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Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Players compete for spot Soccer teammates fight for the starting position. SOCCER | 8B
THURSDAY,OCTOBER 22,2009
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BACK IN THE SADDLE
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior running back Jake Sharp cuts inside a block during the first half against Northern Colorado Sept. 5. 5. Sharp returned to football Saturday at Colorado after an injury kept him from playing.
Time on sideline pains Sharp
Running back returns to game after recovering
PAGE 1B
BY JAYSON JENKS jjenks@kansan.com
For two Saturdays, senior running back jake Sharp would jog onto the field with Kansas' three other senior captains, moving around and bumping into teammates before walking to midfield for the game's opening coin toss.
And really, they both looked like just another game day for Kansas' starting running back
Then kickoff rolled around.
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After the pregame ceremonies, Sharp found himself reduced to watching the Jayhawks from the sideline, unable to contribute because of an undisclosed injury.
"It's something where you work really, really hard and you don't ever want to suffer an injury because every game is very important," Sharp said. "You know, one step closer to every game being my last."
Sharp paused for a moment "I missed it. A lot."
Now, after playing at Colorado Saturday — his first full game since Sept. 12 — he's back.
During his tenure at Kansas, Sharp's size and ability to hold up in a physically-loaded conference such as the Big 12 have routinely been debated. But never has Sharp's toughness been doubted.
With the size and speed of college athletes, the ability to play through minor, nagging injuries has become a reality of the game.
Sharp has been no different. In fact, Sharp's high school coach at Salina Central, Marvin Diener, said Sharp played down the stretch last season with "some broken ribs and those kinds of
things."
"This isn't track," Sharp said. "You're just not 100 percent. There's just no question. But you're definitely good enough to play the game of football. That's just how it is. Anyone who plays or has played understands that."
If Sharp could have played - if there was a chance he could have helped Kansas — he insisted he would have done so.
His teammates agreed.
"A guy like Jake, with as competitive as he is, any time he can't play out there with the team, he hates it," senior quarterback Todd Reesing said. "I know it was harder on him than anybody else having to sit out because if there was any way he could
have played at all, he would have done it.
"He's a tough kid. I don't think he has to prove that to anybody."
Each week after Sharp's injury, coach Mark Mangino appeared cautiously optimistic that his starting running back could return at any time. But he always bracketed his words by saying that he didn't want to risk Sharp's health.
There was also a slightly more strategic side to the situation.
"Coach pulled me aside a couple times and said, 'You know, your speed's your thing and we just have to make sure you have it,' Sharp said. "I understood
SEE SHARP ON PAGE 5B
Players competing to earn starting minutes
BASKETBALL
BY COREY THIBODEAUX cthibodeaux@kansan.com
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
The bench for the men's basketball team could be said to be on level with most schools around the nation. But the depth of the overall team could make that theory hard to prove.
With high school standouts, returning All-Americans and improved veterans filling the roster, some players are going to have a hard time getting on the court. Junior Chase Buford knows finding minutes will be a challenge this year.
"They're going to be tough to come by this year and I think everyone knows that," he said. "Everyone is putting the time and effort to try to put themselves in the best position they can."
Coach Bill Self said that at this
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point he has a nine man rotation in mind, and that that number could shrink to eight depending on the development of Marcus Morris' skill set both on the inside and outside.
Counting freshman center Jeff Withey and junior guard Brady Morningstar, who are both inactive for the first semester, the roster has 17 players. Self knows play
"We may play 10 early just to figure out what our best team is." Self said. "But I'd like to play four bigs and five guards."
Weston White/KANSAN
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 5B
Western White/ANSWER Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed scrambles for a loose ball in a game against Michigan State last season. Reed said competing for playing time does not cause jealousy among players.
COMMENTARY
Column's remark on Mangino unfit to print
Errors in context can relay a message that is perceived as a criticism or assumption to par ties who don't deserve either.
I'm referring to Wednesday's column in The University Daily Kansan by Clark Goble entitled "Student reporters kept at a distance."
It was an interesting piece. Goble, a football writer for The Kansan, set the scene by describing being pushed aside by a television reporter while recording football coach Mark Mangino's postgame remarks.
This then inspires a story from Montana in which the University of Montana's football coach Bobby Hauck continues to refuse giving interviews to reporters from the school paper, The Kaimin.
Beginning when the paper had reported a story about an alleged assault about a month ago, its reporters have been denied comment from the coach and players. Rather than address any factual errors or specific problems with The Kaimin's report, Hauck took to belittling the reporters publicly when they dared to do their jobs.
Hauck's handling of the situation is childish and bears mentioning
And it is that series of incidents that partly necessitates today's column. As this paper's sports editor, I feel compelled to address how the final sentence of Wednesday's column remained intact. The first step of the editorial process at The Kansan is for the section editors to review his or her content, make necessary changes and pass along comments to the copy desk — where further edits are made.
When I came across the sentence "Hopefully Mangino never crosses that line" in reference to Hauck's shutting out his college's student press, I felt it presumptive and unfit for publication. I recommended that the column's copy editor pass along a comment to Goble recommending he make Kansas' coaches and their handling of last months fight fallout the center of the column, using the Montana coach as context.
Student journalists are finding themselves in the same realm and discussion as their professional peers, especially with the proliferation of Web media. When the football and basketball teams engaged in their September brawls, The Kansan's coverage was linked on national sports aggregator RealClearSports.com.
Goble didn't receive that message, and no such changes were made. This column is not being written to place any blame on Goble as his intentions were not to create a stir but merely to state that he hopes Kansas' coaches never resort to Hauck's methods of handling situations.
Mangino and basketball coach Bill Self deserve praise for being honest and direct, and for not limiting what can be asked to players in the aftermath of those fights. Most importantly, neither coach has ever treated The Kansan — which falls under the umbrella of media outlets both have described as "making the story bigger than it was" — the same shameful way Hauck treats his.
— Edited by Anna Kathagnaratn
Follow Stephen Montemayor at twitter.com/smontemayor