WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3,2004
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Texans coach sees playoff potential for team
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON - A lot happened to Dom Capers in the six years between his ambitious start with the expansion Carolina Panthers and the renewal of his coaching career with the expansion Houston Texans.
Capers led the Panthers within one victory of the Super Bowl in 1996, was fired two years later, rebuilt his reputation as a defensive coordinator with Jacksonville and got another — perhaps his final — chance to be a coach in Houston.
The Texans (4-3) have won four of their last five, climbing above 500 for the first time in franchise history this late in a season. After dominating jacksonville on Sunday, Houston moved into a secondplace tie in the AFC South to confirm its status as a playoff contender.
Capers is getting it right this time — with a lot of help.
Pat Sullivan/AP Photo
Starved for pro football after Bud Adams took the Oilers to Tennessee in 1996, Houston has fallen hard for Capers, owner Bob McNair and the team despite its early struggles.
McNair has quickly become one of the NFL's power brokers, creating a buzz in the city and throughout the league that is fitting for the founder of one of the world's largest privately owned energy companies.
He easily finessed the city into building the stadium — magnificent 71,054-seat Reliant Stadium — that Adams always wanted; convinced the NFL to bring the Super Bowl to Houston last January, and did such a good job hosting the game that the league intends to return; and, most importantly to fans, put the right people in charge of the football team.
Though the on-field product has been slow to come around, McNair remained steadfast in his demand for a roster full of guys who rarely show up on a police blotter and are charitable to the media, fans and community.
So far, McNair has made all the moves Carolina and plenty other expansion team owners should have made from the very start.
No one knows that better than Capers.
Dating back to the Dallas Cowboys in 1960, no modern expansion team in the NFL won more games in its first two seasons than the Panthers built by Capers, then-GM Bill Polian and owner Jerry Richardson.
Carolina achieved success so quickly by loading up on established veterans, a plan that set up the Panthers for a quick downfall. The Panthers went 12-4 in 1996, won a playoff game and seemed poise for another strong season with second-year quarterback—and the franchise's first-ever draft pick — Kerry Collins leading the way.
But Carolina got old too quickly, Collins struggled with an alcohol problem and the Panthers didn't have nearly enough young talent to remain a contender. Carolina's draft choices during that stretch like a who's who of first-round busts: Tim Biakabutuka in '96, Rae Carruth in '97 and Jason Peter in '98.
started to descend."
"What ended up happening is that we had a lot of veteran players on our team that really gave us good production the first two years," Capers said. "We weren't able to replace some of those veteran players, so it kind of worked against us. When the expectation level went up, we weren't quite as good and we
Did they ever.
The Panthers dropped to 4-12 in Capers' fourth season, his last in Charlotte. He spent the next two years as a defensive coordinator in Jacksonville and wondered if he'd got another chance to lead a team.
The opportunity came in 2001 with the expansion Texans, a team that wouldn't even start playing for another year and a half.
Armed with a laundry list of failures in Carolina, Capers sought a more patient route in Houston. He found a perfect match with McNair and Charley Casserly.
"You have to build toward a window of opportunity." Capers said. "You're going to go through growing pains. It's a process and everyone has to be on board. We wanted to build a foundation, a basis. It was a good fit."
Together, they devised a plan that is a model for expansion teams, even those in other sports such as the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.
Cassery and Capers placed a bigger emphasis on the draft than free agency and refused to select anyone older than 30 years old in the expansion draft.
They missed big on Jacksonville left tackle Tony Boselli, who never played a down for Houston and ultimately retired because of a nagging shoulder injury. But that draft also turned up current starters linebacker Jamie Sharper, defensive end Gary Walker, cornerback Aaron Glenn and safety Marcus Coleman.
Houston Texans coach Dom Capers yells from the sidelines in the first half of the Texans' 27-20 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sept. 12, in Houston.
After surviving a brutal rookie season in which he was sacked a league-record 76
They also gambled on Fresno State's David Carr with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft.
times, Carr has emerged as one of the league's top quarterbacks. Along with an improving offensive line, a top receiver in Andre Johnson and a talented back in Domanick Davis (a fourth-rounder in the 2003 draft), Houston has a young nucleus that could torment defenses for years.
"We've got some good young players that anyone in the league would like to have," said Capers, smiling. "We've got more
That's why Capers never panicked when the Texans lost their first two games, sending the local talk-radio shows and fans into a tizzy. Aided greatly by McNair and Casserly, Capers has a clear plan for the future. He realizes that to understand the plan, you have to look to the past.
ascending players here than we had in Carolina."
For now, at least, Carolina has never seemed so far away.
Tiger Woods now 'one of the guys'
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
But the biggest change was more subtle.
