WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5B
Softball to start Friday
lavhawks have potential for strong pitching, solid defense
BY DREW DAISON
ddavison@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
After four months of conditioning, lifting and practicing, the KU softball team will finally start the season Friday.
Kansas will undergo a tough first weekend at the Arizona Pepsi Classic in Tucson, Ariz. Kansas will face the regional contender Oklahoma State and the nationally ranked University of Arizona.
"I think we need to play and find out where we are as a team," coach Tracy Bunge said.
The team appears confident going into the season under the steady leadership of junior cocaptains Destiny Frankenstein
and Serena Settlemier.
Four newcomers also look to make immediate contributions. Freshman Elle Potterfow will start behind the plate, while Christina Ross brings experience and skills to the bench.
Tucson, Ariz., natives Cyndi Duran and Jackie Vasquez bring added speed.
Though the Jayhawks continue to build with several impact players, the rest of the Big 12 Conference also has improved.
Texas returns Olympic pitcher Cat Osterman, and will make a run at a Big 12 title.
Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas A&M also retained most of their players and are favored to take home the conference title.
As long as the Jayhawks play
consistent softball, Bunge said he thought they could compete with every team they faced.
Another key to the Jayhawks' success will be how well the team endures the season.
"We need to stay healthy." Bunge said. "We are not a very deep team."
The offense remains an area of concern. Bunge said he expected to win games by one-run margins.
But a strong pitching core and solid defense will keep the Jayhawks in every game.
The first home game will be March 11 in the Holiday Inn/Jayhawk Classic at Arrocha Ballpark.
- Edited by Ross Fitch
KANSAN file photo
Senior pitcher Kathy McVey slides into third base during the fourth inning of a game last October against Emporia State University. Big 12 Conference coaches picked Kansas to finish eighth in the conference this season, Kansas opens the season against Oklahoma State at the Arizona Pepsi Classic in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday.
Brady 'heart and soul' of New England team
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The dimpled chin, the middling pedigree, the unspectacular stats, the aw-shucks good manners.
Don't let it all fool you: Tom Brady is a tenacious competitor.
"He may be a pretty boy," former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw said, "but I don't think there's any lack of fire there.
I don't think he would hesitate to take your face off if he thought it would help his team win.
"Montana was like that."
The comparison is being thrown around a lot this week as Brady prepares to lead the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles. Brady already has two MVP awards from the title game, matching Bart Starr and
Bradshaw and one behind the former 49ers quarterback he idolized while growing up in the San Francisco area.
Aikman was the MVP of the 1993 game and winner of three Super Bowls in a four-year span, another feat Brady could match with a victory Sunday. But unlike Aikman, Brady has done it with steady leadership more than flashy statistics.
"His name's been mentioned with some of the all-time greats, as it should be," said former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, who will broadcast the game with Bradshaw for FOX TV. "He's played great in the big ballgames, which I think is the way you measure it."
"He's the key," Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse said at Super Bowl media day on Tuesday.
'Wardrobe malfunction' never again
Watchers assured McCartney's clothes will stay on at half
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Oh, what the NFL would have given for a marching band last year instead of Janet Jackson.
Over the 38-year history of the Super Bowl, halftime has always been the best time for fans to take a brief break from the hoopla and recharge for the third and fourth quarters.
But last year, the ever-so-brief shot of jackson's bare breast turned halftime into must-see TV, entering the term "wardrobe malfunction" into the Super Bowl lexicon.
It altered the watercooler conversation about the event and made the powers in the NFL realize they had failed in their never-ending quest to micromanage things down to the millisecond.
“Disappointment and embarrassment” was how NFL
spokesman Brian McCarthy described the scene and its bombastic aftermath.
Jackson's impact on the Super Bowl will never be forgotten not in this day and age of instant news, instant analysis, instant overkill.
Her breast, after all, was much more than a breast, and we're not just talking about the silver sunburst nipple shield that was revealed when Justin Timberlake tore open her black leather top — accidentally, he said.
The Federal Communications Commission got involved. The debate over decency standards on TV long considered a dying issue by all but the most vigilant re-emerged. Radio personality Howard Stern, tired of having the FCC breathing down his neck, moved to the censor-free Sirius radio satellite network,
Federal
the same company that broadcasts each NFL game across the country each week.
"All these people were acting as though Western civilization had taken a major hit," said Syracuse University television expert Robert Thompson. "The whole thing was dripping in sanctimony, contradiction and hypocrisy."
