Volume 124 Issue 24
kansan.com
Thursday, September 22, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPECIAL SERIES RUSH AND CHALMERS: CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
How two top recruits became national champs under Bill Self PAGE 9
COMMENTARY Texas and OU keen
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM HANGS OUT AT MRS. E'S PAGE 8
FOOTBALL
Injured wide receiver takes medical redshirt
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
twitter.com/uuk_b12b_fail
Top state recruit chooses Kansas
MAX ROTHMAN
AND MIKE LAVIERI
mrothman@kansan.com
mlavieri@kansan.com
MEN'S BASKETBALL
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Photos by Chris Bronson
The collegiate side huddles up right before the game starts.
Andrew Vohs and Shelby Polite advance the ball down the field.
Cover photo: Dane Kierses wins a line out for the club side.
To get to Westwick Rugby Complex, the Kansas Jayhawk Rugby Football Club's (KJRFC) facility, you have to go outside town. You have to drive south on Iowa, and pass beneath U.S. Highway 10. Iowa turns into highway 59, and then it's a half mile until you reach an obscure road called North 1200. The road twists and turns through acre upon acre of farmland, and you pass alongside a seemingly endless procession of undulating hills covered in lush vegetation. After a little less than two miles on North 1200 Road, there's an opening in the trees that runs along the northern side of the road. Two massive rugby pitches sit side by side, separated only by a berm that runs the length of each pitch. At the entrance to the complex is a sign welcoming whoever might pass by and an old dilapidated barn that the team meets in before games.
On Saturday, Sept. 10, just before noon, cars began to file through the entrance of the complex. Soon after, the makeshift parking lot on the West side of the pitch was full, and a crowd consisting of a pit bull, a Weimaraner and almost 50 people had gathered on a small hill that runs between the parking lot and the pitch. Spectators sat in lawn chairs or laid in the grass drinking anything from water to an assortment of beer and liquor. The sun was out, and there were no clouds. The wind howled, and the branches of the trees that surround the 55 acre plot twisted and turned endlessly. The referee blew his whistle from the middle of the pitch, and the game started without anyone yelling "rip his fucking head off."
Within the first five minutes the team had
already lost one of its best players. Thirty-four-year-old Matt Schwartz, after a pile up on the north end of the pitch, walked to the sideline holding his right index finger in his left hand. He winced in pain as the team trainer tried to pop it back into place. They thought it was dislocated, but it was broken. After iceing it for a few minutes and watching the rest of the first half, Schwartz went to the emergency room. On his way to his car he held up his broken finger and smiled. "Number one," he said.
Soon after Schwartz left the field, alumnus Jack Vogt received a yellow card and spent 10 minutes in the "sin bin" (the rugby equivalent of the penalty box) for throwing a punch at a Northland player who bit him. At halftime, Vogt wasn't satisfied. "We've got to start playing a lot smarter, myself included. The only reason they're still in this game is because of penalties," he said to his teammates. They led 29-12 going into the second half.
At first glance, rugby, which originated in England in the 19th century, seems like a hybrid between American football and soccer. The ball is carried and the play is continuous. Forward passes aren't allowed, so communication is a key factor. The incessant communication among teammates makes for a lot of yelling from the pitch, which, to virgin ears, seems superfluous but is an important part of the game. It's a highly entertaining sport to watch, and although it has failed to gain much popularity in the United States, it is the national sport of South Africa and also New Zealand, where the Rugby World Cup is currently being held.
In 1995, some of the Lawrence club's oldest and most heavily involved members, including current head coach Rick Senfro, pooled money and purchased the 55-acre plot outside town, and the KJRFC became one of the few rugby organizations in the United States with its own facility. Schwartz remembers joining the team his senior year of high school in 1995 when the fields were being finished. He remembers watching workers scrape the topsoil together to build the barn between the two fields.
The completion of the complex was paramount for the team, but the club itself was around long before it had its own facility. According to its website, a University of Kansas law student, George Bunting, posted an ad in the University Daily Kansan in 1964 for people who might be interested in playing rugby. By 1965, the roster was full and the club went on a tour of Ivy League schools. Today
the club consists of two sides, the club side and the collegiate side. Although the club and collegiate sides function as two separate entities, they are closely affiliated. They practice together and travel to tournaments together. Students who play for the collegiate side are eligible to play for the club side. The University's rugby club functions as any other intramural club. The University matches the amount of money they raise through fundraisers and dues. Each player on the club and collegiate side is required to pay $110 upon signing up, and they also have to pay for gas to get to away games.
