Volume 124 Issue 31
kansan.com
Monday, October 3, 2011
Jayhawks have third-quarter blues Three interceptions blow a 20-0 lead PAGES 6-7
RETWEET
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LAWRENCE
PAGE 11
COMMENTARY
Put target on Biere's back to win
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2011
Not since Tedy Bruschi has there been a more appropriate name for a football player in a college town.
Senior tight end Tim Biere's last name literally means "beers" in German. And if his team gives him a bigger role in its offensive game plan, Kansas football fans might have a reason to crack open a cold one and celebrate.
Biere was one of the few bright spots for the Jayhawks (2-1) in their 66-24 drubbing at the hands of Georgia Tech on Sept. 17. The 6-foot-4 tight end was the biggest target on the field, but he still managed to get separation and finish with three catches for 40 yards.
If the lajhwaws want to have chances for success this season in the few winnable conference games on their schedule, like Saturday's home game against Texas Tech (3-0), the coaching staff has got to get the big target, Biere, more involved in the offense.
All of his catches against Georgia Tech were made in the first half, when the game was still within reach. That included two critical receptions of
FOOTBALL
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb prepares to pass the ball down the field during the first half of Saturday's game against Georgia Tech. Webb threw 19 times with 11 completions for 148 yards and zero touchdowns in the Jayhawks' 24-66 loss to Georgia Tech.
HISTIME TO LEAD
SEE BIERE 14
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
One of the first times sophomore quarterback: Jordan Webb's mother, Stacy Grus, approached his high school coach, she was told something that Webb had frequently heard throughout his life.
"I just said, Jordan would really like to be able to do this post-high school," Grus said. "And at that time his high school coach told me. 'Well, he's too short.'"
Fortunately, the 6-foot, 195-pound Webb had a mindset that said otherwise from the very beginning.
Grus said Jordan has a "if you tell me I can't then I'm going to show you I can" personality.
"That's just been him since he was born, quite frankly," she said.
Grus, an elementary school teacher, said her son was a bit
of a class clown and had always been a vocal child.
Webb once took a summer school class taught by his mom. She said that she had to frequently send him into the hall as a punishment for distracting the other kids.
When Webb was old enough to play football, he did not hesitate. After all, he was the youngest of four football-playing brothers.
Webb played linebacker and running back up until seventh grade, when he was able to play in junior high. He had followed in his brothers' footsteps for long enough — it was time to play quarterback and be a leader.
football.
By the time he was a freshman backup for the high school team, Webb knew playing quarterback was something he wanted to do for a long time. He quit playing baseball, a sport he was successful in, to devote his time solely to
At the end of his freshman year, Webb's mom and his coach, the one who thought he was too small to play at the collegiate level, began to see Webb had a future in football.
"My high school coach is a very good, well-respected coach. He told me when I was a freshman I had a chance to be a Division 1 player," Webb said. "I just took that to heart and really wanted to work hard and try and become that."
And something special has — Webb currently has one of the top quarterback passer ratings in
college football.
"He told me, 'I'm going to start next year, I'm going to do whatever it takes," Grus said. "Just seeing him push himself to be able to do that, kind of made me think, well maybe there is something special going on with him."
Working hard throughout the offseason has paid off in Webb's sophomore year. Senior receiver Kale Pick and junior receiver D.J. Beshears both said that they have not at all been surprised at what Webb has done this year.
"To be honest, I'm not that impressed with him, because I've been with him this whole year," Pick said. "I knew he was going to have a good year. He's finally showing the rest of the people in the stadium what he can do. It's very impressive if it's the first time seeing him, but I've seen it in spring ball, seen it in fall camp and he's been doing this the whole year."
Last year, as a freshman who started seven games, Webb had a quarterback rating of 106.8.
SEE WEBB 14
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Student authors offer insight, advice on amateur publishing
KELSEY CIPOLLA
kcipolla@kansan.com
While some students refused to shave or looked forward to celebrating the holidays last November, Jason Held, a senior from Minneapolis, wrote a novel. For writers across the country November is National Novel Writing Month, an online contest that challenges participants to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
Held initially had no intention of participating, but other members of the Jayhawk-Writers on Campus group, or J-WOC, convinced him to participate in the arduous contest.
"You have to go in there knowing what your book is going to be about," Held said. "I didn't have a complete outline for it, but I knew what it was about."
His book, "The Write Message," follows a 15-year-old boy who hires a literary agent and pursues a publishing deal while trying to balance high school, the challenges of the industry and familial loss. Select chapters of the protagonist's own writing are also included.
J-WOC teamed up with KU
"It shows that it's achievable, to achieve that balance and achieve
"We teamed up with Hewlett-Packard a year ago to start this project and they gave us grant money to come up with ideas to encourage printing on campus," said Rachel Barnes, the KU Bookstores custom material specialist. "What we came up with was the book contest."
Bookstores to incentivize competing in the contest. Participants who met the 50,000 word minimum would have a chance to publish their book.
Julie Honn, outreach and communications officer for J-WOC, and a senior from Lenexa, said Held's success is encouraging to other student writers.
After months of editing and revising, Held's book was finally ready for publication. The Print-
On-Demand center, which allows students, faculty, and community members to print and bind their own works, helped produce "The Write Message."
"We were serving as a small scale publisher for him," said Barnes. The bookstore also coordinated selling the book in the store and through Amazon.
that dream." Honn said. "That's what everybody who writes does it for, that' I hope somebody reads this someday."
Although the novel was published last April, Held is still shocked to have actually published a book.
“It’s a really strange feeling,” he said. "I almost couldn't believe it, but I knew it was my story, I knew I wrote it. I had spent months on it."
Held will discuss his book today at 5 p.m. at Jayhawk Ink inside the Kansas Union. There will also be a panel discussion with other
Index CLASSIFIEDS 11 CRYPTOOUPS 4 SPORTS 12
CROSSWORD 4 OPINION 5 SUOKU 4
Student Author Reading Jason Held will read from and discuss his new novel "The Write Message."
Edited by Josh Kantor
Monday October 3, 201
5:00pm - 6:30pm
Ticket Cost: Free
student writers about students' writing experiences.
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
Don't forget
Don't forget to floss! October is National Dental Hygiene Month.
Today's weather
Forecasts done by University students. For a more detailed forecast, see page 24.
HI: 85
L0: 43
Last call for jean shorts
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