Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Team defeats Oklahoma Four players had double-digit kills in Big 12 play. VOLLEYBALL | 3B
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009
Kick the Kansan in football
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Go to Kansan.com/kickthekansan or send your picks to thewave@kansan.com.
BESTIES
Julie Hanlev, left, and Monica Dolinski have played on the same teams for manv years. Before coming to Kansas they played on Indiana club team. Being on the same teams has allowed the players to be more consistent and successful.
PAGE 1B
Longtime friends lead team
Co-captains remain close after years
BY JOEL PETTERSON jpetterson@kansan.com
Follow Kansan writer Joel Peterson at twitter.com/j_petter.
Monica Dolinsky can't help but laugh recalling the first time she met Julie Hanley. It wasn't at Kansas, where they are now captains of the soccer team, but more than a decade ago at an indoor soccer game in Indiana where, both of their older brothers were
playing.
It wasn't soccer that the two originally bonded over. Instead, it was Dolinsky's pog-maker.
Senior goalkeeper Hanley has
"She looked at me with my pog-maker and was like 'uh-uh," said senior midfielder Dolinsky, who was 10 years old at the time. "But then we ended up making pogs in the bathroom while our brothers played."
equally vivid recollections of their first encounter.
It was fitting that the two met at a soccer game, as soccer has provided the ties for their friendship ever since. Soon after their first meeting, the two joined the same club soccer team and spent plenty of time together, as did their entire families.
"She had on green corduroy pants and a reindeer turtleneck with glitter on it," said Hanley. "So instantly I knew she was super cool with that outfit."
Dolinsky, a senior, and Hanley, a red-shirt senior, spent much of their childhood with each other, from soccer trips to lake
house visits to lemonade stands.
Dolinsky said she can't remember a time when they weren't friends.
The two continued to remain close, despite attending different schools. Dolinsky changed club teams, but they still played soccer together through the Indiana Olympic Development Program, which helped keep their friendship strong.
"In high school we didn't see each other as much, but when I did see her, nothing had changed," said Hanley. "Wed just pick up right where we left off."
Hanley graduated high school and left for Kansas a year ahead of Dolinsky. But they kept up
correspondence via Facebook, and Hanley persuaded Dolinsky to visit Kansas as well. In fact, her relationship with Hanley was a major reason for Dolinsky's decision to attend the university.
"I probably wouldn't have looked at Kansas if it wasn't for her," she said.
Two other players from the Indiana ODP program were also on the team at the time: graduates Jessica Bush and Missy Geha. Having familiar faces far from home made the transition smoother for both Dolinsky and Hanley. Bush, Geha and Dolinsky
SEE FRIENDS ON PAGE 10B
FOOTBALL
Defensive end shares co-Biq 12 player of the week honor
BY JAYSON JENKS jjenks@kansan.com
Senior defensive end Maxwell Oyebulegb sprints to the end zone for a touchdown after picking off Duke's quarterback in the third quarter Saturday afternoon. Kansas vamp 44-16 after a slow offensive start.
If you weren't paying close attention Saturday, you may have missed the initial setup. With Duke pressed into a passing situation on third down, senior defensive end Maxwell Oneygule did his best to blend in with the field's organized commotion.
Playing in a zone defensive scheme designed to allow the defensive end to sag in coverage, Onyegbule intercepted Thaddeus Lewis' pass and bolted 48 yards untouched in the opposite direction for a touchdown.
"I guess the quarterback didn't see me," Onyegbule said, smiling, "and it was off to the races."
Then, with the flick of an arm, he struck.
Follow Kansan
writer Jayson
Jenks at
twitter.com/
jayson.Jenkens.
During his time at Kansas, a similar pattern has defined Onyegebule's career: Blend in at first, only to appear late.
Once a backup used solely in spot situations, Onyegbule is currently one of Kansas' most productive – and disruptive – defensive players. Along with his interception return for a touchdown, Onyegbule has three sacks this season, jarring the comfort level of opposing quarterbacks.
