THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
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SPORTS 9A
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Don't look back. Someone might be gaining on you."
— Satchel Paige
FACT OF THE DAY
Kansas generated the 11th highest total revenue among Football Bowl Subdivision schools in 2007-08 with $86,009,257.
Source: U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: Despite ranking 11th in total revenue, Kansas still finished behind two other Big 12 schools. Which ones were they?
A: Texas (1st, $120,288,370)
and Oklahoma State (10th,
$88,009,257).
Source: U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education
ATHLETICS Sayers returns to KU as director of fundraising
After years away from Kansas, former football standout Gale Sayers is returning as the Director of Fundraising for Special Projects. He will begin working with the Athletics Department in October.
"I am thrilled and honored to welcome Gale back to the Kansas Athletics administration," Athletics Director
Sayers
Lew Perkins said in a statement, "There is no one better suited to take on this role. Gale obviously distinguished himself on the gridiron as both a collegian and a professional, but the example he also set in his career after football serves as a model to our student athletes and to the general student body."
Sayers opened a computer business after his days with athletics were finished in 1984. And now, after years away from the sports world, he's set to return to the place where he experienced so much success.
Sayers was a two-time All- American selection in 1963 and 1964. He rushed for 2,675 yards and produced 3,917 all-purpose yards, while also leading Kansas in rushing, touchdowns and kickoff returns in each of his three years in the lineup
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977. He was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame that same year.
Jayson Jenks
"Lew and I started talking about my coming back to the University of Kansas about six months ago," Sayers said in a statement. "He told me that he wanted to build Kansas Athletics into a program that would be competing for national championships in every sport."
NFL
Bruschi to announce retirement Monday
BOSTON — Tedy Bruschi is retiring after a 13-year career marked by an inspiring return to the New England Patriots as a starting linebacker eight months after a stroke.
A person familiar with his decision told The Associated Press on Sunday night that the 36-year-old Bruschi will announce his retirement at a news conference Monday morning.
Bruschi, an inside linebacker, played on all three Super Bowl-winning Patriots teams.
He was hospitalized after experiencing numbness in his left arm and left leg and blurry vision and was diagnosed with a mild stroke.
Associated Press
Couture fought a good fight in UFC 102
MORNING BREW
one of the guys I watched UFC 102 with Saturday at Buffalo Wild Wings remarked as patrons filed out following the main event that it looked like fans leaving a Royals game. I didn't even have to ask if it was a game they won or lost.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5-1) put a considerably-sized clown suit on all of us who thought that his December 2008 knockout loss to Frank Mir was not a fluke attributed to a staph infection that had been ailing him. It took him 15 minutes to silence doubters who thought his style for enduring punishment had finally caught up with him and that the 46-year-old Randy Couture (16-10) would stop him.
Instead we watched a stirring conclusion to a highly entertaining card and on more than one occasion got punished for getting our hopes up that Couture would score a miraculous knockout that we could talk about for a very long time. Couture escaped numerous
and seemingly impossible —
submission attempts from one of the sport's finest. Couture's survival of knockdowns that would have ended the fight early for many others to sleep also impressed.
Alas, the Tom Watson comparisons continue as Couture bogeyed on his final hole, too.
That said, the fight was entertaining enough for each of the two to earn $60,000 Fight of the Night bonuses and for Couture to land a six-fight contract extension. I don't see him seeing it through, but if he fights for the duration of the contract we'll see a 50-year-old headliner. But again, I don't see it happening.
As for Nogueira, the 33-year-old effectively put himself next in line for a shot at the heavyweight title and should face the winner
SECOND-STRING RUMINATIONS
of the Nov. 21 Brock Lesnar vs.
Shane Carin bounce at UFC 106.
Ironic and coincidental situations seem to follow Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel everywhere he goes.
Recall that Cassel owes his $63 million contract with Kansas City to a ligament-shredding hit by Bernard Pollard on Tom Brady in the 2008 opener. Needless to say, the importance of having a quality backup quarterback was illustrated in one of the higher profile instances in recent NFL memory. Now Kansas City's getting a taste of its own medicine, albeit in a much smaller dosage. During Saturday's preseason game against Seattle, Cassel was dropped on his first pass attempt and is looking at a two-to-four week absence because of a leg injury that would keep him out of the season opener and possibly the second game of the season.
sive line for that but now we're about to again see the importance of having a backup quarterback on any football roster that can do more than hold a clipboard and make secret hand signals on the sideline.
Credit an embarrassing offen
So how does Kansas stack up in that area?
Heaven forbid Todd Reesing goes down — in his senior year, no less — but for the first time since 2007, Kerry Meier is not listed as Kansas' backup quarterback. That distinction now belongs to Kale Pick, the 6-foot-3, 221-pound sophomore who spent the spring being groomed for the No. 2 position. Once Reesing and Meier depart, he could possibly go beyond that.
