TV WARS
NEW YORK — With players, owners and umpires arguing with each other, NBC and ESPN have joined the mix.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
NBC announced yesterday that it would
television Game 4 of the Rangers-
Yankees series at 6:30 p.m. CST on
Saturday. The trouble is, major
league baseball
officials say the game will start at 12:07
p.m. CST and be televised on EFPN
pim, CST and be televised on ESPN. Rich Levin, a spokesman for acting commissioner Bud Selig, said the game still was scheduled for Saturday afternoon at The Ballpark in Arlington.
KANSAS SOFTBALL UPDATE
The Kansas softball team will be looking to improve on its 3-2 record this weekend at the Big 12 Conference Fall Review in Adair, Mo. The Jayhawks begin play at 2 p.m. today in a
doubleheader against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Kansas will play Baylor at 10 a.m. Saturday and Texas A&M at 6 p.m.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4.1996
ST. LOUIS — Larry Hughes, a 6-foot-5-inch guard from Christian Brothers College High School In St. Louis, will hold a press conference today to announce which university he has made his oral commitment to. Hughes, a top 50 prep prospect by several publications, had been recruited by Kansas.
Most recruiting services had
KANSAS BASKETBALL
ughes taking Kansas off his short list several weeks ago. He reportedly has canceled his scheduled visit to Kansas.
Hughes was expected to commit to St. Louis University.
SECTION B
Former Super Bowl MVP replaces Rodney Peete
PHILADELPHIA — Former Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien has agreed to a one-year contract as backup quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rypien, an unrestricted free agent,
Kansas running back June Henley attempts to evade Utah's defense during last weekend's game.
will replace quarterback Rodney Peete, who had surgery Tuesday for a knee injury suffered in Monday
"I had a couple of years to heal, and I feel good about my health, and if given an opportunity, I'm looking forward to it," Rvien said.
night's loss to Dallas.
Rypien spent about three hours talking with Eagles coaches and was on the field for a closed practice. He was the only quarterback brought to Philadelphia for a personal look.
Rypien made $750,000 last year but refused to re-sign when the St. Louis Rams offered $500,000 for this season.
He hasn't taken a snap since the final three games of the 1995 season for St. Louis.
The Associated Press
Cancer diagnosis leads to coach's hospitalization
plications.
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State defensive coordinator Bob Cope, who was diagnosed with cancer last week, was hospitalized this week with com-
Cope, 59, was admitted to St. Mary Hospital on Tuesday, a hospital representative said. Another representative declined comment yesterday on Cope's condition, citing the family's request for confidentiality.
Even before the latest complication, Cope had described his prospects as "not good," saying the disease had spread to his bloodstream.
Cope learned he had cancer late last week after consulting a doctor and undergoing a series of tests.
Kansas State sports information director Kent Brown said that Cope remained in the hospital, but Brown could not provide details of Cope's condition.
Edmée Rodriguez / KANSAN
Kansas to begin Big 12 play
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
Jayhawks to kick off against 0-3 Oklahoma
Kansas junior quarterback Matt Johner says, "We aren't taking these guys lightly. We know they're a good football team, and they'll come ready to play."
Senior running back June Henley chimed in with, "They're gonna be tough. They've always been tough for us."
That kind of talk usually means Kansas is getting ready to play a Division II team or a second-rate school in a conference nobody's heard of.
Andy Rohrback/KANSAN
this time, Kansas is getting to ready to play the once-football proud Oklahoma Sooners.
And when the Jayhawks travel to Norman, Okla., for an 11:30 a.m. game on Saturday against the Sooners, they will play an Oklahoma team that is 0-3 for the first time in school history. Dating back to last season, they have lost six in a row, also a program first.
"To be honest with you, that truly surprises me," Kansas coach Glen Mason said. "They're playing hard. They look like they're very well-coached. They've got good talent and really, they're not that far off from being a pretty good football team."
This will be the first Big 12 Conference game for both teams, although Kansas is in the north division and Oklahoma is in the south.
Mason said he didn't approach this game any differently because it was a conference game.
"A game's a game," he said. "You better prepare for all opponents and approach all games about the same or you're gonna turn up on the short end."
Kansas will prepare for a drastically different Sooner team than last year's squad that the Jayhawks defeated in Norman for the first time in 20 years.
Only 11 starters are back from an Oklahoma team that went 5-5-1 under former coach Howard Schnellenberger. However, that number was reduced to nine when quarterback Eric Moore and running back James Allen were demoted to second string in favor of Justin Fuente and De'Mond Parker, respectively.
Former Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys assistant coach John Blake is in his first season as head coach of the Sooners. He also is Oklahoma's third head coach in three years.
Blake said the Oklahoma tradition meant nothing when game day arrived. He said tradition came from the great players who played on the great teams and this year's players would have to win if they wanted to earn the right to be part *o*'
Blake said Sooner fans had been supportive of the rebuilding effort.
"There's no heat at all," he said. "The response from most fans and the media has been really positive. We went into this situation knowing what we had to do. Once we come back, we're going to stay. I put more pressure on myself than anybody."
Poor defense and turnovers have plagued the Sooners this season. They have lost four fumbles and thrown three interceptions while the defense has allowed nine touchdowns.
Blake said avoiding turnovers should help Oklahoma play a more competitive game.
"The thing we've got to do is not make mistakes," he said.
"We just can't allow mistakes that would allow ourselves to
lose a game. I know the state of our team. We're trying to learn how to win."
Mason said he saw those mistakes in the game film.
"What happens to teams is you don't get beat, you beat yourself," he said. "I don't know what their problems are other than turnovers. They're kind of self-destructive that way."
