Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Friday
October 24,1997
Section:
B
Page 1
Cincinnati forward Ruben Patterson accepted free condo lodging and a co-sign on a car loan from a Bearcat booster. SEE PAGE 8B
Pro Basketball
Forward Dennis Rodman signed a contract yesterday before his self-imposed noon deadline.
Page 1
SEE PAGE 10B
Broadcasting
Former NBC broadcaster Marv Albert is not expected to be sentenced to jail at his hearing today.
SEE PAGE 2B
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Defense will be key this weekend
By Kelly Cannon kcannon@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The Nebraska football team and more than 15,000 of its fans will invade Lawrence tomorrow.
The Jayhawks haven't defeated the Huskers since 1968. Kansas coach Terry Allen said he was in fifth grade the last time Kansas was victorious, and he was playing football in Iowa City, Iowa. Nebraska leads the series with Kansas 79-21-3.
Allen said playing a No.1-ranked team would be a valuable experience.
Nebraska is 6-0, 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference. Allen said for Kansas to have a chance, it needed to keep the Huskers from a scoring derby.
"It's an opportunity that doesn't come around very often, especially at home," Allen said.
"If you go back and look at upsets of No. 1 teams, I think that the majority of those games end up being close, low-scoring football games." Allen said.
Strong defense and a consistent, turnoverfree offense are the keys to a Kansas victory.
"We have, on occasion, been playing very good defense," Allen said. "For us to beat Nebraska, obviously we're going to have to play exceptional defense. Offensively,
we're going to have to stay away from the turnovers and create points when the opportunities arise."
Dan Dercher, offensive tackle, is going against one of the nation's best defensive ends, Nebraska's Grant Wistrom. Derker was moved to the offensive line from the defense after Kansas' loss to Texas Tech on Oct. 11.
"I'm learning, and I'll become better." Dercher said. "I'm going against Grant Wistrom. If you get intimidated, you lose half the battle right there. I'm going to play my tail off, because he's one of the best defensive ends in the country."
Through its six games, Nebraska has racked up 2,525 yards rushing compared to its opponents' 441 yards. Allen said he would rather have a strong defense than offense.
"The big upsets in my mind are, oftentimes, when you see great defensive performances," Allen said. "I think our chances are better because we are somewhat of a sorry offensive football team, and we have shown signs of being a great defensive team."
The Kansas defense is ranked 21st nationally in team defense and 25th nationally in scoring defense.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. tomorrow. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net (Ch.45).
Kansas running back June Henley is swarmed by the Nebraska defense in 1995's game at home in Lawrence. The Jayhawks will face the Cornhuskers again in Memorial Stadium at 6 p.m. tomorrow. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
Soccer team to dwell on future: seeking four-game winning streak
By Harley V. Ratliff sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Forward Amy Dykterhuis dribbles the ball during practice on Wednesday while forward Kristy Clark watches. The team is preparing for the game against Southwest Missouri State on Friday. Photo by Roger Nomer/KANSAN
They try to start that streak this weekend with two games at SuperTarget Field against Southwest Missouri State and Iowa.
With only four games left and not playing in the Big 12 postseason tournament, the Kansas soccer team hopes it can end on a winning streak.
Kansas faces Southwest Missouri at 3 p.m. today and Iowa at 1 p.m. Sunday.
"We're looking to the future," head coach Dan Magner said. "It would be wonderful to take a four-game winning streak into next spring and into next season."
As the season has progressed, Magner has increased the freshmen's playing time, most notably center midfielder Jen Wallace.
"Certainly, they are gaining experience as they continue to play," Magner said. "I think that it makes the future look bright when you are starting so many freshman. There may be a mistake or two now, but they will be ready in the future."
But Magner said that there is more to playing freshmen than just building to toward the future. It has been their skill that has pushed them into starting roles, Magner said.
after every game and break down the films," he said. "The players we have had out there have been younger, but not necessarily by design. They have been the players that have shown themselves well during training and during the games. We feel that we are making the best decisions."
To win this weekend, the Jayhawks must overcome two problems that have hindered them all season: capitalizing on opportunities and maintaining focus for the entire game.
In their last defeat, a 1-0 loss to Oklahoma State, those errors cost the game. The team addressed those issues earlier this week during a team meeting.
"Players were getting frustrated and thinking 'We can't score,'" Magner said. "It's not that we can't score, it's that people haven't put in that extra effort that it takes to get the ball in the net. We need people to be willing to put in that extra effort to make that diving header, or the slide to keep the ball in bounce."
be thinking that because it is wet they can give up on the ball. It has a lot to do with our mental toughness."
"We analyze every player
The Jayhawks' scoring woes could continue if weather predictions are accurate. Cold weather and rain can make crisp offensive play difficult.
