Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Thursday October 22,1998
Section:
Sophomore midfielder Katie Lents has found her niche with the University of Kansas soccer team.
B
Basketball
SEE PAGE 3B
KU coach Marian Washington is using preseason practice to implement a new offense.
SEE PAGE 3B
Page 1
Pro Football
The New Orleans Saints are being sued by a former player for an alleged hazing incident.
SEE PAGE 6B
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Receivers' role: to remain ready
Players dream about making the big plays
Wide receiver Michael Chandler is pulled down by Missouri defenders. Kansas receivers expect to take some hits in order to make the big plays. Photo by Elan Delaivsky/KANSAN
By Randy Withers
Kansan sportswriter
Just imagine Memorial Stadium on a crisp October Saturday. You're waiting for the snap of the ball. The cornerback is playing soft man-to-man coverage, and you know you can blow right by him.
As the center snaps the ball, you are flying hell-bent for the goal line. The quarterback launches a deep pass just as you make your break to the post. touchdown Jaya hawks!
To the average football fan, the only preparation that goes into catching a pass is practicing for the end zone dance in the intramural game. For Termaine Fulton, Michael Chandler and the other Kansas receivers, readiness could mean the difference between a score and an interception.
"First of all, when you get in the huddle, you've got to wait for Zac (Wegner, Kansas quarterback) to call the play," Fulton said. "Then, you've got to figure your responsibility and what you are supposed to do. Then you go out there, and the first thing is to run your route and get open. After that, you just catch the ball and go from there."
Linebackers and safety always look to crush receivers who don't see them coming.
"There is no preparation for coming over the middle," Chandler said. "You've almost got to be out of your mind sometimes because those linebackers are a lot bigger than you are."
Fulton said that when he was running into the thick of a defense, he expected to take a shot.
"I try to run every route the same," Fulton said. "If you get hit, you get hit. Just as long as you catch the ball, it was worth it."
Darrell Wyatt, the Kansas wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator, said it was essential to get production out of the position.
"We're a team that likes to throw the ball," Wyatt said. "The kids know it's their job to go out and make plays on Saturday."
And big plays are what Chandler wants.
"I think it's most wide receivers dream to totally humiliate the guy at the line, when you come off the ball, and you're just wide open for a long touchdown pass," Chandler said.
The New York Yankees capture their 24th World Series championship in a...
Clean Sweep
The Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — How appropriate—a sweep. What else could it be for a New York Yankees team that is surely one of the greatest in baseball history.
Andy Pettitte and the Yankees put the finishing touch on their most dominant season by beating the San Diego Padres 3-0 last night for a record 24th World Series championship.
It was New York's second title in three years and its first sweep since 1950. The Game 4 victory gave the Yankees 125 wins — a total that ranks right up there with all the other big numbers put up in baseball this year. Their 114 regular-season victories were the most ever for a champion.
Members of the New York Yankees celebrate following their 3-0 victory in Game 4 of the World Series against the San Diego Padres at Qualcomm Park in San Diego, Calif. The Yankees swept the series 4-0.
KRT photo
And it was a tribute to a team vastly different from all those other pinstriped winners. Without a Ruth, DiMaggio or Mantle among them—no certain Hall of Famers and no one even elected to start in the All-Star game this season—these Yankees posted a .714 winning percentage, the best in the majors since their Murderer's Row club of 1927.
Pattettie shut out San Diego into the eighth inning, while the Yankees hitters did just enough to bring down ace Kevin Brown.
Bernie Williams, perhaps plays his last game for New York, broke a scoreless tie with an RBI chopper in the sixth. In the seventh, Series MVP Scott Brosius singled home a run and surprising rookie Ricky Ledee hit a sacrifice fly.
The Padres tried to rally in the eighth, when Tony Gwynn's eight hit of the Series finished Pettitte. A single by Ken Cammini off Mariano Rivera loaded the bases with two outs, but Jim Leyritz, a postseason hero in the past for the Yankees and San Diego, flouted out to Williams.
formance that produced its seventh straight win in this postseason.
The sweep was the first since Cincinnati upset Oakland in 1990 and was the Yankees' seventh.
Pettitte won just six days after his father underwent heart bypass surgery, allowing five hits in 71/3 innings.
Plus, perhaps the Yankees had something else going for them — maybe inspiration from slugger Darryl Strawberry, out because of colon cancer. All the Yankees had his No. 39 embroidered on their caps.
For a team that led the American League in pitching and scoring, it was a complete per-
Rivera closed out his spectacular postseason, getting the last four outs for his third save of the Series.In the eighth, Jeter led off with a walk, and O'Neill reached base on an infield single. Both moved up on Williams' ground-out and Brown intentionally walked Tino Martinez to load the bases.
Brown, who could not hold a three-run lead in the seventh innning of Game 1, took the loss.
winter after hitting just 203 last year for Oakland. The hero of Game 4 with two homers, he hit an RBI single. Brosius went 8-for-17 in the series with six RBI. Ledee followed with a sacrifice fly.
