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BIG 12 HO0PS
Norm Stewart didn't waste time reminiscing about the past as he kicked off his 30th season as Missouri basketball coach. It was understandable given the Tigers' mediocre 18-15 season that ended with a second-round loss to Alabama in the National Invitational Tournament. The team's first official practice of the 1996-97 season Tuesday brought new hope. "Last year is over," Stewart said. "The great thing about athletics is you can have a great year, and the next year you get to prove it again. If you don't have a great year, or the type of year you want to have, the next year offers you a lot of opportunity."
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT
The new contract that coach coach Stevie Spurrier agreed to in February is final. Spurrier, 67-13-1 in his seventh season at Florida, made a little more than $700,000 last year in leading the Gators to
their third straight Southeastern Conference title. He will make $940,810 this year. Bonuses include $12,370 for winning the SEC championship and $18,555 for going to a major bowl game.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1996
Two Chiefs season tickets sold at auction
Tuesday for $12,700 to Stephen Graver, 33,
of Malta Bend. Mo. A judge had ordered the
tickets sold at auction to
CHIEFS UPDATE
tickets sold at auction to
help satisfy the
$10,000 their co-
owner owed for four
years of child sup-
port. The man,
whose name was
withheld by the court
to protect his children
from迪迪尼。were welfi
to protect his children from ridicule. was briefly
jailed in September for failure to pay support. Besides attending three of this season's five remaining Chiefs home games, Graver also won the right to buy the same season tickets next year.
SECTION B
Fast BREAKS
KU tennis serves up three at All-American tournament
Kansas tennis junior Enrique Abaroa will compete in the main draw of the singles and doubles competition today at the 1996 International Tennis Association All-American Championships in
Joining Abaroa will be junior Xavier Avila and the sophomore doubles team of Luis Uribe and Fernando Sierra.
They defeated teams from Texas A&M (9-8), Mississippi State (default) and Auburn (8-6).
Abaroa and Avilia teamed up to win three matches yesterday to advance to the main draw of the doubles tournament.
They defeated a team from New Mexico State. 8-6, on Tuesday.
Uribe and Sierra faced a longer road to the main draw.
Abaroa automatically qualified for the singles tournament based on his performance this season.
The pair lost to Mississippi's Sebastian De Chaunac and Johan Landsberg, 8-3, for a spot in the main draw yesterday.
— Kansan staff report
Alpha Gamma Delta wins flag football championship
By Kevin Bates
Kansan sportswriter
"They say that the third time is the charm," said Katie Glorick, Omaha, Neb.. senior.
Alpha Gamma Delta lost twice to Alpha Delta Pi in the regular season, but that trend ended yesterday with a 21-0 win in the women's flag football championship game.
Alpha Gamma Delta scored on a 60-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Michelle McGaver, Minneapolis, Kan., freshman, on the second play of the game.
Constant substituting from the sidelines kept Alpha Gamma Delta players fresh, leading to an interception and a 20-year touchdown pass before halftime and an Alpha Gamma Delta 14-point lead.
"We had the defense picked," Glorvick said. "Normally their quarterback runs, but this time she didn't."
Alpha Gamma Delta scored its final touchdown with an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half, to beat Alpha Delta Pi.
"It's hard to beat a team three times in a row," said Jennifer Finnegan, Manhattan senior.
Kemp expects to rejoin Seattle SuperSonics
SEATTLE — All-star power forward Shawn Kemp has told friends that he will rejoin the Seattle SuperSonics within the week. a newspaper reported
Kemp met recently with SuperSonics owner Barry Ackeler in Elkhart, Ind., where Kemp has been in virtual seclusion since deciding to skip training camp, sources close to Kemp told The Seattle Times.
After making $4.8 million last season, including a $2.1 million signing bonus, Kemp is scheduled to make $3 million in the second year of a seven-year contract.
Sonics president Wally Walker said he had indirect indications that Kemp would return to the team. No timetable was set.
Kemp has not attended the first 15 days of training camp and did not accompany the team to Europe.
He said in a statement that money was not an issue. However, Kemp's associates said money, and the respect it denotes, was almost entirely the issue. The Times reported Tuesday.
The Associated Press
Jayhawks look to excel
Final Four aspirations motivate Kansas seniors to succeed in last season
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
Even though the Kansas men's basketball team hasn't finished its first week of practice yet, senior guard Jacque Vaughn already knows where he expects to be playing in about six months.
"I definitely think we should be playing in Indianapolis this year, without a doubt," Vaughn said.
Indianapolis will be the site of this season's Final Four, and the Jayhawks already have been dubbed one of the favorites for the national championship. The returning five starters and six seniors have Kansas
fans and players talking about the expectations.
"We might be the first class to go all the way through and not go to the Final Four," said Pollard of the present senior class in coach Roy Williams' era. "We don't want to let our careers pass by without being able to get there."
Williams said that he had seen many players step up during their senior year and surpass expectations.
"A lot of times seniors, that last time around, they become more focused and
"We might be the first class to go all the way through and not go to the Final Four."
Scot Pollard Kansas center
more attentive to the little things," Williams said. "I think our guys really paid the price over the summer, and I think they really paid the price over the fall."
The price Kansas paid was falling one step short of the Final Four by losing to Syracuse 60-57 in the West Regional Finals in Denver.
It was a loss that many Jayhawks won't soon forget.
"Personal experiences like that, I try and put out of my mind as quickly as possible because I don't think they bring anything but frustration," LaFrentz said. "I don't use that to drive me. I use the fact that the next time the Syracuse game comes around, we're going to be better prepared."
