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Former Jayhawk now plays for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League. THE MORNING BREW | 2B
WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER 3,2008
COMMENTARY
PAGE1B
Soccer game attendance lower than deserved
A record 52,112 fans (oddly enough, that's 2,041 more than official capacity) descended upon Memorial Stadium this Saturday, eager to feast their eyes on the latest iteration of the Kansas Jayhawk football team. And, despite a performance that failed to live up to the sheer entertainment value produced by last year's 55-3 drubbing of the FIU Golden Panthers, many of those fans remained until the final whistle blew.
But I'm not sure I needed to tell you that. After all, you already knew that football season was coming up. If you've read this sports page even once in the past week, you could have turned to any given page and pointed to any given article and likely found your finger resting on print devoted to Todd Reesing and company.
But that's not all. Chances are, you probably contributed to that new attendance record. Chances are, you cheered Daymond Patterson's electric punt return. And chances are, you spent Sunday recovering from Saturday night's postgame celebration.
If that is the case, then you missed out on a different Jayhawk victory. Only this victory wasn't taken for granted by the KU supporters — even though the Jayhawks came into the game ranked. This game also had an element of drama, something FU couldn't provide.
But that's not to say that there weren't similarities between the weekend's triumphs. Both games featured speed, skill and physical confrontations. And it just so happens that both teams achieved their respective victories in a sport that is known somewhere as football.
Now wait, hold on a second. I know that many of you are considering diverting your eyes from this column. I know the Free for All looks awfully tempting right about now, and I know the Sudoku puzzle is just calling out for some attention. After all, why pore through another condescending column demanding that you care about soccer (which is what I'm going to call it — sorry, international students and faculty)?
Here's the good news: This is not one of those columns. I'm not going to demand that you follow the Gareth Barry transfer saga with the same voracity that you devoted to Brett Favre's epic retirement debacle. Likewise, I won't demand that you pester your roommates going in on a Fox Soccer Channel subscription so you can catch all the CONCACAF Champion's League qualifiers. The point is, I don't expect soccer to become your game or America's game.
So what do I expect? Nothing, really. What are my demands? I don't have any.
What's the point? Quite simply, that I'd like to see a greater student presence at KU soccer games. I don't think that's too much to hope for. After all, students are admitted for free. Parking is also free and generally easy to come by. And it's not as if the games are a day-long endeavor. You can arrive moments before the game begins, flash your KUID and find a seat without any trouble. Less than two hours later, the game is over. That time won't be too taxing either. Don't worry about having to stand, because nobody does. And don't bother warming up your vocal cords, because there isn't any boisterous chanting expected.
But maybe, just maybe, a greater concentration of students at these games could change that. After all, it's the student section that helps make Allen Fieldhouse the intimidating basketball palace that it is, and it's the students who yell those words not fit to print as Alonso Rojas boots the ball to the oppo-
SEE BEECHER ON PAGE 6B
Sophomore guard Chase Buford, left, and junior guard Tyrone Appleton overwhelm an Ottawa shooter during Sunday's game.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Junior guard Sherron Collins pushes past the Carleton University zone defense Saurday in Ottawa, Canada. The final score of that match was 84-83.
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
Basketball in August? Sure, it didn't feel right, but that's the sport Kansas was playing this past weekend in Canada. Even if it didn't quite look like it at times. Kansas finished 3-0 in Canada, and five new Jayhawks played their first games in Kansas uniforms. But now the dust has settled, and the team has returned. What's it all mean? Well, fans will have to wait until Oct.17 before Kansas takes the Allen Fieldhouse floor at Late Night in the Phog. That's a long time to wait. So what's Kansas' new-look team going to look like? Case Keefer, the University Daily Kansan's basketball reporter, is fresh off his trip to Ottawa, and he examines the Jayhawks' performance in Canada on PAGE 3B.
Junior guard Mario Little executes a jump shot over an Ottawa University defender during Sunday afternoon's game in Canada.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed fights up-court during Saturday evening's game against Carleton.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
GO TO KANSAN.COM FOR FULL COVERAGE OF KANSAS' EXHIBITION TRIP TO CANADA.
FOOTBALL
Defensive tackle balances football and fatherhood
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Sophomore defensive tackle Jamal Greene said his daughter's birth was unplanned but that he has to take life as it comes. "She's a joy to my life and all my family,"Greene said.
BY B.J. RAINS
bjrains@kansan.com
No longer does Jamal Greene drag race his 1984 Cutlass Supreme down the busy
Kan., with his friends to see who has the fastest car.
Now, the 6-foot-4,
301-pound sophomore
defensive tackle tries to
find time to hurry home
in his new Lincoln LS to
do something much more
important — spend time with
his daughter.
"She's always smiling
KANSAN.COM
and wanting to see me" Greene said. "It's a joy to come home and see her."
See video from Tuesday's press conference at kansan.com/videos and a new episode of the hot route at kansan. com/podcasts.
Greene, whose daughter Justice will turn 1 on Sept. 30, has been balancing a full schedule of school and football while
trying to find time to see his daughter back in Kansas City.
"I wouldn't say it was so much of a shock," Greene said of having a child at such a young age. "It was unplanned, of course,
out that's just life. You take it how it comes. I'm not complaining. She's a joy to my life and all my family."
Greene has made a smooth transition to parenting, cutting back on his spending and even starting a savings fund with his parents to put money aside for his daughter.
"I look at a lot of things I do differently, knowing that I have a child and I have to put her first before me." Greene said.
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 6B