4B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAIRY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
MONTEMAYOR (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
war, abortion, the economy and all other policy that requires a steady diet of Dunkin' Donuts and coffee laced with motor oil to wrap one's mind around.
The news Tuesday that Lesnar (6-3, 265 lbs) inked a deal to challenge UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture on Nov. 15 caused a fit of anticipation to strike me in a way that mirrored this election.
The parallels between that fight and the one that will conclude 11.
With more muscle and speed than allowed to most other humans, Lesnar tears at opponents with controlled chaos.
days before it continue. With the 45-year-old Couture we have a proven veteran who has shown he can clearly get it done. Lesnar, on the other hand, is an absolute terror. A freak of nature and a rising star.
Yet his inexperience is a concern. In Lesnar, the UFC has a
If you can't see the parallels between this and the McCain-Obama clash, maybe neither the sports page nor the front page are your thing.
potential superstar, or a potential bust.
On the other hand, mixed martial arts might not be the best comparison for politics — in the same manner that basketball may not be the best mirror for lacrosse.
But politics has a basic concept
that places it in the realm of sports In order to win, candidates must perform better on the campaign trail and collect more votes than their opponent — just as Todd Reesing and Sherron Collins are expected to put up more points than the opposition.
Much is at stake in Campaign 2008, and more money than ever has been injected into this spectacle that is not limited to one stadium, but takes place everywhere in this
country and round the clock.
It is incredible that we consistently have two quadrennial events to seize the global spotlight.
The Olympics make us watch sports most of us won't think or care about until four years later. The election will make us wear shirts or lapels with Dumbos and jackasses on them.
The debate over whether Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever was certainly spirited but nobody was tear-gassed or tased over it.
Riot police have been stationed at each convention the last two weeks and are a telling symbol.
Finally the United States has a sport with a fan base that rivals that of European soccer fan psychosis.
BULLDOGS (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Edited by Kelsey Hayes
nesses," he said. "They're well coached, they've got a great scheme and they have a phenomenal quarterback. When you combine all those ingredients you end up 12-1 and you win the Orange Bowl."
"I don't know what the strengths are because they're all strong to me."
BCS conference teams rarely travel to WAC stadiums, as Mississippi State did last week, and Dooley said he's aware of what kind of opportunity it was. This week his squad travels more than six hundred miles to play in a hostile environment, but Dooley's only trying to follow the blueprint of the WAC's most consistent program.
"One victory doesn't make a program, you have to prove it over time the way Fresno State has done," he said.
Fresno State's reputation is the willingness to play anybody, anytime, anywhere. That motto has led coach Pat Hill's Bulldogs to success, and now Dooley's Dawgs will try to follow suit.
notes
FIELDS OUT FOR LOUISIANA TECH
Kansas football coach Mark Mangino said after practice on Wednesday that senior wide receiver Dexton Fields will miss Saturday's game against Louisiana Tech with an injured foot. Fields, who led Kansas with 63 catches a year ago, sustained the injury late in the first quarter of the Jayhawks 40-10 win over FIU last Saturday when he leaped up for a pass and landed awkwardly on his foot or ankle when he came back down.
Mangino is hopeful that Fields will miss just the Louisiana Tech game and will be able to play in next Friday's game at South
Florida.
"We'll see how we handle success," Dooley said. "We haven't been here often and we'll just see if our
"That's what we're hoping," Mangino said. I can tell you that there's no fracture, but he is in no way ready to play this Saturday, for sure."
FRESHMAN TACKLE
MAY START SATURDAY
Mangino also said that redshirt freshman right tackle Jeremiah Hatch, who did not play in Saturday's victory with an undisclosed injury, has been practicing all week and will probably start against Louisiana Tech.
"We feel good about what we see," Mangino said of Hatch. "We'll work him through tomorrow's practice, and if he looks sharp and is pain free, then we'll start him."
Edited by Scott Toland
program can handle it."
MLB
Yankees' season nearly over
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The son is about to find out what's in a name. As much fun as he's had sitting in the old man's office and answering the phone when the tabloids called, Hank Steinbrenner's vacation is over.
