LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
KUED·SPORTS
AUGUST,1996 PAGE 11E
Blevins returns
Continued from page 10
Blevins back. He's a good football player. And we get Randle back. He's a good football player. We've got a guy in Mitch Bowles, who, in time, is going to be a good one. We've got Jamie Harris and Jason Harris, Blevins, Gaddie, Michael Allen. We've got good numbers, which is good. Who's better? I don't know. That's what we'll find out, but at least we'll be playing the best player instead of just putting a body out there."
Special Teams
Junior place kicker Jeff McCord returns, but punter Darrin Simmons is gone, to be replaced by juco transfer Dean Royal.
Schedule
Mason calls his schedule a coach-killer, and with good reason. The Jayhawks have just five home games none in September and go a school-record 43 days between home appearances.
"It's a tough schedule," Mason said. "But if the team plays as well as it can play, and we coach as well as we can coach, that's all you can ask. It takes a lot of pressure off you to go 10-2 again."
Birth of Big 12,KU's '95 success buoys ticket sales KU football a hot ticket
BY EVAN BLACKWELL
JOURNAL-WORLD SPORTS WRITER
Buoyed by the birth of the Big 12 Conference and the success of a 10-2 record, Kansas University football season ticket sales are higher than they were a year ago.
Lynne Mixson, director of athletic promotions, said there are still hopes of selling around 20,000 season tickets, which cost $111 apiece for five home games.
As of late July, the Kansas Athletic Department ticket office had reported 17,322 season ticket sales, compared to 16,129 at the same time last summer. Last year's season ticket sales topped out at 18,876.
Mixson said the athletic department's radio and television spots are heavier in
Single-game ticket sales didn't begin until Aug. 15, just one of the strategies Mixson said KU had used to increase season ticket sales. In addition, Mixson said there would be ticket sales for students on campus this year.
will be in Lawrence this season on Nov.9.
In an effort to capitalize on the success of last season, KU sent its Big Blue Caravan to more locations this summer than in the past. Head coach Glen Mason, and players Kevin Kopp, Jim Moore and Jason Thoren spent the summer traveling to various towns throughout Kansas to promote the upcoming season.
"Those guys are great ambassadors for the team," Mixson said. "It was a great way for them to be in touch with the fans and the alums from around the state."
The opener will be the only home night game. Mixson said the game was scheduled for a Thursday night, because of the usual late August heat and Labor Day falling on that weekend.
The home slate also includes two of KU's new conference foes Texas Tech on Oct.12 and Texas on Nov. 12. Homecoming will be Oct.19 against Colorado, and the annual Sunflower State showdown with Kansas State
the month of August, and that could help spur sales right before the Aug. 29 season opener against Ball State at Memorial Stadium.
"We've seen a great response from people," Mixson said. "This is typically the time of year when people start thinking about buying football tickets."