THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
SPORTS
9A
NFL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Diego Chargers cornerback Quentin Jammer looks over his shoulder as he races away from New York Jets Jerrichol Cottery, center, and Brandon Moore after recovering a fumble in the first quarter of an NFL football game Monday. The Chargers won the game 48-29.
Chargers breeze past Jets 48-29
BY BERNIE WILSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN DIEGO — Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson and the rest of the San Diego Chargers simply left no doubt.
Frustrated by two gut-wrenching losses, the Chargers raced past nemesis Brett Favre and the New York Jets for a 48-29 victory Monday night in a wild game befitting two original AFL teams.
Rivers threw three touchdown passes, Tomlinson scored his first two TDs of the season and San Diego finally got back at Favre after all these years. They sacked him four times and intercepted him twice.
Favre always seemed to come up big on Monday nights with Green Bay. This night, though, he finally lost to the Chargers after beating them five straight times dating to 1993.
San Diego (1-2) looked like the team picked by many to reach the Super Bowl. The Chargers lost their opener to Carolina on the last play, then lost by one point at Denver in a game remembered for referee Ed Hochuli's blown call that set up the Broncos' winning score.
Tomlinson, the two-time defending NFL rushing champion, scored on a 2-yard leap to give the Chargers a 38-14 lead in the third quarter. He scored on another 2-yard run late in the fourth quarter, one play after Rivers' 60-yard pass to Vincent Jackson.
Rivers has thrown three TD passes in every game this season. He was 19-of-25 for 250 yards on Monday, while Tomlinson had 67 yards on 26 carries, his third straight game under 100 yards.
Favre had three touchdown
passes for the jets (1-2), including fourth-quarter TD throws of 4 yards to Chansi Stuckey and 13 yards to Dustin Keller. The 38-year-old Favre was 30-of-42 for 271 yards.
The Chargers could have had two more picks, but safety Clinton Hart dropped Favre's fourth-down pass in the end zone late in the third quarter and Cromartie let an interception and a sure touchdown clang off his hands in the first quarter. Cromartie intercepted backup QB Kellen Clemens in the end zone in the final minute.
span of 5 minutes,46 seconds spanning the first and second quarters.
The Chargers scored three times and the Jets once in a crazy
Rivers recovered from an early blunder to throw a 1-yard touchdown pass to rookie fullback Mike Tolbert for a 10-7 lead late with 2:03 left in the first quarter.
On the fourth play of the next Jets' drive, Cromartie overpowered Laveranues Coles and took the ball away, racing 52 yards for a 17-7 lead.
Leon Washington returned the kickoff 94 yards to the San Diego 5. Two plays later, Favre hit Coles on a 3-yard TD pass to pull the Jets within 17-14.
San Diego's Marques Harris recovered an onside hit at the Jets 44 to set up a 27-yard scoring pass from Rivers to Chris Chambers that made it 24-14 11:17 before halftime.
Eric Weddle intercepted Favre to set up Rivers' 6-yard scoring pass to tight end Antonio Gates for a 31-14 lead late in the second quarter.
Jets cornerback David Barrett stunned the Chargers and quieted the crowd at Qualcomm Stadium when he jumped in front of Gates for an interception he returned 25 yards for a touchdown less than four minutes into the game.
NFL
Injuries and QB changes plague winless Chiefs
BY DOUG TUCKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The NFL had four 4-12 teams last year, and two of them in the past two weeks have thrashed the woeful Kansas City Chiefs by a combined score of 61-22.
A new offense and a new offensive coordinator would be expected to create occasional confusion, at least early. But the Chiefs, dogged by injuries, have added to their chaos by starting three different quarterbacks their first three games.
Rookies and second-year players populate the roster both offensively and defensively, and so do youthful mistakes. The Chiefs aren't stopping anybody and they're not scoring much. On Sunday, the unbeaten, high-scoring Denver Broncos will encounter a winless Kansas City that ranks 28th in total offense and 25th in total defense, and hasn't had a lead since last fall.
Everybody knew it was going to be a bite-the-bullet year. But nobody foresaw the first season of a rebuilding campaign would bring this much pain.
Their Chiefs' franchise-record losing streak stretched to 12 with a 38-14 loss to Atlanta. That was after the Oakland Raiders rushed for 300 yards in a 23-8 whipping.
"It's the course we wanted and it's the right one for the future of
this organization," coach Herm Edwards said Monday. "Where we were at, we had to go this way. We're going to stick with the plan.
"It's not fun right now for anybody. It isn't fun for the players, the coaches, the fans. But it's the road we're traveling and now it's our job to try to get better every week."
For the second week in a row, Edwards is not sure who will start at quarterback for Brodie Croyle, the designated signal-caller of the future who hurt his shoulder in the opener. Damon Huard, a dependable 12-year veteran backup who made the start against Oakland, could get the call.
Or it might be second-year QB Tyler Thigpen. He made his first NFL start at Atlanta and for a while looked every bit like the seventh-round draft pick from tiny Coastal Carolina that he is.
Huard is more experienced and more heady, but less mobile than Thigpen, who is physically more suited to the offense the Chiefs installed this year with coordinator Chan Galley.
MLB
"You weigh a lot of factors into this (decision)," said Edwards. "You don't want to put Tyler in a bad position to where you crush him. That's not good. You wrestle with that. We also need some calming on our team right now. We're looking for a spark."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Royals 'Mike Aveles hits an RBI single in the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers in a baseball game monday, in Detroit. Aveles drove two in runs in the Royals' 6-2 win.
