Volume 126 Issue 27
kansan.com
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
COMMENTARY
Homecoming shows sports hierarchy
Lawrence is a basketball town.
History supports that conclusion.
This weekend solidified it.
Homecoming is scheduled in order to make football the centerpiece of the weekend. At most schools around the country during their respective homecoming weekends, the stadiums fill to capacity, with people fighting for seats like hungry carp fighting for a piece of day-old bread.
the official attendance for the Texas Tech game was 35,648. Kansas' Memorial Stadium holds more than 50,000 people. Kansas fans couldn't even fill three-quarters of the stadium, and most attendees fled the stadium during the fourth quarter like spiders from a basilisk. Five points if you understand the Harry Potter reference.
Meanwhile, Kansas' other main source of athletic revenue, the basketball team, held a practice on Friday night.
this "practice" goes by a more well-known name: Late Night at the Phog. Clearly, the word "practice" does not adequately describe the tradition and entertainment that Late Night encompasses. But ultimately, you can put rabbit ears on a dog and call him a rabbit, but he's still going to bark at the mailman. Late Night, technically speaking, is a practice. A fun practice, but a practice nonetheless.
Numbers have varied, but there are reports that as many as 25,000 people attempted to get into Late Night. Allen Fieldhouse's capacity is 16,300. This was like trying to squeeze William Howard Taft into a small T-shirt. It just didn't work.
On the other hand, basketball recruits such as Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander got to witness the pandemonium of Late Night. Presenting that kind of atmosphere to a high school student borders on unfair. Kansas basketball has the limo, the extravagant dinner and the six pack abs to offer its prom date. Kansas football drives a '95 Saturn and purchases its date Chinese takeout. The fortune cookie reads that a second date is not likely.
The hierarchy is clear at Kansas. Some coaches are up to the enormous challenge of trying to force a shift in the status quo. Turner Gill was not. Charlie Weis still has time. But he is constantly going to be facing an uphill battle.
The success of the basketball team and the devotion of its fanbase are great for the University and put Kansas on the national radar.
This relative lack of interest in the football program is crippling to its development and recruiting. Any recruits who were at Memorial Stadium saw a lot of empty seats during Homecoming weekend. Is this the sales pitch that will have them signing on the dotted line? Unlikely.
However, this same success overshadows the football team and hurts its long-term prospects.
While the backlash from having to turn away 9,000 people is undesirable, the interest in Late Night was exactly what the administration wanted. The administration also wants a similar interest for football. But it just didn't happen. More people showed up for the football game, but that is indicative of the difference in capacities. Put simply, one event overflowed while the other undersold.
Kansas Homecoming. 2013 was simply a demonstration of this.
Edited by Heather Nelson
LESSONS LEARNED
TIME EARNED
Charlie Weis stresses effort after loss to Texas Tech
MAX GOODWIN
mgoodwin@kansan.com
When Charlie Weis met with the team Sunday, he broke Saturday's game against Texas Tech down as he watched it with them. First they watched the first quarter, where the Jayhawks outscored the Red Raiders 10-0.
"OK, we're far from perfect, getting away with a 10-0 lead." Weis told his team. "Whooping them pretty good, beating them on both sides of the ball; right now any objective person would say this team has a legitimate chance of winning the game."
Then he showed them 35 plays from the rest of the game to show the players why the game got away from them in what ended up being a 54-16 loss for the Jayhawks.
Weis started by showing them the first quarter so that the team wouldn't focus on how badly the game got out of hand in the following quarters and take away a bad attitude.
But the players who Weis didn't see playing hard until the final whistle of the game will see their names moved down on the depth chart Tuesday.
"The ones that played hard will still be in the same situation they were last week, playing," Weis said. "Then there will be a number of changes in the depth chart I put out tomorrow."
"We put Michael in there because we were going to run some outside option schemes and that is not jake's cup of tea." Weis said. "lake's our starter"
One position that Weis assured has not changed is quarterback. The back-up quarterback Michael Cummings was on the field more than any of the other three games of the season on Saturday, but that was due to the strategy Weis was using.
The offensive line may be another story. Weis indicated that he will make changes to the starters on the offensive line for this week's game at TCU.
Weis was asked during his weekly teleconference with Big 12 media on Monday if the offensive line is being constantly evaluated by coaches looking at who should play.
