SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WHICH BIRD WILL PROVE VICTORIOUS?
The Jayhawks and the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles will face off in tonight's home contest. MEN'S BASKETBALL | 7A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE MORNING
BREW
COMMENTARY
IF FOOTBALL HAD A SOUNDTRACK
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008
Today's Brew discusses what should be on the football team's gametime playlist. SPORTS | 9A
PAGE 10A
Kansan regrets unfair headline
So sports are filled with goats. It's in our nature to point the finger or pass the blame.
Your team lost? Well, it has be some one's fault, right? The Boston Red Sox lose the 1986 World Series? Blame Bill Buckner. The Chicago Cubs choke in the 2003 playoffs? It's Bartman's fault. The Chiefs go down in the playoffs in 1995? Run Lin Elliot out of town.
Sports is a cruel business, and the media feed the frenzy with words that are all-too- often unnecessarily spiteful.
Well, blunders are made off the field too. Newspapers, like athletes, can make mistakes.
And on Monday, there was no bigger goat than The University Daily Kansan sports section.
Freshman forward Markieff Morris fights a UMKC player for the ball at Kansas' season opener on Sunday. Morris put his freshman anxiety aside and posted 15 rebounds. Jon Goering/KANSAN
Here's what happened: After attending the Kansas vs. Texas game on Saturday, I wrote a column for Monday's sports section. There's no denying that Saturday was a disappointing day for the Jayhawks. They've been knocked around this season. They've played an excruciating schedule, arguably one of the toughest in the country. And on Saturday, they played a skilled Texas team, a team filled with NFL talent, and Kansas just couldn't hang with The Longhorns. It was a frustrating day, and I think the column reflected that. And as I wrote, well, there wasn't much to say.
Somehow that column ended up with a headline that read "Senior day proves 2007 was a fluke."
Here's where I could spend a few minutes explaining how headlines are created. I could explain that headlines aren't written by the reporter or columnist, that they are written much later when the paper is being edited and designed. That would be useless. As the sports editor of The Kansan, I take full responsibility and apologize to anybody who might have been offended by the headline.
But more than that, the headline was simply inaccurate, misleading and a little inflammatory.
It was a poor headline for a number of reasons. From a journalistic standpoint, it didn't reflect the nature of the story, nor did it provide the reader with a proper framework for the column
You know, it's funny. I heard a lot of fans and pundits criticize Kansas' schedule last season.
You can't fairly compare the 2007 Kansas football team to the 2008 version. Sure, sportswriters and columnists make unfair comparisons all the time. It's part of the job. But in this case, the assertion that Kansas' Orange Bowl Championship in 2007 should be considered a fluke because the Jayhawks have stumbled in 2008 is unfair.
If you follow Kansas football, you probably understand why. Kansas lost two All-Americans — Aqib Talb and Anthony Collins — and a bundle of impact players. It also lost defensive coordinator Bill Young.
Come on, it didn't have to play Texas or Oklahoma.
But that's an argument for another time. Kansas' 2008 version has one game left. And the focus should be on Kansas' seniors. Guys like james Holt
MEN'S BASKETBALL
And now, somehow, a lot of people feel the results of this season have vindicated the criticisms they voiced in 2007.
Holt is one of the most genuine, likable and friendly players on the football team. He's everything a student athlete should be. Obviously, Holt's senior day didn't go very well. Texas proved its might.
It's interesting that nobody has ever argued that perhaps Texas and Oklahoma were lucky they didn't have to play the 2007 version of Kansas
But Texas didn't take away Holt's Orange Bowl ring on Sunday. He earned that. And I'm pretty sure he's going to keep it.
As for the Kansan's sports coverage?
Let me quote comedian Mel Brooks.
"As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy and we're gonna make mistakes."
Edited by Mary Sorrick
Losing first-game jitters
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Freshman forward Markieff Morris posts record-high rebounds
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Markieff Morris was so nervous before his first game as a Jayhawk on Sunday that he sent a text message to Kansas coach Bill Self asking for help.
At least, Morris, freshman forward,
thought he did. Self wasn't so sure.
"He probably got me confused with somebody else," Self said. "Probably some young lady on campus — he texted her and thought it was我 probably. I don't remember getting any texts about that."
Whoever received Morris' text message must have responded with something inspirational. Morris overcame his freshman anxiety in the 71-56 victory against UMKC and recorded 15 rebounds and 7 points off the bench.
The 15 rebounds were the most by a Jayhawk since the 2003 National Championship game against Syracuse when Nick Collison grabbed 21. It ranked as the third most by a Kansas freshman — behind only Eric Chenowith's 20 in 1998 and Raef LaFrentz's 16 in 1995.
Morris accomplished the feat in his first game, nonetheless. Before the game, it looked improbable at best that he could contribute so significantly.
He sweated profusely. Junior guard Sherron Collins felt Morris' hands and couldn't believe how moist they were.
But Collins understood. He said he was just as tense before his first game in Allen Fieldhouse two years ago. Collins tried to console Morris.
"My teammates — Sherron and everybody else — were telling me 'It's going to be all right.'" Morris said.
Morris checked into the game three minutes after it started and immediately got to work. He blocked a UMKC shot on one of his first defensive possessions.
Markieff found his twin brother, Marcus, cutting near the basket for an assist a few minutes later. With sophomore center Cole Aldrich out because of foul trouble in the first half, Markieff dominated the boards with seven rebounds.
