THE UNIVERSITY JAIRY KANSAN
THURSDAY OCTOBER 1 2009
THURSDAY,OCTOBER 1,2009
SPORTS
5A
CLUB SPORTS
Contributed Photo
Wyoming Karate Club members pose for a photo with their coach, Kansas alumnus Beno Fradeau. Frodevaux won 2 gold medals in the State Games of martial arts competition.
Alum brings home pair of gold medals
BY ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
Ben Froideaux, standing only 5 feet 7 inches tall, is not the most intimidating person at first glance. So when the 1988 Kansas graduate enters the weapons competition of Kobudo, he uses the Bo, a six-foot-tall wooden staff.
"In the minds of the judges, if you use a bigger weapon you appear very large and powerful," he said.
In August Froidevaux won two gold medals in karate at the State Games of America in the male kobudo (weapons) $ 18+ $ advanced and male kata (forms) $ 35+ $ advanced sections.
The scoring is based on a 1-10 scale, but participants usually see their scores in the high sixes or low seven. Froidevaux received a highly unusual 8.0 on one judge.
Froideaux was an active member of the University's Karate Club. However, when he moved to Switzerland after graduation he couldn't find a place to study karate, so he took up Judo.
"A lot of martial arts tend to be very statie in their way of thinking," he said. "I try to train in other sports such as fencing, yoga, and aerobics to find universal truths to help out my competitive sports."
Now he is the leader of the Karate
Club at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo.
As leader of the club, Froideaux is able to pass on his knowledge to younger competitors. Zhuxian Zhou, one of his students, won a gold medal at the 2008 western regional state games.
"The biggest thing that I learned from Frodeaux is his strong spirit," Zhou said. "A lot of times back home I would want to stop when tired, but here because of the strong spirit I am not tired."
Another of his pupils, Yan Ma, also known as Viva, said learning karate from Froideaux has helped her in her outside life as well.
"The really hard training helps me overcome my tough problems," she said. "Over the summer I was in a car accident, but my good physical condition and good reflexes helped me to avoid major injury."
In addition to being great exercise and fitness, karate has helped Froidevaux in other ways.
"What you learn in training is how to fall, not be afraid of falling, and use the ground as your friend," he said.
But the most important thing to take away, according to Froidevaux, is "good character, good spirit and respect."
— Edited by Tim Burgess
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Yankees announce New York City bowl game
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Yankees' managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, right, receives a football and helmet from Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, second from left, as Big East commissioner John Marinatto, second from right, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, left, look on, during a news conference Wednesday. The Big 12 and Big Eight will play in a bowl game at Yankee Stadium beginning in 2010.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The teams are set, one from the Big East, one from the Big 12. The site: The new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium.
Now all the new bowl game in the Bronx needs is a name before its debut in December 2010.
"If you're looking for suggestions, maybe we should call it the Jeter Bowl," Bronx Borough president Ruben Diaz Jr. said Wednesday at a news conference to announce the bowl.
The leagues and the New York Yankees have a four-year agreement in place, running through the 2013 season.
The payout to each team will be about $2 million. For the Yankees, they get another event they hope will fill their 57,545-seat stadium.
"The game underscores our promise to use Yankees Stadium year-round," said Yankees president Randy Levine, who presided over a gathering at the stadium that included Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and the commissioners from each conference.
The Yankees had already struck a deal with Army for the Black Knights to play four regular-season games at the stadium in the next five years
That starts next season with a game against Notre Dame.
The Big East will send either its third or fourth selection to the Yankee Stadium bowl game.
The Big 12 will send its seventh
The Big East was a logical fit for the game.
selection. If the Big 12 does not have enough bowl eligible teams, Notre Dame has agreed to take its place, providing it is available.
The game will be played between Christmas and New Year's Day.
Though the league has become more far-flung in recent years with the additions of South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville, it's roots run throughout the Big Apple.
"The Big East has long time recognized New York city as its home," Big East commissioner John Marinatto said.
The Big East has been playing its basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden since 1983.
Big 12 commissioner Dan Bee-
be said that the Bronx bowl was
"The game underscores our promise to use Yankees Stadium year-round."
RANDY LEVINE
Yankees president
a late addition to the Big 12's schedule, but it was too good to pass up.
"This is an opportunity to put our brand, our football, in the biggest market in the world," he said.
The Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., was bumped from the conference's bowl lineup to make room.
The Yankee Stadium game has no title sponsor yet, though Levine said several of the companies that already have relationships with the Yankees have
shown interest.
Considering signs for Master Card, State Farm, Gatorade.
ter Carli, son
Pepsi and Sony
adorn the outfield
walls at Yankee
Stadium, sponsorship should not be a problem.
The game does not have a television home yet, but if nobody is interested — which is unlikely — the
Yankees' YES network could step in.
The game needs to be certified by the NCAA in April, but that's a formality.
This will be the first bowl game played in the Northeast since the 1981 Garden State Bowl at Giants Stadium located in East Rutherford, N.J.
scarves.
"We'll play in whatever conditions. We'll put on ice skate instead of cleats."
Most bowls are played in cities with mild or warm weather or in domes.
DAN BEEBE Big 12 commissioner
The Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, is the most obvious exception, though it can get chilly in places such as Nashville, Tenn., and Dallas around the holiday season.
Still, the teams invited to the Yankee Stadium bowl — and their fans — better bring their
"I've played games in snow and ice, and it's fun," Beebe said. "The
opportunity for our youngsters to come here, whether there is snow or ice or whatever, to come to the biggest market in the world ... is too great to pass up."
"We'll play in whatever conditions. We'll put tie
skates on instead of cleats."
The original Yankee Stadium was home of the NFL's Giants from 1956-73 and the site of college football games, many involving some of the greatest Army and Notre Dame teams, from the early-to-mid 1900s.
The Gotham Bowl was played there in 1962. Nebraska, now a member of the Big 12, beat Miami 36-34.
With the return of college football, Bloomberg said that he is hoping for a couple of tickets to the game, no matter how cold it gets.
"What's strange is football in warm weather," he said. "This is a sport where you've got to go out there and bundle up. That's part of the fun of it."
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