.
"The program is in good hands. There is a wealth of talent coming in."
Simien recalled memories of each of his senior classmates.
thought we were going to play again. I guess we rebounded from that all right."
"I remember freshman year, me and Keith were roommates." Simien said. "We were late to our first pre-game meal. We never
- Freshman forward Alex Galindo, who announced last week that he would transfer from the University, said he would visit Florida International this weekend.
"I have no regrets," Galindo said. "I wanted to be closer to home, and I had a lot of personal reasons for transferring."
♦ Langford has selected an agent and said he would work out with the Houston Rockets next week. He said his main focus, however, was graduation.
"I promised my mom that I would graduate," Langford said. "But of course I have some basketball things scheduled. I am going to work out with the Rockets next week and take them one thing at a time."
♦ Miles hasn't chosen an agent yet, but said that was his next step. He said he would continue to work out at the University and choose an agent in the near future.
"Things are crazy right now." Miles said. "It is a lot harder than the season because I have to go to
school, work out, get an agent and fly in and out. I am excited and anxious. I don't know what to expect."
Simien, who chose well-known agent Leigh Steinberg, said he planned to attend the NBA draft in New York this summer.
Self said he has talked to several NBA general managers about the possibility of Langford and Miles getting drafted.
"The last GM I talked to said he thought both of them would get drafted," Self said. "The word on Aaron is that he is a second-round pick. The word on Keith is that he is a high second-round pick, but he could play his way to a low first-round pick."
◆ For the next couple of weeks, Self said he would be busy recruiting. He said he would take only two days off from recruiting between now and May 1.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
"These young kids are going to be terrific," Self said. "It's hard to know what you need when you haven't even seen the new guys yet. But we are looking to recruit a big guy and a wing man."
Edited by Austin Caster
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An Evening With Madame F
Sunday April 17,4pm Lawrence Jewish Community Center 9th and Iowa
9th and Iowa
This is a work of theatre with music conceived by Claudia Stevens for her one woman performance as pianist/ singer/actor. The piece explores the life and death experience of music performance in concentration camps drawing upon survivor accounts, including that of Fania Fenelon, who performed in the women's orchestra at Auschwitz until her deportation to Bergen Belsen. An evening with Madam F was commissioned for Yom Hashoah by Richard Jewish Federation and has been presented in numerous performances throughout the US.
Sponsored by The Lindebaum Lecture Series and KU Hillel. This event is free of charge and open to the public.
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