2B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY OF DAILY KANSAS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play 'Drop the Handkerchief'"
James Naismith
FACT OF THE DAY
The women's basketball team has won 27 of its last 29 preseason games.
Kansas Athletics
Q: Krysten Boogaard had 17 points and 10 rebounds in her team's final preseason game Sunday. How many career double-doubles does she have?
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
A: Six.
NBA
NBA Atlanta Hawks defeat Denver Nuggets, 125-100
ATLANTA — Jamal Crawford scored 25 points, and Josh Smith had 22 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and seven assists in the Atlanta Hawks' 125-100 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.
Smith was 8 of 10 from the field and 6 of 8 from the line.
Joe Johnson added 21 points, Marvin Williams had 14, Mo Evans 12 and Al Horford and Mike Bibby 11 each for the Hawks.
Carmelo Anthony had 30 points for Denver, and Chauncey Billups added 25. The Nuggets lost their second straight after winning their first five. Anthony was 7 of 21 from the field and 15 of 18 from the line.
The Hawks scored the first 10 points of the second half to make it 70-50. Denver never got closer than 12 points — at 90-78 less than a minute into the final quarter.
The Hawks shot 52 percent, hitting 45 of 87 shots, including 8 of 19 3s. Bibby was 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
Both teams were coming off Friday night losses. The Hawks lost 103-83 at Charlotte, and the Nuggets fell 96-88 at Miami.
Associated Press
MORNING BREW
Sugar and spice? Not on this field
You may have seen Elizabeth Lambert of the New Mexico women's soccer team on ESPN this weekend. In case you missed it, it's already immortalized on YouTube. It's footage of Lambert, a junior defender for the Lobos, channeling her inner Bruce Lee during a game against Brigham Young University. After receiving a subtle elbow to the ribs from a BYU forward, Lambert responds by spending the rest of the game trying to inflict as much pain on the opposing team as possible. She recklessly takes out girls' legs, throws a couple of punches while going up for headers, sends a nice little forearm shiver to a forward's back, then caps it off by pulling down a BYU player by her ponytail when the ball isn't even nearby.
The ESPN correspondent who presented the story had the same question as pretty much anyone who watched the video: What on earth is violence like this doing in women's sports?
We're all relatively used to guys losing their cool on the field. We've seen the endless replays of Oregon's LeGarrette Blount going all MMA after playing Boise State and Florida's Brandon Spikes trying to blind Georgia's Washaua Ealey at the bottom of a pile, but in women's sports? They don't stop to those kinds of dirty tactics, do they?
Sure. Lambert's rampage was exceptionally stupid, but women are more than capable of this kind of violent retribution in sports. I've seen elbows thrown to faces when the play is halfway across the field, reckless tackles clearly meant to injure, and screaming players who have to be restrained from each other by teammates at the end of intense
games. And that's just from one season of watching Kansas soccer home games.
It's especially easy for players to get away with this sort of thing in a sport like soccer where it's impossible for four referees to watch all 22 players simultaneously. A little elbow to the back, or perhaps a ponytail takedown isn't always seen if it's done at the right time. Probably the most unbelievable thing about the New Mexico-BYU game is that Lambert received nothing more than a yellow card for her actions (although the team later suspended her indefinitely after reviewing the tape).
Remember Serena Williams' tirade toward a line judge at the U.S. Open, complete with profanity and threats of death by tennis ball? Sure, it was just verbal abuse, but imagine if she got pissed behind a ref's back on a soccer field instead of in front of thousands of spectators and dozens of TV cameras. You'd be lucky if your neck stayed
attached when Serena yanked your ponytail.
This is sports, after all — sports get rough, and players get angry. If you're an athlete getting frustrated in an intense game, causing pain to the nearest person wearing a different color is going to be a natural reaction.
But if you still don't think women get violent in sports, that's fine. I just wouldn't recommend saying it within earshot of Elizabeth Lambert.
Follow Joel Petterson at twitter.com/j_petter.
Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
Playing to a tough crowd
Big Jay raises his wings while being booed by a Kansas State fan in Manhattan Saturday. The Jayhawks lost 17-10.
Weston White/KANSAN
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
MONDAY No events scheduled
TUESDAY
Men's
Basketball: vs.
Pittsburg State,
7p.m.
WEDNESDAY
GDAY
Women's
Volleyball:
vs. Kansas State,
6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY No events scheduled
FRIDAY
Men's Basketball:
vs. Hofstra, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Football: vs. Nebraska, 2:30 p.m.
Women's Volleyball:
vs. Baylor, 11
a.m.
Cross Country:
NCAA Midwest
Regional
Championships,
Springfield, MO
SUNDAY
Women's Basketball:
vs. Oral Roberts,
2 p.m.
NFL
Rivers helps lead Chargers to victory against Giants
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Philip Rivers showed the New York Giants exactly what they traded away in 2004, and this one really hurt the team that wanted Eli Manning so much.
Rivers capped an 80-yard drive with an 18-yard pass to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds to play and the San Diego Chargers stunned the Giants 21-20 on Sunday, handing New York its fourth straight loss.
Rivers was 24 of 36 for 209 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Jackson, in helping San Diego (5-3) win its third straight game.
Associated Press
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Just Down the Hill
NFL
Buccaneers defeat Packers, 38-28
Before Sunday's matchup, Tampa Bay was the only team in the league without a victory
BY FRED GOODALL Associated Press
Associated Press
Freeman passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns Sunday, including a 7-yard throw to Sammie Stroughter on fourth-and-4, leading the previously winless Bucs to a 38-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
In his first pro start, the 17th pick in the draft out of Kansas State
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers saluted their past, then rookie Josh Freeman gave the struggling franchise hope for the future.
completed 14 of 31 passes with just one interception. A critical second pick was wiped out by a Green Bay penalty during the go-ahead drive.
The Bucs (1-7) are the last team in the NFL to win this season. It was also the first victory for the league's youngest head coach, 33-year-old Raheem Morris, who replaced Jon Gruden after Tampa Bay went 0-4 in December and missed the playoffs last year.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for the Packers (4-4). He also threw three interceptions and had one returned for a TD that put the game out of
reach in the final minute
Rodgers was also sacked six times, hiking Green Bay's NFL-worst total to 37 takedowns in eight games.
The Bucs wore throwback creamsicle uniforms and made Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon the first inductee into the Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium. They trailed 21-17 during the halftime ceremony, but Freeman refused to let them lose.
The rookie threw second-half TD passes to Kellen Winslow and Stroughter, a seventh-round draft pick who was wide open in the right corner of the end zone with 4:14 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Freeman's 2-point conversion pass to Michael Clayton put the Bucs up 31-28. The defense, which had all of its sacks after halftime, ensured victory when Tanard Jackson picked off Rodgers and — instead of going to the ground — weaved 35 yards through the Packers to a clinching TD with 35 seconds left.
The Bucs intercepted the Green Bay quarterback twice, and Elbert Mack — beaten badly on Jones' long touchdown — returned one of the picks 36 yards to the Packers 8 to set up Freeman's first pro TD pass, a 6-yarder to Derrick Ward.
Trailing 14-7, Tampa Bay's Geno Hayes blocked a punt that Ronde Barber scooped up and ran 31 yards for his 14th career touchdown. Freeman led a 74-yard field goal drive just before the half, trimming Tampa Bay's deficit to 17-14.
Rodgers looked like he might have put the game away when he scrambled 12 yards on third-and-goal to give Green Bay a 28-17 lead.
But Clifton Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to set up Freeman's 7-yard TD pass to Winslow and spark the comeback.
pass to James lones on Green Bay's second play from scrimmage, then led an 11-play, 69-yard march that Ryan Grant finished with a 3-yard run that made it 14-7 late in the opening quarter.
Rodgers threw a 74-yard TD
NOVEMBER MADNESS