Sports
Kansas football fans may get a surprise punishment for trying to tear down the goalposts. PAGE 8A
12A
Thursday, September 25, 2003
The University Daily Kansan
Former coach bashes MU
Former coach and Kansas football player Don Fambrough will host An Evening with Coach Fam and Friends tonight, a benefit event for the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center. Fambrought played for Kansas in the 1940s and coached here for eight seasons, from 1971-74 and 1979-82. Fambrouk is pictured at left during his Kansas football days in the 1940s. (Courtesy University Archives)
KitLefter/Kansar
By John Demoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Don Fambrough is often questioned about the Missouri Tigers, and his answer is always the same.
"People ask me why I dislike them, and I say because they're so easy to dislike." Fambrough said. "I've known nice people who have gone to the University of Missouri, and within a weeks time they've changed completely. I've often thought they might have some sort of vaccine that they vaccinate themselves with because they're all alike."
As a former Kansas football player and coach, Fambrough has associated his life with the University of Kansas and only admits having one Missouri alumnus on his list of friends.
"My only friend from there is my doctor." Fambrough said. "He did have the sense enough to go to KU Med. I guess because he saved my life a few years ago I forgive him for having made that mistake."
It makes sense that the week of the Kansas-Missouri game in Lawrence will serve as the backdrop of tonight's An Evening with Coach Fam and Friends. The event is donating its proceeds to the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and is an opportunity for former Jayhawk football players and coaches to return to Lawrence. The list of returnees include KU All-Americans John Hadl, David Jaynes and Gale
probably something we needed and have for a long time," Fambrough said. "Football has been kind of neglected at the University of Kansas. Some of the ex-players have had their feelings hurt by the way they've been treated. It's just a great opportunity to get them back on campus."
Athletics Director Lew Perkins said he had only met Fambrough once, but the 80-year-old man had left an impression.
"He's a legend here and certainly bleeds crimson and blue," Perkins said.
As a young man growing up on a ranch in Texas, Fambrough's path to Kansas was not expected. Fambrough first attended the University of Texas in Austin and was part of a Cotton Bowl squad in 1943 during his sophomore year as a Longhorn. After the game, he
reported to military service in San Antonio and, as fate would have it, met Jayhawk athlete Ray Evans during World War II.
"We talked about going to school together," Fambrough said. "So Ray Evans got me to the University of Kansas, and I've loved every minute of it since."
Fambrough starred on Jayhawk teams of the late 1940s and played nearly every play of the game as an offensive guard, linebacker and place kicker. In 1946 and 1947, he earned All-Big Six honors and helped to lead the Jayhawks to the 1947 Orange Bowl, losing to Georgia Tech 20-14 in Miami, Fla.
Fambrough served the next 19 seasons as an assistant coach under J.V. Sikes, Jack Mitchell and Pepper Rodgers. In 1971, he became the coach
and promptly led the Jayhawks to the 1973 Liberty Bowl. At the conclusion of
AN EVENING WITH COACH FAM AND FRIENDS
SEE FAMBROUGH ON PAGE 9A
From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight in the Holiday Inn Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive
Proceeds benefit the Bort Nash Community Mental Health Center
Attendees will include former AllAmericans John Hadl, David Jaynes and Gale Sayers along with former coaches Jack Mitchell and Pepper Rodgers
Libero position impacts game
BY Mike Norris
mnorris@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Balancing defense and offense has always been an important part of most team sports, but volleyball's new defensive position is rewriting collegiate play on both sides of the net.
The NCAA added a strictly defensive position last year, but it was actually developed to help the offense. The new position, called libero, was added to help rallies last longer and make fans more interested.
Jill Dorsey is the starting libero on the Kansas volleyball team. Even though the junior holds the career kills record at Wellsville High School and was recruited by some Dlvision I schools to be an outside hitter, she chose nearby Kansas to help the team on defense.
RULES LIBEROS FOLLOW:
The libero is not allowed to block.
The libero must not be lifted as a
"I've always enjoyed the defensive aspect of the game," she said.
The libero may not be listed as a starter, but can replace a starter on the back row after the second official has checked the lineup.
The libero can still be introduced in the starting lineup. The libero must be designated before each game and cannot play another position that game.
Dorsey said she took pride in the position, and making a good defensive play, or dig, could not only pump up her team, but also take the air out of her opponents as well.
