Injuries finally catch up with Ettinger
Jim Ettinger
By STEVE SHRIVER Kansan Sports Writer
Suffering a knee injury in the closing minutes of the Nebraska game last weekend the KU signal caller is helped from the field.
With two broken ribs, a bruised and strained knee and a severely bruised shoulder, you wouldn't expect Jim Ettinger to have a chance to play this Saturday. But the scrapy quarterback figures he'll play and, although he may not start, he hopes to see plenty of action against Iowa State in Ames.
Ettinger has been battered and knocked down frequently this season and each time he has bounced back to show the poise and stamina a quarterback must possess to be successful. He remains confident in his front line, in his team and, most importantly, in himself.
"We're better than our 1-4 record indicates. It can't go on like this. We've lost three tough games on bad breaks. With the right breaks we could just as easily have won those games and we'd be 4-1 right now. New Mexico is the only bad game we've had.
"We've been somewhat of a disappointment this year, especially after last year. But we haven't given up on ourselves and I just hope the fans haven't given up on us." Ettinger said.
Coach Pepper Rodgers has stood behind Ettinger the whole season and, if at all possible, he will play Saturday, with the help of several yards of tape, despite his injuries.
He receives nearly $1\frac{1}{2}$ hours worth of treatment every day: rubdowns, whirlpool baths and ultrasound treatments that stimulate circulation in the injured areas. He wears so much tape for practice every day the players are starting to call him "the Mummy."
Ettinger first hurt his ribs in the season's opener against Texas Tech. They have been aggravated in each game and, until recently when they were x-rayed and found to be broken, had been diagnosed as bruised. His right
knee was bruised and strained, and his left shoulder bruised against Nebraska.
Comparing Nebraska to K-State, he said, "Nebraska is a bigger and stronger team, more physically punishing. They hurt me a couple of times with their pass rush. K-State is quicker and has more finesse."
"I hope K-State knocks off some Big Eight teams this year, especially Oklahoma this Saturday. I think they've got a chance to win the conference and I'm pulling for them. It's a great thing for the state of Kansas," he added.
Ettinger now has a lot more confidence in himself and in the team. "I had my doubts before, but now, I know I can do the job."
"The front line has been improving tremendously, week by week. They're giving me good protection and plenty of time. I just can't say enough for guys like Bob Childs (split tackle), Steve Lawson (tight tackle), Dave Aikens (guard), Dale Evans (center) and John Weir (guard). Grant Dahl (tackle) has done a good job, despite the back trouble he's had."
"Charlie McCullers, the backfield coach, has done everything for me. He yells at me and knocks me all over the practice field, but off the field he'll do anything for you. We're really fortunate here at KU to have such a young coaching staff. They can demonstrate a new play to us."
Ettinger expects Iowa State to give the Hawks a tough game
After five weeks of regular season play the team of Chancellor Chalmers and Wade Stinson, athletic director, hold a one game edge over the Kansan editors.
The seasonal totals for Chalmers-Stinson stands at 48-19-1 compared to the editors mark of 47-20-1.
Chalmers Stinson go one up
Here are this week's picks:
Kansas at Iowa State
Chalmers-Stinson-KU by 14
Editors-Kansas by 10
Oklahoma State Kansas State
Chalmers-Stinson-KU by 10
Editors-Oklahoma-Hawaii
Okahama State at NU
Chalmers-Stinson-NU by 3
Editors-Okahama-Hawaii
Missouri at Colorado
Chalmers-Stinson-Missouri by 7
Editors-Missouri by 6
Rocky Mountain Army
Chalmers-Stinson-BC even
Editors-BC by 3
Mississippi State at Fla. St.
Chalmers-Stinson-MSU by 10
Editors-MSU by 10
Ole Miss.at Houston
Chalmers-Stinson-Miss.by 20
Editors-Miss.by 10
Mountain West at LSU
Chalmers-Stinson-LSU by 6
Editors-LSU by 10
Ohio U.at Penn State
Chalmers-Stown-Penn State by
Editors-Ohio.U.at
UCLA at Stanford
Chalmers-Stunton-UCLA by 2
Editors-Stanford by 10
Editors-Arizona by 20
Editors-Arizona by 10
Mich. St. at Iowa
Chalmers-Stunton-Mich. St.by 7
Editors-Mich. St.by 10
Texas Tech at SMU
Chalmers-Stunton-SMU by 10
Editors-SMU by 3
TCU at Miami (Fla.)
Chalmers-Stunton-Miami by 3
Editors-Miami by 10
10 KANSAN Oct. 24 1969
Saturday. "Away games are always tough, mainly because of the home town crowd. But that's just one of the reasons. At Nebraska it was raining, on and off during the game. The ball would get wet and muddy and they had several guys with towels along the sidelines, evidently Nebraska students. They were supposed to wipe the ball off when the officials traded balls every two or three plays. Nebraska always got a clean ball and ours always seemed to be wet or muddy."
"I can't throw a wet ball so I told the official about it. He said something to the guys but it didn't make any difference. I told the official again and he told me to shut up."
When Jim participated in the Orange Bowl last January it made the Ettingers the first father-son combination ever to play in the Miami classic.
Ettinger is from Bartlesville, Okla., and his father is a former KU football player, Don (Red) Ettinger. The elder Ettinger was a tackle with Kansas' Orange Bowl, squad of 1947, and later played middle linebacker for the New York Giants for seven years
Commenting on how he views the Big Eight officials the sandy-haired quarterback said, "Yeah, I think the officials could improve. Sure, they're human and they may get emotionally involved in a game, but they can't let their emotions get the best of them."
"Admittedly, I don't have much of a social life, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love it, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had any spare time," he said.
A typical day for Ettinger starts at 9:30 in the classroom and ends at 1:30 with an hour off for lunch. He's at the field house by 2 to get ready for practice. He gets there early so he can get treated and taped for his injuries. Prior to practice is usually a team meeting that lasts about 30 minutes, where the coaches may diagram new plays on the blackboard.
Practice lasts between $1 \frac{1}{2}$ hours and 2 hours and the players must shower and get dressed afterwards. Another team meeting is held at 6:15 and films of the current week's opponent are shown. After the films the players all eat dinner at the training table. Ettinger usually gets home at 7:30 p.m.
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