THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1993
Seating altered at football stadium
SECTION B
Kansan sportswriter
By Mark Button
The Kansas athletic program boasted arguably the best year in history in 1992-93, and the football team pulled much of the load.
With a final season record of 8-4, including a 23-20 victory against Brigham Young in the Alhoa Bowl, interest in the Kansas football program is at a near all-time high.
With the hoped-for improvements on the field, the University's ticket operations are trying to keep in stride with improvements in the stands.
Bernie Kish, director of ticket operations and sales, said concessions had been made to make this season more thrilling than the last.
The changes begin with the addition of student seating in rows 1-42 of section 34, and rows 43-69 of section 46, all on the east side of the stadium.
The added student seats did not come free, however.
Lost from the previous years' student seating are rows 16-41
A HOT TICKET: Winning
WINNING ways for Kansas sports are bringing more people to the ticket office. Page 78.
of section 40, which sit next to the 50-yard line. Also, the band was moved up to the first 17 rows in sections 36 and 37.
Kish said moving the band closer to the field was the primary objective.
we wanted to get the band more involved," Kish said. "Almost every other school has its band close to the field. When we were on the road, the band sat much closer to the field."
Kish said the new seating would allow the band and the spirit squad, which leads cheers from the track, to interact together more easily.
said she thought the move was a step in the right direction.
Second-year Crimson Girl Michelle Muscarello
"Ithink it will create a more intense and energetic atmosphere for the team." Muscarello said. "It will help us because we will be able to hear the band better, and we're responsible for keeping the crowd involved, so everyone benefits."
Everyone, that is, except maybe the band.
"From a spirit standpoint, I think it will help," said Jon Lassman, sousaphone section leader. "But it would be nice to see the games from higher up in the stands."
From a student standpoint, attitudes were much more positive.
"I think anything that makes Memorial louder and crazier is a plus," said Chris McCann, Kansas City, Kan., senior. "It was pretty outrageous during the California and Oklahoma games last year. I'd like to see that at every home game."
Students get the bump
A portion of section 40 in Memorial Stadium will be changed from student seating to alumni seating. Parts of sections 34 and 46 will be added to the student seating area. The band seating has been relocated to part of sections 36 and 37.
Mason winning 'perception' battle
Unfavorable image of his football team is finally fading away
John Paul Fogel/KANSAN
Kansas wide receiver Rodney Harris poses for cameras during KU's annual Media Day activities. Harris was a back-up tight end last year but was moved to wide receiver in the Aloha Bowl. These days, more cameras are pointing in the Jayhawk's direction.
By Matt Doyle
"Perception."
Perception
It is a word that Kansas football coach Glen Mason uses often when he addresses the media, fans or alumni.
Before Mason arrived in Lawrence in December 1987, the perception of the Jayhawk football program had a negative connotation. That perception carried over into Mason.
KICKOFF CLASSIC
CLASSIC: For the Kansas football team, playing No. 1 Florida St. is a risk worth taking.
While in Wichita in January 1988, the new Kansas football coach read a newspaper story in which then-Kansas basketball coach Larry Brown said the athletic department did not receive any cooperation from the administration when it came to academic matters.
Page 8B.
Mason, who already was struggling in trying to persuade some of the state's top high school talent to sign with the Jayhawks, said he thought he was in a no-win situation in Lawrence before ever coaching a game at Kansas. He seriously gave thought to leaving Kansas and returning to Kent State, where a replacement for him still had not been found.
Mason said he called his wife, Sally, and explained his intentions. She told her husband to sleep on it that night, and if his intentions remained in the morning he should call the Kent State president and ask for his old job back.
Mason woke up the following morning and decided he was going to change how people viewed the football program. Five years later, the perception of Jayhawk football has changed for the better.
Change was slow at first. Kansas suffered through a 1-10 season in 1988, Mason's first year with the Jayhawks. The team improved to 4-7 in 1989 and went 3-7 in 1990. But throughout that three-year period, Mason and his staff were improving the talent base for the Jayhawks.
If the 1991 season took a little air out of bad image, the 1992 season may have
Dana Stubblefield. Tony Sands, Gilbert Brown, Chip Hillier and Dian Eichloh were just a few of the players that signed on with the Jayhawks. Those players served as the core group of the 6-5 team in 1991, Kansas' first winning team in 10 years.
deflated it altogether.
Kansas finished the season 8-4, including a 23-20 victory in the Aloha Bowl against Brigham Young. The eight victories were the most since 1981 and the bowl victory was the first by a Jayhawk team since 1961. It also gave Kansas consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1975-1976.
