2B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2009
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"At the base of it was the urge, if you wanted to play football, to knock someone down, that was what the sport was all about, the will to win closely linked with contact."
George Plimpton
FACT OF THE DAY
If Usain Bolt, the world record holder in the 100- and 200-meter dash, would have run a 40-yard dash at last week's IAAF World Championships in Berlin, he would have clocked in at 3.97 seconds.
— ESPN Track and Field Reporter Larry Rawson.
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: Jake Sharp tied a school record with 4 rushing touchdowns against Kansas State last season. Who are the other Kansas running backs to hold this record?
A: Brandon McAnderson (2007), June Henley (1996), Tony Sands (1991), Curtis McClinton (1961) and Charlie Black (1923)
— 2009 Kansas Football Media Guide
Catcher and umpire likely to receive fines
MLB
DENVER — Colorado catcher Yorit Torrealba and umpire Bill Miller have avoided suspensions over their on-field dispute during the Rockies' 14-inning win over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.
Baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that nobody will be suspended, fines are likely to be handed down once his investigation is complete.
"I expect to make a decision in due time. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions," Watson said.
Torrealba said Miller called him a derogatory name late in the game and accused him of showing up home plate umpire Angel Campos with his body language on calls he disagreeed.
Torealba said he saved his response until after the game, when a handful of teammates exchanged words with the umpiring crew.
"If there's a fine I'll just pay for it." he said.
Miller has declined to comment about the exchange.
Associated Press
Couture,46,still surprises UFC and fans
MORNING BREW
Age is a funny thing in sports.
It is funny because it's one of the few industries, except grape juice commercials, in which one is never too young to participate. That said, its definition of old is wildly inconsistent with that of the western world on the whole.
In the majority of major professional sports, an athlete is often deemed ready to be put out to pasture long before he or she is even qualified for an AARP membership.
But when an athlete defies this norm, the discussion gets a little more interesting. His or her involvement becomes a story — often one hell of a story. Such is the case of the co-headliner of Saturday's UFC 102, Randy Couture.
Couture (16-9-0) is 46 years old.
Let that sink in for a second. Tom Watson — who played chicken with our heart strings during this summer's British Open — is 59. Much was made of Watson's performance. It was one for the books. Just think about this:
Watson was just 13 years old when Couture was born.
One more perspective builder for you; Couture, whose profession
leaves him bleeding (or at least, quite bruised) after more competitions than not, was a six-year-old 39 years before now-Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre would go public with his off-season indecisionness.
But we really don't need to look outside Couture's sport to appreciate that not only is he still fights at a high level, but also is doing well enough to be headlining his fifth consecutive UFC pay-per-view event. The man is four years away from 50. I'm sorry I just can't get past that.
If you watched his last fight, a second-round knockout loss to Brock Lesnar held last November, you might have noticed a few extra signs of age worn by Couture, but you'd never guess that the man who wrestled quite competently against a 280-pound behemoth was pushing 50.
With that in mind, that Saturday's storyline becomes even
more interesting. See, Couture is fighting a 33-year-old and yet he's not the oldest man in the Octagon Follow me?
Couture's opponent will be Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (31-5-1) who — alongside Couture — is among the foremost heavyweights in mixed martial arts history. He's a submission machine, winning 20 of his 31 victories in that fashion. And he came to the UFC after a largely successful campaign with Japan's now-defunct Pride Fighting Championship, going 13-3-1 while pitted against the top heavyweights in the world.
Alas, the trait that kept Noguiera alloft his ability to take a punch or 15) against competition such as Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop and Ricco Rodriguez may ultimately have written an early conclusion to the story of his career.
Noguiera was knocked out for the first time in his career at the hands of Frank Mir in his last fight eight months ago. Mir appeared light years ahead of Noguiera in terms of boxing ability and overall reflexes. Noguiera's taxing battles in Japan sent him over the hill prematurely. And while mixed martial arts rarely lends itself to
aged competitors statistically, a physically-aged fighter competing at a high level is far more rare. Couture-Noguiera is a fight long overdue. But is it too late? I'm calling for a knockout by Couture that will give the UFC it's third consecutive pay-per-view to leave us with plenty to talk about.
One would assume following the triple main event of UFC 100 and the sheer domination by Anderson Silva and resurgence of B.J. Penn at UFC 101 would have been a near-impossible act to follow. Truth is, UFC 102 could give us not just one of the best MMA stories but also one of the better sports stories of the year.
HUMBUG A HIT
So after a few more spins of The Arctic Monkeys' recently-released "Humbug," I can confidently proclaim that it's certifiable ear candy. Even still, it leaves me with the sense that it'll continue to grow on me later. As with its first two releases, I advise you to seek this album in its entirety. But in addition to the recommended tracks of yesterday's Brew, I would seek "My Propeller" and "Secret Door" fast. Oh, and "Fire And The Thud." Not to mention...okay, well you get it.
While we're on the subject of music, I'll leave you with a quick word of advice: Check out more original soundtracks. I picked up the "Inglorious Basterds" soundtrack and its blend of David Bowie, Ennio Morricone (composer of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" score) and blaxploitation funk — to name a few — left me reliving the scenes that corresponded with the eclectic soundtrack all Tarantino films are known for.
