Dust...
Page 14 University Daily Kansan, February 11, 1981
500
Buckingham steps from brother's shadow
By PAUL D. BOWKER
Sports Writer
The frustration showed on his face. Two attempts, two misses. This was his last chance. He couldn't miss.
Around him, runners captured the attention and cheers of the fans as an important race wound down to its final laps. But the clap-clip of sneakers and the chancing of athletes and fans weren't bothering him.
He was in his own world. It was just him and a crossbar resting 18 and 1/2 feet above the ground 150 feet away.
SUDDENLY, the pole vaulter gave out a quick yell and charged toward the obstacle with his pole, racing like a tauting knight rushing into battle.
Within seconds, he was rising through the air. But this was not to be a victory. One of his legs drug and that menacing crossbar crashed to the mat.
Slowly, George Buckingham picked himself off the mat, shook his head and put on his warp arm jacket. A pole vaulter has only three chances and Buckingham consolled himself with the fact that he could try again another
That was in mid-January. Buckingham, a first-year vaulter with the Jayhawks, after sitting out a year with a broken ankle, did achieve success Jan. 30 in a triangular meet at Allen Field House.
HE VAULTED 16-8 3/8, a mark that qualified him for the NCAA indoor championships, to be held in Detroit in March.
Competing under pressure is a way of life for most track athletes, but
Buckingham, a Kansan high school pole vaulting champion in 1979, has had four victories.
Buckingham's brother, Jeff, is one of the top collegiate pole vaulters in the nation. However, when Jeff injured his elbow on Friday, Buckingham hopes fell on the younger Buckingham.
Jeff, a junior, qualified for the national championships in an early January meet but will miss the remainder of the indoor and outdoor seasons because of a ruptured disc in his back. He won the pole vault at the
It was just him and a crossbar resting 16 and one-half feet above the ground.
Big Eight's indoor and outdoor championships last year and tied for seventh in the national indoor championships.
WHILE THE ELDER Buckingham dominated poe vaulting in the conference last year, including setting a Big Eight record at the indoor championships, George, a freshman, had to watch from the sidelines.
But he said the idleness didn't bother him. In fact, it may have helped.
"it just took a little time," he said.
"It may have helped. I just kind of got away from it for a while. I felt pretty rusty."
Patience has improved Buckingham's abilities. Now that he has qualified for the nationals, he is
That mark probably seemed impossible for Buckingham when he was in high school. His best indoor mark as a college student was the National Jayhawk Prep Meet at Alen Field House. However, he vaulted 16-3 outdoors at the Golden West Invitational in 1970, placing third in one of the top high school meets in the country.
aiming for 17-0, a magic number for pole vaulters.
COMPETITION WILL be stiff enough in the NCAA meet, but winning the pole vault in the conference will not be an easy task, either.
Nebraaska senior Mark Newton, who didn't vault 7 feet in the indoor or outdoor conference championships年 ago, broke Jeff Buckingham's big leg in a meet two weeks ago and reset it Saturday with a vault of 17-4/3.
BUT BUCKINGHAM'S OPENINGS aren't always on his mind. As in most track events, pole vaulting is mentally demanding, and Buckingham just wants to think about his own performance.
"I have seen them all jump," Buckingham said. "I feel I jump better when I don't worry about what everybody else is doing."
This is evident in Buckingham's routine.
After taking his turn in vaulting competition, he quickly lays his pole down, changes sneakers, puts on a warmup suit and does a few spirits, although he always manages to keep an eve on how the competition is doing.
Concentration is the kev. But with the
constant noise that accompanies a track meet, it is tough to maintain the concentration needed to vault well.
But Buckingham doesn't seem to have trouble coping with the outside noise. "Not really," he said. "You just think about what you're doing."
LYLE, WHO VAULTED against both Buckingham and Stubblefield in high school meets, gets a satisfaction involves 70 percent mental awareness.
"It feels good," Lyle said about the feeling of vaulting. "I feel like I'm barbed in a sense. I like to see that barb about a foot away."
"I just really enjoy it. I just think it's a fascinating event. It seems to hard to believe a guy can elevate a body that high."
Pole vaulters often compare their competitors' styles, and Lyle is no exception. After competing against Buckingham in two meets in January, Lyle and Buckingham might be tied for toughness needed by a pole vaulter.
A pole vaulter can stop at any point during his takeoff down the runway, and Lytle said that Buckingham had more often than most vaulters.
"ONE IN A 100 times, I stop on the runway and go back," Lyle said. "He could jump, I'll say, about 70 percent of the time."
KU coach Bob Timmons expects the younger Buckingham's talents to progress.
"I THINK HE'S going to be real good." Timmons said. "He's a good competitor. He's a little bit under Jeff's. He's still getting more and more, he'll start to improve."
Charging down the runway, this pole vaulter's concentration is on the vaulting box, not on the crowd or the constant movement of the track meet.
KU fans wait for names of new Jayhawks
Big 8's alternate possession rule a major foul
Today is Big Eight letter-of-entertainment signing day, but Jayhawk fans will have to wait a week to find out what prep football plums the KU coaching staff has landed.
