INSIDE: Bonds' homerun chase hindered by halt on games. SEE PAGE 3B INSIDE: Race car driver loses both legs in crash. SEE PAGE 5B
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SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
1B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2001
Commentary
Michael Rigg
Sports columnist
sportsa kansan.com
Sports help divert mind from terror
LAURIE SISK/KANSAN
But if you were like me, the sports page was your daily Bible — full of stories, facts, stats and just about anything else you need to get through the day.
Sarah Rome, sophomore outside hitter, goes up for the ball during recent play. The Jayhawks match up against the University of Missouri, Kansas City, tonight.
It may have been a page you passed on before, or one in which you took a passing interest.
For the past six days, the sports page was transformed. Instead of sports, we got thousands of those generic "sports are meaningless in the grand scheme" columns, or "athletes aren't the country's real heroes" diatribes.
Today, those "meaningless" sports featuring fictional" heroes return. Major League Baseball resumes, as does a regular week of practice for football teams across the land.
But while sports return, our country does not, as thousands of bodies buried in the wreckage of the World Trade Center could foreshadow years of war.
But I ask you, please, do yourself a favor. Occasionally push the world's troubles to the back of your mind, and submerge yourself into sports — maybe even deeper than before. In this time of crisis, allow the sports page to become your daily diversion.
Scratch your head at Terry Allen's play-calling and home loss to UCLA, then watch in amazement as he pats you on the back on his way out of the stadium and thanks you for coming.
AFTER TIME OFF
Pile into Allen Fieldhouse, peer at the rafters, and realize that you are in college basketball heaven.
Don't worry about having a losing football team — for once — and just enjoy the amazing spectacle that is college football.
Admire the true athletic abilities of Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden and Nick Collison, and debate both their spots in Jayhawk history and their NBA draft positions.
Ponder why Roy Williams recruited three guards last season and just one post player, especially after watching his team get pushed out of the NCAA tournament by Illinois.
Frown when you see that Barry Bonds is on pace to break Mark McGwire's record for home runs in a season. Smile when he finally fails.
Get upset about the facilities at Kansas. Become livid about the soccer team with the waterlogged field, the softball team with the Tuff-Shed dugouts and the rowing team without a boathouse.
Root for more than your favorite team.
Root for the underdogs, like Fresno State and Gonzaga. Root for the good people, like Colorado running back Marcus Houston, who has his own charity, and St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, who is a fairy tale come to life.
Travel to road games. Wear the school colors, eat at the local restaurants, admire the scenery and realize how good we have it right here in Lawrence.
Get caught up in the rivalries. Tear down the goal posts when Kansas beats Missouri, no matter how bad the Tigers are. Paint in crimson and blue the large "KS" in the Flint Hills overlooking Manhattan, Kan., no matter how bad the Jayhawks are.
Save your good taunts for the football players from Oklahoma or Nebraska, or basketball players from Kansas State. Because—trust me—nothing is funnier than heckling a football player who is drilling your team, or anybody attending Kansas State by choice.
Rigg is a Greenwood Village, Colo. senior in broadcast news.
Most importantly, lose yourself in the sports page every day. As the war escalates and the casualties mount, you'll realize how meaningful the escape of sports really is.
Volleyball team set to face Kangaroos
'Hawks hope to maintain momentum they gained before cancellations
By Steve Laurenzo Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas volleyball team will be the first University sports team to resume regular play tonight after last week's cancellations due to the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
The Jayhawks match up against the Karangaroos of the University of Missouri, Kansas City, tonight at the Swinney Gymnasium in Kansas City, Mo. The contest comes after the team missed two Big 12 Conference games, a home game against Missouri on
Wednesday and an away game against Baylor on Saturday. The missed games have not yet been rescheduled.
Bechard:says rescheduling will be difficult
"We end our conference play on Saturday, the selection Sunday is the next day, and the following week, the NCAA tournament starts on that Thursday," Bechard said. "Everyone has a bye week during the Big 12 season, but every team's bye week is different. There's going to have to be some creative scheduling to make up two matches during the conference schedule."
Senior setter Molly LaMere said the team didn't view the delay as an inconvenience.
"We realize it's a tragedy," LaMere said. "We're really looking at it as a time to reflect, rather than worrying about insignificant things like sports."
Bechard agreed but said he hoped the team's energy would carry through the break.
"We were playing really well," he said. "We had a good start and we wanted to carry some of that momentum into last week. But, obviously things happen. We feel good about having an opportunity to play and compete as a team and still be together."
"We've used the week to train hard and break things back down, and hopefully do some good things," Bechard
Bechard said the team had maintained a regular practice schedule during the week to maintain that momentum through the lull.
"We're really looking at it as a time to reflect, rather than worrying about insignificant things like sports."
said.
