SOFTBALL: Kansas to play in Sacramento State Invitational. SEE PAGE 7A. SWIMMING: Jayhawks prepare for Senior Nationals. SEE PAGE 6A.
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SPORTS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2002
Andy Sullivan asullivan@kansan.com
Jayhawks are ready to get it on
Yep, it's that time again, and today the Jayhawks start their way over to the other side of the gym.
ST.LOUIS-Shall we dance?
You know, like at a junior high spring fling where the boys are on one side guzzling punch and the girls are on the other chatting by the bleachers.
CHRISTINA NEFF/KANSAN Kansas forward Drew Gooden shoots during practice last night at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. Gooden was named an All-American Tuesday.
chatting by the mound. It's been 50 years since Kansas, behind Clyde Lovellette's best Fred Astaire imitations, won it all as a higher-seeded team.
Since then, there have been way too many Sadie Hawkins moments to forget.
Ugh, like 1992 when that quick southwestern seductress, Texas-El Paso, chacha-ed us right off the floor.
Sure, there was 1991 and 1993 when the Jayhawks were close. But Kansas was like the best man at Duke and North Carolina's wedding during the dollar dance. A little of the spotlight with the blushing bride can be shared, but only after the groom has taken his wife in his arms for that first dance.
Who can forget 1997 and 1998, when Roy and the boys not only had spitshined their finest dress shoes to a highgloss finish, but were ready to take their ladies by the hand. Yet again, they were sashayed by those little darlings who decided to quicken the pace.
There have been others — lots of them. Like the 1986 team, which behind its best mix tape, had bebopped all the way to the Final Four before Duke busted its move.
Not this year. This team can groove.
Yeah, I know they're coming off a loss to Oklahoma.
But that game was kind of like a night at the Yacht Club, where you know it's going to be a long one when that drunk chick pops up and starts slurring in your face before grinding all over you on the floor.
before going down.
That was one game — the Jayhawks' worst game of the season — but Kansas won't let that sad song make them miss a beat.
Take Drew Gooden, you want hip-hop; the "truth" can break it down. But Kansas' first All-American since 1998 also can kick it to a Finnish folk tune. Or how about Kirk Hinrich, not too many femininas will steal the pace from him. Nick Collison's best move is the classic waltz, as he can score with deceptive ease and grace, and Jeff Boschee has a sweet symphonic shot like that of a beautiful swan's song.
What about Wayne Simien, a physical player that always raises a sweat? Keith Langford is a jazzy swinger that has provided plenty of key steps. And finally point guard Aaron Miles, who at times has sung the blues as a true freshman starter, but then again the blues aren't necessarily a bad thing.
By my account there are no ladies in the Midwest that should keep up.
Holy Cross, not even with the Pope's prerogative, will become the first 16-seed to defeat a No.1.
Ah, the second round you say, I say one player a team does not make. So unless Stanford's Casey Jacobsen or Western Kentucky's Chris Marcus pour enough Everclear into that punch, the Jayhawks will continue to shuffle their feet.
with Conn. 16 is where Illinois dirt-danced Kansas out of the tourney a year ago and the two could spin again in Madison, Wis.
Then, the first line:
A victory there leaves the Final Four,
but I think the 'Hawks have enough funk in their trunks for that.
Then, the elusive rhythms of the Elite Eight.
And how cool would it be to watch Williams and Gooden doing the Charleslston at the center of Georgia Dome's floor April 1?
at the center of Georgia Home
Forward step (left foot), forward step
(right foot), back kick (right), back kick
(left) ROCK-CHALK-JAYHAWK!
Samuelson is a Wichita senior in journalism.
'Hawks wary of tourney mistakes
After the Jayhawks' defeat to Oklahoma, they now know what it takes to be No.1
By Doug Pacey Kansan sportswriter
ST. LOUIS — Every college basketball team has goals. Some are realistic and others are like skipping class for a month and expecting an A — they're not going to happen.
Teams try not to overstate their ambitions, but the national championship — no matter how talented or over-matched a school is — is what they all covet.
But starring in the "One Shining Moment" commercial after the NCAA Tournament Championship game is something that only a handful of the 64 tournament teams have a legitimate chance at doing.
legitimate character in a story.
So, "what does it take to be No.
1?" It just so happens Kansas is in the right place to find out. St. Louis' own hip-hop sensation Nelly posed that very question in a chart-topping ditty titled No. 1 a couple months back.
While phat beats and catchy phrases helped the multi-platinum album selling artist become one of America's hottest hip-hop acts "Country Grammar" won't give the Jayhawks anything more than something to swagger to in the locker room.
Drew Gooden might have had more bounce in his step after winning Big 12 Player of the Year honors earlier this month and being named an All-American Tuesday. Yet that's not the case because the junior forward has grander ideas in mind.
has grander ideas in mind.
