The University Daily Kansan
Yesterday in sports
Sports
The U.S. baseball team pulled off an improbable 4-0 upset against Cuba, winning the Olympic gold medal.
Inside: The women's basketball team will have to replace guard Jennifer Jackson at the season's end.
SEE PAGE 6A
Inside: Senior Charlie Gruber will return to the men's cross country team at a meet on Saturday.
SEE PAGE 6A
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2000 For comments, contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Fans won't see Jayhawks on television
Kansas running back Moran Norris tries to break a tackle to gain extra yards in a 42-0 win against Southern Illinois Saturday. Jayhawk fans will not be able to see Norris this weekend without making the drive to Norman, Okla., because Kansas has not received any television promotions from the networks this season. File photo
By Jason Franchuk
sports@kansan.com
Kansas writer/scribe
being on it. That starts by winning."
Regardless of outcome Kansas needs som
The Jayhawks seem resigned to the lack of publicity. There is some timidness about the Oklahoma game in particular because Kansas has not fared well on the road.
"We're never on TV," said wide receiver Teraine Fulton. "Even when I was being recruited, Kansas was never on TV. We have to go out and prove we're worthy of
No sports bar will offer Moran Norris' brother any solace Saturday. No amount of perusing through the TV Guide will change the fact that the Kansas football team is a pilot episode.
But as Kansas has struggled and given the impression of an unthreatening, unranked team, the 2-1 Jayhawks have warded off television honchos who set the Big 12 Conference television schedule. Those who want to stay in Lawrence and catch a score will have to watch another game and wait for the ticker — the blurb that runs across the bottom of television screens during broadcasts.
"My brother normally goes to one of the local bars, or somewhere with a satellite dish. to watch me play," said Norris, Kansas' senior running back. "I wish he could do that for this game."
See PLAYERS on page GA
It's had three auditions so far, but getting on the TV line-up is tough.
"We know we're not on TV, but we can't worry about that," said Kansas senior safety Carl Neismith. "We just want to give a good performance so that when people are watching other games looking for our score, hopefully we'll be giving a them a good game."
Kansas will not be on the tube for Saturday's 2 p.m. game at Oklahoma, and those who make the schedules have booted the idea of showing Kansas anytime soon. Despite a respectable showing against Nebraska on Fox Sports Net last year, that moment did not carry over to excite potential networks this year, to the dismay of Athletics Director Bob Frederick.
When Kansas plays at Oklahoma, the Norris clan, just like everyone else who is not in Norman, will be forced to watch another football game.
"I thought it might help," Frederick said of last year's 24-17 nail-biter against Nebraska. "But for our fans' sake, I wish Kansas / Kansas State was picked up."
While the Sunflower Showdown may intrigue local viewers, it would carry little weight nationally compared with what else the Big 12 has to offer that day. Texas-Oklahoma, a traditional ABC telecast, will be shown instead. No. 1 Nebraska against Iowa State will follow.
Canadian midfielder proves to be intense competitor
By Yoshitaka Ebisawa sports@kansan.com Kansan.sportswriter
She didn't stop running.
During a preseason exhibition match against Baker University Aug. 19, freshman forward Maggie Mason received an illegal tackle from a Baker defender and was pulled down to the ground. A while later, she got up with an injured knee and limped off the field.
But as soon as she crossed the sideline, Mason started running along the field instead of resting on the bench.
Even without the fear, she wouldn't have stopped running.
"I figured if I stopped running, then it'll seize up," Mason said. "So I kept running, not to let it cool down."
Mason, an Elmira, Ontario, native, is a midfielder on the Kansas women's soccer team. Regardless of whether it's a game or a practice, she moves almost perpetually, covering a lot of space in the midfield.
"I like working with players that work hard for each other
and work hard all the time on the field regardless of the score," she said. "I always try to run hard. That's always been my philosophy."
Kansas coach Mark Francis said Mason was an intense competitor.
"Even if things are not going well for Maggie, she still gives 100 percent," Francis said. "She gets in, knocks people around, and is not afraid to get stuck in. I think that can be contagious for the other players."
Her philosophy was developed during her childhood. Mason's parents, particularly her father, taught her to set a goal and work hard to achieve it, she said.
"If people missed the ball and gave up, we both had that attitude that we got angry." Mason said.
She launched her soccer career when she was 3 years old and played on a boy's team from ages 9 to 16 as a goalie. Even against bigger and quicker male foes, she wasn't intimidated. Instead, she tried to prove that a girl could play by making fine saves and shuting
out opponents.
"I've always been a competitor," she said. "But it's never been much competition because the town I came from is so small."
Looking for a higher level of competition, she joined a girls' team in a bigger city at age 16 and switched positions from goale to forward.
But because of Kansas coach Mark Francis' enthusiasm and her desire to compete at the college level, Mason decided to come to Kansas.
"The coaches are amazing," the 5-foot-four midfielder said. "We get along. We understand. If I'm having a bad day, they know how to push me to work harder. I'm having a great time this season. The team's working together a lot more. I really
Her quest for competitions continued. She played on a club team, and led the team to the national championship in 1999. After graduating from Elmira District Secondary School, Mason played with the Toronto Inferno in the semi-professional women league in Canada earlier this summer.
like the decision I made."
Mason's next goal is to play on Canada's women's national team.
She tasted at least a part of it this summer when she trained with the Canadian national team for three days before a friendly match with the United States on Aug. 20 in Kansas City, Mo.
She said playing with the talented players, as well as being trained by Neil Turnball, the head coach who led Norway to compete in the World Cup, was a great experience.
