Volume 124 Issue 137
kansan.com
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
COMMENTARY
Bringing new life to fans
The time is approaching for Kansas football. It's time to flaunt its new style — its new swagger, if you will. Time for quarterback Dayne Crist to strut his stuff and coach Charlie Weis to begin his path of redemption. Time to show off its improvements.
Yes, the spring game for Kansas football is 10 days away, and it's time to see if the football culture at Kansas is actually changing to change.
Remember, it was only one year ago that former coach Turner Gill was saying that fans needed to have faith in the program, but instead of believing, the bleachers reflected the spring sun as empty seats and sporadic play filled Memorial Stadium during the spring football game.
Quarterbacks Jordan Webb and Quinn Mechum had mediocre games, throwing a hair more than 100 yards. New defensive coordinator Vic Shealy was in over his head.
Most of Lawrence and Kansas fans had no reason to believe in Kansas football, no reason to hope that change was coming, no reason to think that the Jayhawks would have a winning season.
But now, things are different. The Athletics Department is doing everything it can to re-brand Kansas football to the student body and alumni. And Saturday, April 28, will be its time to lift the curtain on the future of Kansas football.
Now is actually the time to start "believing" in Kansas football.
We all anxiously watched the conference realignment situation. We all saw how the football program almost, or at least appeared to, severely hurt the chances Kansas had of getting picked up by a top conference.
It's no coincidence that Zenger brought Weis in now. Kansas football needed a way to get back in the good graces of Jayhawks fans, and Weis was the best solution.
How much will Kansas' record actually improve this season? Hard to say. But there is no question that Kansas football will be better, and that thought alone will bring more fans to the stadium for a scrimmage than ever before.
People are excited about Crist. People want to see Weis and defensive coordinator Dave Campo. People want to see the team win, and now, they actually believe that it can happen.
Fans are excited that teams such as Georgia Tech won't rush for more than 600 yards against Kansas football this year. Fans are excited that they won't have to worry about winning the easy games early in the season. Fans are excited that Weis will take care of business, or he'll at least do everything in his power to fix this program; after all, it's Weis' reputation on the line.
So next Saturday, when Memorial Stadium comes to life, soak it in. This is the tipping point of Kansas football. If it doesn't succeed now, it's hard to say that it ever will. It's time to embrace Kansas football again. It's time to start caring.
Edited by Taylor Lewis
HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE
OLYMPICS OF KANSAS
Annual relays bring world's best athletes to Lawrence
MAX GOODWIN
mgoodwin@kansan.com
"The Olympic dream starts here," say the advertisements around Lawrence and on the Internet for the 85th Kansas Relays.
And it just might be true. Two months before the Olympic Trials take place, many of the nation's best track and field athletes gather in Lawrence before beginning their prospective journey to the 2012 Olympics.
"The last five years, we've probably had as many Olympians run on our track as anybody," said Milan Donley, the meet director of the Kansas Relays. "That's part of the track and field that people need to come out and see, is those Olympians."
Donley spent seven years as the horizontal jumps coach at Kansas, which is one reason why he is really excited to see the downtown
field", Donley said. "If it's a good day, they could jump over 22 feet, which is definitely world-class."
Donley remembers during his coaching days when a senior named Eric Babb from Garden City won the men's long jump competition.
Many people who have been involved with the Relays seem to have a favorite memory from the meet.
"Through his diligence and never-give-up attitude, he went from being a walk-on to being an All-American." Donley said referring to Babb, who won the long jump in 2006. "Winning the Kansas Relays was a real special moment for him and for myself as well."
For Kansas track and field coach Stanley Redwine, one of
"The last five years, we've probably had as many Olympians run on our track as anybody."
jump competition Thursday night.
"I'm always excited to watch the jumps, especially these ladies, because this is a quality
MILAN DONLEY Meet Director of the Kansas Relays
his favorite memories of the Kansas Relays was during his time running track at the University of Arkansas.
and we were a highly ranked collegiate team," Redwine said. "We were college kids racing professional athletes, and they showed us why we were not
" T he Philadelphia Pioneers were a club of all pros,
professionals."
Despite Redwine's loss to the Pioneers, his Razorback teams managed to perform well at the Relays. He still has the watches he received from winning at the Kansas Relays.
This is the only home meet that the Kansas track and field team hosts during the outdoor season, and it allows athletes from the area to invite family and friends.
"I do not have a good record at the Kansas Relays, but I'm hoping to turn that around," junior javelin thrower Jesse Vaughn said. "My parents should be able to make it — my sister and grandparents hopefully."