"The perception of our program is now on the right side of the page, not the wrong side, as it has been for so many years," Mason said.
HOD Frederick, athletic director at KU,
made the decision to hire Mason instead of
Earle Bruce, who was well known in the
coaching profession after serving as head coach at Iowa State and Ohio State.
Five years later, Frederick's decision has paid off
"Great credit goes to Glen Mason, his staff and the young people who have sacrificed so much during the last four years to get us to this point," Frederick said.
Senior center Dan Schmidt has experienced Kansas' rise in college football. He signed on with Kansas after the 1-10 season in 1988, and as he prepares for his final season with the Jayhawks, the program is a
See PERCEPTION, Page 6B.
Summer ball challenges centerfielder
By Kent Hohlfeld
The Kansas centerfielder helped the Oilers win their second National Baseball Congress World Series title with a 9-1 victory against Beatrice, Neb., at Lawrence Dumont Stadium in Wichita.
Kansan sportswriter
Darryl Mouroe felt a little strange going from the heat of Omaha and the College World Series to the cool, bright skies of Alaska, where he spent the summer playing for the Kenai Peninsula Oilers.
Monroe said that he felt strange playing in Alaska, which spends most of its summer in total sunlight.
"Our stadium didn't have lights even though we played all our games at night, Monroe said.
The lack of darkness did not affect Monroe's performance. Monroe was named to the All-Alaska team and helped Kenai to a second-place finish in the Alaska Central League. In the NBC tournament, he was named to the all-tournament team. He hit .340 with one home run and four stolen bases.
Darrvl Monroe
Monroe's success did not surprise his high school coach, Lynn Harrod. The Lawrence High School coach said he thought Monroe's future was bright even without athletics.
he next good enough grades to go anywhere in the country," Harrod said. "KU was the only school really interested in his baseball ability."
He said Monroe's abilities in the classroom had helped him grow during his time at KU. Harrod said that Monroe played catcher in high school and that it has taken him time to learn his outfield position.
Harrod said that playing in Alaska should help his perfor mance because of the experience he had gained.
See MONROE, Page 2B
Volleyball preview
The team focuses on defense as it faces a schedule of top-ranked teams from across the nation.
Olympic effort
Page 4B.
The U.S. Olympic Sports Festival is a proving ground for athletes and KU's Lawrence Magee, who answered the call as head physician for the event this summer.
Pago 6B.
Aloha Bowl, 1993
College World Series.1993
NCAA Final Four,1993
Kansas takes a triple crown
Postseason showings give the Jayhawk teams an unprecedented title
By Mark Button
Kansan sportswriter
A bowl game victory, a trip to the Final Four and a school-first College World Series appearance.
While these honors could be the highlights of many universities for a decade, Kansas accomplished them in one school year, becoming the first Division I school in the nation to do so.
No one could have been more proud of the school's success than Bob Frederick, athletic director.
"It was a real thrill for all of us to accomplish what we did," Frederick said. "Everything went our way last year."
tain doors have opened for the school.
With the unprecedented success, cer-
"It's a tremendous boost for Kansas," said Kansas baseball coach Dave Bingham. "It helped our perception on a national basis, and we now have opportunities to recruit athletes that we couldn't have before."
Bingham said if the Jayhawks' appearance in the Series did not establish their program, it at least made people aware of them because of television coverage.
In the past, Bingham added, the baseball team had to justify itself to recruits as far as what they had to offer certain prospects.
Kansas received television coverage throughout the 1992-1993 school year.
The Aloha Bowl, aired on Christmas
"The combination of the three events really helped gain exposure," Frederick said. "It helps all recruiting, and it certainly helps at the university level as well."
"When your university has a significant amount of visibility, it doesn't hurt," Baid
Also, the Series is virtually the only college baseball shown on television. The NCAA Final Four created a lot of media publication for Kansas, too.
Barbara Ballard, associate dean of student life, said success in athletics could promote KU to future students.
Day, was the only college football bowl game on television at the time. Only the Sugar, Rose, Cotton and Fiesta Bowls had more viewers.
lard said. "If kids are looking for a school where there is a lot going on, then they're looking at us."
Ballard said the success in football would help football recruiting and the same would be true for basketball and baseball. But the overall success and national visibility could only improve the perception of the school, she said.
Frederick said although he knew that opportunities like last year's were rare, that would not stop the Athletic Department from striving to be the only school to win a bowl game, make a trip to the Series and advance to the Final Four in two different years.
"It will be clearly difficult to duplicate," he said. "But it will be our goal."