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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
MONDAY APRIL1,2002
ISSUE 120 VOLUME 112
'Hawks' flight ends
Fans downtown gather for game react to defeat
Facing their greatest point deficit of the season, Kansas coach Roy Williams and members of the team watch in disappointment as Maryland's lead increases. Despite a rally late in the game, the Hawks were eventually defeated 97-88.
Kansan staff report
It started with cheers of jubilation and ended with cries of anger.
"What a downer," Brenda McKee, Overland Park junior said. "What happened to our second-half team?"
Fingering the tops of beer cans and staring blankly at Roy William's press conference, Jay Falley and Barry Clark, Topea seniors, and Jon Suddarth, Highlands Ranch, Colo., senior, wondered what had happened.
"It just did not work out. You need 40 minutes of solid play in the Final Four, and we needed a bigger game out of our All-American, and he just didn't show up," Falley said. "I mean you can't go to the NBA after a game like that."
can go to the Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts, the crowd was somber. Six Lawrence police officers stood outside the bar and watched the game end through the windows.
Karla Schneider, Lawrence graduate student, watched the game from the bar.
Team looks ahead after emotional loss
"This was supposed to be our year," Schneider said.
Fans didn't believe that the No.1 Jayhawks could lose a game, and they looked for someone to blame.
"I think the refs threw the game. They were totally ACC," said Ryan Tull, Lawrence graduate student.
Candi Lee, Kansas City, Mo., also said she thought the game was unfair.
Despite the disappointment, some fans said they were proud of the jayhawk's performance.
"It was rigged," Lee said. "There were way too many fouls. The refs must have been from Marvel."
Lance Avidson, St. Thomas senior, was unset, but still proud.
put them in our arms," Arvidson said. "They gave us all that enjoyment. They gave us all that love. They're our boys."
Meredith Carr, Erin Adamson and Rachel Keesoe contributed to this story. This story was edited by Kyle Ramsey and Justin Guenley.
For more coverage of local reaction to Saturday's game, see page 3A.
By Doug Pacey
By Doug Pacey Kansan sportswriter
ATLANTA — The Jayhawks' season, which once seemed magical and full of destiny, ended with a heartwrenching loss Saturday night.
As Roy Williams climbed the steps to the interview podium deep in the belly of the Georgia Dome after No. 2 Kansas' 97-88 loss to No. 4 Maryland in the national semifinals, it was obvious that he was emotionally spent. The ebb and flow of the game and his postgame talk to his team in the locker room had taken a toll on the coach.
"You know, a lot of times guys make fun of me at this time of the year because they say I'm crying," Williams said. "Doggone right, because these kids mean something to me.
"But, God, I enjoyed this year. Every single day I went to practice it was a fun, fun time. These kids took me for a ride and I enjoyed every single minute of it."
Williams' Jayhawks (33-4 overall, 16-0 Big 12 Conference) took him on a jaunt with more ups, downs, twists and spins with any roller coaster Six Flags has ever built. And there's no telling what kind of ride the coach will be in for next season.
Senior Jeff Boschee, Kansas' and the Big 12's all-time leading three-point shooter (338), played his last game as a collegian Saturday night. Boschee trails only former All-American Danny Manning in career games started (132) and is the ninth most prolific scorer in school history with 1,560 points.
points:
"Jeff Boschee played his buns off," Williams said. "The little rascal, he makes a lot of big jump shots. He's willing to compete. When you lose a senior, that's not the easiest thing in the world because he's a great, great youngster."
Kansas will also lose seniors Jeff
Carey, Brett Ballard, Lewis Harrison,
Todd Kappelmann and Chris Zerbe.
But junior All-American Drew Gooden
might also leave Kansas for the green
pastures of the NBA.
The Big 12 Player of the Year has hinted he would declare for the NBA Draft this summer, but after the loss to Maryland he declined to answer any questions about the NBA. Gooden said he would talk with his family and Williams sometime in the next couple of weeks before he made his decision.
Juniors Kirk Hinrich and Nick Colli
SEE FINAL FOUR ON PAGE 5A
Tactics for getting Tickets
By Jessica Tims Kansan staff writer
Some Kansas basketball fans say they are selling their tickets to tonight's championship game for as much as $1,400.
