kansan.com
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
COMMENTARY
Kansas must act quickly
An eerie silence hovers over the University as students and faculty await the University's future conference affiliation.
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and the Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger have remained too quiet throughout these grim times of conference realignment. I am not saying that Gray-Little, Zenger and other University officials have not worked tirelessly to ensure that Kansas remains a member of an automatic qualifying BCS conference, but I am arguing that they have handled conference realignment poorly by remaining quiet.
By staying committed to the Big 12, they are trying to protect their image, and not come off as desperate, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Emmy Award winning actor Kyle Chandler, who starred as Coach Taylor in "Friday Night Lights", once said, "Opportunities does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door."
It may be too little too late for Zenger and Gray-Little, but they need to start banging down some doors before Kansas is left out of an elite conference.
When the sun's rays began to shine on Mt. Oread Saturday morning, the University of Kansas was content with its options in the conference realignment mess.
Texas and the ACC had become pals, and it seemed that Kansas was going to get to tag along. If that fell through, the Pac-12 and Big East would be potential suitors. Then, just as Floyd Mayweather blinded Victor Ortiz, the ACC knocked Kansas unconscious.
The ACC acquired Syracuse and Pittsburgh. The conference also expressed its desire to keep its East Coast identity by potentially adding Connecticut and Rutgers instead of Texas and Kansas.
Texas followed by turning its horns west. The latest reports have claimed that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State have tried to work things out and join the Pac-12.
Instead of being proactive during the shameful collapse of geographical and historical ties, the University has been passive in publicly reaching out to other conferences. If they remain on stand by, keeping their eyes closed, and hoping to land in a BCS conference, they will be sorry.
Maybe Gray-Little and Zenger are helpless and are working the phones behind the scenes to no avail. Maybe they have no other choice, and must wait and seek no one really knows.
B I do know this, if I were Gray-Little; or Zenger with conferences and schools beginning to make their moves, I would bang down every door I could to ensure that the University is in charge and isn't left out in the cold.
Gray-Little and Zenger have continued to state that they remain committed to the Big 12, a conference that is on its death bed.
Edited by C.J. Matson,
Things are changing on a daily basis. Texas may eventually turn its head back to the ACC, but for now, that does not look likely. The Big East — Kansas' fallback option — is depleted now that Syracuse and Pittsburgh are leaving, and Connecticut and Rutgers could follow suit.
Right now Kansas, along with Kansas State, Iowa State, and Baylor are being left out in the cold.
BIG THUNDER
FUN WITH FITNESS
NATHAN FORDYCE editor@kansan.com
Former Jayhawks, Nick Collison and Cole Aldrich, returned to help with fitness at the Boys & Girls Club yesterday afternoon.
The current Oklahoma City Thunder teammates were there to tip off the first FitClub34 in Lawrence and help 35 fourth-graders with basketball techniques at the Boys & Girls Club on Haskell Avenue. The FitClub34 was founded by former Jayhawk and current Boston Celtic, Paul Pierce in 2002. The event was sponsored by the Assists Foundation and Kansas Athletics.
The former layhawks were more than happy to help out with the first event. They had stations set up that helped improve the kids shooting and passing, while receiving positive encouragement from the players.
"I love doing things like this," said Aldrich. "Giving back to the community has always been close to my heart."
Collision stressed that getting kids physically involved at a young age is important.
"A lot of the time, children start out on the wrong path with bad health and they continue that their whole life," Collison said. "So, it's good to educate kids on how to be healthy and to be fit."
Basketball coach Bill Self wrote in a email, "We're excited about this partnership. Paul [Pierce] is as passionate as we are about encouraging kids to get active and live healthy lives. Providing unique opportunities for them to do that and be rewarded for it, is a win for everybody."
The kids who participated at the club received activity watches, which track how long they have been exercising. For every 60 minutes, the kids receive a code that can earn them prizes like a signed basketball and/or signed t-shirt by Paul Pierce.
Zimmerman said that the club hopes to reach the 60 minutes each week and for the club come to the University for a basketball camp next year.
Erika Zimmerman, director of development for the Boys & Girls Club, said she hopes the event can continue every year, but this was a trial run. Her goal is to have every kid in all the clubs to be able to get watches and participate in the challenge by May.
Edited by Stefanie Penn
ABBY DAVIS/KANSAN
Nick Collison, former Kansas basketball player, explains an activity to the kids of the Girls and Boys Club of East Heights. By making physical activity fun, FitClub34 hopes to encourage healthier lifestyles for kids.
BIG 12
Conference tells Tigers: wait a SEC
ajoseph@kansan.com
I ANDREW JOSEPH
Texas A&M is already on its way out of the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference, but the Aggies may have some familiar company.
The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday that the University of Missouri has received an offer to be the 14th member of an expanded SEC, but SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom said otherwise.
"The SEC has not extended an invitation to any school beyond Texas A&M," Bloom said in a statement retweeted by the SEC.
There was speculation that
Missouri had not jumped on the alleged invitation yet because the school is reportedly waiting for the Big 12 to dissolve before making any decisions regarding new conference affiliation. In addition, it would not be in Missouri's best interest financially to leave the conference when there is still a Big 12 exit fee in place.
Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden and Chancellor Brady Deaton have been two of the biggest proponents of keeping the Big 12 intact, so it appears that they are not looking to commit to a new conference for the time being. But Missouri's stance could easily change given the fast-moving
nature of conference realignment.
"Brady is our chair of the Big 12, and he's going to continue to do everything he can to keep the Big 12 together," Alden told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I understand there's a lot of things going on out there, but that's his primary focus, is to do what he thinks he can to keep that together."
These latest developments with Missouri fall right in line with a CBS Sports report that West Virginia University was rejected by both the Atlantic Coast Conference and SEC. West Virginia was considered by many as one of the most viable candidates to join the SEC, so the word of WVU's outright
rejection came as a surprise.
It is very possible that the SEC is only looking to add one more team, but with the ACC members virtually locked-in by the new $20 million exit fee, all signs still point to Missouri being team No. 14. West Virginia's questionable academic standing could be the primary reason the school was overlooked, while Missouri, on the other hand, is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.
With ACC and SEC off the table, the Mountaineers' only option appears to be the potential Big 12-Big East hybrid conference. According to ESPN, officials from
Vo
all the Big East football schools, except ACC-bound Pittsburgh and Syracuse, were scheduled to meet in New York Tuesday night to discuss the conference's options.
In a late development Tuesday, The Daily Oklahoman reported the University of Oklahoma will consider remaining in the Big 12 only if Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe leaves the position. The Big 12 Board of Directors would have to reach a majority vote to fire Beebe.
A source told The Oklahoma it would take major reforms for OU to remain in the Big 12.
Edited by Jonathan Shorman