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The University Daily Kansan
Pick up a Kansan every day next week for a piece of a Roy Williams poster.
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Sports
SEE PAGE 6A
Inside: Football/Basketball player Mario Kinsey will miss two to four weeks after leg surgery.
Inside: Unlike in previous years, Mets and Yankees players have little animosity toward one another this season.
SEE PAGE 6A
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2000 For comments, contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Coaches vote for Kansas as No.1 team in Big 12 poll
By Michael Rigg sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Kansas coach Roy Williams said last week that he expected his team to be picked to win the Big 12 Conference.
Yesterday, his peers agreed with him. For the second time in as many seasons, the Big 12 coaches picked Kansas to win the conference. The difference is that it's unanimous this time, as the Jayhawks accumulated 11 first-place votes to finish on top of the poll (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams).
Oklahoma was picked to finish second in the poll, while the Jayhawks' turnipke neighbor — Kansas State — rounded out the bottom. Missouri was tabbed to finish third, and reigning conference champion Iowa State was picked for fourth.
"We're pleased and honored to be chosen as the preseason selection to win the league," Williams said. "But we also realize that last year, Iowa State was picked No. 6, and they ended up winning. What you do out on the court is actually the only thing that matters."
The good news continued for Kansas yesterday as sophomore forwards Nick Collison and Drew Gooden both were named to the coaches' all-Big 12 first team. They were joined on the team by Iowa State's Jamal Tinsley, Missouri's Kareem Rush and Nebraska's Kimani Frietle.
Gooden's off-season work was probably one of the factors figuring into his selection.
sensation.
"I had a tremendous off-season," Gooden said. "Mentally, I learned a lot."
Williams also said he was satisfied with the honors given to Collison and Gooden.
"I'm very pleased that the coaches feel that Nick and Drew deserve this kind of recognition," Williams said. "It will be a challenge to them to work as hard as they can in the preseason and see if this comes to fruition at the end of the season, because, again, that's when it's most important."
Collison said he was ready for the challenge.
"I feel that I am a lot stronger this season, and I am trying to play a lot more physical than I was last year," he said. "I hope to be a better rebounder this season and contribute more at the defensive end of the floor. Offensively, I have been working on the outside shot and hope I can bring that to the table."
Gooden ranked second on the team with 10.6 points per game last season, while Collison was Kansas' third-leading scorer with 10.5 points per game and second-leading rebounder with 6.9 rebounds per game.
Collison also started all of the Jayhawks' games last season, with the exception of senior night.
Kansas opens its exhibition season on Wednesday, Nov. 1, against the California All-Stars.
- Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Senior outside hitter Sara Kidd saves the ball from a strong hit from the Oklahoma front line. The women's volleyball team defeated Oklahoma 3-0 last night at the Horejsi Family Athletic Center. Photo by Craig Bennett/KANSAN
'Hawks snap losing streak
Kansas disposes of Oklahoma in three games
By Sarah Warren sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswritetr
Little girls and assorted Kansas athletes waited outside the Kansas locker room last night, lining up for the autographs from a brand new Kansas volleyball team.
The Jayhawks shut out the Oklahoma Sooners 3-0 at the Horesei Family Athletic Center, snapping a five-game losing skid and handing the 6-12, 1-9 Sooners their sixth straight loss.
"It's a joyful relief," said coach Ray Bechard. "If you go a couple of weeks without that feeling, you begin to doubt yourself."
However, Kansas didn't do much doubting against Oklahoma, pounding out scores of 15-8, 15-11 and 15-5 in a little more than an hour and a half.
we executed our game plan really well." Bechard said. "Although there were a lot of broken plays, we managed to win the rallies."
"We had eight aces to their five," Bechard said. "I thought that was really important because they're ranked second in aces in the conference."
The game plan seemed to be quite simple shut down the Sooners at the serve. Oklahoma is ranked second in the Big 12 Conference in service aces, with sophomore defensive specialist Jessica Barney ranked second individually.
Barney didn't serve an ace all night.
However, Sooners' senior setter Carolyn Kittell was deadly behind the line, taking a match-high four aces. But Jayhawks' Jennifer Kraft, sophomore defensive specialist, and Danielle Geronymo, senior middle blocker, were close behind, acing three and two serves respectively.
Senior outside hitter Sara Kidd had her first start of the season, stepping in for freshman phenom Sarah Rome on the right side, recording 14 digs.
Kylie Thomas didn't start, but the sophomore middle blocker made her mark, downing eight kills and recording a. 467 hitting percentage, while Kansas' total hitting percentage was .263. Her play earned high-fives from Big Jay, and a pint-sized volleyball player asked for an autograph.
"Kidd's finally getting healthy, and so we wanted to put her in there," Bechard said. "And she did a good job. Fourteen kills is really good."
really help."
"We have to take advantage of the opportunities we're given, and if we do that, we could go to Colorado and get a win that would
Kylie Thomas middle blocker
"I think this was a great start for the rest of the season," Thomas said. "As far as we're concerned, this is an 11-game season, and that was our first win."
