8A
Sports trivia question
Who was the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated (49-0)?
The University Daily Kansan
Sports
Inside: Kristen May is hoping to take on a bigger role in her sophomore season as a Jayhawk.
SEE PAGE 6A
Inside: Cross country runner Charlie Gruber has proven to be a "big-meet runner."
SEE PAGE 7A
HURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2000 For comments, contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM
Kansas sophomore forward Drew Gooden dishes a cross-body pass during last night's game against the California All-Stars. Gooden scored a double-double, with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Photo by Christina Neff/KANSAN
'Hawks wallop All-Stars, 98-80
Bv Michael Riaa
By Michael Rigg sports@kansan.com Kansas sportwriter
The California All-Stars weren't for real, and Eric Chenowith knew it.
"It was kind of fun," said Chenwitch, senior center. "They don't box-out and they don't run back on defense, so you can make a lot of plays."
And that's exactly what Chenowitt and the Jayhawks did, smoking the All-Stars in the first half and walking off with an easy 98-80 victory last night in front of 15,600 fans at Allen Fieldhouse.
Yet the Jayhawks weren't entirely pleased with the easy exhibition win. The Kansas players said they would need to improve before the regular season begins next week. Kansas coach Roy Williams was especially
"I did like some things out there, but I thought we were a much better shoot-
dismayed with Kansas' two-for-13 performance from three-point range.
ing team than we showed," Williams said. "We're a good shooting team and we will shoot it better."
The root of the Jayhawks' three point woes was junior guard Jeff Boschee, who didn't hit a shot from long distance in three attempts. Not far behind was senior guard Luke Axtell, who went one-for-five from behind the arc.
"Jeff and Luke are good shooters," said Nick Collison, sophomore forward. "They just weren't on tonight. It's just a matter of getting the ball to the right person."
In the first half, Axtell atoned for his outside woes by tallying eleven points, but then scored only two points — on a dunk — in the second half. In that last frame, though, Collison stepped up and finished with a game-high 15 points.
That was the kind of balanced attack that Williams said he wanted to see all season.
Of course, balanced scoring is easy to come by when you snag almost twice as many rebounds as your opponent, which Kansas did last night. Chenowith led Kansas with 15 rebounds to go along with his 11 points, and sophomore forward Drew Gooden chipped in with 14 rebounds and 14 points.
"Balanced scoring is the best kind."
Williams said. "I like the fact we have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket."
More info
For more coverage of last night's
game:
See page 7A
For more photos:
See www.kansan.com
Kansas 98
Nebraska 80
The Jayhawks came out from all angles at the beginning of both halves, tallying a 14-2 run a little more than five minutes into the contest. At about the same point in the second half, Kansas used a 12-3 run — sparked by two Kenny Gregory gunks — and
erased all of the game's suspense.
Williams said the only problem he had with the second run was when Axell attempted a behind-
the back pass to Gregory. The pass was deflected by the All Stars' Nick Shepard, and Williams pulled Axtell to give him a tongue-lashing.
"I told him if he made that pass, then I'd be clapping along with everyone else," Williams said. "But I also said if you're man enough to try it, then you better be man enough to face the consequences."
Williams stressed after the game that last night was a glorified practice and that fans shouldn't take too much stock in what they saw.
The Jayhawks will have another home exhibition on Saturday night against Emporia State before starting their season in one week against UCLA in New York City.
Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
STATISTICS
KANSAS (98)
CALIFORNIA ALL-STARS (80)
Gooden 7.14 0 01 14, Gregson 7.12 0 10 14, Chenwiln 3
8 56 11, Hinnich 4.18 62, Biossher 2.90 4, Kinsey
1.40 0 03, Collison 7.12 1.1 15, Corder 0.0 00, Nash
0.1 2.22 4, Carey 0.4 04, Harrison 0.0 2, Attell 0.
12 0 10 3, Zerbe 12 0 0 2, Kappelman 0.0 0 0
Total: 41 86 14 16 98.
