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"I think when you're winning, your uniforms are cool."
— Former Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander
JBSKI.COM
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OUR SIX
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FACT OF THE DAY
KU Athletics
Kansas signed its current athletic deal with Adidas in April of 2005. The light-year deal is worth $26.67 million and runs through the 2012-13 school year.
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
A: The Crimson is to honor Col. John H. McCook, a Harvard graduate who gave money for Kansas's athletic field in 1890, and the blue is for the faculty members that wanted to ensure their academic lineage was honored too. The colors were officially adopted in 1896.
Q: Why does Kansas wear Crimson and Blue?
— ku.edu
THE MORNING BREW New jerseys needed for morale boost
The Kansas football team has invested in a new regime to turn the program around. The new faces running the program can't immediately make the team a Bowl Championship Series champion, but they can make it look better.
And by look better, I mean buy new uniforms.
On the surface, there is nothing inherently wrong with the jerseys, but there's nothing exciting either. The uniforms look fine in person, but on television there's something slightly off about them.
Kansas did have success in the relatively similar uniform scheme in the 2008 Orange Bowl. When I see the current uniforms, however, I am reminded of the two-year stretch in which Turner Gill had the reins, a stretch most fans would rather beat out of their memories with hammers rather than be reminded of everyday.
Dez Briscoe used up the last of the current jerseys swag back in his school record-breaking 2008 season.
The good news: The jerseys can be easily fixed.
First, bring back the red home jerseys, and not just once a year against an early-season cream-puff game. Wear the jerseys for any big game. This is the color Kansas
chose to wear in its only BCS bowl game victory and should never have been mothballed.
Kansas athletics are sponsored by Adidas, which has seriously been lacking behind Nike in the imagination category for college uniforms.
Nike has the pro-combat college uniform designs, so why not start be the guinea pig for
a line of Adidas battleground gear? Sure, the early results might not be the greatest. For example, Oregon had to put on some pretty bad combinations a few years ago. However, in recent years Oregon's uniforms have really come together for some pretty awesome combinations.
I don't want a new uniform every week, but I think a fierce Jayhawk on one-half of the helmet, similar to Boise State's alternative.
would look great. At the very least it would be better than Missouri's new attempt at the Tiger on its helmet.
The baseball team wears a lajayh on their hats, so why can't the football team put one of the nation's best mascots on its helmets?
Although the white-onblue away uniform combination looks fine — it is actually my current favorite combination for away games — it has seen three of the worst defeats in recent Kansas history. These include 2011 losses against Oklahoma State (70-28, when the Cowboys pulled their starters in the second quarter), Texas A&M (61-7) and 2010's loss to Baylor University (55-7).
The white-on-blue is like an ex with a lot of bagage — it needs to
be dumped immediately.
Will jerseys make the team any better? That I can't say, but I believe it was Tzu who said "You've got to look good to play good."
OK, I made that up. But new jerseys would make headlines, and when the product on the field is struggling, why not try and change the subject? I can't remember how Maryland finished last season (it was pretty bad), but I definitely remember the jerseys they wore that were modeled after the Maryland State Flag.
This week in athletics
Wednesday
Thursday
No events scheduled
Friday
No events scheduled
Women's Volleyball
Loyola Marumont
4 p.m.
South Bend, Ind.
Saturday
Women's Soccer
Denver
5 p.m.
Lawrence
Football
TCU
11 a.m.
Lawrence
Sunday
Women's Volleyball
Xavier
9:30 a.m.
South Bend, Ind.
Men's Golf
Golfweek's Conference
Challenge
All Day
Burlington, Iowa
Monday
Women's Volleyball
Notre Dame
9.30 a.m.
South Bend, Ind.
Men's Golf
Golfweek's Conference
Challenge
All Day
Burlington, Iowa
Women's Golf
Women's Golf
Dale McNamara Invitational
All Day
Tulsa, Okla.