Next, Kansas 12-7, 3-7, faces game two of its revived season — a match against the Colorado Buffaloes at 7 p.m. Saturday in Boulder, Colo. When Kansas last met Colorado, it was in its first Big 12 match of the 2000 season on Sept. 13, and the 'Hawks pulled out a 3-2 home victory against the Buffaloes. They hope to do it again.
"We have to take advantage of the opportunities we're given," Thomas said. "And if we do that, we could go to Colorado and get a win that would really help."
Edited by Warisa Chulindra
Female kicker shouldn't place blame on Duke
When it comes to women athletes, I'm all about supporting them — we stick together.
I've been reporting in the male-dominated sports field for almost four years. I'm one of three women who filter into the football locker room every week, I was the only female reporter at the baseball games last season, and this year, I'm the only female columnist at the Kansan. I know what the stares mean and, yes, I do know the difference between a cornerback and a quarterback.
I write with the boys, so I can only imagine what it would be like to play with them. Kathy Ireland tried in Necessary Roughness, but recently two women tried to do it in real life. One even made it out to the sideline with pads on. The other received a healthy dividend for alleged discrimination.
First, there was Katie Hnida who, in 1999, became the second woman to dress for a Division I-A football game for Colorado. She wasn't asked to kick any PATs, as Colorado steamrolled Kansas, 51-17. But on Tuesday, Hnida asked to be released from the Buffaloes in order to find richer pastures to kick in. Everyone wins — for now.
But that all could change thanks to last week's ruling in the Heather Sue Mercer vs. Duke University case. Place-kicker Mercer went up against the big bad wolf and went home crying when she was cut after the team's year-end scrimmage. So she sued and was handsomely rewarded like Road Rules but with more crying and drama. Duke paid Mercer $1 for compensatory damages and the rest of $2 million just for being a mean old boy. That was wrong.
Mercer chose to compete in a male sport, so she should have known the biases she would face. She shouldn't have been surprised that she was left off the starting roster for either not being good enough or because she's a girl.
because he knows that it's not pro-feminist of me, but it's reality. Just as it's terrible that Michael Jordan doesn't play basketball anymore, it blows that women can't play on the same field as men right now.
That might change in the future, but Mercer shouldn't have been rewarded for a stereotype set in motion years ago. When she was cut, she should have practiced harder or transferred schools. She shouldn't have blamed Duke for society's standards.
While it ticks me off that I still get asked the stupid questions — "Do you actually write your own stories, or do you have a man do it for you?" — I accept it and move on. It's their problem, not mine. And maybe it's Duke's loss for not using Mercer in a game situation.
But don't sue and give men the satisfaction of winning — stick with it and stick it to them in the end. That's what I plan on doing.
Kaushube is a Flossmoor, Ill., senior in journalism.
Jayhawks look for home victory; bowl contention at stake
By Jason Franchuk sports@kanson.com Kanson sportwriter
By Jason Franchuk
At practice Tuesday, assistant coaches cailed the players who had gotten their machismo back after a 38-17 win at Missouri. Coach Terry Allen wandered toward his wife and three children, who were enjoying a picnic in the sunshine.
The Kansas football coaches continually call the players men at practice, but sometimes lessons meant for children can apply for big jayhawks, too.
As Allen approached, he noticed two of his children climbing on a blocking apparatus. He told them, "Be careful; Don't fall."
The same message applies to his football team, which is looking for another strong week of practice to keep its confidence high going into an important game at 11:30 a.m. Saturday against Colorado.
the lack of ambition after a landmark win, but Allen said he was pleased with the team's effort.
at 11:50 am. The hardest game for a team is usually the game it plays after a high-pressure game. There is the fear of a letdown and
Allen has a team rule — the 10 o'clock rule. Each player is allowed to savor a win until 10 a.m. Monday, but then it's on the challenge that lies ahead. The Jayhawks still pucker at last year's sour 51-17 loss to Colorado, which is 1-5 this season. The game was Kansas' Big 12 Conference opener, but more importantly, it was supposed to be an opportunity for Kansas to prove that it could compete in the Big 12 Conference.
"It's pretty good," Allen said. "The kids are trying to stay at the same level of focus."
"Last year they outcoached us, outplayed us, out-everythinged us," Allen said.
Colorado and Kansas' seasons have enjoyed one major similarity so far. Two weeks ago, Colorado faced a must-win, desperation game at Texas A&M, and Kansas' game at Missouri last week
Colorado, however, returned home last week and lost to Texas. Unlike Colorado, the Jayhawks still are in bowl contention at 3-3 and cannot afford the same fate of returning home to lose.
Ted hung home to rook.
"This game is even bigger than the Missouri game," said senior quarterback Dylen Smith. "I think there's more at stake for us to win this game. We're at home, it's homecoming and we have a chance to go to a bowl."
earned must-win desperation status.
Both teams won their games.
Of course, Allen was the first to admit that if Kansas did not win last week, all of this bowl talk would be a moot point. The tricks the Jayhawks tried last week worked, though. Allen's players practiced an extra day. Sessions were longer and harder. This week he has cut back some, saying his team has gotten the message.
"Fortunately, with the victory last week we think we're getting better," Allen said. Edited by Writer Chilngra
The Jayhawks prepare in practice to face the Buffaloes at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The game will be the 'Hawks only televised game this season. Photo by Melissa Carr/KANSAN.
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