FOOTBALL: Ex-Washington player dies after 2000 paralysis. SEE PAGE 2B. NBA: Source says Tim Duncan will be MVP. SEE PAGE 2B.
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SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1B
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2002
COMMENTARY
Brian Hanni
bhanni@kansan.com
Guess what? End of classes means last list of predictions
The countdown is underway. Three more days of classes, and if you're a senior like me, only a dozen days left until graduation! Congratulations to the Class of 2002 and best wishes to all of you returning for future semesters on the Hill.
Because this is my last column of the semester — and last ever — I'd hate to break tradition and not end with a list of predictions, as I have in previous semesters.
Of the 20 predictions I've given in the final columns of semesters past, I'm batting about .600. That number should tell you I'm nothing more than a lucky guesser. So, don't take this summer's list of picks to Vegas any time soon.
This list is merely a fun projection of what could happen in coming months, so let's get right to it. It's time to break out the crystal ball, dial my psychic friends and unleash this summer's top 10 predictions:
1. John Mizerock's miserable stint as manager of the Kansas City Royals will come to an end later this month. Look for the Royals to hire current AAA Omaha manager Bucky Dent as their new skipper.
2. The Los Angeles Lakers dynasty as NBA champs will pause this June. The Lake show will win several more titles before Shaq and Kobe call it quits, just not this year.
3. The Detroit Red Wings will cap off a fantastic season with their 10th Stanley Cup Title. Detroit fans should milk the win for all it's worth because as soon as the Red Wings and Pistons are done, it will be six more months of atrocious Tiger and Lion games.
4. This July, Seattle Mariners' center fielder Mike Cameron will enjoy his second consecutive all-star appearance. While Cameron shines with baseball's best in Milwaukee, Cincinnati Reds' center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. (the player Cameron was traded for) will get to watch the game at home on television.
5. Former Jayhawk Drew Gooden will be a lottery pick in this June's NBA draft. I know I'm hardly climbing a tree with that statement, let alone going out on a limb, but here's where it gets interesting: Gooden will slide out of the top three and land at number five, where he'll be an awesome value much like the last Jayhawk who left school early and then slid on draft day. Paul Pierce.
6. Another early entry from the Big 12 will also slide on draft day. Kansas City native and former Missouri Tiger, Kareem Rush wants to be a lottery pick and likely will be. But if that's the case, I think he'll barely slip into the top 13 picks. Wherever he lands, Kareem will eventually hear his name called — something his brother Jaron never got to experience.
7. PGA golfer Phil Mickelson will finally get that big gorilla off his back and win a major before summer is over. Mickelson will gladly shed the distinction of "Golf's best player never to win a major" when he pockets his first major title after 10 years on tour.
8. Chiefs' tight end Tony Gonzalez will sign an extension with Kansas City, putting off his inevitable departure for at least one more year.
9. San Francisco Giants' slugger and Home Run King, Barry Bonds, will barely hit 50 homers this season. Texas' Alex Rodriguez and Chicago's Sammy Sosa will both out slug Bonds by season's end.
10. And finally, I predict that finals will be over before you know it, summer will fly by twice as fast and fall will bring a whole new season of sports at Kansas with plenty of great outcomes to predict.
Hanni is a Topeka senior in journalism.
By Brent Wasko
Rower upbeat despite frustrating season
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas rowing co-captain Dana Parsons' senior season hasn't exactly gone the way she had planned it.
The Spivey native has seen her share of success with the Jayhawk rowing team during her four-year career, but she admitted that this season had put more of a strain on her emotionally.
"It's been the most frustrating, definitely," Parsons said. "The boats haven't been completely set with the same people in them every race. In
some ways, all of the changes have been a disadvantage for us. It has been tough to find unity in the boats, which is a big part of this sport."
Parsons is one of many rowers who have switched boats this spring. She raced with the first varsity eight-boat, the team's top boat, at the end of last season and the first four races this season.
But just last week, Kansas coach Rob Catloth decided to move Parsons, two other rowers and a coxswain from the first varsity eight-boat to the second varsity eight-boat. Catloth said he hoped the changes would provide the struggling team with a little spark heading into the Big 12 Invitational in Austin, Texas.
The changes didn't do much good, and the team tied with Kansas State for second place at the regatta.
Dana Parsons
The first varsity eight-boat, which has not won a race all season, took third. There were three teams at the invitational.
Parsons said that being demoted to
the second varsity eight-boat with just two races left in her rowing career certainly hurt, but that she had been able to take it in stride.