Only one play hinted at how nervous Markieff was. He quickly tossed a three-point attempt from the wing in the first half, and it clanked off the bottom of the backboard. It was one of the only mistakes he made in the game.
"I'm usually pretty efficient," Markieff said, "but I had the jitters all night."
Perhaps, they were infectious. The Kangaroo defenders certainly started looking jittery around Markieff in the second half. He added eight more rebounds by
playing ferociously below the basket.
He went after every loose ball and oumt avoid physical confrontation with UMK players. Markieff's scrappiness led to two jump-balls when it appeared the Kangaroos had come down with rebounds.
Still, Markieff had no idea how many rebounds he tallied. Assistant coach Danny Manning told Markieff to relax and play. He would inform him of his rebounding statistics after the game.
When Markieff found out he grabbed
more rebounds in his debut than any Jayhawk in history, it amazed him.
"Everybody was like 'whoa,' freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor said. "Even him. You should have seen his face."
Markieff said he didn't expect his case of the jitters to flare up as bad in tonight's game against Florida Gulf Coast. But if they do, he could always send a text message to somebody.
Edited by Lauren Keith
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
ESPN to feature women's team in TV marathon
BY DANNY NORDSTROM
dnordstrom@kansan.com
Today is a big day for the women's basketball team. A 24-hour ESPN college basketball marathon will feature the layhawks (1-0) as they face the Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0) today at 11 a.m. The game is the only women's matchup that will be featured on the marathon.
"It is different, but it's also exciting," junior forward Porscha Weddington said. "We've never had a game at 11 a.m. We're really hoping people will come."
Kansas comes off an impressive 106-64 victory against Sacred Heart and now faces a tough Iowa team. Last season the Hawkeyes tied Ohio State for the Big 10 title and obtained a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Kansas looked strong during its last outing as junior guard Danielle McCray led the Jayhawks in scoring and tied her careerbest 29 points. She, along with five other Jayhawks, scored in double figures against Sacred Heart.
BORDER WAR
Since Kansas and Iowa's first meeting in 1988, the series has been even, with each team coming out victorious two times. The last time the teams met in November 2006, the Hawkeyes came out on top with a 63-49 victory.
Film explores rivalry
The college basketball coverage, which started at 11 p.m. last night, will showcase some of the nation's top teams from 14 conferences on all four ESPN stations. In addition to the lady Jayhawks, the Kansas men's basketball team will be featured at 8 p.m. on ESPNU in the game against Florida Gulf Coast.
University students display their disapproval for Missoula before last year's Border Showdown at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. This rivalry isn't just about athletics — it is historical and dates back to the Civil War.
Edited by Lauren Keith
Jon Goering/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
Erik Ashel knew how much Kansas fans hated Missouri. He soon found out just how much Missouri fans hated Kansas.
"The name 'William Quantrill' in Lawrence is basically a swear word," Ashel said of the Confederate leader. "Over there, the term 'Jayhawker' is the same thing. It is deep down over there, and it's very real to them."
Ashel, a KU alumnus, recently finished 15 months of work producing a documentary for Metro Sports called "Border War," which will premiere on Metro Sports on Nov. 26 and will be aired on Thanksgiving. The video explores the historic background of the rivalry, tracing it back to before the beginning of the Civil War almost 150 years ago.
"I think Kansas and Missouri have the most historically significant rivalry in all of sports," Ashel said. "When you look at the true history and not just the sports history, it's the most historically significant rivalry in all of America."
The two-hour documentary features interviews with sports figures from both sides of the rivalry and centers on last year's football game at Arrowhead Stadium — probably the biggest game in the rivalry's history. Included is former Kansas football coach Don Fambrough, who hates Missouri so much that he once told his players that Quantrill was a Missouri graduate to fire them up before a game.
"I don't like their people. I don't like their players. I don't like their love," Fambrough said in the video. "I don't like a damn thing about them."
and burned much of Lawrence into ashes. Many argue that the Civil War started along the Kansas-Missouri border as the two states fought over the issue of slavery.
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The rivalry has plenty of key moments, but many trace the beginning to the summer of 1863 when Quantrill and his raiders crossed into Kansas from Missouri
Ashel spent 15 months traveling around the two states, interviewing everyone from sports legends at the schools to small-town citizens who have been told of the rivalry's history by their parents and grandparents. The documentary, which is being released in conjunction with next Saturday's Nov. 29 matchup between the Jayhawks and Tigers at Arrowhead Stadium, explains how the violent past of the two states has evolved into a heated rivalry between the school's athletic programs and fans.
The rivalry is so heated that the two schools can't even agree on the football team's overall records. Both schools count the 1960 matchup as a victory because Kansas won the game on the field, but the Big Eight Conference later ruled Kansas should forfeit for using an ineligible player.
"I love Kansas, but when you go to the other side and you see what they feel and the things they think about the Civil War and everything," Ashel said. "It's pretty interesting to see because as different as we are, in a lot of ways we're the same
because we hold the same grudges from the same events. We just hold them differently."
"I want people to understand why Kansas and Missouri have a unique rivalry and why it's so different from all of the others around the country," Ashel said. "A lot of rivals are based out of proximity or both teams being good year after year. No rivalry has the history that this rivalry has."
- Edited by Rachel Burchfield
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