Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Football coaches for Nebraska and the other Big 12 Conference schools discuss ways to improve its image. See story page 4B
Tuesday
September 16, 1997
Section:
B
Page 1
Pro Football
The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 21-20 last night. The Eagles fumbled the potential game-winning field goal snap with one second left.
College Football
The Texas Longhorns are trying to recover from Saturday's 66-3 loss to UCLA. It was their worst home loss ever.
SEE PAGE 3B
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WNBA player should be praised for her presence on Kansas team Dixon may assist 'Hawks while finishing degree
Today I'm honoring an ambassador of Kansas sports at whom people on campus should look with the same respect and admiration as her male counterparts.
She has a red-nosed pit bull named Hercules. She speaks some Spanish, is a Dallas Cowboys fan and loves lasagna. She listens to Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, the late Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige.
Need more information?
She started 21 of 27 games for the Women's National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Sparks and averaged 11.9 points, three rebounds and two assists per game last season. She was named WNBA player of the week in August and was among the best in
Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
the league in three-point shooting last season.
I'm referring to former Kansas guard Tamecka Dixon, who is taking 15 hours at Kansas this semester to complete her bachelor's degree in child psychology.
Dixon has lived in anonymity this semester, shying away from media and other attention. But Dixon is on campus, and her influence on the Kansas women's basketball program will be felt this season.
"I plan to help my college team out a little bit and spend some time with family," Dixon said during an Internet chat session on the Sparks' Web site Aug. 20. "The past four years, I haven't had much of a chance to do that."
There has been no confirmation yet about how Dixon would help the Jayhawks this season from either Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington or Dixon, but a return to the court would be helpful considering the program's past week.
Erinn Reed, who would have succeeded Dixon at point guard, received a medical hardship last week and has left the team for personal reasons this season. Guard Tammy Pryor transferred to Rockhurst when the college offered her a full scholarship before she had played a game at Kansas.
Between these developments and the fact that just five letter winners will return from last season's squad, the future of the Kansas women's basketball team appears cloudy.
The beginning of practice on Oct. 15 is less than a month away, and there's reason for concern about the women's basketball team this season. As a result, Dixon's days as a player at Allen Field House seem remote now.
As a tribute to what Dixon accomplished at Kansas, I propose that a red banner with No. 33 and her name be hung from the rafters in Allen Field House. She deserves to be remembered.
Former Kansas guard Lynette Woodard became the first woman to have her banner hung from the rafters in 1992. Woodard embodied the success of Washington's program during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
But times change and new saviors come.
Dixon was an integral part of the Jayhawks' program for four years and its undisputed leader the past two seasons. During those years, personal peaks for Washington and her program were attained.
Dixon is the modern female athlete. She raced past opponents in her rookie season of professional ball just as she did during her colleague career.
In recognition for her accomplishments here and for the success that will come, she deserves to see her name and number hung among the greatest that have ever played at Allen Field House.
Gallagher is an Olathe senior in journalism.
Brown, Warner best of Big 12
Kansas claims players of week
By Kelly Cannon
kcannon@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
First came Pat Brown, followed by Eric Vann and Ron Warner — all three have been named Big 12 Conference football players of the week.
Vann was named offensive player of the week and Warner defensive player for their performances against Missouri on
Brown was Big 12 defensive player of the week for his performance against Alabama-Birmingham on Aug. 28.
Saturday. The Jayhawks defeated the Tigers 15-7, avenging last year's loss.
Warner had four tackles and one quarterback sack. Warner tackled Missouri quarterback Corby Jones so hard that Jones temporarily left the game.
"Ron Warner had an excellent game, and he is coming into his own," Kansas football coach Terry Allen said. "He is a big force out there. He has size, speed, quickness."
Vann rushed for 137 yards, a career best.
He also rushed for one touchdown.
"Eric Vann had an injury a week ago,
but came back," Allen said. "He led us in rushing and really burned the clock. To have two players, this is a great honor for our program."
Kansas' gutsy performance Saturday brought the Kansas-Missouri series to 48-49-9. The Jayhawks lost 42-25 in Columbia, Mo., last year.
Missouri football coach Larry Smith was especially disappointed about the loss
"The KU game is a bitter loss," Smith said, "Kansas' defense played very well, especially their two defensive ends Warner and Brown. Offensively, we shot ourselves in the foot. We had a lot of penalties and lost a lot of yards, but it was the turnovers that hurt us the most."
