SPORTS
SLUMPING ON THE COURSE
No KU golfers finished in the top slots at the last tournament. WOMEN'S GOLF | 2B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The Hot Route
WWW.KANSAN.COM
GET AN INSIDE SCOOP ON KU FOOTBALL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008
Kansan sportswriters talk about this Saturday's game against Colorado at KANSAN.COM/PODCASTS
PAGE1B
hen things aren't going well for Mike Rivera, sometimes pulling out a Dr. Seuss book is just what he needs.
No, Rivera doesn't sit at home by himself and read "Green Eggs and Ham" or "Horton Hears a Who" for his personal enjoyment. Instead, he heads to local elementary school and spends 20 to 40
minutes reading "Cat in the Hat," "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish," and several other Dr. Seuss classics to students.
"It it makes me feel good," Rivera said. "I learn a lot from them. It's a way to get away from the daily grind and stresses of football."
The 6-foot-3, 255-pound linebacker is busy enough trying to battle a full class schedule and his duties to the football team. When he started volunteering and doing community service during high school, he knew it was something he had to continue in Lawrence. He purposely did not schedule classes between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. so he could travel to schools and other places to do as much volunteer work as he could.
"Those kids were so excited." Rivera said of his visit to the schools last week. "It puts a smile on your face to see how excited they are to see you and the other athletes. It's a good way to get away from things and have a little fun."
Rivera works with Habitat for Humanity, the Jayhawk Fun and Fitness Program and the Jayhawk READ program. He also is organizing an event with the Special Olympics that will give 125 Special Olympic athletes the chance to go bowling and to hang out with several KU athletes.
SEE RIVERA ON PAGE 4B
Photo Courtesy of Kansas Athletics
Senior linebacker Mike Rivera reads to elementary school students as a part of the Jayhawks Read program, which was started in January 2008. Rivera schedules his classes so he is free from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. you can visit local
schools.
COMMENTARY
Kansas Memphis do battle again
John Calipari might like to remind us that, through the national championship game was certainly a momentous victory, it was also only a battle. The war, he might say, is far over.
And here we thought Kansas had beaten Memphis. John Collieri might like
It looks like fictionalized John Calipari is right.
The national championship game, though won by Kansas, has clearly benefited both programs. A quick jaunt over to Rivals.com will illustrate that point. Of the top 10 2009 recruits, five list Kansas as a possible destination. And wouldn't you know it, five list Memphis, as well.
But it's the overlap that makes this really interesting. Of their five top-10 prep targets, Kansas and Memphis share four. Except Kansas and Memphis can't very well share John Wall, Xavier Henry, Derrick Favors or Lance Stephenson. All those players must eventually choose where they will display their basketball talents.
And so two of college basketball's superpowers are set to clash once again
The dynamics have changed slightly since the last meeting. Now, Kansas' coaching staff can flash its substantial national championship bling.
The goals of this new battle are also different. The prize here isn't a title or a trophy, but players who may very well win one in the future.
As for the outcome... we'll have to wait a bit to find out for sure, but we can always speculate in the meantime.
It may be difficult for us, with our crimson-and-blue-tinted glasses on, to envision a scenario in which a recruit could possibly choose to play college
SEE BEECHER ON PAGE 4B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Coaches rank KU third in Big 12 preseason poll
Kansas has won six of the past seven Big 12 championships,but the conference coaches aren't expecting it to win another one this season.
The coaches selected the Jayhawks third in the Big 12 men's basketball preseason poll, which the Big 12 released Monday. The coaches picked Oklahoma first, Texas second and Baylor tied with Kansas at third.
votes — the same number as the Sooners. Texas got the most first-place votes with four but wound up behind O k l a h o m a overall. Baylor received the remaining two first-place votes.
The defending national champion lavhawks did receive three first-place
It was the first time in Big 12 history that Oklahoma ranked first in
the preseason poll. The Sooners return four starters and are led by sophomore center Blake Griffin, who averaged nearly 15 points and nine rebounds as a freshman. Many early 2009 NBA Draft projections rank Griffin as the top NBA prospect in the nation.