"It gets into the mind of the hitters, and it's discouraging to them," she said.
To excel at the libero position, the player must have a love for defense. Basically, the libero is not allowed to play offense. She can't serve or spike. The only time she may hit the ball over the net is if it's a bump or an over-hand finger pass. Even when passing to a teammate, the libero must be behind the 10-foot attack line when she makes contact with the ball. If not, the teammate cannot attack the net and is forced to tap the ball over instead.
Megan True/Kansan
The libero must wear a different color to differentiate between her teammates.
The year before the libero was introduced, the NCAA changed to rally scoring, which means a point was scored on every serve. The teams also now play to 30 instead of 15. But the addition of defense to help the offense is a new concept. Dorsey said although the offense was what the crowd noticed, she loved playing the position.
Kansas coach Ray Bechard said the libero had been a great addition to NCAA volleyball.
"It creates more rally opportunities, and better offensive plays," he said.
"People still ask me why I wear a different color jersey," Dorsay said.
Junior libero Jill Dorsey waited for a serve during the K-State match in Manhattan Wednesday Sept.17. Jill Dorsey's libero position specializes in defense.
"Of course it's awesome to have kills," she said. "But it's so exciting for my teammates, because I might have been the one who passed the ball to the setter. I love having even some role in the play."
Even though the average fan doesn't know exactly how the position operates, Kansas coaches and players agree it has made the game more interesting to fans.
Dorsey said she didn't do it for the glory, but to help the team. However, she said the fans noticed a good defensive play now and then.
"Sometimes the crowd will be like, 'Wow, look at that hit, but dang, look at that dig,'" Dorsey said.
sports commentary
Edited by Abby Sidesinger
Kevin Flaherty
kflaherty@kansan.com
Tigers set to tear up Jayhawks
Brad Smith will rip the Kansas defense apart Saturday.
apart Saturday.
Six-foot-2-inch, 205-pound Smith is the ideal quarterback by today's standards. Blessed with 4.4-second speed in the 40 yard dash, Smith is almost impossible to grasp because he is slippery and has blazing speed around the corner. His throwing arm can rocket footballs into the smallest of spaces.
But that isn't half of what makes Smith so good.
To get a better look at Smith, you need to look at his recruiting process. How, after all, did a quarterback of this caliber from Youngstown, Ohio, not wind up playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes? How is he not playing for a top Big Ten school?
The easy answer is that he wasn't highly recruited. In high school, Smith was small at around 160 pounds. He was young and potentially immature — as a freshman, Smith was 17 years old. That didn't deter Missouri coach Gary Pinkel. While others saw a kid too small or too immature, Pinkel saw a future star.
After a redshirt year, Smith was immediately tossed into the fray as an 18-year-old freshman, and he didn't disappoint. After leading Missouri to a season-opening victory over Illinois, Smith exploded with 391 total yards against an Oklahoma Sooner defense ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Only a fake punt stopped Missouri from pulling off an upset against Oklahoma, which prompted Sooner linebacker Teddy Lehman's amazement over the freshman.
"He can take over a game in one play." Lehman said. "And he has the ball in his hands every play. That's scary."
By season's end, Smith became just the second quarterback in NCAA Division 1-A football to pass for 2,000 yards and run for 1,000 yards, and Smith was 10th in the nation in total offense. The offense under Smith's command committed the fewest turnovers in the nation. So much for youthful immaturity.
This season, Smith has been efficient, to say the least. Smith has completed 71 percent of his passes for seven touchdowns and no interceptions. He averages more than seven yards per carry. He simply does not make mistakes. His teammates love him, and his character is impeccable. At Big 12 Conference media day, Pinkel said he sometimes had to chastise Smith for being too nice.
His most striking effect has been in the victory-loss column. So far this season, Missouri has teetered on the edge of defeat twice, against Illinois and Middle Tennessee State. Both times Smith rescued the Tigers from trouble, throwing late touchdown passes to win or seal the game. His touchdown pass took the Middle Tennessee State game to overtime, and his three-yard touchdown run in overtime won the game.
All of this is bad news for a Kansas defense that struggled at times against a run-pass quarterback last week.
Smith will do everything he can to pull out a victory Saturday in Lawrence. As it is, he has the Tigers 4-0, ranked No. 23 in the nation and just two victories away from bowl eligibility.
Not too bad for an immature runt
Flaherty is a Lenexa senior in journalism.