Missouri drove the ball inside the
Kansas 10-yard line twice, only to fumble it away.
Allen's early success has been compared to the success of another Kansas football coach named Allen — Phog Allen.
Phog Allen coached football for the 1920 season. That team started the season 3-0, and went on to a 5-2-1 record. He also coached basketball from 1919 to 1956. Both Allens are the only coaches at Kansas to start their inaugural football seasons 3-0.
"He coached football for one year and then went into basketball," Terry Allen said. "But I don't think Roy (Williams) would want that."
Kansas will travel to Cincinnati this weekend to face the Bearcats. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday.
Kansas defender Jackie Horton tries to stop a Texas A&M player. The Jayhawks lost 5-0 on Sept. 5. Photo by Eric B. Howell/KANSAN
Kansas soccer nets another loss
By Harley V. Ratliff sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
'Hawks lose to Bears in double overtime
The Kansas women's soccer team took a Texas two-step backward in the race to qualify for the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
The Jayhawks, who were hoping to rebound from last week's home losses to Texas A&M and Texas, dropped both of their games this weekend on the
road to Texas Tech and Baylor.
The two losses put the Jayhawks' overall record at 2-4 and their conference record at 0-4. Kansas is currently in last place in the league standings. Only the top six teams in the conference will qualify for the season-ending tournament in San Antonio, Texas.
Kansas started the weekend in Lubbock, Texas, on a sour note. The Jayhawks gave up two early goals to the Red Raiders and were never able to recover. They lost 2-0.
Kansas managed 14 shots on goal, but remained scoreless and Texas Tech's freshman goalkeeper, Kellie McCallis-
ter,recorded the shutout.
The Bears peppered Feke all afternoon and outshot the Jayhawks 40-3. But Feke played brilliantly and made 33 saves.
The Jayhawks looked as though they might rebound on Sunday in Waco, Texas. Kansas, led by a phenomenal performance from sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer Fecke, held Baylor scoreless for nearly 118 minutes. Sophomore forward Molly Cameron scored the winning goal for the Bears in the second overtime.
The Jayhawks will play Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth this weekend.
Students need to show KUIDs to participate in intramurals
New rule intends to protect student-financed program
By Sara Anderson sports@kansan.com Special to the Kansan
"We just want to make sure everyone is eligible," said Jason Krone, intramural sports director.
Beginning this fall, students, faculty and staff will need to show proof that they are actually enrolled or employed at the University of Kansas or they will not be able to play intramural sports.
In past years, participants were only asked for their names. Now participants will be required to put their name and ID number on the score sheets, and officials will check both the photograph and the number to make sure they match.
For the first week of competition, participants will be reminded to bring KUIDs. Those without IDs will be able to play only for the first week.
"We want to ensure that the people paying are the ones able to use the program," he said. "We didn't have a big problem with it last year, but we just want to make the students aware they are paying for it, so they should benefit."
As part of their student fees, students pay a $13 recreation fee to help finance the Recreation Services program. Krone said that when nonstudents participate in the games, they are benefiting from a program they aren't paying for.
Krone said that the rule would apply for every sport, although it would be harder to implement in the fall with all the outdoor sports.
"In the winter, everyone needs their KUID to get into Robinson Center anyway," he said. "That makes it easier."
Flag football games started Sept. 8 and Krone said things went surprisingly well.
Krone said of the 120 to 200 people who participated, no one forgot his or her KUID on the first dav.
"KU students are really good at picking up policies that affect them quickly," he said.
Krone said Kansas also faced liability issues if nonstudents play intramurals.
Terry Droge, Kansas City senior, who refereed some of the football games last week, agreed with the policy, but said some students forgot the rule.
"Some teams recruit people to win a T-shirt and that is kind of ridiculous," he said. "The main thing I heard from students was that they forgot their ID. Not complaints really, just that it was an inconvenience."
Corey McCune, Omaha sophomore, said he liked the new policy but it would take a while for teams to get used to it.
"I think it's good because it eliminates the chance of some other team coming in with a ringer," he said. "But it is also kind of a pain in the neck. I think it will be better in the spring because people will be more used to it."
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