Volume 124 Issue 6
kansan.com
Friday, August 26, 2011
Our sports staff will answer your emailed questions every Wednesday, send them to mailbag@kansan.com
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COMMENTARY
UDK
SPORTS
MAILBAG
Gill right to ban tweeting
And perhaps more importantly,
he's silenced a potential outlet for
mutiny if this season goes south.
Edited by Sarah Champ
On Aug. 3, Gill not only told his players to stay off Twitter, but also ordered them to commit social media suicide by deleting their accounts altogether. The rule is the latest in a long series of commandments from the second-year coach aimed at eliminating distractions and promoting team unity.
As the cliché goes, there is no "I" in team. But there is an "I" in Twitter. Hell, being egocentric is the site's whole purpose. The Kansas football team will likely have several headaches on the field this season; Gill doesn't need to be dealing with any off the field as well. By forcing his players to delete their Twitter accounts, he has actually protected them from themselves.
Turner Gill may not be getting many "likes" in the locker room for his new social media policy, but please allow this columnist to give the football coach a well-deserved reweet.
On the surface, I'm sure it seems hypocritical for a sports columnist to give praise to a rule that essentially censors an entire football team. But to imply that muting Twitter is akin to shuttling the media out from player interviews is an unfair comparison. For a very small number of athletes, Twitter is a place to offer their unique, behind-the-scenes insight, and better connect with fans. However, for the majority of athletes, Twitter is nothing more than a place to dump asinine observations and to patrol for booty calls.
PROMISING POTENTIAL
Unfortunately, many athletes lack tack. By eliminating the Twitter temptation, Gill has protected the more oblivious members of his football team from writing something that could land them in the doghouse, or even worse, without a scholarship. Just look at it like this Bill Self has had a hard time keeping his team from making controversial comments on Twitter and he only oversees 16 players. Imagine how difficult it must be for Gill to keep control of more than 100 athletes.
Twitter has proven to be a major problem for several professional athletes, too. Running back Larry Johnson accelerated his departure from the Chiefs by tweeting a homophobic slur at a fan. Mixed-martial artist Tito Ortiz accidentally tweeted a full-frontal nude picture of himself. Amazingly, these gaffes are not fixed by simply claiming your Twitter account was "hacked." So what makes the student athletes on Gill's team immune from those same mistakes?
Sports reporters are piranhas, only instead of swarming at the sight of blood, we swarm at any hint of failure. It's instinctual. If Gill were trying to block his players from talking about the on-field product, I would have a problem. As it stands, he just protecting them from groupies and trolls who root for rival schools.
FIVE RECEIVERS TO WATCH
Junior receiver Kale Pick runs down the field after a reception. Pick hopes to break out this season after being converted from quarterback to a receiver after last season.
MIKE GUNNOE/KANSAN
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Mike Vernon
Daymond Patterson is one of the leaders, if not the leader, on this year's Kansas football team, and it wasn't always that way.
Patterson came to Kansas as a
touchdown reception in which Patterson dipped and dodged his way through the Yellow Jackets' defense.
receiver with big time speed and big time play making abilities. After not performing up to the staff's expectations, he moved to cornerback and stayed there his entire sophomore year as well.
When Turner Gill took over, he moved Patterson back to his true home at receiver and it paid
The 5-9,173 pound receiver with 4.43 speed must continue to lead Kansas in 2011.
Patterson's playmaking ability was showcased in Kansas' week two upset over Georgia Tech, when Patterson caught seven passes for 85 yards including a game-clinching 32 yard
With a passing game full of question marks at quarterback
off. Patterson led the team with 60 receptions for 487 yards and two touchdowns last season.
and receiver, Patterson needs to be everything he was for Kansas last year and more. Expect him to be a frequent target for sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb.
Remember number 15, because
Patterson will be the guy to bring
FOOTBALL17
SPORTS
Freshman forward Ingrid Vidal tries to fight through a hold by Tennessee defender Alison Clark during overtime play of Friday's season opener at the Jahayh Soccer Sport Complex. KU lost 2-1. The Jahayh are now 0-1 for the season.
Women's soccer team hopes for traveling weeked wins
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
4
RYAN MCCARTHY
rmccarthy@kansan.com
While the rest of us continue to bake under the balmy August temperatures, the Kansas soccer team is traveling to a place where the temperature never changes, and the weather forecaster has the easiest job in the country.
The team is on their first road trip of the season when they travel to San Diego to play the host school and Southern California.
Both San Diego and USC are marked as contenders for the women's soccer Top 25 poll this year.
Nonetheless, playing against high-caliber opponents will not intimidate the jayhawks; they still feel like they have a chance to content with both teams for all 90 minutes.
"I think if we get two wins off this weekend we'll be set for the season," junior midfielder Whitney Berry said. "I think it's just going to set the tone and get everybody on the right page."
Berry has been a consistent offensive contributor, leading the Big 12 with three assists so far.
Berry was called upon to be a goal scorer last year, but now she is needed up front to feed the forwards.
"We kind of see what each other's thinking in a sense," Berry said. "We know where we're going to be at certain times and it's really helpful to be on the same page with them."
Kansas opened up its season last weekend, splitting a two-game SEC series with a loss to Tennessee and a victory over Arkansas.
So far, coach Mark Francis credits the pure talents of the players as the sole reason for their early promise.
Even though the girls scored an impressive total of five goals in two games, one focus of this week's practice was the organization of the offensive end.
"Right now it's really just individual ability," Francis said. "We have a lot of personality players and so I think it's going to be a big key. Once we get them all on the same page, we'll be more productive up front."
Another focal point of this
weeks practice was working on the attacking third of the pitch for the Jayhawks, and improving communication between the midfielders.
That's not to say the defense had the week off.
Sophomore defender Shannon Renner, a recent transfer from Northern Illinois and an Overland Park native, has made an early impression in the back line.
"It's been good. It's been like coming home for me. Growing up so close and being a KU fan all my life so it's been really fun," Renner said.
For the players, it's an exciting
Kansas plays today at 7 p.m. CDT at Torere Stadium in San Diego and will play USC on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CDT at the same location.
road trip to San Diego,but they know it's more business than pleasure.
"Being our first away trip I think we need to continue getting better," senior midfielder Kortney Clifton said. "We've progressed from game to game so far. I have no doubt that we're going to go in there and do what we know how to do and hopefully get the results we want."
Edited by Mandy Matney
CONFERENCE
Texas A&M to explore options
Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin sent a letter to Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe explaining that Texas A&M is exploring other options for its athletic conference affiliation. The letter is not a letter of resignation from the Big 12 Conference, it only notifies the Big 12 of its intent.
The letter stated that if Texas A&M were to leave the Big 12, it would do so in a manner that complies with the bylaws and that it would be supportive of the Conference's efforts to find a replacement.
"As I have indicated previously, we are working very deliberately to act in the best long-term interests of both Texas A&M and the state of Texas," Loftin said in a news release. "This truly is a 100-year decision. While we understand the desire of all parties to quickly reach a resolution, these are extremely complex issues that we are addressing methodically."
The letter comes after more than a year of speculation of the move following the exodus of Colorado and Nebraska from the Big 12 at the end of the 2010-2011 academic year. The most recent developments ended when the Southeastern Conference officials declined to offer A&M a bid after meeting on Aug. 13 and stating its satisfaction with the current 12-team format.
Edited by Ethan Padway
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