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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, SEPT 12, 2001
Commentary
Michael Rigg Columnist sportskansan.com
Cancellations keep focus on tragedy
On Monday night, one of my heroes broke his leg.
The Olympic Games, which have always been as much about politics as sports, announced that a higher level of security would be necessary for this winter's games in Salt Lake City.
Tough, all-around good guy, and all-pro wide receiver Ed McCaffrey of the Denver Broncos had his season ended in the third quarter of Monday night's Broncos-Giants game. I couldn't help but be devastated by the injury. Here was a guy who got hit hard seemingly every play but still got up, and there he was, lying on the turf. his career in jeopardy.
I knew Monday night that McCafrefrey wouldn't play this weekend. I found out yesterday that nobody else might, either.
In response to yesterday's nationwide tragedy, the National Football League announced it was considering postponing all games this weekend. The NFL never postpones games. It played on through World War II and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It's a resilient league that takes on a "and the band played on" attitude that—at some times—seem endearing to us.
But that really puts this whole attack into perspective. The Major League Baseball slate for last night was canceled as well for the first time since the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944.
As always, the time line of sports mirrors the time line of history. But this time, it's different. Will we ever be innocent and carefree again?
Will we feel safe next time we file into Memorial Stadium with airplanes flying over our heads? Will I feel safe the next time I jump on an airplane to cover some nameless sporting event in yet another college town? Will we ever again care as much about Terry Allen's play calling? Or stolen credit cards?
Yesterday, the decisions of league commissioners to cancel games put life into perspective. The powers that be in athletics sent the message that they don't feel safe in their own back yards.
And I can guarantee you one thing: A broken leg will never again be a big deal.
Ten years ago, terrorists reportedly targeted Super Bowl XXV as a possible bombing site. At that time, America was in the midst of the Persian Gulf War — and a bad ego problem.
But in some ways, sports fixed that situation. Whitney Houston delivered the best rendition of The Star Spangled Banner on record, every fan in the stadium was given an American flag and a classic football game. After the game, all seemed well in America.
After Super Bowl XXV, sports once again mirrored history. For the next 10 years, what had been a bust boomed, and a $10 million contract didn't seem like that big of a deal anymore. People loved sports and loved America.
Rigg is a Greenwood Village, Colo. senior in broadcast news.
Now, I can guarantee you one thing: That will never be the same again, at least not in my lifetime. The current group of college-aged students have never had to deal with national threats. We had that "it will never happen to us" attitude.
Now, that boom will again become a bust. Innocence will be lost, all because of what happened on a seemingly innocent Tuesday in September.
Football players charged, will still play
Kinsey, Duncan will appear in court Oct.10
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
Kansas sophomore running back Reggie Duncan and freshman quarterback Mario Kinsey have been charged in a June 12 purse theft, Douglas County District Attorney Christine Kenney said yesterday.
All charges filed against the two athletes were misdemeanors.
Duncan was charged with theft and one count of criminal use of a financial card. Kinsey was charged with theft and two counts of criminal use of a financial card.
Duncan and Kinsey, who
were suspended for the Sept. 1 seas on opener, have been issued summons to appear in court Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 3 p.m.
DUNCAN
KU football coach Terry Allen said both would play Saturday. Both players practiced yesterday. Duncan is expected to start at running back, while Kinsey will share time at quarterback with sophomore Zach Dyer.
Allen said both players had served their punishment, but he would not comment on the recent charges.
"From a legal standpoint,
there's nothing to comment about," he said. "We did what we did."
Three months ago, Lindsay Douglass.
Chesterfield, Mo., senior, left her purse next to a bench outside Bailey Hall. She said she accidentally forgot to take her purse when she returned to her communications class. When she went back to retrieve it, the purse was gone.
KINSEY
Douglas said she contacted her credit card companies before calling the KU Public Safety Office. She said about five minutes after the purse was stolen, a $30 order to
Domino's Pizza, 832 Iowa St., had been placed on her VISA card. Also, another transaction was made on a different card at a gas station, she said.
Domino's gave Douglas the address and phone number of the place where the order was made. She then called KU Public Safety officer Jeffrey Neavitt, who went directly to the Jayhawker Towers address provided by Domino's. Douglas did not know who had stolen her purse until she received a phone call from Neavitt at about 9 p.m.
"The police called me on my cell phone while I was at the Royals game," Douglas said. "I had an idea that the guys who stole my purse were football players because of the address. The police told me that they went to their apartment and they had my credit cards on
them."
Douglas said KU Public Safety officers told her Kinsey and Duncan had thrown her purse in the sewer.
She said the police showed her pictures of the two men who had her credit cards and she recognized Duncan and Kinsey because she had seen them at Bailey earlier that morning.
Yesterday, Douglas was informed by one of her roommates that the charges had been filed. She said she was relieved the process had ended.
"I'm glad that it's finally coming to a close," she said. "Hopefully something can be learned from this."
