SAN
008
SPORTS
Library nty
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S GOLF RESULTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Check out where Kansas stands in the Cardinal Intercollegiate and Johnie Imes Invitational. SPORTS |6B
KICK THE KANSAN BACK FOR WEEK 6
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
Take on the Kansan staff in the weekly college football pick'em contest. SPORTS | 2B
ANSAN
22.
vern.
FOOTBALL
PAGE 1B
Walk-on from Wisconsin graduated in two years
BY B.J. RAINS rains@kansan.com
Earning a college degree typically takes four years. For some, it takes five. Not for back-up center Brad Thorson.
Thorson arrived on campus for training camp this fall after graduating from the University of Wisconsin in only two years.
"I had quite a few AP credits from high school so that helped me out a lot," Thorson said.
Regardless, completing a degree in two years while battling the rigorous schedule as a Division I athlete is almost unheard of. Thorson did it, and then decided that he wanted to leave Wisconsin and try to play somewhere else.
"In the end, it just wasn't a good fit for me at Wisconsin," Thorson said. "There were a lot of things that weren't working out. Since I was finishing up my undergrad, I had a unique opportunity to go somewhere else."
Thorson called offensive line coach John Reagan and decided to walk on at Kansas soon after. He arrived at the start of training camp in August and met his teammates for the first time on the first day of practice.
Because Thorson graduated,
he petitioned the NCAA to allow him to play right away and not be forced to sit out a year, as student-athletes typically must do when they when they decide to transfer.
Thorson
"Wisconsin supported the move, and I did well there and wanted to continue my education elsewhere," Thorson said. "The NCAA was supportive of it, and I'm just
happy that they were OK with me playing this year"
Thorson, who had anumweighted GPA of 3.67 at Homestead High School in Mequon, Wis., took six AP courses at one time. He redshirted his first year at Wisconsin and graduated the following year with a business degree in risk management
insurance. He is working on a sports administration graduate degree, which is a one-and-a-half to two-year program. Depending on his class load, Thorson could complete a second graduate degree
before his three years — including this season — of eligibility run out.
"I'm just really interested in what happens behind the scenes and not just on game day," Thorson said. "I'd like to be involved with that later in life. We will see what comes out of it."
Thorson has played sparingly on special teams this year and is currently the back up to senior Ryan Cantrell at center. Thorson said he knew his time would come next year, but with the struggling running game, coach Mark Mangino has hinted that possible personnel changes on the offensive line could be coming. It doesn't appear, however, that Thorson's chance at center will come this year.
"I think right now we're playing our best five offensive linemen to this point,"
Mangino said. "Can that change? Yes it can, but is putting him in the lineup right now the answer? I don't think so at this point in time; Ryan Cantrell is a veteran guy and he needs to play well, but he's capable."
Thorson projects to be the starter at center in 2009 so having to wait a year to see the field doesn't bother him. In fact, he wouldn't change a thing.
"I am loving playing football and I am loving going to school," Thorson said. "I didn't want a job. It's just a lot of fun being here."
- Edited by Andy Greenhaw
BILL'S BRUTAL BOOT CAMP BUSTS BALLS
Self ups the intensity as Hawks enter his infamous conditioning practices
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
BY CASE KEEFER
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Kansas held its first practice of the season Monday — sort of.
Coach Bill Self's boot camp — a two-week series of practices that emphasize heavy conditioning — began at 6 a.m. Monday.
Kansas took advantage of an NCAA rule that allows teams to travel out of the country for exhibition games during Labor Day weekend once every four years. The Jayhawks practiced for nearly two weeks in Lawrence before traveling to Ottawa, Canada, where they beat three Canadian college teams.
Boot camp traditionally marks the beginning of the basketball season for the jayhawks, but this year they've already practiced for 10 days and played three exhibition games.
But those practices weren't as intense as what the players will face this week. Basketballs don't make many appearances at boot camp. Self is more concerned with running drills to get his players in adequate shape.
Players often come away from these practices with horror stories about how tough they are. Seven of the 15 players on Kansas roster — junior college transfers Mario Little and Tyrone Appleton and freshman Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Tyshawn Taylor, Travis Releford and Quintrell Thomas — are attending their first boot camp.
Boot camp will run through next Friday. The Jayhawks will then have a week to recover before Late Night in the Phog on Oct. 17.
— Edited by Andy Greenhaw
COMMENTARY
Imagine life without any Jayhawk football games
W was the weekend a little lackluster without Kansas football, or was it just me?
Yes, there were some wild upsets in college football and Major League Baseball had some exciting play-off races, but something seemed off.
Can you imagine life without Jayhawk football every weekend?
At first glance this seems like a pointless question, but according to kuhistory, com, at one time it came very close to being a reality.
In January 1910, the future of football at the University was hanging by a thread. A proposal to eliminate the sport was put in place by J.W. Gleed, a member of the Board of Regents. William Allen White, a regent at the time and the person for whom the School of Journalism is named, seconded the motion.
A large majority of students and alum ni fought to keep football at Kansas, but they were going against some solid arguments for elimination.
The Regents defeated the motion, but agreed that some changes needed to be made to the sport. The debate surrounding football continued for the next several months.
Problems during the 20 years of football before 1910 included the death of an
opposing player from Doane College in Nebraska after injuries suffered during a game in Lawrence, rumors of alcohol and drug use by players of opposing teams before games, ineligible player activity at the University, the firing of coach Harold S. Weeks, who was accused of having a relationship with a freshman girl in 1904; and the breaking of conference rules by the University when it spent more than $400 on training tables for players.
It was apparent that Jayhawk football needed help if it was going to survive. The conference and local citizens were aware of it.
A cartoon in the Feb. 7, 1910 issue of the Kansas City Star shows a man, who represents Kansas, holding a woman, representing football, over a cliff and the other members of the Missouri Valley Conference running to save her.
In the end, the conference came through and adopted new rules, and the threat to remove Kansas football faded.
So Kansas, hypothetically, could have been a rugby powerhouse. But when football was allowed to continue, rugby faded out of the spotlight. Today, rugby is a club sport at Kansas, and it's far away from being one of the top two athletic revenue makers
When hope seemed dim for Kansas football in 1910, word leaked out that the team would use spring practices to get ready for a possible shift to rugby. The University Daily Kansan even wrote an article attempting to interest students in the game.
But by using the butterfly effect and our imagination, let's discuss what life would be like without Kansas football.
FOOTBALL
The University would be vastly different
SEE COMMENTARY ON PAGE 4B
lowa State coach Gene Chizik questions a call during the second half of an NCAA college football game against lowa on Sept. 13 in Iowa City. Iowa won the game, 17-5.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cyclones reflect on season prepare to face Jayhawks
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
A period of self-reflection can ease the mind and help one see the big picture.
With a bye week before his team's Big 12 opener, Iowa State coach Gene Chizik said he took a step back from his squad and tried to assess their performance after four games.
"Sometimes, I think you get caught up and you can't see the forest from the trees," Chizik said. "We backed off and looked at it and we realized that we're such a young
football team. So many of our mistakes came from our young guys. We know we're going to go through growing pains."
Sixteen freshmen have played some minutes for the Cyclones this season. Eleven of those are true freshmen straight out of high school.
Chizik said he and his staff decided to get their young players experience now because the coaching staff has its eve
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 4B