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BIG 12 Kansan sportswriters recap the 2004 football season in the Big 12 Conference. PAGE 3B
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2004
www.kansan.com
Club hockey team travels light
Matt Zellmer, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., freshman, battles a Johnson County Community College opponent during the Sept. 25 game at Canlan Ice Sports in Shawnee. The game concluded in a KU victory of 8-3
Kit Leffler/KANSAN
BY JESSICA FERGEN
jifjergen@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Players carpool, sleep on floors to stay within budget
They don't have a chartered jet, individual DVD players, or cheese shaped like a Jayhawk, amenities the men's basketball players enjoy.
The Kansas men's ice hockey club members know they don't travel first class.
"It's total self-reliance and organization on our part," said Tyler McNally, Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., junior. "We play, we organize, we make the calls, we pay for it all. When you return from a tournament and you played well and you organized it and everything, it's more fulfilling than if it were just given to you on a silver platter."
"I've had five guys in my little Toyota Camry, three guys in the cab of a truck — it's horribly uncomfortable," McNally said. "We also have a minivan that usually goes, and that usually has seven or eight people. We
The team, composed of roughly 30 members, travels to out-of-state games about every other weekend. Team members usually carpool and split the cost of gas.
"We play, we organize,we make the
calls, we pay for it all. When you return from a tournament and you played well and you organized it and everything, it's more fulfilling than if it were just given to you on a silver platter."
Tyler McNally Ice hockey club member
Sometimes, if the team is lucky, Recreation Services will provide a trailer to haul all its equipment, which amounts to roughly 50 pounds per person. Marty McSorley, St. Louis senior, recalls one mishap with the trailer.
usually have about four vehicles going. We've never had a bus or any vans or anything."
"We were right outside of Chicago, and at one of the stops, one of the guys had gotten into the trailer and didn't
close the latch when they were done," McSorley said. "I don't know how long we were driving with the back of the trailer open, people would come up and point at it. We finally figured it out and turned around, went back 10 or 15 miles, and started seeing sticks and bags scattered all over the highway. I was the one that was chosen to run all over the highway picking up hockey sticks."
When there is money in the club's budget, the team will splurge on a hotel. Otherwise, they stay with family members in the area.
"We stay in hotels when we can afford it," said Tim Veach, Pittsburgh senior. "We have a lot of guys on the team from St. Louis, so we just stay with families, crash on the floor or whatever when we go there."
McNally said each team member shelled out between $50 and $75 for gas and food expenses every weekend. Team members also incur the cost of driving to a rink in Overland Park for practice two nights a week.
But they are always willing to help each other out, McNally said. He said he recalled a time last year when one
INSIDE THE PARK
SEE HOCKEY ON PAGE 6B
JACK WEINSTEIN
jweinstein@kansan.com
Early polls: Kansas has no reason to worry
Many of you were probably laughing when the Missouri basketball team dropped three in a row two weeks ago to the likes of Davidson, Creighton and Houston to start its season 2-3. You may have also had a good chuckle when the mighty North Carolina "family" was disappointed in its season opener when the Roy Williams-led Tar Heels were spanked by — yes, Santa Clara.
I did. It was great seeing teams I hate embarrassed in college basketball's opening weeks.
But after taking a moment to have a good laugh, forget these games. Make absolutely nothing of them.
Kansas coach Bill Self and senior guard Aaron Miles have been quoted all season saying how worthless polls are until January. They're right. How can the national coaches and media justify bumping Kansas from its No. 1 ranking without the Jayhawks losing a game? It shouldn't matter that Wake Forest's margin of victory against a clearly inferior George Washington team was larger than Kansas' margin over Vermont, an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago.
Yes, these are regular season games, and they do count toward their respective teams' final records, but they don't matter. They don't mean a thing.
They're about as meaningful as the polls right now, the ones that served the Jayhawks by stealing their No. 1 ranking, the ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press polls.
Then you may have noticed the first big game of the season when Wake Forest squared off against fifth-ranked Illinois to defend its No. 1 ranking last Wednesday. Wake was down all night, trailing by as many as 32 points at one point. The Fighting Illini controlled the
Senior guard evades spotlight
Mike Lee's extra effort solid game statistics garner little attention
SEE POLLSON PAGE 6B
BY JESSE NEWELL
jnewell@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
One hour before practice, Mike Lee stands mostly alone in the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Here, there are no coaches. No players to chat with. No fans to cheer him on.
The senior guard stands at the spot, the one just beyond the 3-point arc, with a trainer, his ball and the basket.
He begins to count
One, two, three.
He sets his feet and shoots another.
That's four. Then five, six and seven.
He gets to 13 before one bounces hard off the rim. Good thing he isn't counting anymore.
Lee said his routine of extra shooting before practice had only one rule.
"I don't count misses," he said. "Only makes."
Lee said he tried to make 100 threepoint shots during his extra shooting, and rides a stationary bike for some extra conditioning.
All this before practice even begins.
"I try to usually get here an hour early, get on the bike, build up a nice little sweat, and get up some shots so I can be loose for practice," Lee said.
This was apparent after the St. Joseph's game Nov. 23. Lee scored 13 points in 17 minutes, adding four assists and two steals off the bench. Self called him the best performer on the team in its 91-51 victory, but the media did not request to interview the senior guard after the game.
The fact that Lee does this all on his own fits his personality well, Kansas coach Bill Self said.
"I think Mike likes the role he has," Self said. "He's not a limelight guy at all."
"He'd rather let other guys get the spotlight," Self said. "He knows his role, and he's pretty content with what his role is right now."
Unfortunately for Lee, his performance did not impress everyone who watched him.
He said his father attended the game and gave him advice.
"He always thinks I should be doing a lot more," Lee said.
SEE GUARD ON PAGE 6B
Cindy Yeo/KANSAN
Senior guard Mike Lee takes the ball down the court in the first half against Vermont or Nov. 19. Lee finished the game with three points.