INSIDE: Volleyball prepares for play in Charlotte, N.C. SEE PAGE 5A. Inside: Rugby team to play host to dinner. SEE PAGE 5A.
6A
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2001
Football team hit by off-field troubles for three long years
The more things change around here, the more they stay the same.
This Jayhawk football season was going to be different. There were the seven new assistant coaches. There was new Kansas athletics director Allen Bohl. There are supposed to be fans, even if bribes like alcohol during tailgating are necessary.
But when it comes down to it, the Jayhawks will start this season in the same flimsy fashion that they started the last two; with key players watching from the side-line because of an off-the-field incident.
Commentary
Michael Rigg
Sports Columnist
sportskanans.com
Two years ago, three Jayhawks didn't play when Kansas received a 48-13 thrashing against Notre Dame. Last season, preseason All-American safety Carl Nesmith watched the Southern Methodist game from the sidelines, a 51-17 embarrassment.
Now, there's the latest round, where quarterback Mario Kinsey and starting running back Reggie Duncan will miss Saturday's season opener for an "unspecified violation of team rules." Allen refused to disclose any information about the latest suspension, but both are under investigation by the KU Public Safety Office for stealing a purse and making purchases with a stolen credit card.
Seemingly every opener, a Jayhawk sits out. Every opener Kansas looks unimpressive on the field. Every opener, the Jayhawks lose more fans because certain members of the team need Allen to put them on a leash. In a program so lacking for an identity, the only defining traits are mediocre football and even worse behavior.
But Allen — the embattled captain of the Jayhawk ship — refuses to shoulder any of the blame for his program's tarnished state. Instead, he blames it on an apparent nationwide discipline deficiency.
"You worry about the image," Allen said. "But if you look around the country, we have a discipline problem today."
Allen may be right about the national phenomenon. Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Bryant was busted for using a stolen credit card to purchase airline tickets, but he won't miss any playing time. Nebraska I-back Dahrran Diedrick missed last week's game against Texas Christian because of his role in an off-campus altercation.
Yes, other programs have their share of problems. But why does it keep happening at Kansas?
Ideally, you would have liked to have seen Allen tighten the reigns after former defensive lineman Dion Rayford wedged himself into a Taco Bell window chasing a missing chalupa. The national headlines Rayford made should have made Allen create a "zero-tolerance" policy. Instead, all we got were more suspensions and embarrassments, not to mention some pretty funny chalupa jokes.
Perhaps Allen is too nice and desperate to make sure the off-the-field incidents stop, despite his disciplinarian spin on the latest suspension.
"People have to understand that we're going to stand up for what's right," Allen said.
But it's too bad that didn't happen sooner, which could have saved a third year of the same old story.
Rigg is a Greenwood Village, Colo., senior in broadcast news
Players suspected in theft
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas football players suspended for this Saturday's home game for breaking "unspecified team rules," were identified as suspects in a June 12 pursue snatching, said Christine Kenney, Douglas County district attorney
Mario Kinsey, left, and Reggie Duncan both are suspended from Saturday's opening game.
The players were identified as running back Reggie Duncan and quarterback Mario Kinsey.
A KU Public Safety Office crime log confirmed that between 10:25 and 10:40 a.m. June 12, a purse was stolen outside Bailey Hall, 1440 Jayhawk Blvd.
The stolen items in the puse and the puse were valued at $191.84, including a purchase made with a credit card.
Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office could not
comment on the incident because he had already sent reports to the district attorney's office. Officers are restricted from speaking about a case once it has been filed with the district attorney's office, Bailey said.
Kenney said she will meet with the victim, identified as Lindsay Douglas, Chesterfield, Mo., senior, to determine whether to file
"I want to sit down and meet with her before we decide whether or not to proceed," Kenney said.
charges.
Douglas could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The suspensions were announced at a team meeting last weekend. Coach Terry Allen said on his radio show Monday that the suspension stemmed from an incident this summer, but he did not say when he informed the athletes that they would begin the season suspended.
Last season, defensive back Carl Nesmith was suspended hours before the season's opener against Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
"The timing of the suspension was a negative situation for our
football team," Allen said of Nesmith's suspension.
Allen said he wanted his team to be prepared for the news so they could focus on this weekend's opponent instead of the troubles of their teammates.
"We knew the suspensions were forth coming, so we wanted to alert our football team of it a week out so that they could mentally prepare for that," Allen said.
Doug Vance, sports information director, declined to comment on whether the suspension was a result of the purse theft incident.
"We're sticking with our statement in the press release," Vance said. "They were suspended for violating team rules."
Star runner looks to battle back
Contact Denton at 864-4810
Cross country athlete hopes last year's injuries will heal in time for this season
By Matt Norton Kansan sportswriter
Mark Meneefe hopes to resume creating a legacy for himself in the Kansas cross country record books, injured foot or not.
After a productive 2000 cross country season, the junior runner lined up in a 3,000-meter duel at an indoor track meet in December against two teammates who went on to earn All-American honors in the spring.
Meneefee ran just a second behind the NCAA runner-up in the indoor mile, Charlie Gruber, and 12 seconds ahead of the fourthplace finisher in the NCAA 3000-meter steeplechase, Andy Tate.
The pain in Menefee's foot started to escalate as he cooled down after the race.
The day after the meet, Menefee's pain was almost unbearable. Plantar fasciitis was diagnosed, which is the partial tearing of the connective tissue on the bottom of the foot between the heel and the toes. The injury is common for runners.
Menefee could sit out early in meets this fall, but he hopes to be ready for the conference and district meets at the end of October.
"The guys are looking great and I'm feeling good, so there's no reason I can't compete," he said.
Meneefee made several comeback attempts in the spring, getting cortisone shots and trying to run on the injured foot. Nothing alleviated the pain.
This summer, he and assistant coach Doug Clark had to come to a difficult decision - run through the discomfort or write off a promising cross country season.
"Sometimes things happen, but we just have to make the best of the time we have and train as hard as we can now and not think about what might happen," Menefee said.
"I definitely took into consideration the
team's chances for nationals when I was deciding what to do this season," Meneefee said. "And it wasn't a hard decision to make at all."
Meneefee's career as a collegiate athlete has not exactly gone according to plan. He studied in Belgium for a year after graduating from high school in 1997. After a year at Hutchinson Community College, he injured his ilio tibial band, a group of fibers in his knee, while training to tryout for the Kansas team.
Undaunted, he resumed training a couple months later only to have upper respiratory problems in the winter, effectively ending his indoor track campaign.
A turning point came at the Kansas Relays in April 2000, where Menefee won the 5000-meter run. Heading into the Big 12 championships, Menefee was ranked ninth in the always-tough 5000 but knew he would fare much better than that.
he seemed an opportunist.
"If we get to lap seven and these guys aren't going any faster, then I'm justgoing to go," he said.
In the middle of a tactical race, Menefee said he sensed an opportunity forming.
Possibly assuming that the no-name guy from Kansas would falter, the other runners let Menefee go. And he went, unimpeded to a conference championship and a personal best at 5000 meters.
Senior runner Brent Behrens said the team was counting on Menefee for the upcoming season.
"He's one of our best runners, probably one of the most talented runners on the team. We need him to have a really good shot at nationals."
Contact Norton at 864-4810.