THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL. 115 ISSUE 119
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2005
Seniors deflated in defeat
Senior guard Aaron Miles signs an autograph for 12-year-old Mason Varner last Saturday morning before the team left from their hotel in Oklahoma City to go to the airport after the team's loss to Bucknell.
Rylan Howe/KANSAN
Last game stains 110-28 record legacy
Senior guard Keith Langford answers reporters' questions in the locker room. Langford's final game as a Jayhawk ended with an opening-round defeat against Bucknell, 64-63, March 18 in the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Langford scored six points in 26 minutes of play.
Courtnev Kuhlen/KANSAN
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWITTER
For the first time in their college careers, Kansas basketball players actually got to take a week off for spring break.
Not that they were too pleased about it.
Two weeks ago, when the Jayhawks were placed in the Syracuse region of the NCAA Tournament, the team envisioned its spring break would entail a trip to New York for the Sweet Sixteen and — if things went well — a match-up with an old coach named Roy.
an old coach named Roy.
Instead of Syracuse, Keith Langford went to Fort Worth,
Texas, and Mike Lee headed to Portland, Ore. Instead of heading east, J.R. Giddens and Darnell Jackson headed south and returned to Oklahoma City,
the place where the Jayhawks' tournament run was cut short — before it could ever get started.
Bucknell 64 Kansas 63
The teams' opening round loss was Kansas' first since 1978 and one of the most disappointing in school history. The fact that the four seniors' careers ended on Wayne Simien's missed 16-foot turnaround jump shot at the buzzer added to the devastation.
"That is the toughest game I've ever been a part of," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I don't know how to feel. I'm a little mad. I'm a little hurt. I feel bad for the players. I'm a little frustrated. It's a mixture of a lot of things."
It was all over TV and newspapers the next day. Everyone saw their tears; everyone saw Aaron Miles hunched against a wall in the Kansas locker room and saw the disappointment on Self's face.
What wasn't seen was Giddens embrace Miles after all of the reporters left the locker room. The cameras didn't capture the Jayhawks in the dining room of their hotel after the game. There was food there but nobody ate — they were too nauseated.
"I can't believe it's over," Miles said after the game. "I can't believe this is how my time at Kansas ended. Getting through the first round, that should be nothing."
The next morning, as the players loaded their bags onto the team bus, two young fans approached Miles. He looked better than he had the night before but still seemed dejected and sad.
One of the little boys handed Miles a sharpie and turned around so his idol could sign the back of his T-shirt.
"You the man Aaron," the little boy said.
Miles' face brightened just a little for the first time since the loss.
"Thanks man, I appreciate it." Miles responded.
Moving on
After arriving back in Lawrence last Saturday afternoon, Self made a point of meeting with all of the underclassmen before they went their separate ways for break. He talked to them about the loss and disappointment. Self said their attitudes were good.
Talking to the seniors though, was hard. He met extensively with Miles and Simien last Monday. Langford and Lee had already gone home.
"They spent a lot of time in here," Self said of Miles and Simien. "We talked about the disappointment. Talked about how this is going to sting for a while. They all handled it pretty well."
Self said he also talked to them about helping the younger guys make it through. Most, if not all, of whom are expected to be back on next year's roster.
Talk that Giddens would jump to the NBA quieted after he told reporters he would return for his junior season. Rumors have swirled that one of the freshmen, such as New York native Russell Robinson, would transfer to a school closer to home. Self said he didn't know exactly what would happen but he seemed optimistic about all of the underclassmen returning for next season.
"I'm not going to say positively this will happen or that will happen," Self said. "But all the meetings were positive."
Their legacy
All said that it shouldn't, that legacies shouldn't be defined by
Simien, Lee, Langford, Miles they were all asked if this game would tarnish the legacy they built at Kansas.
SEE DEFEAT ON PAGE 6A
CITY COMMISSION
Ban not burning issue in election
Ordinance stays; sidewalk seating for bars a maybe
By JASON SHAAD
jshaad@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Nearly a year after the city passed the smoking band, city commission candidates are still concerned with the ordinance. Although some candidates said they would consider changes to the ban, it is unlikely that any combination of commissioners will overturn the ban.
Three city commissioner seats are open for the April 5 election. Four of the five candidates favor the smoking ban. Only Sue Hack, an incumbent commissioner running for re-election, opposes the ban. Hack was the only commissioner to vote against the ban last July.
Mayor Mike Rundle and vice mayor Dennis Highberger both voted in favor of the ban.
Although a shift in the commission's stance on the ban seems unlikely, several of the candidates would consider amendments to the ordinance. A change to the city's requirements for sidewalk dining licenses is the most prominent idea among candidates.
Business owners in downtown Lawrence currently have to make 70 percent of their revenue from food sales to get a license that allows customers to eat and drink on the city's sidewalk. A proposed exception to the ordinance would allow businesses established before the smoking ban to obtain a
Business owners in downtown Lawrence currently have to make 70 percent of their revenue from food sales to get a license that allows customers to eat and drink on the city's sidewalks.
Finders keepers
SEE ELECTION ON PAGE 4A
Katie McKeever, 8-year-old Nebraskan, looks through her Easter eggs after the Easter egg hunt at Hoglund Park yesterday afternoon. The hunt followed the Kansas baseball game against Nebraska. Children searched for hidden eggs in the baseball stands and surrounding area, and the Easter Bunny greeted children during and after the game.
Today's weather
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© 2005 The University Daily Kansan
Pure agony
After the first round loss in the NCAA Tournament last week, the heartbreak of Kansas players and fans was written on their faces. Shock and disbelief marked the end of the Jayhawks' season. PAGE 6A
A schoolyard favorite
Big 12 Baseball
The Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department is starting an adult dodgeball league. The department plans to have coed teams. PAGE3A
The Kansas baseball team won the first game of its Big 12 Conference opener against Nebraska this weekend at Hoglund Ballpark. But the Huskers came back and won games two and three. PAGE 1B
Can't get over Tech The men's basketball team couldn't bounce back after the loss to Texas Tech. The traveling call on Aaron Miles and Texas Tech game-winning shot sent the Jayhawks' season down a losing road. PAGE 68