TB THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
INSIDE SPORTS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2004
Kansas athletics calendar
TOMORROW Women's basketball vs. Western Illinois, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY
Men's basketball vs. TCU, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Men's basketball vs. UL-Lafayette, 7 p.m.
Track at Kansas State, all day, Manhattan
Sunday's intramural scores
Men's:
Fiji 1 def. Phi Delt 1 (54-46)
One-N-Done def. Lyle's Red Guard (61-46)
KUEA Shootalers def. Savages (59-39)
Seminoles def. Raislittppers (65-59)
SAE 1 def. Sig Eg Freeman (64-30)
Kappa Sigma 1 def. 10th floor (73-28)
Ae def. DU 3 (55-35)
Theta T1 def. AE Pi 1 (57-15)
LCA 1 def. AE P1 2 (72-13)
Jayhawk West def. Stephenson Chaminade (105-23)
E-Town def. Handful of Crackers (83-24)
Pocket Aces def. TKE (79-25)
All Starz def. Burn (51-43)
Johnny Kilye's def. Delta Sigma Pi (61-42)
Ghetto Fab All-Stars def. Pearson (53-38)
Zags def. Phi P1 4 (56-25)
Vic Romano def. Scholl-Hall Stars (53-42)
White Unit def. White Girls (59-43)
Women:
CoRec:
Women:
Alpha Gamma Delta def. Delta Gamma (40-20)
**CoRec:**
High Scorers def. KU Finest (63-62)
The Ballers 8 def. The Sait Dawgs (78-56)
AP POLLS
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 5, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
Record Points Pvs
1. Illinois (25) 6-0 1,717 5
2. Kansas (23) 4-0 1,700 2
3. Georgia Tech (12) 5-0 1,632 4
4. Syracuse (9) 7-0 1,607 3
5. Oklahoma St. (2) 5-0 1,479 6
6. Wake Forest 6-1 1,397 1
7. Connecticut (1) 3-0 1,383 7
8. North Carolina 6-1 1,354 9
9. Duke 5-0 1,276 10
10. Kentucky 4-1 1,075 8
11. Pittsburgh 5-0 987 13
12. N.C. State 6-0 909 16
13. Louisville 4-1 697 17
14. Texas 5-1 692 18
15. Arizona 5-2 598 21
16. Washington 5-1 524 17
17. Iowa 6-1 496 23
18. Alabama 6-1 495 22
19. Virginia 6-0 481 24
20. Michigan St. 4-2 434 11
21. George Washington 5-1 423
22. Mississippi St. 6-2 417 15
23. Maryland 4-2 405 12
24. Wisconsin 4-1 343 25
25. Gonzaga 5-1 267
Others receiving votes: Florida 136, Notre Dame 128, Cincinnati 103, Creighton 81, Boston College 35, Oklahoma 29, Marquette 23, S. Illinois 17, Memphis 8, New Mexico 7, Wis-Milwaukee 6, Charlottie 5, Oregon 5, UAB 5, Hawai 4, Miami 4, Michigan 3, Pepperdine 3, Arkansas 2, Ohio 2, Pacific 2, Indiana 1, Santa Clara 1, Stanford 2, Vermont 1.
Tell us your news. Contact Danielle Hillix or Joe Bant at 864-4588 or sports@kansan.com
TALK TO US
All warmed up and ready to go
Cindv Yeo/KANSAN
Paulo Oliveira, a graduate student from Vila Do Conde, Portugal, plays pingpong with his friend, Daniel Cunha, a graduate student from Porto, Portugal, last night at the Student Fitness Recreation Center. Oliveira and Cunha play four times a week to warm up before their workouts.
Chiefs end string of defeats
Larry Johnson gets his long-awaited play time, leads team to victory
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maybe Larry Johnson was right all along.
The former Penn State star, who has publicly feuded with Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil over a lack of playing time, finally got a chance to make his point on the field, and make it he did.
Playing because of injuries to Priest Holmes and Derrick Blaylock, Johnson had 118 yards rushing and 56 yards receiving Sunday against Oakland. He scored two touchdowns and helped key a 34-27 victory with what was by far his best day as a pro.
The victory snapped a four-game losing skid that began the day Holmes, the Chiefs' Pro Bowl star, went out with a knee injury.
Taken in the first round in 2003, Johnson had seen almost no action all year and was obviously in his coach's doghouse.
Vermeil even apologized after
Johnson may figure big in the near future for the Chiefs no matter how well he and his coach get along. Holmes, who set an NFL record last season with 27 touchdowns, talked about retirement as recently as the past offseason.
remarking that it was time for Johnson to "take the diapers off." On another occasion, Johnson lashed out at Vermeil, saying that Vermeil never wanted to draft him in the first place.
Blaylock, who sprained his neck in the first half, will probably start Monday night at Tennessee. But the Titans can count on seeing plenty of the 6-foot-1. 230-pound Johnson.
"We were pleased to see him get really excited," Vermeil said. "He looked like a different guy. I think that's all coming with him growing up."
