2B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I think one of the things that you try to do is you try to establish the fact that you're going to win at home in Division I baseball, and really it was a good solid start for us."
— Ritch Price, Kansas baseball coach
FACT OF THE DAY
Kansas and North Dakota had never played in baseball before Tuesday's meeting. The Jayhawks and the Fighting Sioux previously met on the basketball court for a pair of men's exhibition games in 2002 and 2003.
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: When is the last time Kansas baseball lost its home opener?
A: 1999. That team, led by coach Bobby Randall, lost its opener to Baker, 10-1, en route to a 14-40 season, Coach Ritch Price is undefeated in Hoglund Ballpark openers.
@ KANSAN.COM
Morning Brew: Believe it or not, Missouri just might be the most disappointing athletic program in the country.
The Strike Zone:Following Kansas' first home game of the season, Josh Bowe and Tim Dwyer provide insight and reaction on the Jayhawks' big day in their podcast.
First Pitch: Hoglund Ballpark is open for business in 2009. Josh Bowe breaks down Kansas' first home game and takes a peek into the rest of the nonconference schedule.
Clarett blogs from prison to inspire
COMMENTARY
It seems as if everyone has a blog these days.
Rosie O'Donnell has been blogging since 2004. MC Hammer's blog has been active since 2006. Even legendary transvestite RuPaul is in on the blogging game.
Add former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett to that illustrious list.
More than two years after being sentenced to at least three and a half years in prison, Clarett is blogging from prison, hoping to prevent others from making the same mistakes he did as one of football's brightest
problems,
Clarett,
who led Ohio
State to the
2002 national
champion-
ship, spends
his days and
nights in the
Toledo.
Clarett
Correctional Institution serving time for aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon.
Since his first post on Oct. 7, Clarett has been updating
"The Mind of Maurice Clarett" frequently with the help of family and friends. According to an interview with Clarett's mother in The Columbus Dispatch, he dictates updates to relatives, who then post the blogs for him. Clarett does not have Internet access in prison.
Somehow the blog escaped media attention for a couple of months. Even if you just skim through a few posts, its obvious Clarett has realized just how much he has lost in such a short period of time. No doubt prison life has had a sobering effect on a man previously known for his monstrous ego.
Check out the blog at www.
mauricelarett wordpress.com.
Here's an excerpt from Clarett's
first post:
"I will give insight to others about some of the challenges
I've had and hope to enlighten others so that they will be able to guide themselves better and transcend ignorance. The defects in my character landed me in the position I'm in today. If it wasn't for family, friends, and self-education I'd probably still be suffering innately. I suffer no more because I make the conscious choice not to."
HOGLUND CAM
Spring baseball can be downright miserable between the cold, wind and complete lack of sunshine.
The Kansas Athletics Department has a solution for those fans unwilling to brave the elements to watch Kansas play at Hogland Ballpark.
The Hoglund Ballpark Web Cam, a new feature at KUathletics.com, allows anyone a view from behind home plate at any time. The feature also allows viewers to take control of the camera for a short period of time to view the field from different angles and distances.
SOCCER ANNOUNCES
SPRING SCHEDULE
Kansas soccer will begin preparing for the 2009 season on March 28 at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex with a game against Creighton.
The layhawks will then travel to St. Louis for two games against Saint Louis University and Marquette on April 4 and return home to face Arkansas on April 11.
Kansas returns to Creighton later — the date, times and opponents have not been announced — for two final spring games.
Edited by Heather Melanson
NFL
Search for missing boaters called off
BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO
Associated Press
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Coast Guard called off the search Tuesday for two NFL players and a third man lost at sea off the Florida coast after their boat capsized during a fishing trip.
The Coast Guard said it didn't believe anyone was on the surface of the water and the search would end at sundown.
"We're extremely confident that if there are any survivors on the surface of the water that we would
Still missing in rough, cold water were Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley.
have found them" Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said.
Hopes were raised Monday when rescue-crews found a fourth man who was aboard, 24-year-old former South Florida player Nick Schuyler, who managed to stay with the boat for more than 36 hours after it overturned Saturday evening.
Prospects for survival were beginning to look more grim throughout the day, with the father of one of the men saying the Coast Guard told him privately that officials were losing hope because of the time that had passed and the possibility the men would be suffering from hypothermia.
Coast Guard officials said publicity that they were still hopeful.
southeast of the boat.
Close said searchers found a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles
Schuyler told the Coast Guard that the boat was anchored when it capsized in high seas. He said the four friends were able to put on life vests and huddle together, but the others eventually became separated.
