TUESDAY, MARCH 25. 2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5B
Oakland loses despite stellar play
The Associated Press
PHOENIX — Pinch-hitter Adam Melhuse hit a three-run homer on the first pitch after Eric Chavez was ejected but the Oakland Athletics lost 5-3 to the Kansas City Royals on yesterday.
Chavez was ejected by plate ampire Bill Welke in the sixth inning after questioning a pitch that made it 1-2.
"I told him I thought the pitch was outside and he said 'Oh course you did, a lefty threw it,'" Chavez said. "Then I said a few things and got run. I've never been thrown out before. I don't argue balls and strikes but he just pinched a nerve."
Melhuse replaced Chavez and
hit the first pitch he saw from Scott Mullen over the left field fence.
"That was awesome," A's starter Mark Mulder said. "Just when you think you've seen it all. To come up in that situation and hit a three-run homer? Come on. But it worked out."
Angel Berroa hit a two-run double in the eighth inning to lead Kansas City. Miguel Asencio continued to establish himself this spring with five shutout innings to lower his ERA to 1.23 as the Royals won for the fifth time in six games.
"Guys just hit the ball at somebody," said Asencio, who allowed four hits, struck out three and didn't walk a batter. "I threw a lot of first pitch strikes."
Jason Grimsley got the win after pitching a scoreless seventh. Mike MacDougal pitched the ninth for his second save.
Mulder took the loss after going 7 1-3 innings and giving up four runs on 11 hits. He struck out three and didn't walk a batter.
"I don't care about the runs, that was by far the best I've felt this spring," said Mulder, who threw four shutout innings before giving up three runs in the fifth. "Every start I've felt better and I'm ready to go."
In the eighth, Juan Brito singled with one out to end Mulder's day. Rontrez Johnson singled off Jeremy Fikac and Berroa followed with his double.
Joe Randa, Mike Sweeney and
Ken Harvey also drove in runs for the Rovals.
Scott Hatteberg had three hits for the As.
Notes: A'S OF Eric Byrnes left the game with a cut on the top of the nose in the seventh inning after his glasses broke while he tried to make a diving catch on Michael Tucker's fly ball, which turned into a triple. "I wish I would have made the play," said Byrnes. "I just missed it. I wanted to stay out there but my glasses broke into 15 pieces." ... Royals DH Mike Sweeney went 2-for-3 and now has 29 hits in his last 51 at bats (.569) with 16 runs scored, seven homers and 21 RBIs. He's hit safely in 18 of his last 19 games.
Study shows 10 tournament schools graduate less than half of their players
The Associated Press
For all the profits and fun of the men's NCAA basketball tournament, too many players wind up with nothing more than memories.
A study by Richard Lapchick of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida released yesterday showed that 10 of the schools in this week's round of 16 have failed to graduate even half of their players in recent years. Black players are less likely than whites to finish their careers with degrees, according to the study of NCAA graduation rates.
Butler posted the best numbers and Oklahoma had the worst. They play each other Friday in the East Regional semifinals.
Butler, a small private school in Indianapolis, graduated 86 percent of its basketball players and all of its black players over a six year period starting with the 1995-96 season. Oklahoma had a zero graduation rate, although the school challenged the criteria as misleading.
"They can stereotype us all they want,but the bottom line is our kids are graduating."
Kelvin Sampson Oklahoma coach
A school is credited with graduating students within six years of their freshman year, and is not credited for transfers or junior college players who may get their degrees.
"Our graduation rate is 100 percent," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "That freshman class (1995-96) was Bobby Joe Evans and Michael Cotton, and they both graduated — Bobby Joe from here and Michael from Boston College.
"They can stereotype us all they want, but the bottom line is our kids are graduating."
Men's basketball, where 57 percent of the players are black, has the worst graduation rates of all college sports. Lapchick said,
with 58 of the 328 Division I teams failing to graduate a single black player in six years.
"It is a nightmare waiting to be fixed," said Lapchick, one of the nation's leading sports sociologists.
The study lends support to NCAA president Myles Brand's drive to reward or punish schools by tying the number of scholarships to graduation rates.
Lapchick said schools would benefit if they used the type of system Brand favors.
Lapchick said that under Brand's plan those players who did go to college would be more likely to graduate.
Lapchick also favored making freshmen ineligible to play, saying they often fall behind in the classroom and have trouble catching up.
Low graduation rates reflect poorly not only on the colleges and coaches, Lapchick said, but on the whole education system. Black students from urban schools, in general, are less prepared for college level work, he said.
STUDY RESULTS
Five of the 16 teams had graduation rates a third to a half lower than the school's overall athletic graduation rates.
Six schools had graduation rates for black basketball players a third to three-quarters lower than overall athletic rates.