Bill Newsome, assistant sports information director, said yesterday that because many of the recruits lived outside this area, the announcement would be made Feb. 18, which is national letter-of-intent day.
THE KU COACHES went all-out this weekend in preparation for the signing date. The second annual Super Weekend got underway Saturday at the Kansas Union.
Recruits from as far away as California were given the chance to meet with the coaching staff and former KU players.
By TRACEE HAMILTON Associate Sports Editor
Ten seconds remain on the clock.
The blue team goes into a four-corner stall, leading 59-49. The red team advances into man-to-man position, double-teaming the player with the ball. The referee's left hand beats a methodical count in the air—one, two, three, four, five.
"Jump ball!" he yells, raising his arms in the air, thumbs pointing in Nero-esque style.
The official takes the ball out of bounds on the left side of the court, and hands it to a blue team player, who manages to get the throw in to a teammate. He holds the ball as the clock runs down.
The referee didn't throw the ball up in the air because this was a big blow to the team. Conference's this season, as in last, the jump ball has been eliminated. A
rule called "alternate possession" is now in effect, although it is not a guideline sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
UNDER THE ALTERNATE possession rule, the ball is thrown up in the classic style at the beginning of the game, then, on every subsequent jump ball call, the teams 'getting' the ball out of bounds.
The alternate possession rule was instituted for a number of what the Big Eight felt were good reasons. Referees often do not throw the ball up perfectly, thus giving the edge to one team. A jump ball could match the ball if it fell on the foot-2 against Missouri center Steve Stipanovich, 6-foot-11.
The rule can also be cleverly used by coaches. When KU played Nebraska in Lincoln, Husker coach Moe Iba saw one of his players in a jam with a Jayhawk. He knew that it was KU's turn to receive the jump
ball, so he quickly called a time out—at the same time the jump ball was called. Nebraska maintained possession.
In the Big Eight's effort to play fair, it has committed a foul, no two fouls. First, as earlier earlier, the rule can cost a team a game, and players will often about it. The players must stand helplessly on the court and watch the ball—and the game, being handed to its opponents. A victory is an exertion; a victory forces a player who merely forcez a tie-up in his opponent's offense.
THIS IS NOT the first such experiment the Big Eight has indulged in. The conference tried a 36-second timer and found it worked, but did it when the NCAA failed to incorporate it in all its member schools. Jack Hartman, head coach at Kansas State, said he thought the timing would improve the alternate possession rule.
"I think the NCAA will eventually go along with it," Hartman said. "I don't think we'd continue with the experiment if they don't."
Hartman and six other Big Eight coaches, including KU's Tidy Owens, like tti rule and would like to see it a permanent part of the game.
"AS SMALL AS we are, the only time we get a jump ball anymore is when it's our turn. Moe bfa. I give you the ball. Moe bfa. I think it’s a great rule. The officials don’t have to throw the ball up. It takes the pressure off them and gives a little o’ ball club like us a chance to get the ball every noon."
But a main objection to the rule can be found in the belief that we should leave well enough alone. The rules of basketball, written and strengthened by men like KU's, James Naismith and Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, should not be changed easily. Another example of
these careless rule-changings would be the designated hitter rule in the American League.
What's wrong with an occasional mismatch, a crooked throw, a pitcher who can't hit? It happens to both teams. Aren't most teams mismatched, in certain areas, at least, at the outset? When KU played Rollins College, did someone suggest breaking Darnell Valentine's legs to make it easier for Rollins?
PART OF THE challenge—and fun-of sports, any sport, is simply which way the ball bounces. Call it luck, fate, karma or whatever. Chance and momentum play a large role in determining the winner of any contest. By taking that element of luck from sports, we are taking, piece by piece, the excitement and mystique of sports. And besides, as Iowa State Coach Johnny Orr said, "I think it's ridiculous."
KU women's game postponed
The change may be in the Jahaykhs' favor. Two players, center Megan Scott and guard Christine Kushner, would have to play the game against a test, guard Mary Myers, conflict with a test. Guard Mary Myers,
The Kansas women's basketball team will have to wait to lengthen its string of nine victories. Because of blowing snow, last night's game with the Pittsburgh State Gussies was postponed until Feb. 23.
with tendonitis in her right foot, now will have time to rest.
KU will resume its schedule with a game against WSU Thursday night.
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Applications for funding are now available at the Student Senate Office, KS Union B105.
—Deadline for applications is 4:00 pm Feb.11.
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SWEETHEART BOWLING PARTY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14th 8-11 p.m. 8 games — $5.00
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THE KANSAS UNION BOOKSTORES
Are Paying 5% Until June 30,1981
On all Lawrence Campus bookstore receipts (Main Store, Oread Bookshop and Satellite Shop) for period No. 68.
Receipts may be redeemed at the Customer Service Areas of both the Main Store and the Satellite Shop
Student I.D. is required.
Period 68. Receipts from July 1. 1980
thru December 31, 1980
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Oread Bookshop, Level 3. Kansas Union
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