THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
SPORTS11A
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quote of the dav
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— Tony Gonzalez,
Kansas City Chiefs' tight end
fact of the day
"it's too early to start getting down on ourselves. It's too early for us to go out there and hold our heads down and say the season is over. That's just going to make it a drag, make it long. I don't want to do that. This is my 12th year, and I feel like I deserve a little more than that."
www.nfl.com
The Kansas City Chiefs have lost 12 consecutive games going back to last season. But the Chiefs have a long way to go before they match the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the futility department. The Buccaneers lost 26 games in a row during the 1976 and 1977 seasons. If the Chiefs go 0-16 this season, they will still have lost only 25 games in a row.
trivia of the day
Q: When did the Kansas City Chiefs win their last regular season football game?
Todav
A: On Oct. 21, 2007, the Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders 12-10.
ku sports schedule
Women's golf: Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational, final day (Lawrence)
Wednesday
Wednesday
Volleyball: Nebraska, 7 p.m.
(Lincoln, Neb.)
Fridav
Thursday No Events
Soccer: Nebraska, 4:30 p.m.
(Lincoln, Neb.)
Tennis: Jayhawk Invitational,
first day (Lawrence)
Saturday
Softball: Butler County, 4 p.m. (Lawrence)
Softball: Emporia State, 6 p.m. (Lawrence)
Volleyball: Texas, 7 p.m. (Lawrence)
Rowing: All day (Des Moines, Iowa)
Tennis: Jayhawk Invitational, second day (Lawrence)
TENNIS
Nadal wins Davis Cup despite strained buttock
MADRID, Spain — The U.S. reign as Davis Cup champion ended, with an alling Rafael Nadal beating Roddick in a straight-sets victory that sent Spain to the final for the sixth time.
The top-ranked player won 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 at the Las Ventas bullfighting arena, giving Spain an insurmountable lead in the best-of-five format.
Football team shows par performance
Spain will play for the title against Argentina.
Nadal said after the match he nearly didn't play because an MRI scan Saturday showed a strained buttock muscle.
"OK."
"Nothing remarkable."
"Decent."
"Adequate."
"Average."
Kansas might have defeated Sam Houston State by 24 points this past weekend, but coach Mark Mangino's post-game quotes tell a less impressive tale. He didn't offer much praise for his team's performance, sticking instead with the aforementioned adjectives. A quick rundown of the stat sheet reaffirms Mangino's claims: Through four games, Kansas has been a very average football team.
Kansas has generated the
fifth most passing yards in the nation, but that total is tempered by the team's tame run game, ranked 91st. While Todd Reesing has lived up to his well-earned "Funslinger" reputation, Jayhawk running backs Angus Quigley, Jacques Crawford and Jake Sharp
have had a tough go of it so far. It could be the inexperienced offensive line; it could be the backs themselves; but something is amiss. Last season, Kansas gained 4.8 yards per carry (fifth best in the Big 12 Conference). That average is at 3.4 this season (11th in the Big 12).
Quigley
The Jayhawks' second soft spot is their inability to defend the pass. Proven defensive backs Darrell Stuckey, Justin Thornton
and Chris Harris have done their best, but a weak pass rush and an injury to senior cornerback Kendrick Harper have hamstrung the secondary. With the exception of sophomore defensive end lake Laptad (2.5
sacks), Kansas' defensive linemen aren't getting to the opposing quarterback consistently.
Associated Press
The underwhelming push up front has forced Kansas to blitz with its linebackers, leaving the secondary out to dry. And with rookies Isiah Barfield, Corrigan Powell and Ryan Murphy filling in for Harper, one-on-one coverage isn't a good thing. Kansas is ranked 77th in the nation against the pass this season as opposed to 49th last year.
Despite freshman punt returner Daymond Patterson's success (second in the conference
in yards-per-return), Kansas' special teams situation isn't hunky-dory. Senior kick returner Marcus Herford, an All-Big 12 selection last year, ranks dead last in the conference in yards per return this season.
Mangino said Herford's struggles were partially a product of teams kicking toward the sideline, but part of the blame fell on Herford and his blockers. Whatever's the matter, the results haven't been pretty. Herford is averaging 11 yards per runback, compared to last year's 29.
A STAR ON THE HORIZON
With every point, Kansas volleyball player Karina Garlington seems to get a little better. As a freshman last season, the outside hitter showed promise, starting 18 of the team's 30 matches. Garlington worked her way
into the rotation in Big 12 Conference play, using her 6-foot frame and long arms to become one of the team's best offensive options. But
Garlington
Garlington suffered some freshman struggles, a fact manifested by her .136 hitting percentage (above.200 is ideal).
This season, Garlington has taken her game up a notch or three. She recorded a career-high 29 kills in Kansas' five-set, comeback victory against Iowa State last weekend. Through Saturday, she led the Big 12 with 4.36 kills-per-set and her hitting percentage is up to a robust .246.
