2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2004
Season of 'what ifs' not so bad
Despite missing 2004 bowl game opportunity, Mangino keeps head up
Kansan file photo
Senior safety Tony Stubbs tackles Texas's Nate Joens during the Nov. 13 game against Texas. Kansas had a 4-7 record this season.
BY JONATHAN KEALING
ikealing@kansan.com
KANSAN. SPORTSWRIVER
Sometimes a team's record does not show how well the team actually played.
This year's Kansas football team went 4-7 and missed an opportunity to make back-toback bowl trips for the first time in school history.
"If you're looking at us purely by wins and losses, you've missed the story with this team," coach Mark Mangino said.
This Jayhawk football team made huge strides on defense, something Mangino believes is crucial in developing a consistent contender.
The Jayhawks had the sevent-ranked defense in the Big 12 Conference last year. This season, the team climbed to fifth.
Defending against the rush, last year Kansas ranked ninth in the Big 12. This year, the team climbed to fourth though the team faced Heisman Trophy candidates Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma freshman running back, and Cedric Benson, Texas senior running back.
They also faced K-State senior running back Darren Sproles and Missouri junior quarterback Brad Smith. Both were touted as Heisman Trophy candidates before the season, but the Jayhawks shut both down completely.
If only the Jayhawks had played with the offense it brought to the field last season — but ask Mangino about that and the answer is short: At Kansas, he does not deal with hypothetical.
"We have to continue to just get bigger and stronger and develop the technical skills of our players," Mangino said.
What set last season's offense apart from this year's was the team's ability to put the ball on the ground and go. Last season, the team ranked seventh in rushing offense — this season, it ranked dead last.
Even with an offense that struggled to close out games, the team stayed close to almost every opponent this season.
In games against Northwestern, Texas Tech.
Nebraska and Texas, Kansas built leads, only to see them disappear in the fourth quarter.
Kansas jumped ahead of Texas Tech 30-5 before missed field goals doomed the Jayhawks' efforts. A field goal could have changed the course of a game against Northwestern, as well.
Against Texas, there was the controversial "BCS call," which garnered Mangino and the Jayhawks national media attention. If only the Jayhawks had held on, the current BCS controversy might not have been so bad.
There are no "what its" about the games against K-State and Missouri. Not since 1989 has Kansas football beat both its main rivals in the same season.
While this season could have concluded better for the Jayhawks, the team showed a lot of promise for next season.
Several questions exist, including who will start at quarterback. Mangino's not ready to answer that question, but there are at least four names that could be on the list.
juniors Jason Swanson and Brian Luke and freshman Marcus Herford are all contenders for the starting job. Once spring workouts begin, the starter should become more clear.
Sophomore Adam Barmann.
For many fans, 2004 was the season of "what if." For Mangino, this season was something special.
"This ball club and this locker room will probably sit with me for a long time," Mangino said.
— Edited by Janette Crawford
John Tran/KANSAN
Andrea Kelley, Lawrence junior, practices the clean and jerk. Kelley started Olympic weightifting after high school, where she was a power lifter. She will compete on Feb. 12 at the National Collegiate Championships in Charleston, Ill.
Weightlifter finds strength in family
BY FRANK TANKARD
ftankard@kansan.com
KANSAN SWIMMER
Dressed in street clothes, it's hard to tell that 5-foot-2, 105-pound Andrea Kelley, biomechanical engineering junior, has trouble finding jeans that fit both her narrow waist and her massive thighs. One wouldn't guess she is a competitive weightlifter.
"People get surprised because I'm real short and petite," Kelley said.
Last weekend, Kelley took first place in the 48-kilogram weight class at the American Open Championships in Shreveport, La., with lifts of 121 pounds in the snatch competition and 154 pounds in the clean-and-jerk competition, for a total of 275 pounds.
This was the final meet of a year in which she took gold in her weight class at the National Collegiate Championships and placed third in her class at both the Olympic Trials and the National Championships.
But it was not an easy year.