Mason said she would like to compete in the 2002 Olympics in Greece as a representative of her home country.
"He just has so much knowledge of the game," she said. "It's something that Canadians have never really seen before."
Until then, the hard-working Canadian won't stop running toward the goal.
"But I have to step up my
girl," she said. "I have so
much to learn before I can
make that team."
— Edited by Warisa Chulindra
Freshman midfielder Maggie Mason, left, battles for the ball during the Jayhawks' 1-0 victory against Oklahoma State on Sunday at the Olathe District Activities Complex. The Elmira, Ontario, native joined Kansas this fall and has registered two goals so far this season. Photo by Aaron Linburg/KANSAN
Recruits reluctant in deciding which college teams to join
By Michael Riaa
Kansan sportswriter
sports@kansan.com
After years of recruiting and visits from the top college coaches in America, Jamal Sampson has decided his top two college choices are ... California-Berkeley and St. Louis?
Sampson, a 6-foot-11 center from Santa Ana, Calif., told Dave Telep of Rivals100hoops.com that the two schools had moved ahead of the University of Kansas.
"Right now, it's probably California and Saint Louis," Sampson said.
Sampson told the Web site that although he liked Kansas, he was concerned with the number of post players in the Jayhawk program — even though Kansas will be without a true center when Eric Chenowith departs after this season.
The report stated that Sampson had dropped Connecticut from his list just two weeks after visiting the UConn campus.
He has a visit this weekend at Saint Louis and will head to Kansas for Late Night with Roy Williams Friday, Oct. 13.
Another west coast Kansas recruit — 6-foot point guard Aaron Miles of Portland, Ore. — doesn't seem close to making a decision either.
Miles visited Oregon last weekend, but still is considering Arizona, Kansas and UCLA.
"It's back and forth. It's a different school all the time."
Aaron Miles
Kansas basketball recruit
"It's back and forth," Miles told Telep. "It's a different school all the time."
Miles said he enjoyed his visit to Oregon and admitted that the distance from home could play a factor in his decision.
"I think about that a lot." Miles said.
"While the Sampson and Miles doors
inch closer to closing, another door is creeping open. Keith Langford, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Crowley, Tex., said Kansas had joined his list of college possibilities.
Langford gave a verbal commitment to Mississippi in June, but said his commitment was no longer firm. He now is looking at Oklahoma and Kansas.
"The last month I was kind of thinking some things over, and some schools got interested that I didn't think would get interested," Langford said. "Oklahoma has offered (a scholarship) and Kansas would offer if I recant."
— Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Golf team wins Kansas Invitational; seven 'Hawks finish within top 10 places
By Karen Donnelly sports@kansan.com Special to the Kansan
Monday's rounds of 296 and 280 followed by Tuesday's rounds of 280 and 285 enabled the Jayhawks to finish the best of the 13 teams. The team scored 3 under par, which showed much improvement from last week.
Trenching through the wet greens, the Kansas men's golf team built a 31-stroke victory against Missouri and placed seven Jayhawks in the top 10 of the Kansas Invitational. Kansas won the two-day, 54-hole Invitational Tuesday at Alvamar Golf Club.
"The team has a theory," said sophomore Chris Marshall. "Why go to a tournament if you're not going to win?"
Marshall placed second, followed by senior Andy Stewart who placed fourth, senior Conrad Roberts who finished sixth and junior Casey Harbour who placed seventh. A three-way tie for ninth place added three more Jayhawks — freshman Travis Hurst, senior Jim Gates and freshman Tyler Hall, who made his freshman debut.
The par-72 Alvamar Golf Club gave Kansas the home-course advantage. The damp grounds, however, made golf a little more difficult for the men.
"Weather was fair to good, but the course played long and hard because it was so wet," Marshall said.
Although the morning felt cold and damp, the afternoon turned warmer and gave the golfers a perfect fall tournament, said coach Ross Randall.
"I was very pleased with the overall steadiness of the team," Randall said. "We have a lot of depth, which will help us a lot."
the next tournament for the Jayhawks will be the Purina Missouri Bluffs Classic Oct. 9 to 10 in St. Charles, Mo. Last year, the men's golf team won the 17-team tournament.
With three tournaments down, the men's golf team will take a break until its last two tournaments of the fall season.
The team's final tournament will be the Nelson-Stanford Invitational Oct. 27-29 in California.
- Edited by Warisa Chulindra
So when the Jayhawks, who lost the first game 15-8, rallied for a 15-1 secondgame win, the Bears knew they didn't want another case of deja vu.
Kansas, 11-3 and 2-3, fell to the Bears in the third game, 15-6, but then edged out a fourth-game squeaker. 17-15. That ushered in the need for a fifth game.
Baylor, 8-5 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12 Conference, had lost its previous two matches against Texas and Missouri when play extended into five games.
The fifth game is played with rally scoring, in which the team that makes the kill or causes the opponent's error records the point, no matter who is serving. The Jayhawks, who won their only five-game match of the season Sept. 13 against Colorado, fell to the Bears. 15-8.
The Baylor Bears defeated the Kansas volleyball team last night at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. 3-2.
Although the Jayhawks lost the match, the game-two win gave them their first victory at the Ferrell Center since 1997.
Volleyball team falls to Baylor in extended play
The 15-1 Kansas victory in game two also proved to be Baylor's worst loss since dropping a 15-0 decision in 1998 against 16th-ranked Arkansas.
Kansas will face another Big 12 foe at 7 p.m. Saturday when Texas Tech comes to the Horejsi Family Athletic Center.
Sarah Warren
Edited by Shawn Nutchinson