The close affiliation of the collegiate and club sides has been important for both teams. "One of the reasons why our college team is one of the best in the whole region, is because we have these older guys on the club side who, literally, when we practice with them, beat the living slit out of us, all legally and within the rules of rugby though," says Brandon Holland, a senior from Lawrence, who started playing rugby in high school. The teacher-student dynamic between the club side and the collegiate side exists largely because rugby is, as Doug McCullough says, an experiential sport. McCullough has been a member of the club since 1975 and has helped run practices and coach since he stopped playing in 1995. He says the relationship between the two sides has always been competitive. "We used to call the college guys baby bucks and we were the old bucks," he says. "The college kids didn't like being pushed around by old guys and the old guys didn't like getting pushed around by college kids."
In response to Holland's remark about the consistent ass-whoooping delivered to the collegiate side by the club side, McCullough doesn't have much to offer. "We have the experience. Rugby is an experiential sport. It's nothing to do with strength or anything, we just have the experience."
It's no secret that the rugby experience can be grueling. As Schwartz says, "It's not a matter of if you'll get hurt but when you'll get hurt." Dane Kieser, a South African player who moved to Lawrence in 2010 to play for the club team has broken every finger in both his hands. Dan Smolic, a senior from Chicago and the current team captain, suffered a shoulder injury during the first game of the season against Central Missouri. He was in a sling with a clipboard in hand for the first home game against Lindenwood. Wisconsin native
My only advice for BYU: Don't unpack your bags.
Oklahoma State/Texas/Texas Tech combination isn't going anywhere for a while. They are "committed" to the Big 12 now. Committed until the Pac-12 decides the time is right or until Texas figures out that no conference wants to deal with that pesky Longhorn Network.
Edited by Jonathan Shorman
For now, the Big 12 is still breathing. It was just another round of realignment chaos and another false alarm. Missouri was rumored to have an SEC invite according to ESPN, but only if the Big 12 collapsed. The Tigers are still in the fold and it appears the conference will try to expand. BYU makes the most sense as the 10th member.
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"The challenge for me at first was just telling them apart." Bechard said.
Sophomore Amy Wehrs said there is one way to tell her apart from her twin sister Kara.
vantage doesn't help volleyball coach Ray Bechard when it comes to his team's set of twins.
"I smile all the time," Amy said. "Kara is more of a 'Let's get down to business. Let's get stuff done' person. I'm just always happy."
Kara, a setter, is a starter who sees more phying time than her sister, who is one of
on the court.
"She's extremely capable," Bechard said. "She's a high-level pass and serve. Right now in the system we've got going on, her role hasn't been extensive as far as playing time goes, but I know if she is called upon she will be ready to go."
14
In last Saturday's first game against, Valparaiso, Kara helped the team overcome its third live-set contest of the season with a double-double of 52 assists and 13 dices. She said she can only have a standout performance if her hitters are play-
But as they approached their decision, the reality of separation began to weigh on both of them.
"We didn't care if we went to different schools," Kara said. "But as the process got further along, we decided we did want to play together. We've played together our whole lives, so it was kind of important that we went to the same school."
Kara said she knows her sister, can play great volleyball when called upon.
Edited by Lindsey Deiter
"Whenever we're having a bad day, we're there for each other," Amy said. "Whenever we're having a good day, we're there to congratulate each other."
"Anyone who comes off the bench like Amy did is going to have great success
and always in a good mood,
and Kara is a little more intense." Riley said. "That is definitely how you can separate them on the volleyball court."
Despite the differences in position, playing time and personality, the twins are always there for each other when the going gets tough.
being.
After the members of the Oklahoma Board of Regents authorized University of Oklahoma President David Boren complete control of the Sooners' conference affiliation, Boren specifically mentioned the Pac-12 as a possible destination for the school. However, Oklahoma's sights now seem to be solely on improving the Big 12.
Boren said in a statement issued Tuesday night that even though Oklahoma didn't apply for membership to the Pac-12 this year, Oklahoma's leaders have developed a positive rela
SEE REALIGNMENT 17