Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Big 12 football coaches are concerned about potential abuses of a new NCAA rule which allows student athletes to work. SEE PAGE 4B
Pro Baseball
The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants and will play the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs.
Tuesday
September 29,1998
Section:
B
Page 1
SEE PAGE 6B
Pro Football
The Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers In an NFC Central matchup.
SEE PAGE 6B
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Commentary Game-free restaurants a bad show
I was mad Saturday night.
My team had just lost a softball game, and I was planning to eat with my teammates.
I was planning to eat With my teammates. Unfortunately the Kansas football game in Birmingham, Ala., was not broadcast on television, but I was looking forward to the voices of Max Falkenstein and Bob Davis as they called the game on the radio.
But Old Chicago, the fine dining estab.
lishment we had chosen for dinner, was not playing the game.
They had a number of different football games on their televisions, but Craig Miller, bar manager, told me they did not have a radio receiver and could not pipe the game through their audio system.
I was astounded. Old Chicago is one of three Big Blue Weekend sponsors. Along with
Matt Friedrichs
matt@ukans.edu
the Holiday Inn and Johnny's Tavern, it sponsors pregame tailgate parties and shuttle buses to the stadium.
le game, so I left
How could a big booster of the Kansas football team on home weekends not support the Jayhawks on the road?
I fumed as I sat in the drive through at McDonald's.
My dinner plans had been ruined, and Max and Bob were describing a less than stellar performance by the Javahawks.
At home I stomped angry through my apartment, listening to a lackduster football game.
I called the other Big Blue weekend sponsors.
Sure, Johnny's had the game on the radio.
No. Jay's Sports Bar at the Holidome was not playing the game.
Henry T's—yes!
I called several bars and restaurants that show games.
Applebee's, Kaspars, Molly McGee's, Bleachers and Sports Page Pewtery — no KU game.
My disappointment in Lawrence support of the Jayhawks grew in proportion to my excitement about the team's overtime heroics.
Touchdown. Defensive stand. Field goal. Touchdown and two point conversion for the win!
How many Jayhawk fans out on the town actually heard the thrilling overtime calls?
"They consider themselves KU football supporters." she said.
Jennifer Carter, marketing director for the Lawrence Convention and Visitor Bureau, told me yesterday that Big Blue Weekend businesses provided a tailgate party and a shuttle bus to the game.
Rick Renfro, part owner of Johnny's, said 99 percent of his customers had an interest in the game.
"We always have it on." Renfo said.
His business comes before loyalty at other
businesses.
"We always have it on," Renfro said.
Miller of Old Chicago said the restaurant supported the weekends as an investment in the community.
Customers who stop for the tailgate or the shuttle bus possibly will return to eat there some other time. And while no one has to eat there or buy anything beyond the $2 ticket for the shuttle bus, Old Chicago is in it for the publicity.
But Michael Regnier, general manager at Old Chicago, said there were no plans to purchase a radio receiver for games not broadcast on television.
To be fair, the business makes no promises about other weekends and even loses money on the Big Blue Weekends, Miller said.
Tom Rost, general manager at Holiday Inn, also said participation in the weekends has been a way to be involved with the community rather than a money maker.
"A lot of games are on TV, and we wouldn't use it for anything else." Regnier said.
And to be fair, the hotel probably caters to more out-of-towners than the other businesses mentioned here.
More visiting fans than Jayhawk fans generally buys rooms, he said.
Receiver helps Kansas over the Hill
"It was big." Hill said. "We hadn't put many points on the board, and we didn't want to go into halftime behind."
Terry Allen and the Jayhawks turned in a valiant effort Saturday. Players had to be carried off the field.
But modesty emanates out of Hill when it comes to that
"It was the easiest punt return ever," he said. "I just caught it and ran to the wall. We had 10 guys set up in a wall just killing people, and I just ran down the sideline. I didn't have to make any moves at all."
And where could you listen to the game? Too few Lawrence businesses supported the team when there wasn't a home game crowd in it for them.
In the closing seconds of the first half, with the Jayhawks down 7-3, Hill returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown to put the Jayhawks up 10-7 going into halftime.
But I'm still mad.
After observing from the sideline a year ago, Hill said he could not have dreamed of a better finish to a football game.
punt return.
Now he said he just hoped to carry that momentum into Saturday's game against Texas A&M.
Freshman wide receiver Harrison Hill attempts to evade University of Alabama at Birmingham defenders during the fourth quarter of Saturday's game. Hill was named the Big 12 special teams player of the week. Photo by Jay Sheperd/KANSAN
Career-high performance key in Jayhawks' victory
By Jodi M. Smith
Kansan sportswriter
Friedrichs is an Bremen graduate student in journalism.
Saturday night, playing on a completely healed left ankle, Hill dazzled and wowed the University of Alabama at Birmingham football team right out of a victory.
He did have to make moves later in the game, though.
Only a year ago, wide receiver Harrison Hill was standing on the Kansas football sideline in his jersey and shorts, leaning on two crutches.