K.C. beats struggling Detroit; Tigers lose 10 of past 11 games
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT — David Dejesus went 4-for-4 and Mike Kansas drove in two runs as the Kansas City Royals beat the reeling Detroit Tigers 6–2 Monday night.
The Tigers were minus suspended slugger Gary Sheffield, then lost star Miguel Cabrera in the third inning because of a tight back. Cabrera was listed as day-to-day.
Detroit has lost 10 of 11, and is only one game ahead of last-place Kansas City in the AL Central. Sheffield was suspended four games earlier in the day for brawling with Cleveland pitcher Fausto Carmona last week.
Gil Meche (13-11) won for the third time in four starts, allowing two runs and four hits and two walks in six innings. Zach Miner (8-5) took the loss, giving up four runs in six-plus innings.
DeJesus tripled on Miner's first pitch of the game, and Aviles singled two pitches later.
to first base and threw out Aviles at the plate.
Jose Guillen followed with another single to put runners on the corners, but Cabrera fielded Ryan Shealy's hard-hit grounder
Kansas City made it 3-0 in the fourth when Alberto Callaspo and Deljesus started the inning with singles and Aviles followed with his second RBI single of the game. After a hit batter loaded the bases, a run scored when Shealy grounded into a double play.
Detroit had a good chance to tie the game in the third when Brandon Inge singled and took third on Meche's wild pickoff attempt, but Dusty Ryan and Curtis Granderson both grounded out.
The Tigers came back with two runs in the sixth. They loaded the bases with two singles and a walk and Magglio Ordonez hit a sacrifice fly. Jeff Larish made it 3-2 with a single, but Meche got out of the inning.
Bobby Seay's wild pitch allowed Alex Gordon to score in the eighth, and DeJesus gave the Royals a 6-2 lead with an RBI single.
Kansas City got a run off four Tigers pitchers in the seventh when Gary Glover walked Shealy with the bases loaded.
SWIMWEAR
Nike leaves competitive market
BY SARAH SKIDMORE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The company will continue to provide swimwear for colleges and sell to traditional retail customers. But it will not compete against the likes of Speedo to get the swoosh on the world's top swimmers.
"We will not invest in next-generation swim innovation, which is not in line with our stated category growth strategy," the company said in a statement.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Nike said Monday that it is leaving the elite swimwear market.
The Beaverton, Ore.-based company had announced several years ago that it would focus on six key categories to reach a $23 billion revenue goal by 2011. Those categories are running, soccer, basketball, men's training and women's training and sportswear.
CNBC reported this weekend that Nike may be halting its swimsuit development after a showdown at the Beijing summer Olympics. Nike lost some of its edge at the games when Speedo stole the spotlight with its LZR Racer suit.
According to Speedo, of the 77 world records set since the release of the suit in February, 72 have been in the LZR Racer. And it was worn by Olympics darling Michael Phelps.
Nike said it made a "strategic decision as part of the company's long-term growth plan."
Other swimmers clamored to
get the suit at the games. Nike even allowed some of its athletes to wear the LZR Racer, an unprecedented move by the world's largest athletic shoe and apparel company.
But Nike denied that Monday's decision was a direct result of Speedo's success, saying it was a "direct result of our long-term growth strategy focusing on the areas where we can have the largest growth."
Research organization SportsOneSource Group said
Nike is a distant third in the $200 million performance swimwear marketplace — which encompasses consumer swim goods for exercise rather than leisure. Speedo holds roughly
to keep doing what we've been doing"
But Evan Morgenstein, an agent who represents a number of top swimmers, said Nikes decision is a blow to elite athletes who depend heavily on apparel companies for their funding — especially in non-Olympic years.
Morgenstein's clients include Nike-endorsed Olympians Cullen Jones, Brendan Hansen, Aaron Peirsol and Jason Lezak.
"We've been in the swimwear business for 80 years.We are going to keep doing what we've been doing."
Morgenstein said Speedo and TYR Sport are the only two major
STU ISAAC Senior vice president of team sales and sports marketing for Speedo
Speedo said Nike's move would not have much impact on its own business, such as the launch of the Racer to general consumers in October.
60 percent of the market share, up from 54 percent last year. TYR comes in second at 20 percent and Nike is third at 13 percent, lower than its 18 percent share last year.
"We've been in the swimwear business for 80 years," said Stu Isaac, senior vice president of team sales and sports marketing for Speedo. "We are going
companies left in the U.S. now that Nike has pulled out — and they are embroiled in a bitter antitrust lawsuit filed by TYR against Speedo and USA Swimming.
"And then
there was two." Morgenstein said. "The truth is that TYR and Speedo are the only two companies pumping any kind of money directly to the athletes. There are other companies that make suits, but they haven't spent a dime on the swimmers."
Morgenstein worries that Nike's
"You're going to see a lot more athletes from China and Europe on the medal stand unless something is done," Morgenstein predicted.
"The financial house of cards for a lot of elite swimmers, especially the older ones, may come crumbling down," he said. "In non-Olympic years, many swimmers depend on up to 90 percent of their funding from the apparel companies."
He called on the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming to come up with a new funding structure that gives more money directly to elite athletes, instead of putting the bulk of it into training centers that are designed to help the sport at the grass-roots level. Morgenstein said the current monthly stipend of $1,750 to top-level swimmers is "absurd."
A USA Swimming representative was not immediately available for comment.
decision could be a precursor to other funding woes that might directly affect the performance of the powerful U.S. swim team at the 2012 London Olympics.
"With the tough economic times we're in, Speedo is probably looking at their investment in terms of the athletes, and I'm sure TYR is too." Morganstein said.
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