"I think that it will effect our mental more than physical," said freshman midfielder Katie Lents. "Hopefully, people won't
Magner said that he wasn't as concerned with the cold as with
"I don't think that the cold weather will effect our game," he said. "If the rains come it effects the style of play. We will have to adjust to that."
the rain.
Nothing blasé about 'Husker football fans
My tour guide and Nebraska professor of journalism Dick Thien shrieked. "Don't get too close!" to no avail, and then he groaned. "It was late."
"HUSKERPOWER."
That's what a motion activated speaker outside the Nebraska weight room yelled in a reverent voice when my fellow Jayhawk, Penny Walker, stepped to close.
The Husker Power monologue was as easy to stop as a Nebraska running back. But I found it encouraging that a local would think the fanfare
Kristie Blasi
sports@kagaa.com
excessive, or at least a bit annoying.
We had to move 20 feet farther into the Nebraska shrine so we could hear each other talk. And I needed silence to concentrate so I could calculate how much weight a Nebraska player was throwing around. I stopped when I got to 450 pounds.
I gawked at the 30,000 square foot complex called a weight room. I know people with 30,000 square foot homes, but Nebraskans call it a room.
My guide told me it was the largest weight room on any campus. And I'm glad he told me because I needed to verify the rumor I had heard about 15 times since arriving in Lincoln, Neb. I was there for two weeks and was staying in a campus residence hall. It's unfortunate that my room didn't have the same distinction as the weight room.
Anyway,Idigress.
Those Cornhusker crazies, I mean fans,
know their football facts.
When filled with 75,438 people — as it has been for the last 214 consecutive games — Nebraska's Stadium is the third largest city in Nebraska. That's 5 percent of the state population dressed in red and white enricling 100 vards of artificial turf.
(As if the remaining 95 percent of the population isn't dressed in red and white in front of a television somewhere.)
Really, they brag about these facts.
The average attendance at our Memorial Stadium in 1996 was 42,100. That would rank ninth among Sunflower State cities — between Leavenworth and Salina.
Our guide led us on the hallowed walk from the Nebraska locker room door to the stadium turf.
We took our first steps onto the turf and marveled at the bounce it added to our stroll.
But the most impressive thing, even on an early summer day in the empty stadium, was looking up at 360 degrees of red bleachers and knowing those seats were covered every game.
About that time, the tradition got to us, and some smart aleck said, "Hey, look! You don't see Jawhays in the end zone here very often."
Obnoxious attitudes aside, the Cornhuskus rank No. 4 in National Championships behind Notre Dame, Oldahoma and Alabama.
They are ranked No.1, so they have something to brag about. But they don't have to be so annoying.
It's not like it's Kansas basketball or anything.
Blasi is a Caney senior in journalism and is the sports editor.
Biennial invasion of Red menace doesn't strike fear into heart of Lawrence
By Ann Premer
apremer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Lawrence is expecting the Big Red in a big way this weekend.
The Kansas-Nebraska football game, which comes to Lawrence every two years, brings an estimated 20,000 Nebraska fans who are notorious for their "Husker support.
"As far as football weekends, this is the biggest one, when we play Nebraska at home," said Jennifer Carter, travel sales and marketing manager for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.
He said that he expected a crowd of 43,000 to 45,000 for tomorrow's game.
Liz Linss, employee of the Ramada Inn,
2222 W. Sixth St., said that the hotel had been booked for four months.
At the 1995 game, the attendance was 47,800, the highest of any home game in the past two seasons, said Doug Vance, assistant athletics director.
"This ranks up there with Parents'
Weekend and Graduation." Linss said.
Employees at local lodgings said that there was no way to tell exactly how many Nebraska fans were staying with them, but that they were the majority.
"What we hold is mostly Nebraska," said
"The they come down in droves and shop and dine here," said Lisa Blair, director of Downtown Lawrence Inc. "It's always a big business weekend."
Hotels are not the only ones reaping the benefits of Nebraska business. Downtown merchants said that Massachusetts Street would be filled with red.
Fonda McComack, employee of the Holiday Inn Holdome. 200 McDonald Drive.
Employees of local sports stores said that Nebraska fans bought Kansas memorabilia.
"They buy KU stuff like it's going out of style," said Chad Wilkerson, manager of Jayhawk Spirit, 935 Massachusetts St. "It's
like they've never seen a Jayhawk before." Wilkerson said that the store sold a lot of stuffed Jayhawks to Nebraska fans.
"I'm not sure what they are doing with them," Wilkerson said. "You never know about Nebraska folks."
Wilkerson said that he was uncertain about the destinies of the stuffed Jayhawks sold in the store but that it was possible that they would be hanging from nooses on game day. Unfortunately for Kansas fans, Nebraska's mascot does not easily lend itself to a noose.
"You can't do much with a big N," Wilkerson said.