2004-2019 big 12
Preseason Poll
1. Oklahoma (3)
2. Texas (4)
T3. Kansas (3)
T3. Baylor (3)
5. Texas A&M
6. Oklahoma State
7. Missouri
8. Kansas State
9. Nebraska
10. Texas Tech
11. Iowa State
12. Colorado
Case Keefer
VOLLEYBALL
BY JOSH BOWE jbowe@kansan.com
Hawks play for improved Big 12 standing
The Jayhawk volleyball team sees an opportunity to crack into the top half of the Big 12 standings, but first it has to beat Texas A&M.
Kansas prepares for its third match of the month against A&M at 7 p.m. in the Horejsi Family Athletic Center. And despite falling to a 2-4 conference record, the Jayhawks could play beyond November if coach Ray Bechard's team makes October its best month. But Bechard does not want that to fool his team into thinking everything will fall into place easily. Texas A&M was picked to finish fourth in the conference in preseason polls, and despite its early trouble in Big 12 play, Bechard knows how talented the Aggies are.
"They played a brutal nonconference
A&M has a 2-3 Big 12 record, the same number of victories as Kansas. They sit at eighth in the conference with Kansas following close behind. And even though both teams are low in the standings, two wins separate them from the conference records of teams such as Texas and Baylor, which share second place in the Big 12 standings.
schedule", Bechard said of Texas A&M's record. "I regard them as an upper-division Big 12 opponent."
Bechard decided to organize a game plan against A&M as a team rather than focusing on one player. He said A&M was well-rounded enough that spotlighting one player would allow others to thrive.
It makes tonight's match that much more critical.
"I think if you start to game plan one of their players, then somebody else will
The Jayhawks had a film session Monday and it must have been brutal. Even with the victory Saturday against Texas Tech, Kansas still has plenty of room for improvement. Texas Tech held Kansas to a hitting efficiency below .200, a level that Bechard said the team had to achieve to garner consistent success.
Beachard is also taking time this week to improve on his own team instead of focusing entirely on the Aggies.
get away from you," Bechard said. "They've got great balance and great people coming off the bench."
SEE VOLLEYBALL ON PAGE 4B
Sophomore libero Melissa Manda dings the ball during Kansas' loss to Kansas State on Oct. 1. The Wildcats beat the Jayhawks 3-2 and handed Kansas its third loss in a row.
Weston White/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
FOOTBALL
Jayhawk line backers ready to blitz Colorado
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
Pass — no, run — back to pass — wait,
he's running again.
Defensive indecision is common when a defense lines up against a quarterback such as Iowa State's Austin Arnaun. In addition to his aerial numbers — 268 yards, three touchdowns -- Arnaud rushed 17 times for 44 yards against Kansas last weekend.
Arnaud's 134 rushing yards are the fourth-most of any quarterback in the conference. On Saturday, the Kansas defense will square off against Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins, who ranks last in the conference with negative-35 rushing yards.
"As a defensive back, the thing you hate the worst is being in coverage and having to run down and track down a quarterback who just ran out of the zone," safety Darrell Stuckey said. "It feels a lot better knowing a
quarterback's going to stand in the pocket and throw downfield. It allows you to just focus on your receiver and the coverage that you're in."
Hawkins is one of three Big 12 quarterbacks with negative rushing yards and the only one of those who couples that stat with fewer than 1,000 passing yards.
"There's really not too many pocket quarterbacks in the Big 12, that's for sure," defensive end John Larson said. "Cody can
use his feet when he needs to, but he looks to read coverages and make a good throw before he looks to run $ ^{70} $
It's been a rough season for Cody, who is the son of Colorado coach Dan Hawkins. The younger Hawkins has completed less than 60 percent of his passes, has thrown four interceptions and has been sacked 10 times.
SEE COLORADO ON PAGE 4B