The family connections that have continued throughout the past 84 Kansas Relays are one thing that Donley thinks have made the meet a special event. Some athletes competing will have a parent, grandparent or sibling who once competed in the Relays as well watching from the stands.
The 85th Kansas Relays officially begins tonight in the downtown men's shot put and continue until Saturday, with world-class athletes competing in all the track and field events.
— Edited by Corinne Westeman
JESSICA IANASZ/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Eric Babb, a KU graduate, jumps to attempt for a new record at the long jump competition at Eighth and Massachusetts streets last year's Kansas Relays. The long jump and shot put street events are the only ones of their kind in the nation.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Henrickson feeling strong in 2012
Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson yells formations to her players during the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament March 19. Henrickson doesn't plan on coasting on this season's success next year.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
She talks about the trials and frustrations the jayhawks faced this year, but also of the motherly pride she feels looking at her team, which fought all the way to the Sweet 16 and refused to give up.
"The best days are when you get to watch them celebrate like that and just be able to sit back and watch," Henrickson said. "For me, there is a lot of pride in being a part of those kids getting to experience that. They will remember this for the rest of their lives."
The NCAA Tournament bid and consequent run to the third round brought the excitement and relief the Kansas women's basketball team has been waiting for. Eight years into Henrickson's career at Kansas, there is finally some buzz about her program after the season has ended.
KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
Freshman guard Asia Boyd walked into Henrickson's office one day after they returned with an enthusiastic message.
Bonnie Henrickson sits at her desk surrounded by freshly printed letters to recruits. The net that her Jawhayks cut down before going to the Sweet 16 a month ago is hanging from the shelves behind her left shoulder.
"We are going every year," Boyd said.
Despite the loss, some of the players were back in the gym two days later. The four freshmen met up at the Ambler Student Recreation Center and the team was eager to get back into workouts. Henrickson said they have returned with a new fire and desire to repeat their success.
"Yes ma'am." Henrickson answered.
DON'T LET IT GO
Henrickson can rattle off the score, key plays and the last couple
possessions of each game this season. From the 11-1 non-conference start, 5-1 start in conference play and the roller coaster that followed after junior forward Carolyn Davis was injured and eventually to her first tournament appearance at Kansas.
This season was a test for the jayhawks and their coach, who have struggled through a litany of high impact injuries in the last several seasons and failed to break into the NCAA Tournament. In mid-February, they were dealt another blow when Davis tore her ACL and dislocated her left knee in a loss at Kansas State. The team started to spiral downward, but pulled out key victories on the road against Texas Tech and Oklahoma, both ranked teams, to end the regular season.
Given their recent history with injuries, Henrickson approached her team about her expectations following this latest injury. She told them about how previous teams had struggled and finally given in and made the team promise her that it wouldn't happen this time.
The team's motto this season was "Believe in We" and that proved to be its biggest challenge, but also its biggest strength.
They didn't let it happen this time.
"You look at what we are able to do down the stretch and even the devastation of that day over in Manhattan and then the massive roller coaster that we couldn't find our way off of there for a couple weeks, but the resiliency and the resolve, that goes back to character," Henrickson said. "Those kids weren't pointing a finger at me or each other. They were very supportive of each other."
This resiliency led to their first NCAA Tournament berth and, in a similar fashion, a rebirth for the program, which was struggling to find an image after a series of recent disappointments.
That summer, she served as an assistant for Team USA in the World University Games and then moved to head coach of the gold-medal winning women's USA Basketball team in 2003.
She took Iowa to the Sweet 16 during her two-year stint as its head coach before returning to Virginia Tech as a head coach. She guided Virginia Tech to the Sweet 16 in 1998-1999, her second season at the helm. She was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for national Coach of the Year honors.
THE SAINT OF ST. CLOUD STATE
Henrickson, though, is no stranger to this kind of postseason success. She played at St. Cloud State from 1983-1986 and led her team to the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals three times. She still ranks in the top five in SCSU program history in points, rebounds, free throws and free-throw percentage and maintains the lead in games played.
She served as an assistant for five years at Virginia Tech before being promoted to associate head coach and leading the Hokies to their firstever NCAA Tournament.
In 15 seasons as a head coach, she has led teams to postseason play 13 times, including six NCAA Tournament appearances. Kansas had four straight losing seasons before she took over, and in eight years, she has taken Kansas to five-straight post-season appearances, capped off by this year's Sweet 16.
With four hard-fought seasons that ended in the WNIT, the community around her was getting restless. The injuries had a great effect, but the Jayhawks wanted something more. Senior forward Aishah Sutherland said throughout the season that she
SEE BONNIE PAGE 6