More bodies on the line, more yards on the ground
Contact Denton at 864-4810
Bigger blockers could spur extra rushing yards
By Jeff Denton Kansas sportswriter
Attempting to develop a running game that has stumbled in its first two games of the season, the Jayhawks displayed a heavier twist to their new-look offense at yesterday's practice.
kansas frequently lined up in an offensive formation with a fullback in front of the lone running back and two tight ends on the line of scrimmage. With the insertion of junior tight end David Hurst, the
offensive line suddenly gets 260 pounds bigger. With the insertion of junior fullback Mitchell Scott, the backfield gains 240 pounds. Kansas offensive players hope that more beef and more bodies can boost its running game.
"It's another phase of offense," said the 6-foot-3 Hurst. "Having an extra man on the line would even up the size, and then from there you could work different things off from that. Our running game should be a lot better than it was last week. Two yards a carry isn't going to get the job done."
Last week, the running game was negated by the
UCLA defense. Quarterback Mario Kiney led the team in rushing yards with 50, but 24 of those came on a scamper in the third quarter when the Bruins had begun to rest many of their starters. Starting running back Reggie Duncan managed just 16 yards all game. Half of his carries came on draw runs from the shotgun formation.
"I don't think it's really a
By the time quarterback Zach Dyer or Kinsey handed the ball off, Duncan was trapped in the backfield. Dyer thought by switching it up, the offense and the running game could prosper. But he said that the shotgun would still be the heart of the offense.
change, just a couple of different sets," Dyer said. "It's really nothing too new. We still have everything we used to have, but we just have a few different looks to possibly help us out with the running game."
Dyer also said that the offensive line would have more of a burst in the two-tight end and fullback formation.
"The offensive line wants to be able to fire off the ball," Dyer said. "If we bring in two tight ends and a fullback, they would be able to get off the ball from a three-point stance."
From a shotgun formation, every lineman but center Nick Smith crouches down with his hands by his side in anticipation of the silent snap count.
Hurst just hoped that the offense could find the right niche to produce better results.
"Right now we're not where we need to be," he said. "When we find the right formula to win games, we'll stick with that."
Coach Terry Allen said his offense could easily feature both shotgun and two-tight end looks early in Saturday's game against Wyoming.
"We're looking at different things," Allen said. "We really don't have anything specific to which way we are going to go."
Contact Denton at 864-4810
Men's golf to focus on putting
Bv John Domonev
Kansan sportswriter
Golf is a sport full of catchy phrases and often has a jargon of its own. Nothing means more to true golfers, however, than the classic golf line: Drive for show, putt for dough.
The Kansas men's and women's golf teams don't play for dough, but in an age where distance is being ruled out because every competitive golfer can hit the ball a long distance, putting is put at even more of a premium when coveting success.
The ability to correctly read and stroke every putt on undulating and slippery greens separates the normal weekend hacker from the truly polished golfer.
Greg Norman was a true ballstriker in his prime, but he always choked under the pressure on the green at professional golf's majors. Kansas City legend Tom Watson made his name on striking key putts in tournaments, but was often remembered for his nagging inability to make short putts in the later years of his career on the PGA Tour.
Then there was Jack Nicklaus, who became a golfing icon for how he mixed his amazing
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LE WILSON/KANSAN
Chris Marshall, Stanley junior, practices sand shots at Alvamar Country Club's golf course. Sand shots are an important component of a good short game.
Women celebrate success on the golf course
After a trip to Myrtle Beach, Jayhawks relax and consider weekend play
By John Domoney Kansan sportswriter
Yesterday was a day of rest for the Kansas women's golf team. The Jayhawks, recuperating from its trip this past weekend to Myrtle Beach, S.C., didn't practice.
The team also used its day off to consider its performance at the Unlimited Potential/Bay Tree Classic.
Although the 14th-place finish at the tournament doesn't seem too impressive, the team was pleased as it finished ahead of 17 teams in the field with a combined score of 966. The Jayhawks nearly missed finishing higher as they were only five strokes behind 11th place finisher Southern Mississippi that shot a combined 961.
as far as the first tournament of the fall was concerned, head coach Nicole Hollingsworth said she was impressed with her team's performance.
"I don't see it as a disappointment at all." Hollingsworth said. "When you beat 17 teams, it's a good start. If we could have shot a little better score on Sunday, it would have been a lot better."
The usually sunny Myrtle Beach didn't greet Kansas warmly as the skies dumped 12 inches of rain on the area last week before the tournament. The abundant rainfall caused the tournament to be played at the green course of the Bay Tree Golf Plantation instead of the silver course, which was originally scheduled.
This abrupt change in location had Hollingsworth convinced that her team was denied an advantage it would have enloved.
"We felt we had an advantage going in because four out of five players had a minimum of six rounds on the course," Hollingsworth said. "It was a huge disadvantage on our part, and it was a much tougher course."
Tougher course or not, Kansas still put together solid
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