That's a profit of $1,240 for students who purchased seats for $160 before the Jayhawks lost to the Maryland Terrapins in the NCAA Final Four.
"We had heard of tickets going for as much as $5,000," said one fan who wished to remain anonymous. "We decided to sell our tickets and use the money to pay off bills."
She said she feared repercussions for profiteering in KU tickets if her identity was revealed. But, as long as she keeps a low profile, she has little to fear.
Scalping and brokering are not regulated statewide in Kansas. For many Kansas fans, a thriving—and legal—ticket resale industry has become the primary means of buying and selling their tickets.
March Madness is a year-round sickness in Kansas, where brokering tickets has become big business. Neighboring states, such as Missouri, outlaw scalping
PHOTO II ILLUSTRATION BY AARON SHOWALTER/KANSAN
or brokering tickets at higher prices. But scalping is perfectly legal in the Sunflower State.
The law may not change anytime soon. Two years ago, key legislators and well-paid lobbyists foiled an attempt to end scalping and brokering by NASCAR, an effort supported by the University of Kansas. NASCAR has managed to outlaw ticket reselling in Wyandotte County. There have not been similar efforts by the University in Douglas County.
"Sometimes it's the only way to get seats to basketball games," said Cassie Gilmore, Pittsburg senior. "When I go to away games or if I forgot to pick up my tickets, I'll buy from a scaler. But they can be expensive, but sometimes if you can wait until right before tipoff, they will give you a good deal."
director, said the University never led a fight to his scalping and brokering during his 14-year tenure. It was talked about, he said, but the University's lobbyist did not think it could pass. Nor has the University brought anti-scalping measures to the Douglas County or Lawrence
Making scalping illegal would raise the prices of black market tickets, said Harry Shaffer. KU professor of economics.
"Prices would go up because the risk is greater," he said. "But we couldn't outlaw it anymore than we can outlaw marijuana."
Bob Frederick, former KU athletics
city governments.
For basketball, scalpers have been a nuisance, Frederick said. The Athletics Department would receive calls the morning after basketball games from fans complaining about being bothered, saying scalpers made them uncomfortable, he said.
However, the University's biggest scalping problem is not with basketball, but with football, Frederick said. Unlike basketball, Kansas football tickets are often sold at deflated prices.
often sold it to a customer. "It's a revenue problem for football," he said. "Ticket sellers would be selling tickets and the scalpers would be standing by the window. People would tell them the location of the tickets and the scalper would say he had a better location and would sell it cheaper."
Stann Tate, public relations director for the Kansas Speedway, said that for the speedway, the problem scalping posed was that fans would not be able to acquire tickets at an affordable price.
A ticket to last year's inaugural Winston Cup race at the speedway had a face value of $65 to $135. The same tickets were being resold for more than $1,000
by brokering firms.
Those kinds of profits have spawned a unique Kansas industry of ticket resellers who buy low and sell higher.
Hale Wagner, owner of Ace Sports and Tickets, located in the Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, said that when NASCAR tried to bring an end to scalping and brokering he and other local ticket reselling business owners fought back. The attempt never made it out of the Kansas House Committee of State and Federal Affairs.
"When NASCAR came to Kansas they brought in their lawyers and tried to stop brokering in this state," Wagner said. "We went to Topeka and in front of 26 congress people, six were my customers. The NASCAR people were shut out. We won 23-3."
Bud Burke, former state senator, was hired to lobby against the bill by Johnson County businesses like Ace and Ticket Solutions, 11900 College Blvd. Suite 315, in Overland Park. He said there were four reasons the attempt failed: unfair regulation, sales tax losses, ticket availability and the fan's be caused to scalp.
INSIDETODAY
SEE TICKETS ON PAGE 6A
COMING IN TOMORROW'S KANSAN
CAMERA ON KU ...2A
HOROSCOPES ...2B
WEATHER ...4B
CROSSWORD ...4B
ENROLLMENT: The University is adding more electronic resources — will they help or confuse?
ENDANGERED RIVERS: A new study says the Kaw is one of the country's most polluted rivers.
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
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