He knows its taboo to talk about next year in New York, as evidenced by what he said last October, the day after he let his father's manager for the previous dozen seasons, Joe Torre, walk: "None of us think we can win the championship every year, but that's the goal. Period."
Yet here it is, not even October, and there are precious few signs of life between the lines and zero hope of making the playoffs.
Yankee way, too. Not to be outdone, Steinbrenner provided the Yankees beat writers with his assessment of the team after a loss to the Red Sox last Wednesday at home all but sealed their fate.
"They sucked," he said, for once eschewing use of the royal "we"
Though the body is still warm, the post-mortem has begun, because that's the
There will be enough fingerpointing and personnel changes this offseason to give new meaning to the term "hot stove."
A season after they scored nearly 1,000 runs, they're lucky to see 800. Alex Rodriguez, re-signed at $27 million per year to anchor the batting order for the next decade, was undone by Madonna, or nerves, or both. He's hitting less than .250 with runners in scoring position and two-thirds of his homers have come with the bases empty.
He routinely gets booed, but here's a comforting thought: A-Rod is under contract until he's 42.
The young pitching arms the Yankees were counting on nearly fell off. Phil Hughes and lan Kennedy are both 0-4 with ERAs nudging toward double digits. Promising outfield prospect Melky Cabrera, whose name also turned up in a few proposed deals that might have landed Johan Santana, is languishing in the minors after hitting just .242 with eight homers and 36 RBIs.
Just as he had countless times with King George, general manager Brian Cashman tried to make himself the fall guy.
"We're scuffling," he said, "and we're not doing a very good job of doing something about it."
NFL
Chiefs' Albert prepares for first game against Patriots
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — First Branden Albert is moved from the guard position where he's comfortable to left tackle — where he's not.
Then, with a vital new position to learn, he hurts his foot just five
days into training camp. So instead of spending the summer learning how to play left tackle in the NFL, Kansas City's first-round lineman could only stand around and try to stay in shape.
Then he finally gets clearance to practice this week, and guess who awaits him and a raft of other
Chiefs rookies for their NFL debut on Sunday?
None other than five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour and all the rest of the talented, savvy AFC champion New England Patriots.
Is Albert ready?
"I'm going to have to be ready."
the 6-foot-5, 315-pounder said Wednesday. "I've just got to keep working hard all through the week. Hopefully, I'll be ready on Sunday."
One of at least five Chiefs rookies who'll see plenty of action as huge underdogs in their first NFL game, Albert said he's not going to worry about all the practice time he missed and all the lessons he still hasn't learned.
"I don't know what I'd like be if I didn't miss camp. Like I said, I've just got to perform on Sunday,"
he said. "It was frustrating. Who knows? That time could have helped me. But I can't get time back. So I've got to move forward and just play football."
Albert played mostly guard during a three-year career at Virginia, but immediately after the Chiefs made him the 15th overall draftee last April, he learned he was moving to left tackle.
"It's not that much different," he said. "It's a lot more space to cover, faster players to defend, but it's not
Also making his debut, and no doubt presenting a tempting target, will be cornerback Brandon Flowers. Another rookie cornerback, Brandon Carr, will probably be the nickel back. On the defensive line, the Chiefs will count on first-round rookie pick Glenn Dorsey to help make up the difference for the loss of Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen, who was traded to Minnesota.
Altogether, the rebuilding Chiefs will probably take 11 rookies to New England.
"I don't think it's too big for any one of them," said head coach Herm Edwards. "We're going to take 11 rookies and they're going to play. I just think that's part of the process of building a football team. You don't worry about those things. You worry about the game plan, and is (Albert) going to be in shape to do a good job. If he's fatigued, you get him out. Right now, he's worked his way into a position to play"
The Chiefs ended last year on a nine-game losing streak and purged many veterans. Edwards has been insisting all week that he's not worried about his fuzzy-cheeked youngsters.
"Most of these kids played as (college) freshmen," he said. "They didn't redshirt, so they played. A lot of these kids, the high-round picks, played at big-time programs." They went in there right out of high school and played."