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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011
FOOTBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Getting hit by concussions, despite helmets
ETHAN PADWAY
Freshman running back Brandon Bourbon drives down the field for a nice gain in the first half of Saturday's game against Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium. Bourbon received a concussion returning a kickoff against Oklahoma State earlier this season.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
twitter.com/UDK_B12Fball
It's hard to recognize football players off the field, because they are usually under layers of pads and a heavy-duty helmet. Yet even those protective measures aren't enough to eliminate the risk of concussions.
The problem was Bourbon headed toward the wrong sideline.
The concussion issue leapt to the forefront of the minds of the Kansas football program this season when freshman running back Brandon Bourbon returned a kickoff against Oklahoma State on Oct. 8. Bourbon collided with the coverage team, got up and started to run to the sideline.
"I don't remember it exactly," Bourbon said. "I just remember coming in to it on the sidelines and looking at the scoreboard and I didn't remember all the points being scored."
During that same game, another Kansas freshman, safety Keeston Terry, would leave the game with an undisclosed injury later revealed to be a concussion.
Terry dove out trying to stop Cowboy receiver Justin Blackmon on a bubble screen and his head hit the turf with some whiplash.
"I got up a little slow and everything felt a little distorted, so I went up field to one of the trainers and he talked to me, asked me if I was OK, and I said I'm a little out of it." Terry said. "The doctor came up to me and told me I couldn't go the rest of the game."
Both players were held out of practice for the next week to ensure that they did not risk further injury.
Defensive coordinator Vic Shealy said he was impressed by the toughness that Terry played with in the lajahwaks' game against Texas, the first game in which he received significant playing time after returning.
"That was a hard physical game
and he didn't back down, even after having a concussion three weeks ago." Shealy said.
At the beginning of the football season, the players are allowed to choose what type of helmet they wear. Bourbon chose the Riddle Revolution Speed, the only helmet
tested in the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest study to receive a five-star rating.
Although no helmet is concussion proof, advanced helmets, similar to the one worn by Bourbon, significantly reduce the risk. And between the advanced helmets and
the new safety precautions of holding players out of practice following a concussion, teams are limiting the opportunity for the serious post-concussion syndrome to happen to their players.
"With the concussion, you're not sure how long it is going to take."
Bourbon said.
"Any hit pretty close after that can trigger some things like a concussion where you see lines or difficulty hearing or seeing things."
Edited by Stefanie Penn
VOLLEYBALL
New recruits promising for next year's season
25 volleyball recruits in the 2012 class by ESPN Rise.
Tana Dockery, an outside hitter from Richmond, Texas, joined Janae Hall, a middle blocker from Centennial, Colo., in sign on the first day of the early recruiting period. Hall is listed as one of the top
The Kansas volleyball team's coaching staff made a splash early in the recruiting process Wednesday, signing two future Jayhaws with national letters of intent.
Dockery is a multi-sport athlete, taking a state championship last year in long jump. She is currently in her sixth year playing club volleyball for the Southwest Juniors. Hall, who attends Regis Jesuit High School, is the daughter of former Denver Broncos defensive back Daryl Hall.
Matt Galloway
NFL
Former Kansas player signs up with Patriots
Jayhawks capture the 2008 Orange Bowl and the 2008 Insight Bowl.
The New England Patriots signed former University of Kansas linebacker Mike Rivera to its practice squad. Rivera spent the 2011 training camp with the Miami Dolphins before being released.
Rivera, a three-year starter for the Jayhawks, was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 selection. Rivera made 300 tackles and 6.5 sacks on his way to helping the
Rivera signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free-agent and spent the 2009 season on the Tennessee Itasn practice squad. He would move to the Green Bay Packers practice squad for the majority of the 2010 season before being signed by the Dolphins in the final week of the season.
Ethan Padway
FOOTBALL
Bourbon on the bench for the rest of the year
Freshman running back Brandon Bourron is out for the remainder of the season after suffering a leg injury during the Iowa State game.
The 6-foot-1, 208 pound running back from Potosi, Mo., has carried the ball 28 times for 190 yards and one touchdown.
GOLF
Mike Vernon
"I guess it's what's best for him," Gill said. "To go ahead and move on and get ready for next year."
Turner Gill said they have evaluated the injury for the past couple of days and that the decision was in Bourbon's best interest.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tiger's fame is starting to wear down
No more than 250 people followed Tiger Woods early Wednesday at the Australian Open, a sign that while he still is the main attraction Down Under, it's not what it used to be.
When he first put Australia back on his golf schedule two years ago, some 15,000 fans complained during the pro-am round that news helicopters hovering over Kingston Heath in Melbourne kept them from hearing. The only noise over The Lakes came from endless flights taking off from the airport.
For sure, the novelty of Woods in Australia has worn off after three years.
And in large extent, so has the mystique.
This is the two-year anniversary of the last time Woods won any tournament, at the Australian Masters in 2009, when he was on top of his g:ane and No.1 in the world by such a large margin that it took nearly a year of mediocrity for someone to replace him. The sex scandal that shredded his personal life was exposed about two weeks after he got home.
tournaments, you've got to play better than I have played," Woods said. "And as I said, making changes to my game along the way, it's been frustrating because I haven't been able to dedicate my time to it."
That's 25 tournaments worldwide, no trophies to show for it.
As always, no one is sure what to expect from him when he tees off Thursday afternoon. In his last start a month ago at the Frys.com Open, he was never a factor and tied for 30th. In his previous start seven weeks earlier, he missed the cut at the PGA Championship.
Now, he commands attention for everything going on around him.
"In order to win golf
It started when U.S. captain Fred Couples, declaring Woods to be the best player "forever" said three weeks before the Presidents Cup team was decided that he would be using one his picks on him.
Then, right about the time Woods arrived in Australia for a corporate outing, he got word that ex-caddie Steve Williams used a racial slur to disparage him at a caddies award party in Shanghai. That led Williams to issue a statement of apology, new boss Adam Scott to say the comment was wrong but the apology was enough not to fire Williams, and for Woods to take the high
road in saying that it was the wrong thing to say but that he's moving forward.
Woods said Williams apologized when they ran into each other earlier in the week at The Lakes and shook hands when it was over, even though no one gets the sense this is really over.
For now, the attention will attempt to shift to the golf, and to the best field this proud championship has had in years.
The Australian Open is the fourth-oldest national championship behind Britain and the United States, and behind Canada based on the calendar. It's past champions include Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Greg Norman. The last time the Presidents Cup was held in Australia in 1998, the Australian press asked players if it should be the fifth major.
Woods is among 13 players at the Australian Open — along with captains Norman and Couples — who will be in the Presidents Cup next week at Royal Melbourne.
He will play the opening two rounds with Jason Day and Robert Allenby, with Scott (and Williams) in the group ahead of him.
There remain questions whether Woods can contend, something he hasn't remotely done since the Masters in April, and constant speculation whether he can ever get back to the top.
"It has to be hard," said Geoff Ogilvy, the defending Australian Open champ. "It is such a visible rehab for him. I can get injured and no one cares or notices. He ties his shoes wrong and it's world news. I know he had struggled with his knees basically his whole life. You saw him at The Players Championship. He couldn't walk. You can't play golf when you can't walk. You can't practice.
"That, with all the other things that have been going with him, have contributed to making it hard for him to get to where he wants to get."
Woods has attributed his demise mostly to the physical part of his game — changing swing instructors in August 2010, then coping with injuries to his left knee and Achilles tendon that eventually led to him out of golf for four months.
He now is clear to practice and to work out. What he lacks now is competition.
"I haven't played a lot of tournaments this year," Woods said.
T