Tuesday
VOLLEYBALL
Men's Golf
Golfweek's Conference
Challenge
All Day
Burlington, Iowa
Women's Golf
Women's Golf
Dale McNamara Invitational
All Day
Tulsa, Okla.
Former Jayhawk continues career in France
GEOFFREY CALVER
gcalvert@kansan.com
RENEE DUMLER/KANSAN
Sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Albers goes in for a spike on Saturday, Sept. 8 at the Horsei Family Athletic Center. Kansas beat Woymong 3-0.
The day after seeing her former Jayhawk volleyball teammates at the Crimson and Blue match, 2012 Kansas graduate Allison Mayfield left the country to begin her new life as a professional volleyball player in France.
Mayfield, who holds the Jayhawks' single season kills record with 462, signed a one-year contract to play for CSM Clamart in Clamart, France, a suburb of Paris.
"I submitted video of me playing to my agent, who then put it online," Mayfield said via email. "Teams that are interested in picking up new players then go online and check out the videos for prospective players."
Besides Clamart, Mayfield received offers from teams in Hungary, Southern Finland and Cyprus. She said she chose Clamart because they offered the best contract and living in France appealed to her. Although Mayfield arrived in France less than a month ago, she said Clamart has a home feeling and most places she needs to go are within walking distance.
"Not having to work or take class outside of playing allows for a lot of free time, but I am finding fun ways to fill that free time exploring and experiencing
a country that is new to me" Mayfield said.
Mayfield majored in exercise science because she wanted to become a physical therapist when she finished playing. However, she said playing professionally was always her goal.
"But unlike becoming a professional basketball or football player, it is not about all the money and
fame playing professional volleyball," Mayfield said. "I am playing because I love playing volleyball and was not ready to be completely finished. Getting able to play and being able to see parts of the world that I otherwise may not be able to see are added bonuses."
The biggest difference between collegiate volleyball in the United States and international volleyball
is the substitution rule. In college, teams may substitute 15 times per set. Internationally, teams may substitute only six times per set.
Kansas coach Ray Bechard said that if people watched the United States' Olympic team last summer, they saw players who were able to play six positions on the court because of the substitution rules. Although collegiate players typically specialize in positions, Mayfield played all positions on the court in college, which made her appealing to professional teams.
Redshirt junior Catherine Carmichael said the Jayhawk team is different this year because they don't have a player as versatile as Mayfield. Because the substitution rules in college are more relaxed, however, it allows the team members to work on specializing their positions more.
"Mayfield was a six-rotation player, and Sara (McClinton, sophomore outside hitter) and I aren't at that spot yet," Carmichael said. "But we have people who come in for us. I think with Sara and I giving good offense, then when we go out we can depend on our defenders to come in and play good defense for us as well."
To play professional volleyball. Mayfield had to travel overseas because no national volleyball league exists in the United States.
Mayfield said interest in collegiate volleyball might be the first step in getting a professional volleyball league started.
"You just don't see too many collegiate teams where volleyball is a revenue sport," Mayfield said. "You do have some exceptions, like Nebraska, who sells out every match every year, but in general not enough people support collegiate volleyball, so that would be the first step."
Bechard credited the Olympics with creating awareness about a lack of a professional league in the United States. He said there's a serious push to get a volleyball league started in the United States, but money will be the factor.
"In the late '90s Bill Kennedy out of Chicago made an attempt, and he had a lot of money, and he
lost quite a bit of money." Bechard said. "I think the players need to probably make some sort of salary, which means you need to get some form of sponsorship in place."
Not only was Mayfield the Jayhawks' single season kills leader, she also finished as the Jayhawks' single season and career leader in total attempts. Carmichael said Mayfield was a special player because of her ability to get critical points.
"I think her presence is something that people looked for, for maybe just energy and being able to go to her for that one — if you needed a kill on game point — that one person you could depend on," Carmichael said.
— Edited by Luke Ranker