- Edited by Andy Greenhaw
Rain, rain went away
Brandon Stauton, Chicago sophomore of team Yaris, pulls the flags from Eli Underwood, Lenexa freshman of team Delta Chi 4, as Underwood attempts to break through the defense. Underwood's team won its match , 12-7. The previous two weeks of intramural flag football were canceled because of rain.
PGA
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — U.S. captain Paul Azinger sprinted up the stairs to the clubhouse balcony and grabbed the biggest bottle of champagne he could find to join an American celebration he felt was a long time coming in the Ryder Cup.
They didn't need a miracle putt or an amazing comeback like their last victory in 1999. They didn't even need Tiger Woods.
Strong as a team and equally mighty on their own, the Americans rode the emotion of a flag
KICK THE KANSAN: WEEK FIVE
Pick games. Beat the Kansan staff. Get your name in the paper.
1. no. 43 fresno state at ULLA (predict score)
This week's games:
Name:
E-mail:
Year in school:
Hometown:
1. No. 25 Fresno State at UCLA (predic)
2. Minnesota at No. 14 Ohio State
3. Maryland at No. 20 Clemson
4. Virginia at Duke
5. Colorado at Florida State
6. Purdue at Notre Dame
7. Oregon at Washington State
8. No. 8 Alabama at No. 3 Georgia
9. No. 22 Illinois at No. 12 Penn State
10. Virginia Tech at Nebraska
2) Give your name, e-mail year in school and homeown.
3) Beat the Kansan's best prognosticator and get your name in the paper.
4) Beat all your peers and get your picture and in the paper next to the Kansan staff.
5) To break ties, pick the score of the designated game.
) Only KU students are eligible.
J. B. Holmes, legendary in these parts for making his high school team in tiny Campbellsville as a third-grader, showed off his awesome power with two final birds that set up the Americans for victory.
Either submit your picks to Kick the KananasiKansan.com or to the Kanan business office,
located at the West side of Staten Island Hall, which is between Worcester and New York.
1) Only KD students are eligible.
2) Give your name, e-mail, in school and hometown.
Kenny Perry, the 48-year-old native son who dreamed of playing a Ryder Cup before a Bluegrass crowd, delivered a 3-and-2 victory that was part of an early push that swung momentum toward the U.S. team.
the clinching point, appropriately, came from Jim Furkyn.
waving crowd and their Kentucky heroes on Sunday to take back the Ryder Cup with a 16½-11½ victory over Europe.
He felt hollow six years ago at The Belfry as Paul McGinley made a par putt that clinched victory for Europe, the first of three straight victories that extended its domination of a passionate event that Americans once owned.
Hunter Mahan, who criticized the Ryder Cup earlier this year as a money-making machine, was the only player to go all five matches without losing at Valhalla. His match was the only one to reach the 18th green, all because of a 60-foot birdie putt from Mahan that slammed into the back of the cup on the 17th hole.
Miguel Angel Jimenez conceded a short par putt, giving Furyk a 2-and-1 victory and the Americans the $14\frac{1}{2}$ points they needed to show they can win on
For all the birdies and spectacular shots over three inspirational days at Valhalla, the Ryder Cup ended with handshake.
Anthony Kim set the tone by handing Sergio Garcia his worst loss ever in the Ryder Cup and keeping him winless at Valhalla. Boo Weekley galloped off the first tee using his driver as a toy horse, drawing laughter for his antics and cheers for his birdies.
golf's biggest stage — and without Tiger Woods, out for the year with a knee surgery but staying involved by text messaging Azinger throughout the final day.
Ben Curtis and Chad Campbell, the final player picked for this U.S. team, won the final two matches against Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington for a lopsided score that for the last three years had been posted in European blue.
He wound up with a halve against Paul Casey, and a new appreciation for this event.
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Golfer surges from bogey to birdie in Viking Classic
MADISON, Miss. — A day after blowing a lead with a triple bogey on the final hole, Will MacKenzie birdied the par-5 18th three straight times to win the Viking Classic in a playoff for his second PGA Tour victory.
A free spirit who dropped out of golf for almost 10 years and lived in his van for five, MacKenzie rallied to beat Marc Turnesa on the second playoff hole after Brian Gay dropped out on the first extra hole. At the second
Also the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open winner, MacKenzie earned $648,000.
extra hole, MacKenzie two-putted from 63 feet for birdie, and won when Turnesa missed his 18-footer.
MacKenzie, who lost the third-round lead after a triple bogey on 18 that included a two penalty strokes, birdied three of the last four holes of regulation for a 4-under 68 to match Turnesa (70) and Gay (68) at 19-under 269 on the Annandale course.
Associated Press
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