Molly LaMere Senior setter
UMKC is 1-6 this season. The team's only win came against Morgan State in a five-game nail-biter. The Kangaroos have lost to Fresno State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Sacramento State, Louisville, Illinois State and Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
"They're very young but very athletic, and they're very excited about this year," Bechard said. "They scheduled pretty tough early and had some difficult matches, but I think they'll be very excited to play the Kansas Jayhawks on their home court."
Beachard said his team would have to play a solid game tonight, regardless of UMKC's record or the fact that Kansas has won all seven of the previous matches between the Jayhawks and Kangaroos.
"I think UMKC is pretty balanced," he said. "I know they've got some good middle offense and some good right side blocking. So it'll have to be a balanced effort."
Contact Laurenzo at 864-4810
Recruiting efforts are halted by attacks
By Ryan Malashock Kansan sportswriter
The halt of air travel nationwide last week caused Kansas coaches Roy Williams and Neil Dougherty to alter their recruiting plans.
Williams and Dougherty were both in Los Angeles at the time of Tuesday's attacks, having spent the night before at an in-home visit with prospect Hassan Adams.
1ne coaches planned to fly out of Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, to conduct an in-home visit with prospect Brad Buckman.
All airports in the United States were closed Wednesday, so Williams decided to drive to Las Vegas to take a direct flight to Texas.
Mitch Germann, assistant sports information director for men's basketball, said Williams tried to take a flight Thursday out of Las Vegas, but could not.
However, Williams was able to get back to Lawrence on Friday to reschedule in-home visits.
Adams' high school assistant coach, Marlin Morton, told alliance-sports.com that Adams was impressed with Kansas' presentation on the night of Sept. 10.
"His visit with Coach Williams went well," Morton said. "Williams is a very professional coach, and he had good information and was very honest. Hassan likes him a lot. Kansas is a place he would be comfortable playing at."
On the other end of recruiting process, prospect Bernard Cote canceled his scheduled visit to Lawrence for this past weekend.
The 6-foot-9 power forward from Montreal said he would most likely reschedule for another visit so he could compare Kansas to the only other school he had visited — Kentucky.
"I am really looking forward to getting there," Cote said of Kansas. "I am anxious to compare my visit to Kentucky. I can't wait to get there."
Chenowith Close to Attack
Former Kansas center Eric Chenowith was less than a mile from the World Trade Center at the time of Tuesday morning's attack.
Chenowith, who is attempting to make the New York Knicks' roster, was making an appearance for the Knicks at the Pfizer Building, less than 10 blocks away.
Contact Malashock at 864-4810
Loss of game costs Kansas $340,000
Making up lost TV contract will depend on team's success this season
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
Kansas, like the rest of the Division I teams in college football, refrained from playing this weekend to honor the victims of last week's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
Though Allen Bohl, Kansas athletics director, insisted the cancellation had nothing to do with money, paying respect came with a price.
"Finances has never been a part of the decision," Bohl said.
However, Kansas' third game of the season was scheduled to air regionally on Fox Sports Net. The 11:38 a.m.
game, which would have been Kansas' second consecutive appearance on television, would have brought in $340,000 for the University, said Doug Vance, sports information director.
Vance said the game would likely be rescheduled toward the end of the regular season. Securing a television slot for a November game would be more difficult, he said.
"There is the potential loss of TV revenue," Vance said. "It's a game we plan on adding, but the TV thing is up in the air. The Big 12 makes televising decisions based on how the teams are playing at that particular point."
Janay Leddy, assistant sports information director, said that after the first three games of the season, televised games were announced 12 days in advance. The Big 12 would feature two
teams that were winning and producing exciting football, she said.
Saturday's game at Colorado will not be televised. After a bye week Sept. 29 Kansas will match up with Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 6.
If the Jayhawks had won this weekend in a televised game, it could have lifted the morale of Kansas fans before the Jayhawks, 1-1, begin a brutal Big 12 schedule.
After Texas Tech, the heart of the Kansas' tough schedule begins. Between Oct. 13 and Nov. 10, Kansas will compete with four teams — Oklahoma, Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas— who are now among the top 12 in the country. Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas are clumped together in the top six nationally.
Kansas could potentially see its
Vance also said that although a television reschedule is uncertain, fans who had tickets for Saturday's game could use the same tickets for the rescheduled Wyoming game.
record plummet against these nationally-ranked teams. The amount of television appeal the Jayhawks will have at the end of the season is as unknown as what their record will be after Nov. 17, which is when Vance said the rescheduled game with Wyoming would most likely take place.
He said he did not know how many single-game tickets were sold, but said that ticket sales for the game had slumped after Tuesday. A final sales number will be announced later this week, he said.
Contact Denton at 864-4810