2B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY APRIL 20, 2009
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"He was just doing what he was supposed to be doing: being the captain, being Paul Pierce, 'the Truth.' You've seen it a dozen times; I think since I've been here I've seen it a million times, so nothing surprised me."
Glen Davis, Celtics center, to Associated Press
FACT OF THE DAY
Paul Pierce's overtime-forcing shot in the final seconds of game five helped the Celtics take a 3-2 series lead over the Bulls. The Celtics can move into the second round tonight when they play at 6 p.m. in Chicago.
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: What are Paul Pierce's averages in this year's playoffs?
A: Pierce is averaging 24 points, six rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
— espn.com
Greinke: New kid on the Midwest block
COMMENTARY
There's a feeling you get when you live in the Midwest. There's
a feeling you get when you live in a town like Kansas City or St. Louis or Wichita or Omaha.
You realize that people on the East and West Coasts look
us. You know, East Coast bias, West coast bias — that kind of thing.
But hey, that's cool, because
Greinke
Midwestern people are modest and humble and hardworking, and we don't really care what people think about us.
We realize how great this part of the country is, and that's all that matters.
But then, every so often, the whole country focuses in on something going on here, and well, it feels pretty nice.
At least, that's how it felt Wednesday evening at Kauffman Stadium as rain poured down onto fountains in the outfield.
You see, there's a kid who
lives in Kansas City named Zack Greinke, and he may just be the greatest pitcher in the world.
Griken won his league-leading fifth game last night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
And not only that, he's got an amazing life story. He's overcome a social anxiety disorder and depression. He's only 25.
You could feel it all around Kansas City the last couple of days. And you could feel it in Lawrence too.
Sports Illustrated put Greinke on its cover this week. Yahoo Sports national baseball writer Jeffrey Passan wrote a profile about Greinke that came out Wednesday. Hordes of other national writers are flocking to Kansas City to see this Greinke kid.
On Wednesday night, the entire baseball world turned its eyes to Kansas City — to the Midwest. And for a few moments, it felt good.
Well, we've reached the end of April — and that means a couple of different things. Of course it means that May begins tomorrow (duh), but it also means that National Poetry month is over. And we here at the Brew would be remiss if we didn't take a moment to savor the greatest sports poem in American history.
BREW POETS' SOCIETY
It was written in 1888 by a man named Ernest Thayer, and it begins like this:
The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville Nine that day;
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
Can you name it? Yes, it's "Casey at the Bat," and the iconic poem ends like this:
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light.
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.
THURSDAY
YOUTUBE SESH
This week's featured YouTube video comes straight from the "Shake & Bake" department.
More specifically, we're talking NASCAR, where driver Carl Edwards, who attended the University of Missouri and lives in Columbia, suffered one of the most gnarly crashes in recent racing history.
Edwards' car went airborn on the last lap of the Aaron's 499 at Talladega on Sunday, spinning and slamming into the fence that is supposed to protect the fans from the cars on the track.
Unbelievably, Edwards jumped out of his car and jogged across the finish line - a true Ricky Bobby moment. We usually would tell you to type "Carl Edwards and NASCAR crash" into your YouTube search and enjoy, but perhaps "enjoy" isn't the right word. Just watch ... and be awed.
Edited by Realle Roth
Up, Up and no play
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boston Red Sox outfielder Jacob Elsbury jumps for a ball hit by Cleveland Indians' Victor Martinez in the first inning of a game on Wednesday in Cleveland.
NASCAR
Famous Petty and Andretti unite at the Indianapolis 500
BY DAN GELSTON Associated Press
Pettv. Andretti.
The King is coming to Indy.
And Richard Petty is bringing
an Andretti along for the ride.
The family names alone fill pages of stock car and IndyCar history books. Now two of the most famous names in auto racing will again be united at one of the sport's most famous tracks.
For Petty, the driver long synonymous with NASCAR, the Indianapolis 500 offers a whole new kind of racing style and pageantry. More than 50 years after making his NASCAR debut, Petty will be a rookie at next month's Indianapolis 500, albeit as an owner.
"You've got to be there to really appreciate just how big a show it is," Petty said.
Petty got his first taste of the open cockpit 33-car field last year. The tradition and atmosphere were enough to convince the winningest driver in NASCAR history to put on his sunglasses and black hat and get work on entering a car in this year's race.
