WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7P
Texas player grateful to be on court
By Shannon Owens Daily Texan via U-wire University of Texas
AUSTIN, Texas—It's easy to miss Kathy Hahn's transformation by watching her on the court.
After all, the redshirt sophomore punishes opponents with her explosive slides, leads the team in blocking (1.11) and hitting percentages (.346), while maintaining a reserved demeanor.
But her powerful court performance derives from an inward change.
"Now when she's on the court, she feels blessed to be there," said Hahn's mother, Bonnie. "I've noticed the change in her spiritually."
Hahn's experienced great joy and deep sorrow with a sport she passionately loves.
After only one year at Texas, Hahn led the Big 12 conference in hitting percentage .(347) and blocks (1.09). She gave a strong freshman performance, but the success began to consume her
life.
"My freshman year was all about volleyball," Hahn said.
Bitter disappointment quickly followed her immediate success.
She missed last season due to injuries that she declined to talk about, although she was forced to find a comfortable position on the bench. She frequently had to ice her left knee.
She knew the season was going to be challenging,but she didn't realize how harsh her new reality would be.
"There were times I'd put my arms around her [after a game], and she'd cry," Bonnie Hahn said.
As Hahn sat on the bench, she realized she filled her life with little outside her sport.
"I felt almost like I had come into a dead end in my life, and I didn't know what to do with myself," Hahn said. "If I didn't have volleyball, I didn't have anything."
Hahn didn't want to retire after her sophomore season and contemplated playing, despite her ailing body. However, she decided to rest and rehabilitate for the next season after consulting family, doctors and the coach.
ing body.
"I remember the day we actually decided," Hahn said. "I went to dinner with my parents the night before, and we talked about it. It wasn't just my decision because it was going to affect my family, me, the coaches, the team ... everybody was in on it."
She knew the decision to redshirt her sophomore season was wise, but not being able to contribute on the court left Hahn feeling helpless and discouraged.
True to her nature, Hahn didn't share her feelings with many people.
"It was really hard on her," Bonnie Hahn said. "She didn't talk to me much about it."
Words from Hahn may have been sparse,but she didn't completely shut out her family and friends during her experience.
"During that time period, she put on a happy face and didn't let anybody know she was suffering," said defensive specialist and friend Whitney Garvens. "But after a game or after a practice, I'd hear a knock on my door, and she'd always come talk to me. It was her way for releasing everything."
Talking to family and close friends helped ease her pain, but she finally got closure through her faith in God.
"I think God said, 'Volleyball's too much of your life,'" Hahn said. "Not being able to play showed me that volleyball wasn't the only thing in my life."
With a new focus, Hahn's able to have the best of both worlds. She's able to enjoy her sport without allowing it to define her, and she continues to dominate on the court.
Hahn will utilize her newfound balance Tuesday night as she and the Longhorns face-off against Southwest Texas State. This is Texas' first non-Big 12 conference match in the team's last 10 matches. Texas leads the series with a 31-9-0 advantage over the Bobcats.
No.1 in standings often means trouble
By Andrew Bagno
Chicago Tribune
via KRT news service
Bad news, Oklahoma: You're No.1 in the first Bowl Championship Series standings. In three of the system's first four years,the team that first was No.1 has ended up in oblition rather than the national title game.
In 1998, the first BCS No. 1, UCLA, dropped its regular-season finale to Miami. In 2000, Nebraska was the first No. 1. The Cornhuskers lost to No. 2 Oklahoma.
In 2001, Oklahoma topped the charts at the start. The Sooners lost to Nebraska. The only team
to survive the BCS curse is Florida State, which led from the first standings in 1999 on its way to a Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.
No wonder Sooners coach Bob Stoops wasn't too excited about the news out of BCS headquarters Monday afternoon.
"It's too early right now for us to care one way or the other," Stoops said. "What we do care about is winning. We're going to keep our focus and total concentration on winning the Big 12 South first."
The BCS is used to determine the matchup in the Fiesta Bowl, site of January's national title game. This year's tweaked BCS
formula weighs the AP and coaches Top 25 polls; an average of seven computer rating systems with the worst score thrown out; strength of schedule; and number of losses.
Teams earn a bonus for "quality wins" over schools ranked in the BCS Top 10.
The Sooners are ranked behind the Hurricanes in the two major polls, but they leapfrogged the Hurricanes with the help of the computers. The Sooners had an average computer standing of 1.50, versus Miami's 4.35. In the BCS, the lower the number, the better.
Notre Dame, which is sixth in the traditional polls, is ranked
irst by four of the computers. The Fighting Irish also were boosted by the top schedule.
There are seven unbeaten teams from BCS conferences. The system may be in for a shock if three finish the regular season with perfect records. That hasn't happened in the BCS' first four years.
"You know, there are seven weeks to go, there are so many games to be played," said BCS coordinator Michael Tranghese, commissioner of the Big East. "But right now, I didn't think at this stage of the season that the top six teams in the BCS poll would be undefeated, but they are."
Texas quarterback rebounds post loss
by Bob Jones Daily Texan via U-wire University of Texas
AUSTIN, Texas—One of Mack Brown's aphorisms goes something like this: "The way you respond to bad days is a whole lot more important than the way you respond to good days."
One week removed from what fans and media describe as a "career-defining" loss to Oklahoma, quarterback Chris Simms responded in kind, leading Texas to an upset of No. 17 Kansas State in the Wildcats' home stadium.
white Simms' stats weren't gaudy, as the senior threw for just 184 yards, his play under pressure was crucial to the Longhorns' victory.
With the score tied late in the fourth quarter and Texas faced with a third-and-long situation. Simms received a play from offensive coordinator Greg Davis that called for wideout B.J. Johnson to run a square pattern.
After observing Kansas State's defensive formation, Simms recalled that the same Wildcat blitz formation had earlier resulted in a sack. Simms quickly called an audible at the line, changing all three of his receivers' routes to "go" patterns -- streaks down the field.
Sure enough, Kansas State sent the house, and Simms was flattened by three Wildcats. But 32 yards downfield, Johnson had hauled in a pass versus man coverage, and the Longhorns were set up for Dusty Mangum's game-winning field goal.
"It was the biggest throw I've had this year," Simms said. "It really kept our hopes alive."
Following the game, Simms was understandably defiant, flouting the expectations that he might choke after throwing an interception earlier in the contest.
"There's probably a chip on my shoulder every game really," Simms said.
Not only must Simms deal with opposing defenders who love to call him a "spoiled brat," and taunt the senior with remarks like, "You're only here because of your dad," but he has recently picked up a new moniker which opposing fans love to harass him with.
"Everybody likes to call me
'Chrishe's now,' Simms said.
"It started at the Oklahoma game, and the Kansas State fans were yelling it too."
But despite the Texas-sized expectations that constantly weigh heavy on the shoulders of the blond, blue-eyed kid from New Jersey, Simms apparently has no regrets about attending a school with arguably the highest profile in the nation.
According to his head coach, Mack Brown's wife Sally asked Simms on the bus after the game if he had enjoyed his experience at the 40 Acres.
The signal-caller's response?
"Absolutely. I love Texas."
This in spite of the criticism that follows Simms seemingly wherever he goes.
Brown is well aware of his quarterback's resilience, as well as the label of someone who can't win the big game that has been stamped on Simms.
In fact, amid the chilly atmosphere after the Kansas State win. Brown refused to bow to the critics and instead praised the senior for his winning ways, acknowledging Simms' 22-5 record as a starter.