Edmée Rodriguez / KANSAN
Kansas is a week removed from allowing the most points it has in two years in a 45-42 loss to Utah. Mason said changes may or may not be ahead for defense. He wouldn't elaborate.
Fernando Sierra, Monterrey, Mexico, sophomore, practiced yesterday to prepare for this weekend's meet.
"The defense let the team down the whole night," junior defensive back Tony Blevins said. "Sometimes we're going to get beat." Kansas should be helped by the return of senior linebacker Ronnie Ward, who sat out last week's game because of a sprained ankle.
"I think he'll play," Mason said.
Tennis team to play in Tulsa
By Tommy Gallagher Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas men's tennis team will compete without two of its top players but will have all the comforts of home when the Tulsa Invite opens today.
The tournament will feature Kansas and seven of the region's top teams, including Tulsa, New Mexico, Brigham Young, Southern Methodist, UNLV, Colorado and Drake. No team scores will be kept at the tournament. Only individual scores will be recorded.
The weekend format has five matches between the teams, two Friday, two Saturday and one Sunday. During each match, six singles and three doubles matches will be played.
Kansas will play New Mexico at 9 a.m. today and UNLV at 4:30 p.m. The Jayhawks play Drake, whom Kansas men's head coach Mark Riley coached the past three years, and Brigham Young tomorrow. The Jayhawks will play Colorado Sunday morning.
Juniors Enrique Abaroa and Xavier Avila will not compete in the Tulsa Invite because they played in the National Clay Court Championships in Baltimore, Md., Sept. 26-29. Riley wanted to let them rest for future tournaments, and he said he wanted to find out more about the rest of the team this weekend.
"We need to find some doubles combos other than Enrique and Xavier," Riley said. "We need to find out how some of our lower players respond to certain, unfamiliar situations. Some guys might stand back and say, 'I can beat him.' Well, now they have the chance to prove that they can beat other teams' higher seeds."
"This is a great chance for me to help my ranking and give my fall season a boost should I succeed," Tucker said. "I feel comfortable at this tournament since I'm playing for my friends and family and also because we get to stay at home for the weekend."
Junior Trent Tucker was runner-up at the Tulsa Invite a year ago. He beat two players who
qualified for the NCAA tournament last spring. He was excited to play higher seeds than he's accustomed to and welcomed the opportunity to do so in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla.
Home would be the Tucker household where Trent Tucker's mom, Carole, will play host to the team. She will do the team's laundry, cook their meals and provide things the players need to make the weekend stay comfortable.
"I love doing this for the boys because they all miss their moms." Carole Tucker said. "A
lot of them have no chance to go home until Christmas, if that. So when they come to Tulsa, we'll be home to them."
So where do you put eight men in one house?
Trent Tucker will share his waterbed, a game-room couch folds into a bed for two players, and a queen-size bed can hold another two players. There's also a love seat in the study and, as always, the couch.
This is the fourth consecutive year the team has stayed at the Tucker home for the Tulsa Invite. As a redshirt freshman, Tucker suggested the team stay at his house for the tournament, and a tradition was born. The Jayhawks have a match against Tulsa on March 2, so this weekend's visit to the Tucker household won't be the last of the year.
Budig response just a slap on the wrist
A colossal thumbs down goes to American League President and former Kansas Chancellor Gene Budig. The weak-knee Budig ruled to have Baltimore second baseman Roberto Alomar take a five-day, paid leave next spring for spitting on umpire John Hirschbeck instead of having Alomar miss any action during the all-important playoffs.
Baseball is first up in my jumbled mind today.
Roberto Alomar's tirade was the most reprehensible and despicable action these 21-year-old eyes have seen on a baseball diamond. Spineless Gene's failure to give Roberto more than a slap on the wrist is almost as disgraceful as Alomar's action.
And we are naming a building after this gutless guy?
I have an idea for the plans for Budig Hall. First, paint it a symbolic yellow. Next, remove all the major supports so that when heavy rains fall the building will cave in — just like the man it is named after.
In light of the fact that Oklahoma is off to its worst start ever, it seems to me that Yannis has a better chance of coaching the Sooners next season than current head man John Blake.
Despite its total defensive breakdown last week at Utah, I'm not backing down from my prediction that the Jayhawks will defeat Colorado and Kansas State.
- Donations are still being accepted for new Kansas football coaches' shirts. We already have got $5, which equals the total expenditure forked out on the Ronald McDonald shirts that they are wearing now. Checks and major credit cards will be
STAFF COLUMNIST
accepted.
Please call,
operators are
standing by.
Well, it is Friday again, so let's see what I got in my mail-bag.
Dear Bill — Seeing how the front runner for the American League Cy Young Award, New York's
Andy Petitty, had a 3.90 ERA, who do you think should win?
Ahh. Hmmm. Would anyone care if they put this award on hold this season until the sports writers can give it to someone deserving of it?
After my beloved Phillies were edged out of the final National League wildcard spot, I was a little upset that they fired manager Jim Fregosi. Fregosi did an adequate job managing an injury-bitten team that only has one real pitching prospect. Oh yeah — it's going to be Atlanta and Baltimore.
Dear Bill — Who do you like in the World Series?
Dear Bill — I'm a Kansas State
alumnus, so how do you think my
Wildcats are going to do against
Nebraska this weekend?
First of all, I hope your promotion to assistant manager at Burger King doesn't fall through. You might need to go back to grad school at Kansas State to really allow your career in the fast-food industry to takeoff.
Secondly, its going to get really ugly really fast for the Wildcats on Saturday.
Be afraid, K-State. Be very afraid.