2B SPORTS THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 quote of the day "Minnesota has made huge strides in their second season under Tim Brewster. They are making outstanding progress and will be a formidable bowl opponent." Kansas football coach Mark Mangino fact of the dav Kansas Athletics The Kansas football program has played in 11 bowl games. Kansas is 5-6 all-time in bowl games and has won four of its last five. trivia of the day Q: How many passing yards did Todd Reesing throw for during Kansas' Orange Bowl victory last season? A: 227 yards. Reesing completed 20-of-37 passes with one touchdown and one interception. ku sports schedule Today No events scheduled Friday Friday No events scheduled Saturday Saturday Nest's basketball: Massachusetts, 1 p.m. (Kansas City, Mo.) Women's basketball: Creighton, 3 p.m. (Omaha, Neb.) Sunday-Monday No events scheduled AFL Arena Football League votes to keep play PHILADELPHIA — The Arena Football League has voted not to suspend play in 2009, a sharp reversal in a tumultuous week in which the indoor league was poised to cancel next season. The AFL has not released the 2009 schedule, and it's still possible there could be big changes to the 22-year-old league. The 16-team indoor league repeatedly has delayed the start of free agency and the release of its 2009 schedule after an offseason of uncertainty. Associated Press Fill Stop Day eve with activities around town Today is one of those magical days that only happens for those of us lucky enough to call ourselves college students: Stop Day eve. Right now you're probably killing time until your last class or maybe even scrambling to finish that project you just couldn't find the motivation to finish. But by tonight, none of that will matter. Classes are over, and only finals week stands between you and winter break. Consider it a free night, 12-odd hours do whatever it takes to blow off the steam that has accumulated from a semester's worth of schoolwork. With that thought in mind, here are five ways to spend your Stop Day eve. 1. Head down to Massachusetts Street for free popcorn and a couple games of darts with friends at the Red Lyon Tavern, 944 Massachusetts St. 2. Plan your Insight Bowl trip to Tempe, Ari. Those tickets aren't going to buy themselves, you know. 3. Check out the opening performance of "A Christmas Story" at the Lawrence Community Theatre, 1501 New Hampshire St. It's never too early to get in the holiday spirit. 4. Find your warmest blanket, toss on some sweats, pop some popcorn and plant yourself in front of the nearest television. 5. Watch Brody Buster play the mean blues at Fatso's, 1016 Massachusetts St. MAGAZINE GIVES KU ATHLETICS PROPS Kansas checked in at No. 25 in STACK Magazine's most recent Elite 50 list, a ranking of the best schools for academically-minded athletes. The rankings are based on five factors: 2009 U.S. News & World Report on America's Best Colleges, Academic Progress Rate, teams with national rankings, win-loss record and the STACK Factor, which takes into account the University's college community. The Jayhawks paced the Big 12 mostly because of a victory in the Orange Bowl and the National Championship. STACK ranked Kansas basketball third overall and baseball and football were each 16th in the nation. The Big 12 had four other schools included in the Elite 50: Texas finished second to Stanford, Texas A&M finished 11th, Nebraska was 39th and Oklahoma State rounded out the list at 44th. DIVISION I-AA SHOUT OUT While college football's big boys are busy preparing for another hoom bowl season, four of their I-AA counterparts will fight for a spot in Division I's other national championship game this weekend. Today's shout-out goes to Northern Iowa. The No. 1-seeded Panthers take on the Richmond Spiders this Saturday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls with the opportunity to play for I-AA's biggest prize. Northern iowa's only other appearance in the national title game was in 2005 when it lost to Appalachian State. Takin' the bull by the horns — Edited by Brenna Hawley Curtis Cassidy, of Alberta, Canada, competes during the fifth go-round of steer wrestling at the National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Monday ASSOCIATED PRESS NHL Canucks pull out 3-1 victory over Predators NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Need More Space? Holiday Gift Ideas 866-739-2331 CollegeBedLofts.com/ku Vancouver Canucks are trying to finish off their longest road trip of the season in better fashion than they started. Alexander Edler scored a power-play goal 24 seconds into the third period and Alex Burrows added an empty-netter with 44 seconds left as the Canucks defeated the Nashville Predators 3-1 Tuesday night for their second win in three games. It's a nice turnaround after starting a seven-game road trip with three straight losses. "It is a huge two points for us," goaltender Curtis Sanford said. "We had to get back in the win column. We have been playing really strong hockey lately." Pavol Demitra also scored for the Canucks, who wrap up their trip Saturday at Edmonton. In the only other NHL games Voted Best Pizza in Lawrence! 16" Pizza 2 Toppings 2 Drinks Almost the Weekend! Thursday special: FREE DELIVERY! 749-0055 • 704 Mass. • rudyspizzeria.com Tuesday night, it was: Philadelphia 4, the New York Islanders 3; Montreal 4, Calgary 1; and Vancouver 6, Colorado 1. The Predators dropped their second game in as many days after winning three straight. They were angry with the Canucks over three head shots, including one in which captain Jason Arnott retaliated and was slapped as an instigator in a batch of penalties that put Vancouver on the man advantage for seven minutes. "All we keep hearing about, and they keep saying, is head shots," Arnott said of the NHL's warnings to players. "There were three of them out there. That's what we have to cut down on in this league. You don't see a whole lot of suspensions being handed out. ... They've got to cut down on that stuff." Nashville coach Barry Trotz tried to watch himself and said the league would handle the three hits, one that knocked forward Scott Nichol out of the game with an upper body injury in the first period. "We're talking about people's lives. Head injuries are the main subject in the National Hockey League right now. I thought there was a lot of it," Trotz said. Burrows hit angered Arnott the most. Arnott accused Barrows of leaving his feet and using his forearm to hit the Predators' top scorer, J.P. Dumont, in the face barely five minutes into the second. Burrows said he hadn't seen the replay. "jumped? The puck was in the air. I don't want to injure the guy." Burrows said. 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