Between her demanding engineering classes and working 17 hours a week at Scotch Fabric Care Services, Kelley had to squeeze in workouts whenever they would fit.
they would be Kelley's father, Bill Stoneback, said he wished she had more time to focus on weightlifting.
Kelley said school is ultimately more important. She doesn't know how long weightlifting will last. Meanwhile, she and Aaron, her husband, have bills to pay. A job at an engineering firm after she graduates will help.
and Jill Stoneback, have been a big help to her. They make it a point to be at every meet, no matter how far they have to travel. They also support Kelley's younger brother, Bill Jr., a senior at Free State High School. He enters many of the same meets.
"We drive them and fly them wherever they need to go." Bill Sr. said. "I just can't conceive not going to a meet and watching it. They get 150 percent support from us."
Kelley said her parents, Bill
As a sophomore, Kelley enrolled in a weight training class with Aaron to supplement her soccer training.
When she discovered her great natural strength, she and Aaron decided she should enter a couple of powerlifting competitions in the area. In her first competition, she swept all three categories: power clean, squat and bench.
Her accomplishment caught the attention of the Lawrence Journal-World. One man who read the paper's story on her was local weightlifting guru Loren McVey. In his nearly 30 years coaching weightlifting, he has mentored athletes all the way up to the World Championships.
McVey contacted Kelley and told her he wanted to teach her Olympic weightlifting. Shortly after, Kelley started working out at McVey's house.
Kelley's father said it is her mental strength that catapults her above the competition in everything she does.
"She does not fail on anything," he said. "She's just got that attitude. She's one of those kids that anything she wants to do, you can count on her doing it."
— Edited by Jon Ralston
5 Pacers, 7 fans charged in last month's sports melee
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PONTIAC, Mich. — Five Indiana Pacers and seven fans were charged yesterday in the melee that broke at the end of a nationally televised game against the Detroit Pistons last month, one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history.
Players Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, David Harrison and Anthony Johnson were charged with one count of assault and battery. Jermaine O'Neal, a three-time NBA All-Star, was charged with two counts of
assault and battery.
Five fans were charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, including Pistons star Ben Wallace's brother, David. Bryant Jackson also was charged with felony assault for throwing a chair into the fray, Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca said.
The misdemeanor carries up to three months in jail and a fine of up to $500, and the felony carries up to four years in prison, although Jackson could face more time because he has a prior criminal record, Goryca said.
Gorcyca singled out spectator John Green, who faces two assault counts and the prosecutor said, "single-handedly incited this whole interaction between the fans and players and probably is the one that's most culpable." Green, who also has a prior criminal record, is accused of throwing a cup at Artest, splashing him and sparking the brawl.
John Ackerman and William Paulson, each facing an assault charge, also were accused of throwing a cup or liquid in players' faces.
in addition, two men were charged for walking onto the court at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Police said other fans could be charged, too.
Gorcyca said the players and fans without prior convictions would probably face probation and fines if found guilty.
Facers chief executive Donnie Walsh said the team would not comment until the case is resolved. "In the meantime, we will continue to support our players in every possible way," he said.
James W. Burdick, Stephen
Jackson's lawyer, said it was "unfair and inappropriate" to charge his client.
"The problem is this: a few crazed drunken fans who created a chaotic situation," Burdick said. "Steve responded in a way that he thought was necessary to protect himself and protect his friends."
Walter Piszczatowski
Harrison's lawyer, said: "David was acting as the peacekeeper throughout that evening. He was trying to make sure everybody was safe."
With less than a minute left in
the Pacers-Pistons game Nov. 19, Artest fouled Ben Wallace from behind on a drive to the basket. Wallace responded with a hard, two-handed shove to Artest.
Jackson joined Artest and threw punches at fans, who punched back. O'Neal and Artest also hit fans who later came onto the court.
That sparked an initial skirmish, and Artest retreated to the scorer's table while the referees restored calm. But then Artest was hit by the cup, and he stormed into the stands, throwing punches as he climbed over seats.
SATURD Men's beak Track at Ke
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