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SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY,OCTOBER 14,2008
quote of the day
"All I know is we lost. Someone had to lose. They were a great team. We were a great team. We did one thing very uncharacteristic of what we did all year. Whenever we had a lead in the sixth or seventh inning, we won the game. But we had leads in the first two games and lost."
George Brett, 1998 Baseball Digest
Judge teams based on statistics, not polls
fact of the day
Royal's outfielder Willie Wilson struck out 12 times against the Phillies in the 1980 World Series. Wilson led the Royals with 230 hits during the regular season during which he struck out 81 times in 705 at bats. 1980 was also the year George Brett hit .390. Brett had 175 hits on the season, 55 less than Wilson, who hit .326.
Source: Baseball Reference
What else is new?
College football season is at its midway mark, and the polls are fluctuating as quickly as the wind of public opinion reshuffles the presupposed powerhouses and fledgling flavors of the week.
To err is human, and the pollsters do a lot of erring. This preseason, Associated Press voters earmarked West Virginia, Clemson, Auburn and Arizona State as some of the nation's 15 best squads. Considering the poor showing by the AP poll — usually much
The numbers don't look especially auspicious for Kansas. The Jayhawks are ranked 28th in the nation, trailing no-name programs such as Ball State and Minnesota. But that's the great thing about stats: They don't lie. They don't take reputation or past successes into consideration. And face it —
more legit than the joke that is the Coaches' Poll — maybe it's time we started ignoring the experts' whims in favor of some hard data.
That's where the Sagarin Ratings come in. The ratings, compiled by stat guru Jeff Sagarin and included as part of the BCS formula, judge teams' merit based on strength of schedule, margin of victory and home/road performances. Teams shoot up and down the charts in the season's opening weeks, but everything seems to level out by midseason.
escaping Iowa State with a two-point victory isn't a good win.
The ratings predict a 1-5 slide the rest of the way for Kansas, with the only victory coming against 57th-ranked Kansas State. Sagarin agrees with the conventional wisdom that Kansas will fall to all four of its nationally ranked opponents (Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas and Missouri) and ventures onto a limb to predict a loss at 36th-ranked Nebraska.
Elsewhere in the Big 12 Conference, the statistics back up what everybody already knows: No. 1 Texas is outstanding, No. 5 Oklahoma is elite, No. 9 Oklahoma State is dangerous, and No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 18 Missouri aren't too shabby either. Oh yeah, and No. 104 Texas A&M is absolutely horrendous. The Aggies are ranked behind eight FCS (formerly
BACK IN THE PHOG...
FINALLY
Division 1-AA) teams.
The warm weather might not agree, but it's that time of the year again. Ear-damaging decibels, camping groups, alley-oops and the euphoria that only the greatest sporting venue in the world can provide: Basketball season in Lawrence is fast approaching.
Kansas media day is Thursday, Late Night in the Phog is Friday and Big 12 media days are next week, meaning everybody will become acquainted with the seven new Jayhawks in short order. After all the buildup and hype, the Jayhawks will tip off their regular season on Nov. 16 against UMKC.
Only 33 more agonizing days until the beauty of college basketball comes back. Only one more painful month until Kansas earns some attention for something other than its students embarrassing themselves with a classless and moronic kickoff chant.
trivia of the day
Godspeed, basketball. Godspeed.
What team was the last of the 16 original National League and American League franchises to win a World Series championship?
The Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series championship in 1980, 97 years after being founded in 1883. Their opponent in 1980? The Kansas City Royals.
Edited by Andy Greenhaw
KU sports this week
Today
No events scheduled
Wednesday
Volleyball: Missouri, 6:30 p.m.
(Columbia, Mo.)
Thursday
Tennis: ITA Central Regional Tournament (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Friday
Swimming & Diving: Arizona State, 3 p.m. (Tempe, Ariz.) Soccer: Texas A&M, 4 p.m. (Lawrence) Tennis: ITA Central Regional Tournament (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Saturday
Swimming & Diving: Northern Arizona, 11 a.m. (Flagstaff, Ariz.) Volleyball: Oklahoma 7 p.m. (Lawrence)
Football: Oklahoma, 2:30 p.m.
(ABC) (Norman, Okla.)
Tennis: ITA Central Regional Tourn-
ment (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Cross Country: NCAA Pre-Nationals Invitational, TBA (Terre Haute, Ind.)
KICK THE KANSAN: WEEK EIGHT
Pick games. Beat the Kansan staff. Get your name in the paper.
This week's games:
1. No, 1. Missouri at No, 1. Texas (score)
2. No. 12 Ohio State at No. 20 Michigan State
3. No. 16 Kansas at No. 4 Oklahoma
4. Kansas State at Colorado
5. No. 22 Vanderbilt at No.10 Georgia
No. 15 LS at south cal
No. 18 North Carolina a
8. No. 21 Wake Forest at Maryland
9. No. 25 California at Arizona
10. Oregon State at Washington
Name:
E-mail:
Year in school:
Hometown:
1) Only KU students are eligible.
1) Only KU students are eligible.
2) Give your name, e-mail, year in school and hometown
3) Beat the Kansan's best prognosticator and get your
name in the paper.
4) Beat all your peers and get your picture and picks in the paper next to the Kansan staff.
5) To break ties, pick the score of the designated game. Submit your picks either to KickTheKansan@kansan.com or to the Kansan business office, located at the West side of Stauffer Flint Hall, which is between Wescoe Hall and Watson Library.
--be interested in the nine-time Pro Bowl tight end, including Buffalo, Philadelphia and the New York Giants.
Directed by Paul Stephen Lim
Pre-Halloween Special! 7:30 PM Saturday Oct.18
THE LATE-NITE HORRORSHOW A creepy new thriller by KU student Nick Medved
English Alternative Theatre presents a staged reading of
Featuring Mackenzie Wiglesworth, Casey Brown, Lizzie Hartman, Jeff Welch, Sean Hall
Admission FREE
Lawrence Arts Center (9th & New Hampshire)
Bobcat shreds ball
Charlotte Bobcats guard Raymond Fetton, left, steals the ball from Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game Monday in Atlanta.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NFL
Gonzalez wants to leave KC
BY DOUG TUCKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tony Gonzalez practiced with the Kansas City Chiefs for what could be the last time Monday and then went home to await word on whether he's been traded.
Several teams are thought to
But a Chiefs spokesman who asked not to be identified because talks were still ongoing told The Associated Press that no deal was pending.
The trade deadline is 3 p.m.
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today.
Gonzalez, who holds tight end records for receptions, touchdowns and yards receiving, asked the Chiefs to explore trade talks because he wants an opportunity to make a Super Bowl run before his career is done.
Gonzalez had left the Chiefs' locker room Monday by the time reporters were admitted.
At 32, Gonzalez plans to play at least one more season and possibly two. Although he's shown no signs of slowing down, his age could be an impediment to a deal because the Chiefs are not likely to let him get away cheaply.
With the rebuilding Chiefs having quarterback problems while working 15 rookies into their system, Gonzalez's numbers are down. He caught 21 passes and scored two touchdowns the first five games as the Chiefs went 1-4.
Gonzalez's teammates came back Monday from their bye week and tried to get ready for Sunday's game against unbeaten Tennessee without letting the possible loss of one of the best players in team history become a distraction.
Waters dismissed speculation that the Chiefs would resent Gonzalez for wanting to bolt the young, developing team.
"I think that's a lot of (nonsense) to tell you the truth." Waters said.