Without a doubt, Thompson insists, viewers see more graphic close-ups of nude flesh on the average soap commercial. And nothing Jackson did during that halftime show would compare to the content of a weekly episode of, say, ABC's racy hit primetime soap opera, "Desperate Housewives."
Buoyed by public outrage, Congress held hearings and voted for a tenfold increase in fines for broadcast indecency. In a separate move, each of the 20 CBS-owned stations that aired
the Super Bowl were fined $27,500, and the $550,000 total was a record for such an incident. It was part of a greater effort by government to crack down on the incendy and it even led several skittish ABC affiliates to not air the World War II drama "Saving Private Ryan" because they worried the violence and profanity would lead to penalties.
The NFL, meanwhile, vowed to never have something like this happen again. Last year, the league farmed out production of the halftime show to MTV, a Viacom company related to CBS, which broadcast the game.
This year's entertainment will be provided by Paul McCartney, whose every word and move will be vetted and reviewed by the league.
"He'll keep his clothes on," Charles Coplin, the man the NFL put in charge of the halftime show, assured.
INTERVIEW: Running into broadcasters at bar led to good times
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
A couple minutes passed, and I decided I might as well go see if they remembered me. I walked up to their table and mustered up the confidence to say, "Hey, Jay, do you remember talking to me earlier?"
Drunken Kansas fan after drunken Kansas fan ran over to talk with them, and everyone in the bar treated them like royalty.
"Sure, sure," he replied. "How are you doing? What did you think of the game?"
I then shook hands with Davis and waved to Phelps, who were both scarfing down chips and salsa as if it was the only food they had eaten all day.
I asked how in the world they had ended up there, and they told me they wanted to
unwind after a long day, and remembered Henry T's because it was near their hotel.
At this point, my dad's friend came up and joked with Bilas, telling him that I really wanted to sit next to him because Bilas was the only person in the bar that had less hair than I did. Bilas started laughing and pointed at me. I figured if he could take a joke like that, I might as well pull up a chair.
Bilas, who sat on the right and sipped a Bud Light, was
For the next hour I got to hang out and drink with those guys, like I was one of their friends. We talked about everything from Kansas basketball to how long it would take Missouri coach Quin Snyder to lose his job. Bilas and Davis even asked me questions a few times.
the most popular one there. He was practically a walking, talking advertisement for the Jayhawks.
Davis sat in the middle. He told me about his college days at Alabama and how he had started off in the journalism world. We talked about the game and some of the crazy stuff he'd seen hosting "College GameDay."
Eventually I asked him who the nicest coach he'd ever met was. Some football names came up, and I asked what he thought about Urban Meier turning down the Notre Dame job for Florida. He said Florida was a better job. He pointed to Digger and said, "Even he'll tell you that."
Phelps, who was by far the least talkative of the three, leaned forward when he heard this and told us Notre Dame didn't need to change its sched.
ule or academics to be good. He continually referred to the Irish as "we" and obviously took great pride in his time there.
Last call came way too soon, and as we were kicked out of the bar, I didn't want to say goodbye to the trio. Once I accepted the fact that I had to let them go, I offered my thanks to each of them and told Davis that I looked forward to seeing him again when he could come here for a football game.
He shook my hand, wished me luck on my journalism career and told me he'd be looking for me when that day came.
Saturday was a very good day.
Robinett is an Austin, Texas, senior in journalism
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
HOLDING: Jayhawks work to hold place in Big 12 standings
On the perimeter, either junior guard Erica Hallman or junior guard Kaylee Brown will need to hit some shots to keep the heat off Kemp, who is constantly double-teamed down low.
In the first half against Nebraska, Brown and Kemp played off each other and both posted solid halves.
"When we have Crystal down low and they're pinching her, things open up," Brown said.
Brown nailed three three-point shots and combined with Kemp to score 19 points.
Hallam will have to find her shot again to keep pace with Oklahoma's All-American candidate Dionnah Jackson.
The 5-foot-9 senior guard, who leads the Soomers in
rebounding, and is second in scoring, will try to build offense by penetration. Jackson leaves the long-range shooting duties to sophomore guard Erin Higgins, who hits more than 36 percent from behind the arc.
Tonight's game pits the Jayhawks against an opponent in a similar situation. Both teams need to win to hang with the middle of the Big 12 pack.
Despite the Jayhawks recent ups and downs, Henrickson said her team is just trying to maintain an even keel.
The game tips off at 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.
"For us, it's never as good as it seems or never as bad as it seems." Henrickson said
- Edited by Kim Sweet Rubenstein