2B SPORTS
]
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2 2009
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I am a member of a team and I rely on the team. I defer to it and sacrifice for it because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion."
Mia Hamm
FACT OF THE DAY
Kansas soccer has outshot (45-39) and outscored (5-1) its opponents through three games this season yet has five fewer total saves (11-16).
-Kansas Athletics
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: When was the last time Kansas soccer was ranked in the Soccer Times Top 25?
A: Sept. 19,2008 when it was No.19.
— SoccerTimes.com
SOCCER
Kansas team ranks No.23 in Soccer Times
After defeating Pepperdine and Arizona State to win the Lady Vol Invite last week-end, the Kansas soccer team cracked this week's Soccer Times' Top 25, checking in at No. 23.
Their new ranking marks the seventh season in a row that the Jayhawks have been ranked at least one week.
Kansas is one of five Big 12 schools ranked in the poll, Texas A&M sits at No.10, Colorado at No.7, Oklahoma at No 20 and Missouri at No.24.
Kansas takes on Long Beach State in their home opener at 5 p.m. Friday. They finish the weekend with a match against Rhode Island at 12 p.m. Sunday.
Clark Goble
Lady Jayhawks have successful week
Junior defender Lauren Jackson was selected as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the week for her efforts in the Lady Vol Invite. Freshman goalie Katie Betrauw was chosen as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
Liebetrau made 10 saves over the weekend and recorded her second career shutout against Arizona State. She is the first Kansas goalkeeper to record two shutouts in her first three matches.
Jackson was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Lady Vol Invite and led a defense that gave up just one goal in two games.
Oklahoma forward Whitney Palmer was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.
— Clark Goble
TONIGHT ON WAVING THE WHEAT
From 6
p.m. to
7 p.m.
on KJHK
90.7 FM
or www.kjlhk.org, Pete Fiutak of collegefootballnews.com will make a guest appearance.
MORNING BREW
Cubs need to arrive before it's too late
Baseball season is winding down its steaming summers and hot times.
her days and clutching October with the corner of the eye. Teams are making their final roster adjustments as they prepare for a plethora of September call-ups. Arms are sore and injuries linger. At this point in the season, you are either already thinking about next season, or you are one of the few at the pinnacle of the playoff race. The Chicago Cubs know that now is the time to arrive.
The Cubs came into the 2009 season with thoughts of a division title. While the Albert Pujols led Cardinals (congratulations to John Smoltz with a chip on his shoulder) seem to have a different
vision year after year, the Cubs had a threatening nucleus to look forward to. Manager Lou Piniella showcased a lineup with Alfonso Soriano, Aramis R美irez, Derrek Lee, Kosuke Fukudome, last year's NL Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto, and newly acquired Milton Bradley as the core. The Cubs looked primed for a much needed trip to the postseason.
Now, as we head into the last month of the regular sea
son, Soriano is hitting .243. Soto an abysmal .212, and Fukudome .274. Is Fukudome really supposed to be hitting .274? Ramirez's season was injury plagued and Bradley has been mediocre. Alas, the Cubs find themselves trailing the Cardinals in the division and the Rockies and Giants for the wild card.
"They don't realize how tired you get during a baseball season," Piniella once said.
The pitching staff has done its job, but if no one other than Demrek Lee or top shelf prospect Jake Fox can swing a big stick, the Cubbies will be getting ready to hibernate early this fall.
Follow Kansan sports writer Max Rothman at twitter.com/maxrothman.
MUSIC FROM THE VAULTS
What would house music sound like on Mars? Perhaps the Beta Band had something like that in mind when forming 1998's "The Three E.Ps." The title is accurate, as the album is divided into swerving layers of psychedelia, indie-pop/folk, funk, soul and trip-hop. The first track, "Dry the Rain," starts slowly with the branding lyrics, "this is the definition of my life" and pours into an onslaught of
horns and battering bass lines. "Monolith" is a trippy, sixteen minute kaleidoscope of varying samples and "Dr. Baker" is a measured drama with menacing keys. Find this album, bob your head to it like John Cusack did in "High Fidelity" and enjoy.
— Edited by Anna Kathagnarath
You got served
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chase Buchanan, of the United States, serves to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, on Tuesday.
NFL
Chiefs coach releases poor players
BY JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Amani Toomer played 13 successful seasons with the Giants, and was brought in by Kansas City to provide leadership to a young group of receivers. Alfonso Boone is a nine-year veteran, and opened training camp as a starter at defensive end.
Both were released Tuesday, casualties of the what-have-you done-lately approach Todd Haley is taking in his first year as Chiefs coach.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"The thing I've been stressing to these guys is finding the right 53 and we're going to do it at all costs." Haley said. "Every day is an evaluation and if you're not out there, how can we depend on you? If you're out there and don't know what to do, how can we depend on you?"
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Amani Toomer catches a pass during NFL football training camp in River Falls, Wis., on Tuesday. It was Toomer's first day in camp after signing with the Chiefs.