Simmons 15 6·8·8, Vogel 36 6·7·13, Cattar 4·8·5·13,
Baird 6·1·9 0.03, Price 2·1·1 0.24, Nestmann 1·1·0 0.03,
Weens 4·1·0 2·13, Holstam 0·2·0 0.0, Shepard 1·7·2
2·4. Total 22·63 24·29·8
Jayhawks expecting huge, hostile crowd
By Jason Franchuk
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas football coach Terry Allen will not have to look at Saturday's weather forecast for Lincoln, Neb., because it will not matter.
At least not the way Allen thought it did in last week's home loss to Texas Tech, when only 26,000 fans showed up at Memorial Stadium — a very generous estimate, at that. Allen noted that fans might have steered clear of Lawrence because of an apparent rain storm that was coming in from the west. That left most of Memorial Stadium's north bowl vacant, and Allen thought that played a role in the outcome of the game because there was no crowd noise to hinder Tech's attack.
But except for the Jayhawks deciding whether to wear short sleeves or long, Allen can be sure to skip the Weather Channel because there are a few certainties when traveling to play the Cornhuskers. It's going to be loud. It's going to be red. And weather will not keep the 73,198 seats in Nebraska's Memorial Stadium from being filled.
"I think it's a great place to play college football," Allen
said. "Their fans have great respect for the game."
Despite all the concern of not playing in front of big home crowds this year, the Jayhawks must now go on the road again. They have been there before but haven't had to deal with a crowd as big as the one anticipated for Saturday's 2:30 p.m. kick-off.
Senior quarterback Dylen Smith agreed. His job is even tougher because he will have to try to call plays and audibles above the noise created by Nebraska screamers. If Kansas falters, the crowd becomes exponentially tougher to handle. But Smith also likes the chance to prove that last year's narrow 24-17 loss to Nebraska at Memorial Stadium was not a fluke, and that Kansas can duplicate that effort away from home.
Allen said not much could be gained from playing in front of a big crowd if it wasn't your own.
He also has a sense of history. Growing up in California, he said he used to follow the Huskers
Kansas defenders Kyle Cerech and Andrew Davison tackle a Texas Tech opponent. The 'Hawks will take on a strong Nebraska team Saturday in Lincoln, Neb. Kansas file photo
"I think you want to play in that kind of atmosphere," Smith said.
Junior defensive lineman Chaz Murphy figured he would not feed off the emotion of the raucous red. Instead,
Kansas will have to try to gain satisfaction from silence. "I don't really get caught up in the fans." Murphy said. "But to win, we need to shut them down and make them feel down."
Soccer team loses to defending Big 12 champions
— Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
By Yoshitaka Ebisawa
The Kansas women's soccer team couldn't find the back of the net, but the sixth-year program surely found some hope for the future in previously uncharted territory.
Kansas, making its postseason debut, wasn't supposed to give any trouble to Nebraska in the opening game of the Big 12 Conference Tournament yesterday in San Antonio, Texas. But not only did the Jayhawks keep the defending champions scoreleast in the first half, but eighth-seeded Kansas also created some clear scoring chances to threaten the No. 3 team in the country. That was until the 53:59 mark, when Nebraska finally scored.
Nebraska 4
Kansas 0
It seemed that Kansas surrendered that
Kansas was eliminated from the Big 12 tourney.
"The problem was of the goals that we gave up," said Kansas coach Mark Francis. "I thought three of them were a bit soft. I was proud of them today and how we played, but we just did half the job."
moment. At the end, the scoreboard read 4-0 for the 'Huskers.
"We've got a lot of freshmen, sophomores and two juniors that are coming back next year." Francis said. "I think once you go to the first-class event, once you get experience being there, that makes you hungrier to come back."
The other half could be done next year.
"For seniors, it's nice to be able to make it in their last year and be able to play in the tournament." he said.
Francis said the first trip to the postseason tourney was meaningful for the senior players, who had worked hard to build the program.
Two of the Jayhawks' scoring chances were created by those seniors.