Only three schools — Butler, Duke and Kansas — graduated at least two-thirds of their black basketball players, while just those and two others — Marquette and Notre Dame — graduated at least two-thirds of all basketball players.
Only six schools graduated at least 50 percent of all basketball players, and seven graduated at least half of their black players
By Richard Leachick of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida
Randy Johnson agrees to contract extension
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Randy Johnson and Arizona agreed yesterday to a $33 million, two-year contract extension that will keep him with the Diamondbacks through the 2005 season.
Johnson won four NL Cy Young Awards and one World Series title in the first four seasons
The Associated Press
of his current contract. The left-hander will be 42 when the deal ends.
Johnson's $16.5 million average annual salary will be the highest ever for a pitcher, topping the $15.45 million Roger Clemens averaged with the New York Yankees in 2001 and 2002.
Johnson is 81-27 since joining
the Diamondbacks, raising his career record to 224-106.
Last year, Johnson became the first major leaguer since Boston's Pedro Martinez in 1999 and the first NL player since the New York Mets' Dwight Gooden in 1985 to win a
"We're talking about one of the greatest pitchers of all-time," owner Jerry Colangelo said.
pitching triple crown. Johnson was 24-5 with a 2.37 ERA and 334 strikeouts, leading the major leagues in strikeouts for the ninth time.
Johnson's extension will pay him $16 million in each of the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and contains a $1 million personal-services contract at the end of the deal.
Duke coach fears team may be tired
The Associated Press
DURHAM, N.C. — As Duke prepares to make its second trip West in this NCAA tournament, coach Mike Krzyzewski has one worry.
Is his team too worn out to advance to a 14th Final Four?
The Blue Devils (26-6) have been going hard since a mid-October trip to Europe as Krzyzewski has tried to get his young team ready for a deep run into the NCAA tournament.
"We really haven't been able to pace this team as I would a more veteran squad," Krzyzewski said yesterday. "We've taken it week-after-week and at times that's why there have been some dips. We've always been going at a hard speed.
"It wears your team out some, but we don't have an alternative because if you relax they're not going to pick up the habits that they need to."
The Blue Devils also will be making two trips from the East Coast out West.
After winning two games in the West Regional in Salt Lake City to advance, Duke returned to North Carolina for classes before heading back on a plane late today for a trip to California and a game against Kansas in Anaheim on Thursday.
"We just can't miss that much school," Krzyzewski said when asked why the team didn't stay on the West Coast: "And for us, we love being here. It rejuvenated us getting back into Raleigh-Durham Airport and coming back to our campus."
Krzyzewski, who has won a remarkable 60 of 75 NCAA tourney games, will watch his club closely for any signs of fatigue before Thursday's game.
"The biggest loss would be the loss of our enthusiasm to play," the Hall of Fame coach said. "If someone beats you, you hope it's because somebody just beats you, not because you weren't excited to play."
Duke's thin bench may also come into play against the Jayhawks (27-7). The Blue Devils received a combined nine points from reserves in wins over Colorado State and Central Michigan.
"This has been a very fragile and young team," Krzyzewski said. "We've had amazingly versatile teams here in the past. This is not a deep team. A deep team has reference points that have been proven. You have a deep team when you call on somebody and you know what they're going to do. That's the kind of depth you want."
Krzyzewski knows Kansas will try to run his team ragged and bang the boards, where the Blue Devils also have been vulnerable this season.
"We still have some young guys we're depending on for defensive habits and they break down a lot easier than a veteran team," he said. "But in Salt Lake City we played well.
"We'll be tested with an entirely different challenge with Kansas. They are the best fast-breaking team in the country. You have a tendency to have your defense always falling back instead of attacking. That's why their secondary break is so successful. They run off the bus and they keep running."
One difficult matchup for the Blue Devils will be Nick Collison, a player Krzyzewski tried to recruit to Duke.
While Duke was able to limit the two 7-footers it saw last week, the 6-foot-9 Collison not only can post up inside, but he's also a top outside shooter.
"Ilove that kid," Krzyzewski said. "He's capable of scoring 30 and getting 20 rebounds. I think he's the best player in the country. I felt that way when the year started. And he's such a good teammate."
"They're awfully difficult to recruit against, I can tell you that," Kansas coach Roy Williams said of the Blue Devils. "Nick Collison's the only player we've ever gotten that they wanted. They've gotten a lot of other ones we wanted."
Some didn't expect Duke, which has won three national titles under Coach K, to win two games in the NCAAs this season.
And Krzyzewski believes his team will still be an underdog this week. That's fine with him after being one of the favorites for the last few seasons.
"We haven't drawn much attention this year so we were kind of in our own little world out there." Krzyzewski said of the trip to Utah.
LAWRENCE AUTOMOTIVE DIAGNOSTICS
Domestic & Foreign Complete Car Care
842-8665
2858 Four Wheel Dr