"Yeah, there will be a bunch of changes here come tomorrow," Weis said.
In the post-game press conference on Saturday, Weis mentioned that there were too many bad snaps from the center to the quarterback, and that he had a conversation with offensive line coach Tim Grunhard about what could be done at the position.
But penalties on the offensive line were also an issue. Weis said he saw an offensive line that was confused by the Texas Tech defense.
"I mean we had five procedural penalties on the offensive line at a home game," Weis said. "That stems from just not paying attention, and that was not a good thing."
An abundance of negatives came out of the game on Saturday, but one that could hurt the Jayhawks moving forward in the season is the injury that running back Tony Pierson suffered in the third quarter when he apparently landed out of bounds on the track at Memorial Stadium.
"All he's got is a headache, which is a good thing," Weis said. "I don't know if he's out for a week, I don't know if he's out for a month. I really don't know how that's going to play out. But I know one thing, with Tony or anyone else, at least we're going to err on the side of caution."
Pierson had his eyes closed and was not moving by the time Weis made his way down the sideline to scene. Weis said Pierson could miss substantial time with a possible concussion after the game, but had a more positive outlook on the injury on Monday.
Weis said Pierson will not be listed as active on the depth chart released Tuesday.
Edited by Sylas May
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Charlie Weis studies from the sideline during the homecoming game against Texas Tech, Saturday, Oct. 5. Kansas lost 54-16.
FOOTBALL
Kansas fanbase loses school spirit
CHRIS HYBL
chybl@kansan.com
When Kansas was up 10-0 on Texas Tech after the conclusion of the first quarter in Saturday's game against Texas Tech, Kansas junior Ryan Morfin of San Jose, Calif. was excited.
Texas Tech would tie the game in the second quarter, and then the fake punt play happened.
Big Jay walks off the field during the game against Texas Tech, Saturday, Oct. 5. After the loss fans, are starting to lose spirit.
Kansas was fourth and 13 with the ball on its own 16, and punter Trevor Pardula attempted to run over 25 yards for the first down. He failed miserably, setting Texas Tech up for an easy touchdown.
"I went to the Tech game to support KU football and I actually thought there was a chance we could win this game," said Morfin. "But that definitely ran out after that fake punt."
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
After the game on Saturday, coach Charlie Weis said that wasn't where Kansas lost the game. Morfin didn't feel the same way.
"It was the stupidest and most surprising play I've ever seen," Morfin said.
The previous night in front of a full house at Allen Fieldhouse, Weis took the mic and struck up the band. Weis delivered a speech attempting to arouse excitement for the football team's game the next day.
"And by 2:30 we can all party together," Weis said at the end of the speech. There wasn't much partying to be had after Kansas was drubbed 54-16. But it's something that Kansas fans have clearly gotten used to.
The more Kansas football worsens, the less tailgating is seen as more of a complement to the actual home football game. With a bad team, home football games really aren't about the football. For people like Cheng, it's simply a calendar-marked day for an all-day party.
"Home games in general are really just a reason to party all day," said junior Michael Cheng of Wichita. "I went for about five plays each of the first two home games and I didn't go to last game. It basically depends on how good the tailgate is."
"I think students, including myself, were hopeful before Saturday's game." Cudney said. "But after a game like that, I think they are right back in the slump that they have been in the last couple seasons."
But some fans, like senior Brea Cudney from Marysville, had more hope for the football team. Cudney stayed until the midway point in the fourth quarter, leaving just before Kansas wide receiver Andrew Turzilli caught a touchdown pass with 7:43 left in the game. Cudney and her friends had stayed significantly longer than other students who left the game well before the halfway point in the third quarter.
Morfin and Cudney were both hopeful for the Jayhawks' season ahead of Saturday's game, and both thought Kansas had a legitimate chance at a win. But after such a one-sided result, even the hopes of the hopeful have even been bashed.
When asked to give a percent chance on the odds of this year's
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team winning a conference game, the two didn't respond with favorable odds.
"I would have to guess 20 percent. I'm being pretty hopeful with that 20", Cudney said.
"15 percent," Morfin said
Another student listening in to Morfin's guess laughed.
A max of 4 or 5 percent, Max," the student said.
Edited by Heather Nelson
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