Sports THE MORNING BREW THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Football ticket pickup begins
Students who purchased tickets can pick them up with a KUID at the ticket office.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009
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Old traditions remain strong
The coffee may have changed, but the morning ritual hasn't. MORNING BREW | 2B
SELF-CONFIDENCE IN THE SECONDARY
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior cornerback Chris Harris intercepts a pass during the Oct. 13, 2007, game against Baylor in Lawrence. Harris intercepted two passes during his freshman season but struggled as a sophomore in 2008.
Cornerback ready for comeback
BY JAYSON JENKS jjenks@kansan.com
Recently, the phone calls have been positive. Kansas is eager to
Junior cornerback Chris Harris picks up his phone and dials his mom, Lisa, every day. She made sure to point out that fact from her home in Bixby, Okla. Chris and Lisa are close. Really close, she said.
prove it can capture a Big 12 North championship, and Harris is once again significantly — and comfortably — contributing on the defense.
But last year, well.last year,Lisa
"I think he feels like he needs to come back and prove to the fans that he can play."
said, the talks were tougher. That sometimes it was hard for Chris to swallow his mid-season demotion from a starting spot.
So Chris did what many do when
LISA HARRIS Chris Harris'mother
Follow Kansan football writer Jayson Jenks at twitter.com/ jaysonJenks.
things aren't going quite as expected — he called home.
"We were just telling him to work hard, to work so hard that there is not a reason for you not to be
out there!" Lisa said. "I mean, the coaches can't say you didn't give it all you had. And then everything started getting better."
Let's be clear: it's not that Harris switched positions entering this season. He's still playing as the lavwahys
But Harris and Lisa said he's more confident and prepared this
nickel back — the fifth defensive back on the team.
year. Plus the Jayhawks will likely use Harris more this season as they face a schedule loaded with spread offenses.
"I think he feels like he needs to come back and prove to the fans that he can play." Lisa said.
Players are demoted and promoted on a regular basis in college football. But last season, Harris struggled to grasp why, after a solid freshman season, he was playing worse as a sophomore.
Harris, the former Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year and key component during Kansas run to the Orange Bowl championship in 2007 struggled in coverage last season.
"Last year coaches talked about playing with fear, and I just played with so much fear," Harris said. "I wasn't playing like I usually do. I've worked so hard to get back to where
He played the final six games of the season shuffling in and out as the nickel back.
I was.
"This is probably the most confident I've been playing. Compared to last year when I played with so much fear, I trust my abilities and I
trust the work that I did."
Before any of that could happen — before Harris restored order within himself — he wrestled with the realization that he was no longer a starter. And who wouldn't?
Harris was one of the best players on his high school team, an AllState defensive back who made an immediate impact at Kansas. Then came the struggles.
"Anytime you get moved from the starting lineup it takes a toll on you," senior defensive back Justin Thornton said. "What really matters is how you bounce back. And he's
done a great job bouncing back and doing everything he can to be the best player he can be."
"Compared to last year when I played with so much fear, I trust my abilities and I trust the work I did."
During Kansas' camp this offseason, Harris and Thornton roomed
CHRIS HARRIS Junior cornerback
PAGE 1B
out here on the grind" Thornton said. "This is tough, and it's always good to have someone who knows what you're going through and what position you're in to talk about it and help you through it."
"With the thing that we go through, we're
together and were able to relate.
But there's another side to the
SEE HARRIS ON PAGE 3B
Recruits show promise in practice
FOOTBALL
BY JAYSON JENKS
iienks@kansan.com
The Kansas football season kicks off Sept. 9 against Northern Colorado. Here are five new faces to keep an eye on.
QUINTIN WOODS
Bakersfield Community
College, Bakersfield, Calif
The junior college transfer enters with the size (6-5, 230) and hype he signed with Michigan out of high school) to warrant the top not on this list.
Woods
The junior
But Woods may also be the key to Kansas' chances of winning the Big 12 North.
The Jayhawks struggled against the more potent offenses in the Big 12 last season and much of the problem can be pinpointed to a mediocre pass rush. Creating pressure without blitzing - and disrupting timing - goes a long way in shoring up a shaky pass defense.
"He's long and lean and quick and he really gets off the ball fast. And because he has a lot of range with his long arms, he's able to get off blocks pretty good...He can really be a great run stopper to because he understands leverage. He knows how to get off blocks and he pursues the football very, very well."
Coach Mark Mangino's take:
BRADLEY MCDOUGALD Scioto High School, Dublin, Ohio McDonald initially committee
BRADLEY MCDOUGALD
McDougald initially committed
McDougald played running back and defensive back in high school but arrives in Lawrence listed as a wide receiver. Coach Mark
McDougald
to Ohio State before switching to Kansas with the desire to play on the offensive side of the ball.
Coach Mark Mangino's take:
"I have not really had a true freshman come in and do what he can do since I've been here. He will play.
He'll be in the mix both at the line of scrimmage and on special teams"
Mangino said McDougald will see time as a true freshman both as a returner and on offense.
SEE RECRUITS ON PAGE 3B
Toben Opurum, freshman running back, practices with the team. Opurum is originally from Plano, Texas.
Weston White/KANSAN
COMMENTARY
Former athletes deserve payment
BY BRITT BEASLEY
bbeasley@kansan.com
Video games play a part in many students' lives. Sports games
allow those who play them to relax, take their mind off of something, take a study break, or just have fun. However, some of these games are anything but relaxing for the players the game characters are modeled on, particularly NCAA athletes.
All games that involve college athletes are restricted from using the actual names of the athletes. The company that produces many of the games, EA Sports, releases these games without the names of the amateur athletes, but the players' body types and facial features are often closely mimicked.
When is it okay for players' likenesses to be used in a video game without the players themselves being paid for it? I understand not using the names and likenesses of current amateur athletes, but once the athletes are no longer performing in NCAA sporting events the names should be able to be used. Questions and lawsuits are rising from this very problem of players' names and rights.
One such lawsuit was brought up this summer by Ed O'Bannon, a former UCLA Bruins basketball player, against EA Sports for making a character that resembled everything about him in its March Madness series and not paving him for it.
O'Bannon has not seen a single penny from the game and most likely never will while the video game companies keep getting richer and richer with the use of different players' appearances.
The gaming companies and mainly the NCAA should allow the previous athletes who are no longer deemed amateurs to have their names placed in the games for money. If you put the players' names in the game and don't plan on paying them, then don't put the characters in at all.
The fans that play the video games already know the names of the players, current and present. They know who they are. We all know the Christian Laettners, the Michael Jordans, and the Brandon Rushes.
Let past players' names be used in the current video games for a small fee to the players, but leave current play ers' names out.
Once players leave their days of college basketball, that will be the time to put their names in the college games.
Going forward from that the NCAA will continue to make money on the current players through other merchandise sold, but would be able to let those who can make money collect the money that they worked for so many years to earn.
Edited by Abby Olcese
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