Follow Kansan sports editor Stephen Montemayor at twitter.com/smontemayor.
— Edited by Jacob Muselmann
MLB
Cleveland's pitching leads to victory over Kansas City
BY JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Snoozing on the way to the ballpark, David Huff was jolted by a crash. A car lost control in the rain and slid into the side of the bus, a startling wake-up call for the Cleveland rookie.
Once Huff got to the field: crickets, just as he likes it.
The left-hander threw six solid innings Wednesday, bouncing back from a bad outing and helping the Indians to a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Cleveland Indians' Jamey Carroll (front) is tagged at out the plate by Kansas City Royals catcher Miguel Olivo as he tries to score on a Shin-100 Choo double in the third inning of a baseball game on Wednesday in Kansas City.
All that buzz from Zack Greinke's 15-strike out performance the night before? Gone, thanks to whisper-quiet stadium and a pitcher who prefers groundouts to punchouts.
"I'm not going to go out and strike out a bunch of guys," said Huff, 6-3 on the road. "I'm going to be the guy who tries to get ground-ball outs, a bunch of double plays. For me, strikeouts are boring. I like a quick ballgame. I like guys to ground out in one pitch, two pitches."
Jamey Carroll, Cleveland's No. 2 hitter, had two of his three hits on hit-and-runs to move Sizemore around the bases and Matt LaPorta hit his second homer of the season off Luke Hochevar (6-7) to give Huff all the support he needed.
Kerry Wood worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 21 chances, giving Cleveland its eighth win in 12 series since the All-Star break.
Grady Sizemore reached base four times after a day off, scoring in the first, third and fifth innings to put Cleveland up 3-2.
The Royals couldn't follow up the excitement from Greinke's performance the night before.
Kansas City scored two runs in the first three innings off Huff (8-7), but didn't get a runner past second base after that. Billy Butler had three hits for the Royals, who have baseball's worst home record (26-41) after losing five of six at Kauffman Stadium.
"It's a frustrating year," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "Losses are tough to let go of."
Most of the game was nondescript, as might be expected of two teams with little left to play and a crowd that hardly seemed there.
The Royals got a run in the first inning on Mark Teahen's sacrifice fly, another in the third on a bloop double by Miguel Olivo.
Asdrubal Cabrera had a run-scoring fielder's choice in the first for Cleveland. Shin-Soo Choo added some excitement with a run-scoring double to left-center in the third, a play that ended with Carroll getting thrown out by three steps at the plate. Sizemore scampered home on a wild pitch in the fifth and LaPorta homered in the sixth, drawing cheers from a handful of fans and not much else.
routine grounders, a few strikeouts,
the occasional grounder through the infield. Boring? Maybe a little,
especially after what Greinke did
the night before, but it worked.
"It was different, but it's the big leagues and you have handle any atmosphere you're in." Wedge said. "It doesn't matter. You still have to raise your level of play."
In between? Lots of lazy popups,
soft grounders and sleepy fly balls. Huff allowed two runs and seven hits after lasting just 3 1/3 innings his last start.
Huff started off his day with a jolt, one of nine Indians players on the bus when it was hit by a car on the way to the stadium. No one was hurt.
On the field, the lefty didn't let the Royals get the barrel on too many pitches, inducing plenty of
ing 73rd — that allowed Sizemore to score and the slider LaPorta hit out to put the Indians up 4-2.
"It always helps when guys are swinging at pitches." Huff said. "It's one of those things where you throw something off-speed, they think it's fastball and hopefully they just roll it over."
Hochevar had a second decent outing on the heels of four shaky ones, working through traffic to allow three earned runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander lost his chance to end a six-game winless streak with the wild pitch — Kansas City's majors-lead-
"That was a terrible pitch to LaPorta," Hochevar said after throwing a career-high 116 pitches. "I had him 0-2 with two outs in a 3-2 ballgame. That can't happen. My thought process was right, but it doesn't matter. What matters is executing that pitch."
NOTES: Indians DH Travis Hafner was given the day off to rest his surgically repaired shoulder after four straight starts. ... RF Jose Guillen (knee) will join the Royals on their five-game road trip and still hopes to play by Sept. 1.
GET INVOLVED
Five first-year KU students are elected each fall to become Student Senators. Influential students with the ability to shape and build policy and programs at the University of Kansas. Filing for freshman applications are due August 31.First meeting will be held 6:30pm, Monday, August 31st in the Kansas Room, level 5 of the Kansas Union.
Freshman Elections
Materials area due by 5pm that day. Forms are found at studentsenate.ku.edu. Turn in materials to student senate offices, 410 Kansas Union, for more info you can email alex2007@ku.edu
*No late applications accepted*
Student Senate Meeting
Wednesday, September 2
Woodruff Auditorium at 6:30pm
Comittees to join:
student rights, university affairs, finance,
multicultural affairs, graduate. This is a
good opportunity for students who are
not senators to get involved and make a
difference on campus.
Campus Garden Party
Sunday, August 30 from 1pm-3pm,
featuring produce from the garden,
garden tours, art projects and live
music.
(see map for directions)