THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Michael Jordan, recently signed to a $33-million contract with Chicago, said yesterday that he saw another NBA Championship in the team's future. Story 4B.
College Football
The Oklahoma Sooners are preparing to battle the Syracuse Orangemen on Saturday.
SEE PAGE 3B
Wednesday
September 3, 1997
Section:
B
Page 1
Pro Football
Denver is asking that fines be levied on Kansas City's Jerome Woods for a hit he put on John Elway on Sunday.
SEE PAGE 5B
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No clear and present danger in soccer play
We're not commies; we're just out to have a little harmless fun
I am a communist. No, an old U.S.S.R. flag doesn't hang from my bedroom wall, nor do I view Joseph Stalin as a great political leader. Rather, I play soccer.
According to the head football coach at my high school, soccer is a communist sport.
That would make me a communist from the age of 6, when I first donned a pair of shin guards.
This logic never made much sense to me, but negative attitudes toward soccer such as this one are prevalent through the United States.
The Lawrence area is particularly bad in its attitude and support of the world's most popular sport.
The Kansas City Wizards lead Major League Soccer's Western Division and clinched a spot in the playoffs last week.
Scott Corcoran
sports@kanan.com
The Kansas City Attack won the National Professional Soccer League championship last season, and the Kansas women's soccer team kicked off its fall season by beating Illinois State and Eastern Illinois during the weekend.
Despite the abundance of highquality soccer in the area, attendance is less than spectacular.
The Wizards are near the bottom of the league in attendance and the Attack drew only about 4,000 fans a game last season.
And how many people have ventured to SuperTarget Field to watch our women's soccer team plav?
Professional and scholarship soccer are not the only forms neglected in this area. Community leaders provide inadequate facilities for local amateur players.
The number of soccer goals throughout Lawrence is insufficient to support the large number of players within the community.
Most of the goals that aren't in storage are reserved for camps or leagues.
That leaves about four open goals for KU students and any other local adults who want to kick the ball around.
With such a shortage of goals throughout the city, most players are forced to play on the fields at 23rd and Iowa streets without goals.
This area is already overpopulated with football, rugby, and ultimate Frisbee games.
In addition, the grass is mowed so infrequently that playing soccer is extremely difficult.
I'm not asking for everyone to attend all of the Wizards, Attack or Kansas soccer games.
Nor am I asking for beautiful soccer pitches to be created throughout Lawrence. What I want to see is a little bit of support for soccer.
Corcoran la a Topeka Senior in biology.
We are no longer in the 1950s, so there is no need to fear that the "communist" soccer players are trying to take control of the country.
All we want is a little respect.
Strength coach rolls to new job
Veteran trainer moves from football to hoops
By Kelly Cannon kcannon@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Kansas' director of its strength and conditioning program is changing weights.
Fred Roll has been in charge of the strength and conditioning program for the football team for more than a year.
All of that is about to change.
Roll, who has been in the department since 1989, is phasing himself out of the football program and will concentrate on basketball.
"I am going to be in football in a transition capacity," Roll said. "We have hired a new strength coach for football. I will be the head strength coach for the program, but I will also be a mentor for the new guys.
"I will help make the transition. I am phasing myself into basketball, but I will work with other sports."
When Roll came to Kansas eight years ago, he said his primary mission was to rebuild the football program.
"We weren't a very good football team," Roll said. "We had a lot of areas not covered well by the weight program."
Since coming to Kansas, Roll said that 18 or 19 Kansas players have gone to the National Football League because of the revamped strength and conditioning program.
"We went from 1-10 to an Aloha Bowl team." Roll said.
To fill Roll's position with the football team, Kevin Coleman, formerly an assistant conditioning coach at Nebraska, has been hired.
"This was a good opportunity for me to nave a program and to be in charge myself," Coleman said "Nebraska is like no other. It has a huge staff. But this was a good opportunity for me to
move on."
"This is a wonderful job," Coleman said. "I am excited to be here and to work with Terry Allen and the athletes. I am looking forward to starting a good winter conditioning program. Right now, we are doing a lot of maintenance, but I am looking forward to getting at it once winter starts."
Coleman said Kansas was concentrating on maintaining its physical-conditioning situation.
During his time with the football team, Roll worked closely with former head coach Glen Mason.
Roll said that the primary difference between Kansas football coach Terry Allen and Mason was the time of day strength practices were held.
"The times of the day and the days of the week are different," Roll said. "He lets me do my own program, under advisement. Coach Mason did not interfere. He was results oriented — just like Allen. On this level, where we're at, you hire a coach and leave him alone to do his program. Both guys (Allen and Mason) have been good."
Allen said Roll worked the players hard during the summer months, hoping to improve the team's overall game conditioning.
"On average, our players added 15 pounds to their bench press as a team," Allen said. "Fred did a tremendous job last spring in improving our players' strength and conditioning. There were some fourth-quarter collapses last season, so we're hopeful that we can eliminate those this season by hitting the weight room more often."
A new strength and conditioning philosophy has come out of the transition. Roll said.