Last week, he was named the
"In the spring time, I said 'Boy Max has a chance to really blossom this year,' coach Mark Mangino said. "We've only played two games but I think he's going to be a solid player for us. He's talented and the key thing is: He's playing with confidence."
co-Big 12 defensive player of the week.
During his youth and prep playing days, Onyegebule played exclusively as a linebacker. After arriving at Kansas, though, Mangino and his staff decided that Onyegebule's lanky 6-foot-5 frame would be better suited as a defensive end.
That hasn't always been the case.
There were some days Onyegbule simply struggled with his proper positioning along the defensive line.
Both Mangino and Onyegule acknowledged the transition wasn't smooth.
"He wasn't sure of himself," Mangino said. "But you could see
every once in a while this flash of brilliance and you knew he could do it. He was a guy that we said we had to be patient with. And we were."
Before this season, questions surrounded Kansas's defensive line
a unit that heavily struggled a
year ago. Those same concerns fell upon Onyegbule, who had never started during his time at Kansas.
After one particularly less-than-starller practice during the spring, Onyegbule sat down to talk with defensive line coach Tom Sims.
Sims' message was simple.
"His big thing was just focus," Onyegbule said. "Don't think, just play."
That simplification has allowed Onyegbule to become more
SEE ONYEGBULE ON PAGE 10B
COMMENTARY
Athletes' conduct breeds cynicism
BY STEPHEN MONTEMAYOR
montemayor@kansan.com
N early 120 years of athletics — many of them rich with tradition — currently wears a stain that may not soon fade.
The implications of Tuesday's and Wednesday's altercations between the men's basketball and football teams are not yet concretely known.
What is clear is that this is a joke.
What is clear is that this is a joke.
It took little time for the news to go viral, spreading from national sports blogs to rival teams' message boards. Kansas became the punch line of the day. A laughing stock.
Kansas State and Missouri fans: Fire away, we deserve it. In fact, I'm surprised that what I've read so far isn't as vitriolic as it could be.
Where do you go from a 100-plus person fight one night and a mid-morning melee the next day? Do we want to imagine how either side would try matching the throwing of a football player down the stairs outside Budig Hall by one of the Morris twins?
Whatever the source of the conflict, be it a girlfriend or pent-up animosity, something is seriously wrong between the football and basketball programs. Let's hope Wednesday morning was rock bottom.
Yes, let's hope this is as classless as it can get. Let's hope this sense of childish pride subsidies and the urge to always be "a G about it" is controlled.
That quote was among a number of comically stupid status updates posted on Tyshawn Taylor's now-defunct Facebook account.
"Keep my name out ya' mouth for you get smacked in it," the junior wordsmith posted Tuesday morning, before he would dislocate a finger in the initial brawl later that night. He later added "real n"***** do real things. point plankn." Rich stuff.
This has to be one of the more embarrassing 48-hour periods for Kansas Athletics in a very long time. It also comes during one of the most successful two-year periods in a very, very long time.
After football practice Wednesday, coach Mark Mangino indicated that he didn't expect there to be any suspensions, a key bit of news as one of the players questioned by police Wednesday was junior wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe — who had already been kicked off the team once for academic problems and has a history of offenses to boot. For a while the notion of Briscoe, or any other player, being suspended or dismissed didn't seem unthinkable. It still doesn't.
My guess is the Athletics Department is eager to get this washed from its hands. And fast. Athletics director Lew Perkins issued a statement Wednesday after the third tussle, saying, "We will handle any discipline regarding this incident internally." Wish they would've done that Tuesday.
Oh to be young again. To play catch with Dad, tailgate before the game and remain blissfully ignorant of the exploits of the player whose jersey draped over my back.
It is easy to be cynical at a time like this and overlook the good stories that are to be had in sports. They're still there. Only it's harder to find them through filth like this.
Edited by Sarah Kelly
Follow Kansan sports editor Stephen Montemayor at twitter.com/smontemayor.