thursday, august 28, 2003
sports
the university daily kansan
Mangino's team deserves support
There is absolutely nothing better than going to a Kansas basketball game and seeing the excitement and energy generated by the Phog phanatics.
There is nothing that can even compare to how much Kansas basketball fans love and respect their team.
Now, two days away from the football team's first game of the year, the question is: Where is the excitement and energy for this team? In two days, Kansas football opens its season with a very winnable game against the Northwestern Wildcats.
A stranger would never know it though.
it through.
It's understandable that fans find it difficult to cheer for a team that went 2-10 last season, and failed to win a game in the Big 12 Conference. But there is a lot more going for the 2003 Jayhawks than there was last year.
The first is coach Mark Mangino, who has given the University, his players and the Lawrence community the time and energy to make the football team as good as it can be, right now.
good as it can be. Right.
The second is a team that is hungry to play and hungry to win.
That attitude is a direct reflection of their leader, Mangino.
This team has top notch facilities and top notch people running the team. Now all the team is missing are top notch fans.
There is no way every student on the University of Kansas campus is a fair-weather fan. So, where is the capacity crowd every Saturday to see Kansas play? It's there in the winter, when the bas
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Daniel Berk
dberk@kansan.com
ketball team is playing.
When big-time recruits come to visit Kansas and consider playing football here, they should see a stadium filled to capacity with crimson and blue. They should see a student section as wild and crazy as the student section at basketball games.
bassReturn game.
Through Tuesday, 25,700 tickets were sold for the Kansas-Northwestern football game.
Memorial Stadium has a capacity of 50,250. How can Kansas recruit against other schools in the Big 12 if the football stadium is only half full for the season opener?
Mangino will never be able to get the players he wants if the fans don't respond.
Not every team can start a winner, and the Kansas football team is no exception. The team is at the beginning of what could be a very long and sometimes painful rebuilding process.
rebuilding process.
But this year the team is a little further along than last. Next year, the program will be further along still.
However, a standing room only crowd every Saturday would help speed up the process more than anyone could imagine.
Berk is a St. Louis sophomore in journalism.
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