"Those type of situations, you never really do forget about them," Haase said. "Hopefully, we can use it to our advantage to help motivate us."
But not every Jayhawk keeps the Syracuse loss in the back of his mind. LaFrentz said he had put the disappointment behind him.
Freshman guard Nick Bradford had surgery on his broken nose Tuesday. Williams said Bradford was expected to miss about 10 days of practice and would not be able to play in Friday's Late Night With Roy Williams.
Steve Puppe / KANSAN
Kansas junior quarterback Matt Johnner tried to evade Texas Tech defenders on Saturday. Kansas coach Glen Mason said he would stick with Johnner as quarterback for this weekend's game against the Colorado Buffaloos.
Mason praises Hankwitz's stability
Defensive coordinator contributes direction to Kansas football team
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
Although the Kansas defense has struggled this season, Jayhawk coach Glen Mason still has confidence in defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz.
"Mike Hankwitz has done an outstanding job for us." Mason said. "We
That stability helped Kansas to a 10-2 record including a 40-24 victory against then-No. 4 Colorado in Boulder. The victory was more satisfying because Hankwitt was the Buffalo's defensive coordinator for 11 years before last season.
didn't know what direction our team was going to take last year, and he brought in some stability."
Kansas senior defensive tackle Kevin Kopp remembered Hankwitz's reaction after the Colorado victory.
"Ive never seen him so happy," Kopp said. "I know that was one of the proud."
Mason said Hankwitz had been the single constant for the defense this year.
est moments of his career, and I was glad to be a part of it. I just hope we can recapture that feeling again on Saturday."
"This year when we thought we'd be better and really, really struggled, Mike was rock-solid. We got a ways to go to be the kind of team defensively we need to be in the Big 12. But we think we're going in the right direction."
See FOOTBALL, Page 3B
Roy: Prepare more doggone good phrases
Freshly paroled from mid-term prison, it's time to empty out my jumbled mind.
Questions that I forgot to ask at Kansas men's basketball media day.
Ryan Robertson: "Have you ever been taunted by a 5-foot-9 sportswriter who you could obliterate on the basketball court even after chugging 20 cans of Budweiser?"
D. J. Williams: "Did you see in the offseason?"
Scot Pollard: "Do you have a black blouse and eyeliner to match your black fingernail polish?"
Steve Ransom: "Hey kid, could you grab me another Coke?"
"Since you've dated Madonna in the past, what do you think about her baby? Whooops, I guess I'm thinking of another basketball player/retro dreser."
Roy Williams: "This year, when you answer post-game questions could you use more phrases like 'doggone' and 'gosh darn?'
Best quote of the day: "I'll fight anybody in this room!" — Roy Williams (true story)
■ According to ESPN, Sugar Ray Leonard has decided to step into the ring again. Now there's a new twist to boxing ... an over-the-hill fighter thinks that he's still got a few rounds left in him and wants to jump back into the ring.
The roster of former boxers who have come out of retirement to fight again is a list as exclusive as the White Pages.
Too bad the 0-7 New York Jets aren't a horse, at least then we could shoot it.
SPORTS EDITOR
In the final episode of the Wonder Years, the main character, Kevin Arnold, made amends with his lifelong sweetheart, Winnie Cooper. Arnold also restored his relationship with his father and his brother. Although this finale brought tears to my eyes, it will go down as the second-best ending to a series.
In the final episode of the
The best came on Sunday when Roberto (Hawker) Alomar booted an easy grounder which allowed the New York Yankees to win the American League pennant.
The intramural flag football Heisman race is so tight that I needed a crow-bar to get into my e-mail to check the polls this morning. Heisman hopeful Scott Shanker has received an outpouring of support despite losing in the third round of the playoffs. Apparently, in a successful attempt to sack the quarterback, fearless Shanker separated his shoulder. That's heart, my friend — the stuff that Heismans are made of.
Brian File still leads with 67 votes. Quinton Ham-
See COLUMN, Page 3B
Late Night to showcase women's basketball squad, too
By Adam Herschman
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's basketball team is looking forward to Late Night with Roy Williams.
"We like it just because we get to be in front of that many people and act up,"said junior center Koya Scott.
2
Late Night, the tip-off classic to the Kansas men's and women's basketball seasons, will take place after the Kansas volleyball match tomorrow night in Allen Field House. The volleyball team will face Missouri at 7 p.m.
An all-sports pep rally with the spirit squad will follow the match, and then skits by both basketball teams will precede the men's team practice.
Scott didn't take part in the Late Night skits two years ago.
"Everybody on the team didn't have to, and I just figured I'd watch," she said.
Scott, however, changed her mind last year.
"We were doing Beat It, and Beat It was fun," Scott said. "It was a group skit, so that helped take some of the pressure off."
Scott said the women's team had practiced this year's skits Monday and yesterday and would practice again today.
The women's basketball team's skit to Michael Jackson's song *Beat It* from his *Thriller* album got the packed field house clapping and dancing.
The team is keeping this year's skits a secret, but sophomore forward/center Nikia Sanford gave one hint.
"It comes across like we work really hard," Scott said. "But I think the cheerleaders and the Crimson Girls put in most of the effort."
I n tell you this, it's something taken off of TV. 'Sanford said.'
The doors to the field house will open at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
About 2,000 fans were left standing outside the field house last year because it was full.
Sanford said the best way to get a good seat was to watch the volleyball match against Missouri before Late Night begins.
"Get there for the volleyball game, and support the volleyball team," Sanford said. "We have a pretty good volleyball team. So you get there, see a good volleyball game, and still have good seats."