what we heard I caught crap from my family and friends for keeping my helmet on for the postgame TV interview..." Kansas quarterback Bill Whittemore in an ESPN.com feature off the bench
2B the university daily kansan
wednesday, october 1,2003
men's basketball
University to receive third recruit's verbal commitment
The Rivals.com and Insiders.com college basketball recruiting services have reported that one of the nation's top recruits, Alexander "Sasha" Kaun, has chosen to attend the University of Kansas instead of Duke University.
Kaun cannot not be reached for comment, and his high school, Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Fla., declined to comment, but The University Daily Kansan expects to receive a press release today announcing Kaun's decision.
Kaun would be the third verbal commitment the Jayhawks have received this season and the second in as many days.
Yesterday, Russell Robinson, a New York guard, committed to the program, and earlier in the year Darnell Jackson, a forward from Oklahoma City, also announced he planed to attend Kansas.
Kaun is a 6-foot-11-inch,245-pound center who is rated as a top-25 recruit by both Rivals and the Insiders recruiting services.
Chris Wintering
Selfs accept honorary titles for volunteer organization
Bill Self, Kansas basketball coach and his wife, Cindy, have been named Honorary Chair and Co-Chair of Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters.
As Honorary Chairs, the two will be featured in public service announcements and appear at events that encourage Kansans to become mentors in the program. Bill Hanna, chairman of the organization's board of directors, said the committee was honored that the Selfs accepted the invitation to become honorary chairs.
"Their participation and leadership will help more Kansas children benefit from the friendship of caring adults," he said.
Big Brothers Big Sisters' mission is to help boys and girls achieve their full potential through long-term personal relationships with carefully screened and caring volunteers. For more information or to volunteer, log onto the Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters' Web site, www.ksbbbs.org.
Chris Wintering
Free for All
□
Bill Whittemore for Heisman.
than chasing down the shifty Dante Hall.
Mangino is a stud. Give him a raise.
■
I love KU volleyball. Jill Dorsey rocks my face off.
This commentator for the Chiefs and Ravens game is so annoying. He is so Baltimore it is not even funny. I am so tired of listening to him.
I know a certain sports writer for the Kansan that owes the Kansas defense a big apology because Missouri was thunder-struck.
After a weekend like this I actually wish I knew someone from Mizzou just so I can taunt them.
图
If you tear down our goal posts how are our kickers going to practice and get better? Way to go guys. Thanks.
Kansas athletics calendar
today
friday
Volleyball at Missouri, 7 p.m., Columbia, Mo.
Soccer vs. Texas, 5 p.m., SuperTarget Field
saturday
Cross Country, OSU Cowboy Jamboree, Still-
water, Okla
Texas
Volleyball at Texas Tech, 7 p.m., Lubbock,
Softball vs. Kansas State, 11:45 a.m., Clinton
Lake Sports Complex
Softball vs. Butler, 2 p.m., Clinton Lake Sports Complex
Soccer vs. Texas A&M, 12 p.m., SuperTarget Field
sunday
Softball vs. Emporia State, 12:15 p.m., Clinton Lake Sports Complex
Softball vs. Washburn, 2-30 p.m., Clinton Lake Sports Complex
This week's games:
Seattle's Collison injures shoulder during practice
SEATTLE—Rookie forward Nick Collison left the Seattle SuperSonics morning practice yesterday with a strained left shoulder.
There was some contact," Nate McMillan, Sonics coach, said. "Some how, he got his arm tangled with another player."
basketball
Michigan vs. Iowa
USC vs. Arizona State
K-State vs. Texas
Alabama vs. Georgia
Tennessee vs. Auburn
Washington vs. UCLA
Mississippi vs. Florida
Texas & MK vs. Texas Tech
Wisconsin vs. Penn State
Illinois vs. Purdue
NC State vs. Georgia Tech
Marist vs. Sacred Heart
Collison was the 12th player taken in this year's NBA draft. The Sonics also had another first-round pick, using the 14th selection on Oregon point guard Luke Ridnour, who practiced yesterday.
Ridnour is recovering from abdominal muscle surgery. McMillan said he will be held out of scrimages and drills where contact could occur.
The Associated Press
Chiefs special teams player runs for touchdown record
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — So why in heaven's name are they still kicking the ball to the only guy in NFL history with touchdown returns in three consecutive games?
Because in the long run, squibbing a kickoff down the middle or trying to place a punt precisely out of bounds might actually be even more harmful
In a victory over Baltimore on Sunday that kept the
Chiefs (4-0) unbeaten, Kansas City's 5-foot-8 return specialist pulled off a touchdown return for the third week in a row.
In the history of the NFL, where so many hundreds of quick, elusive athletes have returned so many thousands of kicks, this had never before been done.
Also for the third straight week, Hall was named the AFC's special teams player of the week, another NFL first for the former fifth-round draft pick who struggled just to keep his job two years ago but is now the talk of football. Hall was out of town yesterday and unavailable for comment.