44 Massachusetts
A touch of Irish in downtown Lawrence
Red Lyon Tavern
832-822
He's going with John Andretti behind the wheel. Andretti drove for Petty Enterprises on the Cup circuit and recorded the last win for that team in Martinsville back in 1999. Andretti is the nephew of former 500 winner Mario Andretti and cousin of longtime race regular, Michael Andretti.
Red Lyon Tavern
John Andretti was the first driver to compete in the Indy 500 and the Cup's Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. IndyCar's premier race now starts later, making the double an impossibility for drivers. But not for an owner like Petty, who plans to attend the races in Indianapolis
Petty and Andretti tried to find a sponsorship deal to get
"it's going to be easier on me than on the driver," he said.
and at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.
"It's special because I'm going to Indy in the 43 and I am going to Indy with Richard."
JOHN ANDRETTI NASCAR driver
of May would come around and I'd talk about Indianapolis the whole month," Andretti said. "I think he was a little bit tired of hearing about it. Hopefully, he's going to have fun at it."
them in last year's 500, but it never materialized. They found a sponsor this year for No.43 car that is co-owned with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
His stock car commitments kept him from Indianapolis each May. But Andretti always chirped away at his boss at how special it was to race on the 2.5-mile oval. Sure, Cup racing had come to the Brickyard in the 1990s, so Petty was familiar with the pagoda and the bricks and the history that makes Indianapolis special to so many drivers.
"I'd still be at Indy, but now it's special because I'm going to Indy in the 43 and I'm going to Indy with Richard," Andretti said. "In my mind, he still the biggest name in NASCAR."
(200) and poles (127). He also won a record seven Daytona 500s before he retired in 1992.
But Indy has a different flavor in May.
"Every year that I drove the 43 in the Cup series, the month
Petty is still as much a presence at Cup tracks as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson even though he never found the success in ownership that he did as the sport's greatest driver. He won seven Cup titles and he the series' career leader in wins
Andretti will make his 10th career Indy start and he's never finished better than fifth (1991). He has only two career Cup wins and no top-10s this season in nine starts, and will miss points races in Darlington and Charlotte before returning at Dover. He's not anywhere near title contention, so his absences won't really hurt.
Petty and Andretti both say this isn't a publicity stunt. They're going to the Speedway intending to field a competitive car and go for the win. No Andretti driver has won a race since Mario in 1969.
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
TODAY
Softball Texas A&M, 11:15 a.m. Lawrence
Softball
Texas A&M,
1:15 p.m.
Lawrence
FRIDAY
Baseball
Oklaahoma,
6:30 p.m.
Norman, Okla.
Track & field
Arkansas Twilight,
All day
Fayetteville, Ark.
SATURDAY
Rowing
Big 12
Championship,
10:30 a.m.
Kansas City, Kan
Baseball
Oklahoma, 2 p.m.
Norman, Okla.
Softball
iowa State, 2 p.m.
Ames, iowa
SUNDAY
Softball
Iowa State, noon
Ames, Iowa
Baseball
Oklahoma, 1 p.m.
Norman, Okla.
MONDAY No events
TUESDAY No events
WEDNESDAY
Baseball Wichita State, 7 p.m., Wichita
NBA
Basketball broadcaster Gondrezick dies at age 53
School officials and friend Bobby Gleason said Gondrezick died daylong at St. Rose Hospital in Henderson, Nev., after complications from a heart transplant that he received last September.
LAS VEGAS — Former UNLV basketball star Glen Gondrezick, who later played for the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets before turning to broadcasting, has died. He was 53.
Gondreizck starred on the Rebels' Final Four team in 1977, and his jersey was retired in 1997. He ranks 16th on the school's career scoring list with 1,311 points.
Gondrezick played for the Knicks and Nuggets from 1977 to 1983, and later spent 17 years doing color commentary on NLV basketball broadcasts.
Associated Press
CYCLING
CYCLING Lance Armstrong races after crash last month
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Lance Armstrong will compete in the Tour of the Gila after all, the seven-time Tour de France champion's first race since breaking his collarbone in a March crash.
Race director Jack Brennan said Armstrong and Astana teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner will be allowed to compete at this week's event after USA Cycling reached an agreement with the International Cycling Union.
Armstrong broke his collarbone during the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon in Spain on March 23 and had surgery two days later.
The Tour of the Gila in Silver City, N.M., runs Wednesday through Sunday.
Associated Press