"We have a department-wide philosophy with everybody," Roll said. "I will help everyone write programs for their sports."
As a result the department will create better strength and conditioning programs that will produce better athletes, he said.
"We want to develop athletes to their full potential," Roll said. "We want to develop sports-specific athletes for every sport."
Fred Roll helps senior forward Raef LaFrentz lift weights at Anschutz Sports Pavilion. Roll is leaving his job as the strength coach for the football team to concentrate on basketball. By Eric B. Howell/KANSAN
Kansas offense offensive at practice
by Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher @kansan.com
Associate sports editor
By Tommy Gallaher
Kansas football coach Terry Allen had about enough, of his offensive unit yesterday, citing it as the worst offensive practice he had seen since coming to the University of Kansas.
Allen said mental errors and a lack of leadership had made practice an overall disaster.
"We continued to make the same mistakes today that we made in the game on Thursday night," Allen said. "There's a lack of leadership that needs to be addressed. Right now, we need someone to take the bull by the reins and run with it."
Although Allen said he was disappointed with the effort, he managed to remain somewhat positive about the situation.
"I have faith in this group," Allen said. "But when we make mistakes, they act like it's acceptable. It's unacceptable. I reached my boiling point today. It will be interesting to see what kind of practice we'll get out of the team tomorrow and Thursday."
The frustration, in part, stems from a lackluster offensive performance in a 24-0 victory against Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday night. Junior linebacker Patrick Brown returned two interceptions for touchdowns, outsourcing the Kansas offense 14-10.
"We know what our strengths are, and we'll have to
play our best football to give the offense every opportunity to score," said senior linebacker Ron Warner after the game. "We might have to carry the team until the offense feels comfortable with the new system. But the more games we play, the better we'll get on both sides of the ball."
Former Kansas offensive standouts June Henley and Isaac Byrd now are in the NFL. Henley and Byrd were drafted by Kansas City last spring, although Henley was cut and later signed with the St. Louis Rams.
Three offensive linemen transferred from Kansas during spring practices. Also, the starting quarterback position was undecided heading into fall practices.
Sophomore wide receiver John Gordon was found to have cardiomyopathy, a severe heart disease, and sleep apnea during a precamp physical. Gordon has been sidelined indefinitely and will undergo further testing this week. His playing status remains in doubt
Before senior Matt Johner and sophomore Zac Wegner began competing at quarterback, Kansas was dealt its most serious blow this season.
"We are very young on the offensive side of the football." Allen said. "This will be a long process because no team ever becomes great overnight. We have to be patient and play within our limitations. If we tried to do more than what we are actually capable of doing, we would jeopardize the success of our football team this season. We have to be content with that."
Senior running back Eric Vann strains for extra yards while University of Alabama-Birmingham senior cornerback Dainon Sidney tries to stop him during Thursday's game at Memorial Stadium. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
Tiny tailback standing tall after first game
Texan native thankful to be 'Hawks rusher
By Tommy Gallagher
rgallagher@kansan.com
Associate sports editor
Freshman running back David Winbush had to be calmed down by Kansas football coach Terry Allen before the season opener Thursday night.
But Winbush may never have stood taller than he did at that moment.
"Honestly, I'm barely 5-foot-7 and 184 pounds," Winbush said.
"I wish I was 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9 like Barry Sanders, but I'm not complaining. I've been small all my life. I like hiding behind all the big offensive linemen and going through the line unseen."
To some college recruiters, Winbush went unseen despite leading all Texas rushes with 2,564 yards and 22 touchdowns as a high school senior last fall. He finished with more than 4,000 yards rushing and averaged more than seven yards per carry during his pred career.
Winbush was recruited by Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M after last season. He was heavily recruited by Kansas wide receivers coach and Texas native Darrell Wyatt.
"Oklahoma wanted me only if my teammate also committed as sort of a package deal," Winbush said. "I didn't like how they treated me, and A&M recruited so many tailbacks that it was just a matter of who committed first. So when I had a chance to come here I took it."
In his first game, Winbush had seven carries for 36 yards and one reception for 13 yards. White Winbush also returned kicks that night, Allen said he was hesitant to use a freshman to start off the new season.
"I was worried about having a true freshman back there and maybe getting nervous and fumbling the ball," Allen said. "David will be a good back for
Winbush has been pushing everyone at the running back position this fall.
us. Sure, we'd like for him to be 6-foot-1 or 6-foot-2, but then he'd probably be at Texas or Notre Dame right now.
"He's not afraid of contact. And if you're not afraid, you can make people miss and gain good yardage. Barry Sanders has made a career of doing that, and no one will criticize him for being too big or too small," Allen said.
"I was more excited than ner-
Despite praise from coaches and and teammates, Winbush said he was pleased to be doing anything this soon into his collegiate career.
"David will be a good back for us. Sure, we'd like for him to be 6-foot-1 or 6-foot-2, but then he'd probably be at Texas or Notre Dame right now."
Terry Allen
Kansas football coach
voues before the game," Winhush said. "I was just glad to get some carries so soon considering the talented running backs that we have here. So far I've learned that those little juke steps from high school are no good here."