Schuyler was dehydrated and showing symptoms of hypothermia, but his condition was upgraded to fair on Tuesday.
Cooper, a 26-year-old who owns the boat, was selected in the third round of the 2004 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Washington. He played 26 games for the Bucs in his first two pro seasons, then led a nomadic NFL existence.
Jack Scharf, Cooper's agent, said he had no comment on the Coast Guard's announcement.
A man who answered the phone at the home of Smith's father, sounding upset, said no one there could comment.
Cooper and Smith, 29, became friends when they were teammates at Tampa Bay. Smith signed with the Bucs as an unrafted free agent in 2002, and spent last season with Detroit before becoming a free agent.
The former North Carolina State standout recorded 42 tackles (28 solo), three sacks and 10 special teams tackles in 2008, his best NFL season.
Bleakley, a 25-year-old former tight end from Crystal River, Fla., was on the USF football team in 2004 and 2005. He had one reception for 13 yards in his career, which also included some time on special teams.
MLB
Royals pitcher works construction during the offseason
BY DOUG TUCKER Associated Press
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Kyle Davies is a throwback to what most athletes would call the bad old days, a dinosaur from long ago when ballplayers would spend their off-season working.
Yes, working. Doing honest, show-up on-time and do what-the-boss-says labor. Before free agency and color television and guaranteed seven figure contracts, most major leaguers couldn't afford to just laze the offseason away.
Davies, an up-and-coming major league pitcher for Kansas City, had no need of extra cash
last winter. Hed just been paid $427,000 for the 2008 season.
Yet, there he was, pouring concrete, digging ditches and operating a jackhammer under the Georgia sun.
"What am I going to do, sit on the couch every day? You make yourself lazy" he said.
This year's contract guarantees the promising right-hander $1.3 million. But shortly after the season is over, he plans to rejoin the guys who sweat and toil on his dad's construction crew.
He's no stranger to construction work. Since he was about 12 or 13, Davies has spent most of his summers working for Davies General Contracting near Atlanta.
"It keeps you in shape, keeps you off the couch," Davies said. "The offseason can get really long. You can sit there and think about
way too much. Instead of doing that, I just got up early in the morning and went to work."
"I know we make a lot of money in this game. Major League ball-players make a lot of money," he said. "For me, it's not the money. There's a satisfaction of seeing something you built with your own hands."
Digging ditches and picking up garbage is a good way for Davies to stay in touch with his working-class roots.
Much of the time, Hiram Davies company constructs buildings for fast-food places like McDonald's.
After deciding to be more aggressive and just "attack the plate," he went 5-0 in September, by far his best stretch since breaking into the majors with Atlanta in 2005.
If his numbers from late last season are a clue to the future, the 26-year-old Davies may soon be making too much money to risk injury by operating heavy machinery.
So far in two spring outings, using the same mind-set, the streak has continued. He's given up three hits in five innings, with
three strikeouts and no runs.
The Royals are counting on him being their No. 3 starter behind Gil Meche and Zack Greinke.
Before last season ended, Davies asked his skipper if he'd have a problem having a construction worker on the roster.
In spite of the satisfaction he takes from building something with his hands, Davies is not at all casual toward his still developing career in baseball.
"So I really want to make it in baseball."
"My dad will always say. If you don't make it in baseball, you can always come back here and dig ditches," he said with a grin.
TODAY
Baseball
North Dakota, 3 p.m.
Lawrence
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
WEDNESDAY
Baseball
North Dakota, 3 p.m.
Lawrence
Women's basketball Baylor, 7 p.m. Lawrence
Men's basketball
Texas Tech, 8:30 p.m.
Lubbock, Texas
THURSDAY No events
FRIDAY
FRIDAY
Tennis
BYU, 1 p.m.
Lawrence
Baseball
Northwestern, 1 p.m.
Lawrence
Softball NDSU, 3 p.m Lawrence
Baseball Northwestern, 4 p.m. Lawrence
Track & field
Arkansas Last Chance
Fayetteville, Ark.
Women's golf
Rio Verde Invite
Rio Verde, Ariz.
SATURDAY
Softball
Northern Iowa,
10 a.m.
Lawrence
Softball
Eastern Illinois, noon
Lawrence
Tennis
Tulsa, 1 p.m.
Lawrence
Men's basketball
Texas, 3 p.m.
Lawrence
Baseball
Northwestern, 7 p.m.
Lawrence
Women's basketball Iowa State, 7 p.m.
Ames, Iowa
Track & field
Iowa State NCAA
Qualifier
Ames, Iowa
Women's golf
Rio Verde Invite
Rio Verde, Ariz.