And ripped the win right out of the hands of the Blazers while he was at it.
In a four-overtime 39-37
Jayhawk win, Hill scored
his first, second and third
career touchdowns.
On Kansas' first play of the fourth overtime, Wegner found Hill heading toward the end zone once again, this time sand wicked between two Blazers' players.
"I just ran straight up the field and Zac just threw it up there," Hill said. "He wanted to see if I could jump the guy and catch it, and that's what I did. I saw it in the air, I knew I had to catch it, so I just iumped up and got it."
He also caught eight passes for 118 yards, both career highs.
"He stepped up and played," quarterback Zac Wegner said of Hill's play. "He had a great game. He's a hell of an athlete, and I can't say enough good things about the guy."
Probably because there's nothing but good things to say.
In the first play of overtime, Wegner connected with a wide-open Hill for a 25-yard touchdown reception.
At every turn, when the Jayhawks needed a lift, Hill was there to produce points.
That one may have been pretty easy, but the next one wasn't.
He launched it, Hill caught it and a two-point conversion later, the Jayhawks were celebrating a hard-earned victory.
Highly-touted baseball recruit prepares to make big impact
By Randy Withers
Kansan sportswriter
Though the leaves have begun to turn, and football is in the thoughts of most college sports fans, Kansas baseball already has begun to prepare for the spring.
Recruits have joined the veterans of the squad in workouts in an attempt to make the first season in the newly renovated Hoglund-Maupin Stadium a memorable one. Ryan Klockslens, Minnetonka,mnn., freshman is one of the newcomers.
Klockslen was one of the top baseball players in the nation as a high school senior. He plays second and third base — and pitches.
Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall has been impressed with Klockslen so far.
Jim Peck, who coached Klockslen in American Legion baseball for three years, thinks that Klockslen is a rare talent.
"We're really proud of Ryan and all he's accomplished," Randall said. "He's a special player. He has a great understanding and instinct for the game."
"I've coached this team for 35 years, and he's probably one of the five best I've ever coached." Peck said.
Of those five, Peck said two have gone on to play at the major- league level.
Klocksien played for American Legion Excelsior Post 259, representing the Minnetonka school district. In the American Legion state baseball tournament in Minnesota, he won the MVP award, honoring him as the top player in the state. He also won the regional MVP. That award included a $1,500 scholarship.
"When I got the money, I thought there were other people that deserved it as well as I did, so I split it among the seniors because without them I wouldn't have been in that situation to get that award." Klocksien said.
Despite his summer success, there was at
least one hitch in Klockslen's baseball odyssey. While playing in the regional tournament in Omaha, Neb., his car was broken into.
"Thank God they didn't steal my school stuff." Klockslen said.
"I think there's a lot of senior and upperclassmen leadership on the team, and you can tell that this group likes to have fun," he said. "They're ready to win this year. You can tell with the stadium and plus other things that they're trying to build this program to be one of the best in the Big 12."
He also had to deal with arriving in Lawrence after classes had already started because of his team's appearance in the American Legion national tournament in Las Vegas. However, since arriving in Lawrence, he has been impressed with Kansas baseball.
Though he understands his role as a freshman in the baseball program, Klockslen is hopeful about his chances to play for the Jayhawks this spring.
"I expect from myself just to give it the best I can and hopefully contribute as soon as possible to the team — whether it's pitching, playing infield or getting some hits," he said. "I'll just try my best to be a contributor to the team."
Peck said he thought Klockslen had a great chance for success in the Kansas baseball program.
Klockslen said that beyond physical talent, the intangibles that he possessed were what would make him successful at the collegiate level.
"I think one thing that my high school coaches taught me, personally, is that I'm mentally tough, and I know how to adjust to different situations on the baseball field," Klockslen said. "I think if I can bring that along, not maybe this year, but maybe next year or the next, I will be able to help the team win."
Ryan Klocksten, Minnetonka, Minn., freshman, gets ready for a scrimage Saturday. Klocksten along with the rest of the baseball team have high hopes for the season and are looking forward to the renovations made at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium. Photo by Tara Bradley/KANSAN
Pick 'em games Week 5, Oct. 3
Do you know who is going to win? Pick the winners.
prockers. Send us your name, year in school, hometown and picks.
You may buy by the newroom in 111 Stuffer Flint or email
Submit your picks to the Kansas and we'll publish the results of our top picks. Send us your name, wear in school, hometown and picks.
You can drop them by the newsroom in 111. Stauffer-Flint Hall or email them to the sports editor at matt@ukans.edu
| Score | Teams | Score |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Texas A&M at Kansas | | |
| Oklahoma State at Oklahoma in Kansas City, Mo. | | |
| Colorado at Oklahoma | | |
| Baylor at Texas Tech | | |
| Ohio State at Penn State | | |
| Arizona at Washington | | |
| Kentucky at Arkansas | | |
Kruaif Emol Krasenam