Kansas City also released rookie tackle Cameron Goldberg and placed back Kolby Smith on the physically unable to perform list after missing most of the preseason with an undisclosed injury. Receiver Devard Darling, a preseason starter with Dwayne
Bowe stuck in Haley's doghouse, was placed on injured reserve after hurting his knee Saturday against Seattle.
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Two veterans gone and the next round of cuts — 22 by Saturday — figures to be just as direct. Haley only wants players who perform. No mistakes, no excuses. Produce or get shown the door.
but was quickly shuttled down the depth chart when rookie Tyson Jackson caught up after holding out the first week.
"We're going to play the guys we can depend on, the guys who give us the best chance to win," he said. "That's it."
Toomer, 34, signed Aug. 4 after 13 seasons with the New York Giants. He never had much of an effect, spending most of the preseason with the second and third teams.
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Boone spent his first eight seasons with the Bears and started 19 games the past two seasons. He opened training camp as a starter,
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NFL
Blackouts may challenge teams
BY JOSEPH WHITE Associated Press
ASHBURN, Va. — Avoiding local television blackouts will be a challenge as the NFL approaches its first full season in the economic downturn, commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday.
During a visit to the Washington Redskins, Goodell was asked about the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose season-ticket base dropped from 42,000 to about 25,000 this season. The decline is such that the club might not even bother asking for extensions to avoid blackouts this year.
Goodell said jacksonville, one of the smallest markets in the league, is "one of the markets where we're seeing some challenges from ticket sales coming
into the 2009 season."
"And we'll have other markets that'll have those challenges. It's all part of the challenges that we're seeing in the economy, and what our clubs
ROGER GOODELL NFL Commissioner
"I think the fans have seen that the quality of the games aren't up to NFL standards."
lockout in 2011.
are going through," Goodell said. "Our clubs have been working hard in the offseason to create other ways to try to get people in the stadiums and to have policies that are a little more flexible, and hopefully they're going to pay dividends for us."
The San Diego Chargers had an exhibition game blacked out for the first time since 2006. Other teams that could have trouble selling out their home games include the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, which both had blackouts last season.
Ethan Albright, the Redskins' interim player representative to the union, said he told his teammates to save their money because the word from Smith is "the owners are taking all the steps to set up for a lockout in 2011."
The Cleveland Brown's almost had its first blackout since 1995 for a preseason game last month. Goodell said some of the August ticket sales could be attributed to the nature of exhibition football.
Goodell planned a meeting in Washington with NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith. Goodell said it was more of a get-together than a formal negotiation. The NFL and the union talked about a new labor agreement to avoid a
Listen, I think everybody in
"I think the fans have seen that the quality of the games aren't up to NFL standards, so I think that's a factor," said Goodell, who is looking at the possibility of reducing the preseason and expanding the regular season.
"Anytime you're negotiating you take a step forward and maybe a step back," Goodell said. "We're communicating, we're trying to get information to the union leadership, make sure they understand the challenges we're facing as a system and as a business and make sure they understand that so we can design a system that addresses the issues for the players and the coaches and the game."
the nFL wants to play," Goodell said. "The owners want to play, the players want to play. It's our job to get a deal done. That's why I keep saying a lockout is not a strategy, nor an objective. What we
want to do is get an agreement that works for the players and the coaches and the game and allows to continue to grow it."
Goodell said Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, is "making the right kind of progress." He will consider Vick for reinstatement no later than Week 6 of the regular season.
Goodell heard questions from players about the league's steroids policy, rules changes, and possible lockout. Redskins rookie defensive lineman Jeremy Jarmon asked an unusual question.
"A lot of those issues I'm focusing on are off the field. How is he dealing with the transition? Does he have his family relocated? Does he have the right people around him helping him make decisions?" Goodell said. "Tony Dungy's been incredibly helpful. Donovan McNabb's been helpful. I talk to Michael on a weekly basis, if not more. I'll be meeting with him again sometime in the near future. ... He's focused on the right things."
"He was talking about how we have rules to protect the quarterbacks," Goodell said. "And that you need more rules to protect defensive ends."
BASEBALL MLB game rescheduled to respect Yom Kippur
WASHINGTON — ESPN and Major League Baseball have agreed to switch the starting time of a Yankees-Red Sox game to avoid conflicting with Yom Kippur, a Jewish day of fasting and atonement.
ESPN told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Sept. 27 game was returning to its original start time of 1 p.m. EDT. It changed to 8 p.m. to accommodate ESPN's schedule; Yom Kippur begins at sundown that evening.
"I am pleased we were able to resolve this sensitive issue that impacted many baseball fans and are able to move the game at Yankee Stadium to 1 p.m." Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement, crediting ESPN for helping to "solve this conflict." ESPN will still televiSE the game.
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.
sent a letter to Selig and ESPN
President George Bodenheimer
urging to return the game
to its original afterWnoon start time.
Associated Press
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