Senior forward Lindsey Horner found herself one-on-one with Nebraska goalie Karina LeBlanc, but could not pass the All-Big 12 second team netminder, who entered the game riding a scoreless streak of 175:44. Senior Colleen Colvin also had a chance in the second half, but her left-footed shot rolled into LeBlanca's arms at the top of the six-yard box.
Meanwhile, Nebraska forward Christine Latham capitalized on a Jayhawk miscommunication in the back about 14 minutes into the
second half Latham, Big 12 Player of the Year, won a bouncing loose ball between freshman goalkeeper Sarah Gonzalez and freshman Maggie Mason, who was playing defender for the first time this season, and put it into the Kansas goal.
"That kind of got the energy going," Latham said. "We started doing the things we knew we could do."
The rest of the game was a Nebraska scoring spree.
In the 66th minute, Latham scored her second goal of the game. Nebraska freshman Lindsey Greenwood added a goal in the 77th minute. The scoring spree ended with Nebraska freshman Christy Harms' goal in the 79th minute.
Kansas ended the year with a 7-11-2 overall record.
Sports Columnist
— Edited by Warisa Chulindra
Derek Prater
sports@kansan.com
New boxers bounce back to the arena
But boxing is back
It is, without doubt, the most maligned sport today.
it's brutal; it's barbaric; it's corrupt.
But boxing is back.
It may not have the popular appeal of the days when the whole world hung on every flick of Muhammed Ali's butterfly wings. And the heavy-weight championship of the world will never again be the most prestigious title in sports.
but boxing is out.
"The Prince," "Sugar." "Tito," "Ferocious," "The Golden Boy," the list goes on — they are young, talented, hungry fighters. And they're not afraid to put on a show.
This crop of fighters is restoring some much needed art to the sweet science.
They dance, they flip, they rap, but best of all, they got serious skills and they like to show them off.
And in the next several weeks, the renaissance will be in full swing.
It starts Saturday night on HBO when "Sugar" Shane Mosley makes his first defense of the WBC welterweight title he took from Oscar De La Hoya this summer.
Mosley, undefeated at 35-0, outlasted De La Hoya in a 12-round battle that, by many accounts, was the best title fight in years. Now, he faces the rather lightly regarded Antonio Diaz.
This bout doesn't promise a real competitive war, but Mosley is worth watching all by himself. A technically brilliant fighter, "Sugar" is one of the classiest, well-spoken and hardworking fighters in the game. And he also has good power, ending 32 of his victories with knockouts.
Fast-forward nine days to Nov. 11.
The big boys will take the stage as heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis faced David Tua.
But the best fight in the near future is set for Dec. 2 when Felix "Tito" Trimidad and "Ferocious" Fernando Vargas take the mat.
Both are undefeated and both bring junior middleweight titles to the fold — Trinidad's WBA belt and Vargas' IBF crown. Both are slick, polished fighters.
Some people discount Lewis' greatness as a champion by pointing to the overall weakness of today's heavyweight division.
But Lewis is a great fighter. His size is exceptional, his technique spectacular. He keeps smaller men at bay with a precise and punishing jab. Often, that's all he needs to do to win, and his critics content that he should be more offensive-minded.
The contrast in styles should make this the best heavyweight fight since Evander Holyfield shocked the world with his upset win against Mike Tyson.
Offense shouldn't be a problem when Lewis defends his WBC and IBF titles against "The Terminator" Tua. 37-1.
Tua is a fighter in the Mike Tyson mold — short, compact, with scary power. Tua constantly moves forward, trying to get inside and score that devastating blow.
Trinidad's impressive resume includes victories against Oscar De La Hova and Pernell Whitaker.
These three fights give just a sample of the talented boxers who are revitalizing the sport. Others include "The Prince" Naseem Hamed, Kostya Tszyu and Zab Judah.
Vargas is younger and less experienced, but he's loaded with talent and knockout power.
And, of course, there's the troubling but endlessly intriguing shadowy presence of "iron" Mike Tyson.
Tyson indicated he might retire after his easy, and surprisingly clean, 2-round win against Andrew Golota. But he was recently spotted at a Lennox Lewis workout.
Let's get ready to rumble.
Prater is a Lawrence graduate student in journalism.