And Blaylock, who only now is getting an opportunity to produce on a steady basis, will be eligible for free agency after this season. In a breakout
Could the Chiefs afford to keep al. three?
game of his own, he ran for 186 yards against New Orleans and appears ready to assume a starting role for somebody. Could the Chicoffs afford to learn all
"We can do whatever we want to do unless somebody offers somebody so much money that you couldn't be competitive," Vermail said. "I know Derrick Blaylock likes it enough to be here, and wants to be here. I know that, and I think I feel free to save that."
"But someone might come in and all of a sudden pay him as a starting running back. I would say good luck and thank you for all you've done, you deserve the opportunity."
Holmes, who led the AFC with 892 yards rushing and led all nonkickers with 90 points scored when he was injured on Nov.7, continues to rehab his injured right knee. Vermeil said yesterday that he did not believe he was out for the year, even though only three games would be left after this week.
Cardinals hire new hitting coach
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — Former major league manager Hal McRae was hired by the St. Louis Cardinals as hitting coach yesterday, joining a high-scoring team that slumped in the World Series.
McRae, 59, replaced Mitchell Page, who held the job for 3 1/2 seasons before he was let go in October to seek help at an alcohol-treatment site near his California home.
The Cardinals led the National League in hitting, at 278, and runs, 855, last season, a year after they finished second in both categories.
But St. Louis hit just .190 while getting swept by Boston in the World Series, and totaled only three runs in the final three games.
McRae got a two-year contract. The remainder of manager Tony La Russa's
coaching staff has agreed to two-year extensions.
McRae has been an assistant to the general manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays since being fired as manager in September 2002, one day after they finished 55-106 season and tied Detroit for the worst record in the majors.
The Cardinals also hired former big league manager Jim Riggleman as their minor league field coordinator. Riggleman, 52, was the bench coach in Los Angeles for the past four seasons.
guiding the team to a 286-277 mark and winning records in three of his four seasons.
He later spent six seasons as a hitting instructor for Cincinnati and Philadelphia before joining the Devil Rays' organization in November 2000 as a bench coach.
On April 18, 2001, McRae replaced Larry Rothschild as the Devil Rays' manager and guided them to a 58-90 record over the remainder of the season.
A rough-and-tumble player with Kansas City, McRae managed the Royals from May 1991 through 1994.
Mrae, who spent most of his playing days with the Royals, appeared in four World Series.
In a 19-season playing career with the Royals and Reds, McRae hit .290 with 2,091 hits, 191 home runs and 1.097 RBIs.
Riggleman formerly managed the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He played in St. Louis' minor league system and was a coach in the majors with the Cardinals.
Riggleman will replace Bob Humphreys, who is retiring.
FOOTBALL
Freshman punter recognized by national sports magazine
Kansas managed to snag another honor for its play during the 2004 foot ball season.
Freshman punter
Freshman punter Kyle Tucker was named to The Sporting News' All-Big 12 freshman team for his perform ance this season.
Tucker began the season without a starting job, but replaced senior Chris Tyrrell with Tyrrell
TUCKER
Tucker graduated from Cincin Ranch High School in Katy, Texas, in 2004. For the season, he averaged 40.1 yards per punt and had a total of 58 attempts. He landed 15 punts inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt was 57 yards and came during Kansas' loss to Nebraska.
struggled against Northwestern. Tucker punted for the Jayhawks for most of the rest of the season.
Tucker is the 10th Jayhawk to receive an all-conference honor. Last season, sophomore Charles Gordon was named to the freshman All-American first team by The Sporting News, which Tucker is now eligible for.
Jonathan Kealing
SWIMMING
Team wins one oftwomeets sets several Kansas records
The Kansas swimming and diving team defeated Houston, 267-83, but fell to Harvard, 194.5-157.5, in a double dual meet held Friday and Saturday at Robinson Center.
In the 10-event first session on Friday, the Jayhawks broke a Robinson record in the 200 medley relay with a 1:45:07 finish by junior Lindsey Urbatchka, sophomores Jenny Short and Hannah Bakke and freshman Terri Schramka.
SCHRAMKA
Other top finishers the first day included junior Gina Gnatzig in the 200 freestyle and Gruber in the 50 freestyle.
The second session also began in record-breaking fashion, with the Jayhawks topping the Robinson best in the 400 medley relay thanks to a 3:48:11 finish by senior Miranda Isaac, Gruber, Urbatchka and Schramka.
Schramka also won the 100 backstroke and contributed to another victory in the 400 free relay with seniors Amy Gruber, Jackie Krueger and Aly Colver.
Sophomore Shelby Noonan was the top Kansas diver, finishing fourth with a score of 276.05.
Gruber also won two more individual events: the 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
"We were very pleased with how we competed this weekend," Kansas coach Clark Campbell said. "Coming off the Nike Cup the way we did was a real tribute to our athletes."
this Winter & Spring with
HAVE A BALL!
Lawrence Parks & Recreation
This meet concluded the pre-winter break portion of the Jayhawks schedule. Kansas will next be in action Jan. 15, when they travel to Lincoln,Neb.,to face Nebraska in a Big 12 Conference dual meet.
Kansan Staff Report
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BASKETBALL
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For more details call 832-7922
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FIGHTS START @ 10 PM
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December 8, 2004
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