"You can say, 'Well, we'll punt it out of bounds,'" said special teams coach Frank Gansz Jr. "But it's not as easy as you think it is. Even the best punters can shank one in that situation, and then you've put yourself in a big hole.
"At the same time, I'm sure they're not
"All I know is, every time the ball gets in his hands, I say,'Look out."
Dick Vermeil Kansas City Chiefs coach
telling them to punt the ball down the middle of the field to this guy."
Having the ball sail out of bounds on the kickoff is even less an option. The receiving team in that instance automatically gets the ball on its own 40. Or it can make the kicking team kick it over.
One alternative is the "squibb" kick, where the ball hardly gets off the ground and goes bouncing down the field toward the "wedge" where six or eight blockers are bunched in the middle to form a convoy for the returner.
"Squibb kicks have a higher percentage of going out of bounds," said head coach Dick Vermeil.
But this, too, is dicey.
"And squibb kicks normally don't go very far. They bounce around in the wedge. If it went into the wedge, we'd catch it and flip it back to Dante anyway. We would probably average a better starting field position if they squibb-kicked it than if they didn't."
Squibb kicks only appear to be effective, said Vermeil, who in 1969 with the Rams was the league's first designated special teams coach.
"But the ball normally starts about the 35, and you'd like to believe your kickoff coverage team can do better."
OK, so what's an opponent to do?
"Really, sooner or later you're going to have to (kick) the ball to him," Vermeil said.
A huge factor in Hall's success has been the blocking of the return units. Baltimore came into the game ranked No. 1 in defending against kickoffs. But the blocking was so superb on his long kickoff return, Hall had to make only one man miss, the kicker, as he sailed down field.
Linebacker Mike Maslowski actually had three different blocks on Hall's punt return in Houston.
While striking fear into the hearts of opponents, Hall has taken the drudgery out of special teams duty in Kansas City.
"It really motivates the effort, and it adds a deeper level of confidence and belief you can be successful," Vermell said. "And it also makes you feel more like an important contributing part of the team.
"No matter how you preach as a coach, there is a tendency for special teams players not to believe it's as important as the offensive or defensive snap. And it is."
The Chiefs will take the field this week against Denver, which is also 4-0, and Arrowhead Stadium will be rocking with about 80,000 fans dreaming of a fourth straight touchdown return by the little man with the quick feet and the quick smile.
An impossible dream?
"All I know is, every time the ball gets in his hands, I say, 'Look out,'" said Vermeil.
Giants 2 - Marlins 0
San Francisco shuts out Florida in game one
Giants secure victory on Marlins throwing error
The Associated Press
Schmidt pitched the San Francisco Giants to their first playoff shutout in 16 years, throwing a three-hitter for a 2-0 victory over the Florida Marlins in Game 1 yesterday.
SAN FRANCISCO — Jason Schmidt aced another test.
Schmidt outdu
Schmidt outeled Josh Beckett while Barry Bonds and the Giants took advantage of a costly error by Florida fill-in third baseman Miguel Cabrera to score the go-ahead run.
At age 68, Felipe
Alou wound up a
winner while manage-
ing his first postseason game, and 72-year-old Jack McKenon lost in his playoff debut.
Bonds barely had two feet in the batter's box when catcher Ivan Rodriguez's glove shot out to signal an intentional walk.
Bonds went 0-for-1 with three walks
Chad Fox intentionally walked Bonds with nobody on base in the eighth, and he came around to score on Edgardo Alfonzo's double.
On a day the teams combined for only six hits, the Giants scored a run on a display.
Cabrera, starting in place of injured All-Star Mike Lowell, charged in on Alfonzo's fourth-inning bunt and made a wild throw to first. By the time the ball had stopped, it was in the bullpen dirt and Rich Aurilia was headed for home.
Alou had said the key for Schmidt was to keep his pitch count down, and that happened. The lanky right-hander with the league's lowest ERA worked ahead in the count and was at 79 pitches through six.
After Alex Gonzalez reached on an error in the fifth, Schmidt retired the final 14 batters. Schmidt walked none and struck out five.
Schmidt pitched the first postseason shutout for the Giants since Dave Dravecky defeated St. Louis in Game 2 of the 1987 NL championship series.
Beckett gave up two hits in seven innings, striking out nine and walking five.
Cubs break bad streak in victory over Braves
Kerry Wood allowed only two hits and drove in the go-ahead runs with a double in the sixth inning off Russ Ortiz, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of their NL division series.
The Associated Press
Wood's two-run double, which broke a 1-all tie, made him the first pitcher to drive in the game-winning run in a post-season game since Oval Overall for the Cubs in Game four of the 1907 World Series.
It worked.
But it was Wood's work on the mound that stood out. He completely throttled the high-scoring Braves, a team that produced six players with 20 homers and four with 100 RBI during the regular season.
Wood struck out 11 in 7 1-3 innings. The only major slip-up came in the third, when Marcus Giles homered.
ATLANTA — They came by the thousands, intent on helping their beloved Cubbies break a 58-year losing streak in postseason road games by transforming Turner Field into Wrigley Field South.