"We're capable of making the Final Four and winning the national championship," he said. "When we do that, that's when I'll celebrate."
that's when I celebrate.
Kansas, the Midwest Region's No 1 seed, will get a chance to forge ahead tonight when the N. 2-ranked Jayhawks (29-3 overall, 18-1 Big 12 Conference) face No. 16 seed Holy Cross (18-14 overall, 9-5 Patriot League) at 6:50 p.m. at the Edward Jones Dome in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament.
After Kansas lost the Big 12 Tournament championship 64-55 to No.3 Oklahoma Sunday, it's obvious what
SEE MEN ON PAGE 6A
Sudden-death victory helps golf team improve its game
By Ryan Greene
Kansan Sportswriter
Last weekend, the Kansas women's golf team showed signs that it had made vast improvements off of its slow start in the fall.
Rose won the tournament in dramatic fashion by winning a two-hole sudden death playoff with Wendy Gray from Sam Houston State University and Laurie Vescovo from University of Arkansas-Little Rock.
What was impressive was not the seventh place finish the team recorded at the Waterwood National Women's Spring Invitational in Huntsville, Texas, but the first-place overall individual finish of junior Heather Rose.
"The course played really hard," Rose said. "I am pleased with my shots. I was really nervous during the playoff, but I felt very confident and it worked out for me."
tournament victory Kansas notched a seventh place finish in the 17-team field with a total 3-round score of 987. The score was 21 strokes off of Arkansas-Little Rock's first-place total of 966.
worked out for me. Rose's victory was her first individual tournament victory at the collegiate level
Junior golfer Heather Rose placed first individually at the Waterwood Nation Women's Spring Invitational in Huntsville, Texas. Kansas placed seventh out of seventeen at the tournament.
"Each tournament, someone different is stepping up to the plate, and that works into our team concept."
Hollingsworth said. "We need four out of our five players competing to play well in order for us to do good things as a team."
Other Kansas golfers who competed in the tournament included junior Jill MacDonald, who shot a 3-round total of 241, good for a tie in ninth place; sophomore Jennifer Bawanan, who finished in a tie for 32nd place with a score of 253; and junior Kristy Straub, who ended up in a tie or 51st place after scoring a total of 260. Junior Tiffany Kruggel was disqualified during the first round, but shot an 89 in the third round that was good enough to put her in a tie for 84th place.
"We haven't played an easy course yet this spring, and we've played in some very tough weather conditions while hanging in like never before," said Hollingsworth. "That's a real credit to our level of maturity."
The team will not return to action until Thursday, March 21, when they will take on College of Charleston in a head to head match in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Contact Greene at rgreene@kansan.com. This story was edited by Justin Guenley.
Holy Cross hopes to defy NCAA history
By Brent Wasko
Kansan sportswriter
Holy Cross, which has an 18-14 overall record, opened the season with high expectations, returning six players from last year's squad that came just four points shy of beating No. 2-seeded Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.
St. Louis — The No. 16-seed Holy Cross Crusaders have had a wild season, and they hope it will get even crazier today with an upset of the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Crusaders began their 2001-02 campaign by losing 12 of their first 20 games before everything started to turn around for the better. The team claimed victories in 10 of its last 12 games and qualified for this year's NCAA Tournament by winning the Patriot League Tournament.
Patriot League Crusaders' largest test awaits — a Jayhawk team ranked No. 2 in the country and boasting the nation's most potent offense (92 points per game).
Kansas' strengths have been well documented, but Holy Cross has some weapons of its own, including a solid defense.
potential (62 pointy). "Going into the Kentucky game last year, we had three tough seniors and I thought we were going to be able to beat them." Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard said. "This is a different situation."
"We understand that we're playing a great team and we have to do things in a particular manner to beat them." Willard said. "I don't see a weakness in their队."
ons of its own, including the Team ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense, allowing teams an average of just 59.2 points a game. Willard said despite his team's strength inside the paint, it would be tough to match up with Kansas.
their team.
The Crusaders aren't exactly strangers to the NCAA Tournament. Holy Cross won the national championship in 1947 by defeating Oklahoma 55-47 in Madison Square Garden.
But that was then and this is now. No team with the No. 16 seed has ever defeated a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Crusaders realize they will have to play the game of their lives if they hope to make history.
"We have to do a lot praying, being from Holy Cross," senior guard Ryan Serravalle said. "Definitely, it will be a test, but that's why you play the game."
Kansas and Holy Cross will battle it out at approximately 6:50 tonight at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
Contact Wasko at
Contact Wasko at bwasko@kansan.com. This story was edited by Molly Gise.
CHRISTINA NEFF/KANSAN
Holy Cross forward Tim Szatko shoots during practice in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
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