During the April 11 scrimmage, Pick started unimpressively with a three-and-out on his first drive and an interception on his second. But one could notice a considerable change in demeanor and poise as the game went on as Pick finished with 154 yards off 16-for-26 passing.
U.S. OPEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rooper Federer, of Switzerland, returns the ball against Devin Britton, of the United States, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Monday, Aug. 31, 2009.
Federer, Williams defend their titles
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Roger Federer and Serena Williams began their U.S. Open title defenses Monday with easy wins in matches that will probably stick only in the memories of the players they beat.
"My goal was to not get crushed," Britton conceded, "and
Federer defeated NCAA champion Devin Britton 6-1, 6-3, 7-5, and Williams rolled over wild card Alexa Glatch 6-4, 6-1 to fashion a predictable start to the last major championship of 2009.
He did, even breaking Federer's serve in the second and third sets, though he was unable to follow either by winning his own serve in the
ing for a little while."
"I was thinking, 'I'm up a break. This is awesome!" Britton said. "Then it only lasted about 30 seconds."
next game. With his coach from Ole Miss in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Britton lost three straight games at love after going up 3-1 in the second.
Glatch was in the same boat, pushing the second-seeded Williams in the first set before losing quickly in the second. One of America's top juniors earlier in the decade, Glatch received a wild card for the U.S. Open, only to find she was playing one of the best Grand Slam players in history.
Williams, who has won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, is going for her second straight and fourth U.S. Open title.
"You try to pretend it's any other court and you're playing against any other opponent."
the occasion." Glatch said. "You try to pretend it's any other court and you're playing against any other opponent. But it's very hard to do, especially when it's your first time out there in the biggest stadium there is."
"You just try not to think about
ALEXA GLATCH Tennis player
Other winners in
Other winners in the first round included eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka, 12th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 17th-seeded Mia Maurewsmo and 26th-seeded Francesca Schiavone. Paul-Henri Mathieu, No. 26 on the men's side, was the first seeded player to lose, beaten
by Mikhail Youzhny 2-6, 7-5, 6-0,
6-2.
American John Isner won a 16-14 second-set tiebreaker, the highlight of a 6-1, 7-6 (14), 7-6 (5) upset over 28th-seeded Victor
"It might have been a blessing in disguise," Isner said. "I've felt fresh ever since I started playing in the States."
Vansect. Ashler has missed a good part of the year with mononucleosis.
It remains to be seen — and if all goes as planned will stay that way — how Kansas' backups compare to the rest of the Big 12. But considering the nearest pro football team's fortunes at the position, would it really be that much worse than counting on a quarterback battle between Tyler Thigpen and Brodie Croyle?
Opening the day in Ashe Stadium was 2005 champion Kim Clijsters, who returned to competitive tennis this summer after taking two years off to start a family. She had a baby girl in May 2008.
ranked at least 148th after the Open, when she'll have played the three required tournaments she needs to return to the list.
"I know tennis isn't everything, so it's not a problem."
"Now it's a matter of trying to keep this going," the Belgian said.
She won the first seven and last 11 points of the match and grinded through her few hiccups, including three double-faults in the third game of the opening set, which extended to seven deuces before she pulled it out.
Clisters defeated Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-1, 6-1 and didn't show much rust.
"I still feel like I can improve," she said. "But I'm definitely com
Edited by Amanda Thompson
The win guaranteed she'll be
fortable where I am right now."
As is Federer, who overcame a "slump" last year when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the French and Wimbledon finals, and has returned back to the top of his game. He won both
those titles this year, holds the record with 15 Grand Slam championships and isn't showing signs of tiring.
"I know tennis is not everything, so it's not a problem," said Federer, the father of 5-week-old twin girls. "But if I enjoy playing tennis, why should I stop just because I've beaten the all-time Grand Slam record? That's not what tennis is all about."
He is looking for his sixth straight U.S. Open title. Win or lose, the paycheck guaranteed by the opening-round victory made him the first player in tennis history to reach $50 million in prize money.
Easy for him to say
Follow Kansan writer Stephen Montemayer at twitter.com/smontemayer
FOOTBALL
FOOTBALL Former linebacker signs with New York Sentinels
SENIOR OF THE United Football League.
Former linebacker Joe Mortensen has signed with the New York
Mortensen was a three-year starter for Kansas and recorded 282 tackles in his career. He led
Mortensen
Kansas in stops in 2007 with 106.
The UFL, which begins playing games in October, has four teams. Mortensen will be coached by former NFL defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell.
Jayson Jenks
"It was something that was a long time coming,"former teammate and linebacker Mike Rivera said. "When we left we went our different ways. To finally hear some good news about football is a good thing. I think it's going to be a great opportunity for him."
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