ROWING Female students are getting involved in a new sport and learning teamwork PAGE 4B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005
SPORTS COMMENTARY
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
www.kansan.com
Moore
KELLIS ROBINETT
krobinett@kansan.com
'GameDay crew good interview
Saturday was a good day for this University Daily Kansan sports-writer.
It all started when I went to the 10 a.m. show as a reporter for the Kansan. The east lobby of Allen Fieldhouse was rocking, and the setting couldn't have gotten any better. The hour flew by, and things were winding down. Just as I was thinking it was time to leave, someone asked me, "Do you want to talk to Rece, Digger or Jav?"
Kansas destroyed Texas by 25 points, ESPN's "College GameDay" came to town and I was lucky enough to drink a beer with Rece Davis, Digger Phelps and Jy Billas.
"Are you kidding me?" Of course I wanted to talk to those guys.
As each one came off the set, they were smiling and laughing after finishing off a great segment. These guys were looking at 12 more hours of work ahead of them, but none of them minded taking time out of their day to talk to me.
In fact, they went out of their way to answer every question I had. Not a single cliché from any of them. The interviews were the best I've ever had.
Bilas told me that he had been recruited hard by Ted Owens and almost came to Kansas. He admitted that he loved Lawrence, and said it blew Connecticut out of the water.
Up next was Digger Phelps. He was more than willing to chat with me. I asked him why he so avidly picked Villanova against Kansas, and he found a way to incorporate the fact that he had defeated seven top-ranked teams while he coached at Notre Dame in his answer.
A little off topic, but I guess if I were as good a coach as he was, I would brag as well. He redeemed himself by saying that hearing the Rock Chalk Chant was a special feeling.
The best was saved for last. It was my turn to interview Rece Davis. He was a total class act. He has what is arguably the best job in the world, but he is so down to earth that you would never know it by talking to him.
He told me college football and basketball were his passions, and that Allen Fieldhouse represented everything that was right in sports.
It was past midnight, and I'd been working all day, so I went to Henry T's Bar & Grill to relax and get the drinks my dad and his friends had promised they would buy me. Literally three minutes after I showed up, Rece, Digger and Jay walked through the door.
“It's not like in the NBA, where it's all about getting the newest arena and the most corporate suites,” Davis said. “It's about providing an atmosphere for a game for a student body. That’s what makes this so special. You don't have many arenas that carry a history that make people feel special. That's what I think makes it so unique and is one of the main reasons we're here.”
I went home and wrote about the show, but I couldn't get my mind off talking with those guys. I told everyone I saw about it, some two or three times. I thought my day couldn't get any better.
The game rolled around, and the Jayhawks crushed the Longhorns. By the time I finished my game story and left the stadium, the "GameDay" set was being loaded up onto several ESPN trucks.
I watched from afar and started trying to figure out the odds of those three choosing the same bar as I did.
SEE INTERVIEW ON PAGE 5B
Kansas holding on
BY PAUL BRAND
pbrand@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
After Saturday's 59-48 defeat at Nebraska, coach Bonnie Henrickson admitted that her team had regressed a half step from its position entering the game.
The next challenge, a 7 p.m. home game against Oklahoma tonight, will provide an opportunity to get back in step and regain ground in the Big 12 Conference.
Kansas recovered from an 0-4 conference start by winning two consecutive games, at Colorado and vs. Missouri, before falling to Nebraska.
A victory against the Cornhuskers would have put the Jayhawks to sixth place in the conference, but the setback has left Kansas, 9-9 (2-5 Big 12), in eighth position. Instead of creating a sizable separation between it and the bottom third of the conference, Kansas again finds itself battling to establish a place in the middle.
With a victory against the Oklahoma, 11-7 (3-4), Kansas could take sole possession of seventh place in a conference that should place at least five teams in the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Big 12 sent seven teams to the tournament and an additional two to the Women's NIT.
Oklahoma is coming off a 73-60 home defeat to No. 17 Iowa State and also needs a conference victory.
"I think it's a critical point of the season," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said. "The season is a long way from over."
For both teams, the establishment of an inside-outside combination will be integral to success in tonight's matchup.
In the Nebraska game, junior forward Crystal Kemp was limited to 11 shots, 10 points, six rebounds and zero trips to the free-throw line. Inside scoring and dominance by Kemp has been the key for Kansas this season.
Rachel Seymour/KANSAN
Rachel Seymour/KANSAN Crystal Kemp, junior forward, shoots over Nebraska's Danielle Page during Saturday's game in Lincoln, Neb. Kemp and the Jayhawks take on the Oklahoma Sooners tonight at Allen Fieldhouse.
Oklahoma has defeated the Jayhawks in six-straight contests and will try to ride its high-low game to a seventh consecutive victory.
Kemp will be facing off with the Sooners' leading scorer, sophomore Leah Rush. The 6-foot-1 forward leads Oklahoma in scoring with 14.4 points per game and gives the Sooners a threat inside and at the free-throw line.
SEE HOLDING ON PAGE 5B
Crappies abundant in lake
BY CALEB REGAN
cregan@kansan.com
KANAN SPORTWRITER
For Cameron Manuel, a sophomore from Wichita, it's all about simplicity.