"You have that initial feeling that you want to work your way back up. You also feel a little disappointed," she said. "I'm just going to do my best and hope to finish strong."
Catloth said moving Parsons had more do with finding the right combination of rowers in one boat than it did with her rowing ability.
Athletes take turn teaching kids
SEE ROWING ON PAGE 6B
By Stephanie Goettsch Kansan sports writer
The KU men's volleyball and women's lacrosse club teams took part in the first Annual Kansas Kids' Fitness Day at Bentwood Elementary in Olathe, Friday.
Throughout the afternoon, students from second to fifth grade rotated every 15 minutes between 10 stations. Each station featured a different sport, including tennis, golf, soccer, basketball, lacrosse and volleyball.
Sports clubs from The University of Kansas, Johnson County Community College. St. Andrews Golf Club and Challenger Sports supervised the stations.
The men's volleyball club taught elementary school students the fundamentals of volleyball technique as part of the first annual Kansas Kids Fitness Dav. Club members pictured are. from left. James Howard, Adam Ferrari, Justin Rhorer and Bill Bourne.
"I thought it was a fun time,"said Bill Brown, St. Louis sophomore and men's volleyball club vice president.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
"Everything went over well and smoothly," he said.
Adam Ferrari, Wilmette Ill., sophomore and club president, said they concentrated on teaching spiking and overhand serving.
"They don't play volleyball in gym class for early age groups, so we just focused on the skills and taught them how to play," he said.
A member of the woman's lacrosse team, Tasha Trelsa, Denver freshman, said the women's lacrosse team stuck to the basics as well, including catching and throwing.
"The younger kids were confused and shy, but as we got to the fourth and fifth graders, they really got into it and asked a lot of questions," she said.
Trelsa said the positive reception made the day a success.
Brown agreed that the students were eager to participate and enjoyed learning the dynamics of sports.
"It was encouraging to see the younger kids taking an interest in lacrosse since it's an unfamiliar sport in Kansas," she said.
"Some of the guys would hit the ball as hard as they could and it would go flying out in the parking lot," he said. "They
were full of energy."
Brown added that the athletes benefitted from the day almost as much as the kids.
"I thought it was a good
SEE KIDS ON PAGE 6B
NCAA Regional slim possibility for Jayhawks
By Ali Brox
Kansan sportswriter
In all likelihood, the Kansas softball team has played its last game of the season. The Jayhawks are keeping their fingers crossed that they'll be chosen for an NCAA Regional this Sunday, but chances that seven teams from the Big 12 Conference will be chosen are slim.
"I talked to a couple members on the committee and right now, we don't have much of a shot," coach Tracy Bunge said. "We're seventh in the conference. It'll be a long-shot if we get in."
Senior centerfielder Shelly Musser said it was hard to admit the team had almost no chance of being selected for a regional.
"It's upsetting because a lot of us think we deserve to be there," Musser said. "If we do make it, we'll play really well because it'll be like a second chance. It's going to be a long
week just having to wait to see what happens."
More upbeat last weekend, Kansas made some noise in the Big 12 Conference tournament. After winning a play-in game against Texas Tech, the Jayhawks stunned second-seed Oklahoma with a 3-1 victory.
"I really was pleased with the effort," Bunge said. "We had high hopes to go further, but the Oklahoma game was a great memory for the group of eight seniors. We played as well as we've played all season and that's what we needed to beat a team of that caliber."
Musser said there were comments in the dugout about the difference between the team's performance this weekend and the way the team had been playing during the season.
"We were so energized and into the games," Musser said. "We were there to win. We were a team that we didn't really see that often."
The Jayhawks carried the emotional high from the Oklahoma game into a contest with the three-seed Nebraska Cornhuskers, but fell short in a 7-5 loss. The game was an offensive tug of war.
"The Nebraska loss was devastating," Bunge said. "Offensively, we were as good as we've been all year. The game did us in emotionally and physically."
Bunge said the team spent a lot of energy against the Cornhuskers, and it was a tough turn around to return to the field the next morning to face the Sooners again.
"Oklahoma was really motivated," Bunge said about the 10-0 loss. "We just didn't have a lot left in the tank."
Musser was important to the Jayhawks' effort all weekend and was rewarded with a selection to the Big 12 All-Tournament team.
SEE SOFTBALL ON PAGE 6B
CHRISTINA NEFF/KANSAN
Senior center fielder Shelly Musser was named to the All-Big 12 Tournament team. The team's co-captain provided the game-winning hits in both of Kansas' victories in the tournament.
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