That brought up Brosius, acquired in the
Brosius and Ledee provided the last of several highlights for the Yankees this year, a season that included David Wells' perfect game and the debut of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez.
Kansas City Star sports columnist suspended
Whitlock: Reportedly taunted Patriots fans at game.
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jason Whitlock, sports columnist for The Kansas City Star, has been suspended following an incident at the Kansas City Chiefs-New England Patriots game on Oct. 11.
Whitlock, whose aggressive style has attracted a wide readership since he joined the newspaper in 1994, reportedly taunted fans during the game in Foxboro, Mass.
"We don't condone this type of behavior," Rick Vacek, the Star's
assistant managing editor for sports, said in a statement Wednesday. "We deeply regret that this incident occurred, and Jason has been suspended pending further review."
Several attempts by The Associated Press to reach Whitlock by telephone at his home were unsuccessful.
Whitlock's column on the game, in which he made no mention of the incident, appeared the next day. His column has not appeared in the Star since then.
KMBC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Kansas City, Mo., said in a news story
"We don't condone this type of behavior."
Rick Vacek
Star's assistant managing editor for sports
Tuesday night that Whitlock would no longer do weekly commentaries for the station until the matter was resolved.
Eyewitnesses said Patriots fans seated just outside the enclosed press box began taunting the visiting media during the game and Whitlock
responded by holding up handwritten signs, at least one of which insulted quarterback Bledsoe and the team, according to Sports Illustrated.
After fans became agitated, stadium security guards entered the press box and stopped Whitlock.
Steve Schoenfeld, of the Arizona Republic and president of the Pro Football Writers of America, said his organization was satisfied with the Star's action. "We applaud what they have done," he said.
Star executives declined to comment beyond Vacek's written statement.
Commentary
KU basketball brings inquiry; K-State success draws dread
I can't believe I'm preparing my final
Jeez, how scary is that?
After next Monday, I officially will be done with enrollment at the University of Kansas.
No more add/drop cards. No more dean's stamps. No more closed class openers. No more of those nutty, 1970's computers that look like they were rejects from the movie *Tron*. No more.
Man, I never thought I could get so nostalgic about something I so vehemently curse
twice a year. I guess as you get closer to graduation, you start to notice all the little things that won't be around next year.
So as I try to figure out how to avoid that final math requirement one more semester, I'll give you some items to chew on ...
This should be an interesting season for Kansas basketball.
Harley V. Ratliff
With the end of the Vaughn-Pollard-LaFrentz-Pierce era, it will mark the first time in five years Coach Roy has fielded a relatively unknown commodity.
Sure, they are going to be good, but unlike past years, the question is: How good? Will they go deep into the tournament or will they struggle to win the Big 12? We shall wait and see.
I didn't make it to Friday's Late Night with Roy Williams, but from what I've heard, the fans seemed pleased. With so many young players, I'll be very curious to see who Williams puts in the starting lineup. The real question seems to be who will fill Pierce's shoes at a forward.
How much do we all wish that Luke
Axtell could play this year?
Is it me, or does every girl on this campus have one of those friggin' shirts?
Hi, my name is Susie Sorority, and yes,
that is the Abercrombie & Fitch logo
permanently tattooed down my left arm.
■ I'm starting to get the sickening feeling that Kansas State might just beat Nebraska when they meet in Manhattan on Nov. 14.
At the beginning of the season I figured the power kitties would lose sometime before their big showdown with the 'Huskers. As that hope began to fade, I turned to Nebraska to put its annual stop to the nightmare we know as Kansas State football. But now, it seems all hope may be lost.
After watching the Wildcats and the Huskers several times this season, Kansas State looks like a sharper, more cohesive unit. Plus, with more on the line than the "Huskers, the Wildcats will have plenty of motivation."
If the Wildcats beat Nebraska, stay undefeated and play for the National Championship ... well, I don't believe I can think of a more utterly depressing thought.
- The lousy artwork and monopoly design aren't the only interesting new features of the recently-altered $20 bill. If you look closely at the reverse image of Andrew Jackson, it looks remarkably like ESPN baseball guru/analyst Peter Gammons.
Creepy.
■ I promise, if the media never discussed the NBA lockout again, people would forget the league ever existed. The only folks to notice it was missing would be a few lonely souls who think watching Shaquille O'Neal dunk 45 times a game is a real good time.
Completely unnecessary Oklahoma update: With another expected loss to Oklahoma State this weekend, the Sooner football program will continue to dive deeper into the abyss of college football obscurity.
With fans and alumni unhappy, look for head coach John Blake to get the axe at the end of the season — a move that wouldn't be all that surprising.
It is Blake's possible replacement that should raise a few ewbrows.
The word coming out of Norman is that Barry Switzer (yes, the same Barry Switzer) might return to be the Sooners cosch in 1999.
Hello, NCAA?
Ratliff is an Norman, Okla., senior in journalism.