"The cool thing about fishing for crappie in the early spring is you don't need much." Manuel said. "You only need a rod, reel and a simple assortment of jigs, or even just minnows. Just walk up and down the dam until you find out where they're at."
Cheap, simple pleasures are key elements of student life, and fishing at Clinton Lake fits that bill. It would not be a stretch for a couple of friends in the residence halls to come up with a rod, a reel, a couple of crappie jigs and the $20 Kansas State Fishing License good for one year.
Before heading out, be aware of some new regulations at Clinton Lake as well as where to go to find the largest crappie populations. Crappie are small sunfish that outnumber other fish in Clinton Lake nearly 10 to one.
Recently, two new regulations have been passed related to crappie fishing at Clinton Lake. Effective Jan. 1, the number of crappie one could catch per day was reduced from 50 to 20. Also, a 10-inch minimum length was implemented.
District Fisheries Biologist Richard Sanders oversees four counties in Kansas, including Douglas. He explained the added regulations and how they affect the biology of the lake.
how they are used. Sanders said, to some extent, the regulations were the result of declining numbers and crappie growth in Clinton Lake.
Because crappie do heavily outnumber other sport fish in Clinton Lake, population isn't a huge problem, Sanders said.
"Its impact will only be felt when the crappie are extremely concentrated in the winter and then in the spring spawn." Sanders said. "On the whole, though, we've done studies and the average fisherman is harvesting no where close to 20 per day, let alone 50."
Sanders doesn't expect the new limit to affect most anglers.
Manuel agreed.
SEE LAKE ON PAGE 8B
Jayhawk hoop dreams
BY KELLI ROBINETT krobinett@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
Manager thinks job could lead to future coaching experience
Matt Wolff sits down on a leather couch in the Kansas men's basketball team's video room deep within Allen Fieldhouse. He is wearing a Nike Kansas sweater and wind pants and is taking a break from setting up for the Kansas home game against Missouri that will be taking place in a few hours.
An assistant coach walks by and reminds him that he needs to take equipment to the court. Wolff smiles and nods. He's used to this by now.
"I'm starting to put in 50 to 55 hours a week," he said. "It's hard work, and I put in a lot of long hours."
Wolff, a fifth-year senior from Herington, is a manager for the No. 3 Jayhawks. This is his second year on the job, and he's taking a similar path to fulfilling his dream of becoming a basketball coach that Bill Self took.
He doesn't mind the work because the job is an opportunity to work with Kansas basketball, he said.
In 1996 former Kansas coach Larry Brown told Self, when he worked a summer camp for him, that if he could
ever help him out to let him know. Self then called Brown and asked if he could work as his graduate assistant.
"We all know that story. The people you meet is one of the biggest things about this job," Wolff said. "I meet people from ESPN and other coaches. The networking is great for this job."
Wolff worked his way up the ladder to earn his manager status with the team. His high school basketball coach used to be head manager at Kansas and helped him get in contact with former coach Ben Miller. For his first three years of college he worked at summer camps and showed enough effort to be promoted to team manager.
Now Wolff does everything from helping out administrative assistant Brett Ballard and director of basketball operations Danny Manning in the office to washing the team's laundry and getting needed items out for the trainer at practice. During practice he sometimes helps pass and rebound for drills.
"Matt has a great understanding of basketball and helps out a lot in practice." Ballard said. "He knows how to guard and rebound, and it makes the drills we run that much better."
Wolff said the easiest part of his job was working games. His duties include giving players water and acting as gophers for the coaches, which means he is at the coaches' every request during games.
Road trips are the hardest part of the
"On the road we're in charge of all the equipment," Wolff said. "If we lose anything, we get in trouble."
job,he said.
It's those types of responsibilities that make the job worthwhile for him. He is on a first-name basis with all the coaches and players and is treated as an assistant coach.
"The head coach realizes how much the managers help, and he treats them with respect," Ballard said. "The seniors on this team really appreciate it too and understand they are part of the team."
Wolff sits behind the Kansas bench at every men's basketball game and basks in the luxury of traveling on the team's charter jet. His face is shown on television so often that he's practically a public figure in his hometown.
"I don't know about being the envy of the town," he laughed. "I know a lot of people tell my dad and mom that they saw their son on TV. Most people probably look at it as prestigious."
"If I go out with my girlfriend and her friends, I almost don't want to tell them what I do, because then I get the 50 questions," he said. "They'll start asking me,'what does J.R. Giddens eat for breakfast,' or 'what is Bill Self's house
He indicated that people in Lawrence also recognize him, but not to the same extent as in Herington. And here people don't really care about what he does for the team, he said. They want to find out all the inside information he has.
Brian Lewis/KANSAN
Matt Wolff, Herington senior, is a manager for the Kansas men's basketball team. He has been a manager for two years and hopes to become a basketball coach in the future.
like?' Stuff like that, which has no relation to basketball."
Still, Wolff loves his job. He said it had made him more focused in his classes and given him real-life experience that he could never get anywhere else. Just watching Self run the team has taught him enough that he would feel comfortable coaching if he had to do it tomorrow, he said.
"Everything I know about college basketball, I know from him," Wolff said. "This job helps you learn the inner workings of a big-time sports environment. In Kansas, it doesn't get any bigger than Kansas basketball."
- Edited by Nikola Rowe