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2B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
John Wooden
FACT OF THE DAY
Source: KUAthletics.com
Saturday's game between Kansas and Duke will be the first time the two schools have played each other in football.
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: When was the last time the two schools met in men's basketball?
A: March 27, 2003 in the Sweet Sixteen. Kansas defeated Duke 69-65 and was led by Nick Collison's 33 points and 19 rebounds.
Source: ESPN.com
CORRECTION
Meier
Briscoe
The photo of Kerry Meier on page 6B of Monday's Kansas Football Rewind was supposed to be one of Dezmon Briscoe.
— Stephen Montemayor
U.S. OPEN Williams sisters take Grand Slam doubles
NEW YORK — Serena Williams and her sister, Venus, rolled to an easy victory for their 10th Grand Slam doubles championship Monday.
It was a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Associated Press
MORNING BREW
Sports anchors not so punny
On the face of it, Kansas' newfound devotion to running the football ought to help balance the offense. That ought to lead to a more productive offense, and more wins.
Which is nice, I suppose. Scoring points is a good thing. Winning is even better.
Should Jake Sharp continue to produce at the level he has — 113 yards and one-and-a-half rushing touchdowns per game — both of those things figure to occur frequently.
Now, how Sharp can manage to score a half touchdown, I have no idea. But, with a maturing offensive line and an offensive coordinator who's determined to craft a quality running game, I have faith.
What's more, I have hope. Hope that Jake Sharp continues to impress. And not just for the obvious benefits already mentioned. Because, as great as those things are, some things are better. Some things, like puns.
And with Sharp-derived puns, any sports broadcaster or writer can feel clever enough to write for CW sitcoms.
The offensive line opens a gaping hole? Hey, that's some sharp blocking by the lajhawks.
Need a transition to commercial break? Kansas looking sharp as the third quarter comes to a close.
An opposing defender whiffs on a hit? Looks like his tackling isn't very sharp today.
With a little creative editing,
Follow Kansan sports writer Alex Beecher at twitter.com/alex_beecher.
that can even be the next day's headline: Kansas looks Sharp against (whoever).
Sharp breaks off an impressive run. A Sharp cut and some sharp running from Sharp. Three times in one sentence! I smell a Hearst Award.
And it's a good thing too, because Kansas' other star players aren't so generously punable.
With Jake, the sharp mind can create endless punning.possibilities.
Reeing? Briscoe? Wilson?
Not even close.
Stuckey? The quarterback missed with that ball, resulting in his receiver getting Stuck... ey? Tempting, but no.
And what if freshman Toben Opurum continues to impress while spelling Sharp? "Kansas looks Opurum" doesn't make such a nice headline.
Thankfully, the pun needn't stop anytime soon, although this is Sharp's senior season.
FOOTBALL
Looking to the future, there's Kale Pick. Seems easy enough.
Edited by Megan Morriss
Pick drops back, and throws the... nevermind. Maybe that's not such a sharp idea after all.
Trouble in the Big 12: Teams lose on the road
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For a conference that entered the season with so much hype, the Big 12 has had a rough couple of weeks.
Oklahoma was ranked third in the preseason, but lost to Brigham Young in its opener. Oklahoma State, with its highest ranking in 24 years, lost to Houston last week. Kansas State couldn't beat Louisiana-Lafayette on the road. Colorado can't beat anyone.
Does this mean the end of the Big 12's rise to the top of college football? Not quite yet, the coaches insist. It's still too early to tell.
"It's a long season, it's a 12-game season, it's a grind. I wouldn't judge the Big 12 the first couple of weeks," Kansas coach Mark Mangino said Monday during the
"Sure, there's been some games where we've gotten beat where perhaps we were favored in the conference, but I think you've got
to look at it at the end of the season and the whole body of work because this is a pretty darn good conference."
There was a time, not all that long ago, when
"I wouldn't judge the Big 12 the first couple of weeks."
The conference's depth has improved over the past couple of years as most of its teams converted to wide-open offenses that no one can seem to stop. Kansas,
the big 12 wasn't considered a strong conference. There was Texas and Oklahoma — Nebraska before that — at the top, playing for national championships, with teams like Colorado or Kansas State occasionally putting together impressive seasons.
MARK MANGINO Kansas coach
Missouri and Texas Tech have each made national title bids and the rest of the teams have gotten better. At the least, the Big 12 is one of the deepest conferences in the country.
Expectations for
this season were high. The conference had five teams in The Associated Press preseason poll, including three in the Top 10.
Sending a team to the BCS championship game for the fifth time in seven years was considered realistic.
So what happens? Two losses to Mountain West Conference teams during the first weekend, then losses to Sun Belt and Mid-American schools last weekend. Granted, Toledo has seven wins against BCS schools the past nine years and BYU is no slouch, moving up to No. 7 in the latest poll.
And it's not like the Big 12 is alone when it comes to upets. And the conference still has five teams in the Top 25, with Missouri just missing the final spot.
"I don't know that it's unlike any other year or any other conference," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "I think you see it around the country every year, where every week you see people with upsets. I don't know that this is any different."
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
TODAY
Men's Golf:
Fairway Club
Invitational
Nebraska City, Neb
Women's Golf:
Chip-N-Club
Invitational
Lincoln, Neb.
WEDNESDAY
Women's Volleyball:
at Missouri
6:30 p.m.
Columbia, Mo
THURSDAY No events scheduled.
NFL
Chiefs lose season opener against Baltimore Ravens
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It's still unclear if quarterback Matt Cassel will be ready for the Kansas City Chiefs' home opener against Oakland on Sunday. The status of cornerback Brandon Flowers is also up in the air.
Flowers and Cassel were both on the sidelines when the Chiefs lost their season opener 38-24 at Baltimore on Sunday, giving up 501 yards of total offense.
But there were some positives for the Chiefs to take into their preparations for the upcoming Raiders game.
As many Kansas city fans have noted, the Chiefs showed a lot of fight. They didn't fold when they got down 10-0 in the first quarter. And before Baltimore scored its final touchdown with a few seconds to play, the Chiefs were actually in position to record what would have been their first win in nearly a year.
Associated Press
Engineering & Computer Science Career Fair
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 Noon-5 p.m.
Kansas Union Ballroom www.ecc.ku.edu
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