ATLANTA — Tiger Woods does not play golf with a ring on his finger.
That was the answer to the first question about how things might be different in his first tournament as a married man.
Woods began his pro-am round at the Tour Championship on the 10th tee. He usually is the first one off on the first tee, a perk he has been afforded the last five years. But the first tee was occupied yesterday by Vijay Singh, who is firmly entrenched at No. 1 in the world.
Then, Woods had to wait for Singh to finish his interview before he could step to the microphone.
And once Woods finished talking about his three-week honeymono on a 150-foot yacht in the Caribbean, he was bombarded with questions about Singh — just like so many other players who for years grew weary talk about Woods.
"He's played some just unbelievable golf this year," Woods said. "For him to play as much as
he does and still maintain that edge, and as much as he practices, it's pretty impressive to do all that."
Woods still has eight majors. He is the only professional to hold all four major championship trophies at the same time. He has won more tournaments than anyone else still playing.
But he now is just one of the 31 players at the Tour Championship trying to end his year on a good note. Children still ran after him for his autograph when he arrived at East Lake. He still had more people in his gallery than any other players. If television ratings go up this week, Woods will be the reason
Still, he now looks like one of the guys — and not just because he's married.
The last time Woods and Singh played together was outside Boston on Labor Day, when the 41-year-old Fijian won a thrilling back-nine duel in the Deutsche Bank Championship to end Woods' five-year reign at No. 1 in the world.
"The fear factor is gone," one caddie said on the practice range as he watched Woods warm up.
astrous pairing with Phil Mickelson and another losing record in the Ryder Cup. He barely made it through 72 holes of the American Express Championship with a back injury. And he got married Oct. 5 in Barbados to Swedish nanny Elin Nordegren.
And since becoming No. 1 in the world, Singh has won three times and was runner-up in his other PGA Tour start.
It reminds Woods of the last time someone else was No. 1 in the world — David Duval, who won 11 times in 18 months and became the first man to shoot 59 in the final round of a PGA Tour event.
Since then, Woods had a dis-
"Everybody has a run," Woods said. "I had one. Duval had one. Johnny Miller, (Jack) Nicklaus, (Tom) Watson, everyone has their run. It's just a matter of how long can you continue. Fortunately for me, I lasted five years."
Woods had such a good time in the Caribbean that he skipped Disney for the first time since turning pro, and he nearly called
Let's see — he's on a private yacht with his Swedish bride, with no one to bother him but the U.S. Coast Guard. Why even bother coming back for one tournament?
The question is how long Singh can keep this up — and whether Woods can come back.
it a year by not playing in the Tour Championship.
"Trust me," Woods said with a big grin. "That thought went through my head a lot of times."
Eventually, the honeymoor has to end.
"I miss competing." Woods said. "That's what I love to do."
He hasn't been shown much love in return.
Woods' only victory this year is the Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa at the end of February. His drought in the majors is 10 and counting. He is No. 3 in the world ranking. No. 4 on the money list.
But even on the open sea, Woods still found room for golf.
"When I was on the boat, I was actually thinking about my game quite a bit and organizing my 'To Do' list — what causes what in the golf swing, and basically prioritizing what I needed to work on," Woods said.
He thought his game was close before he got married.
Woods was runner-up at Firestone to Stewart Cink. He was runner-up to Singh at Deutsche Bank. He was going for his third straight title in the American Express Championship until injuring his back.
"I was so excited when I got over there, and then I couldn't move," Woods said. "I thought that the way I played in finishing ninth there, with limited ability to play the game, I thought I had a chance to come back and do some pretty good things."
Woods has been saying all year his game is close, and not many believed him. Count Masters champion Phil Mickelson among those who do. Lefty came off his worst year on tour by winning his first major and coming within five shots of winning all four of them.
"I got re-motivated, excited about working hard, came out and had a wonderful year," Mickelson said. "And I think that Tiger is going to do the same thing. I expect him to be the dominant force that he's been in the past."
This being the present, about all Woods can do at East Lake is end a weak year on a strong note.
Kansas athletics calendar
TODAY
**Volleyball at Missouri:** 7 p.m., Columbia, Mo.
**Soccer at Big 12 Tournament vs. Iowa State**
11 a.m., San Antonio, Texas
FRIDAY
Soccer at Big 12 Tournament, TBA, San Antonio, Texas
Tuesday's intramural scores
VOLLEYBALL
Women
Country time def. Beta A-2 (25,5-25,19)
LCA3 def. F2 (25,23-25,13)
Ballaskers def. Pearson (25,20-25,17)
Beta Freshman def. LCA4 (25,18-25,13)
Women
Hawks def. Lady Jayhawkers (25-22, 25-19)
Chi Omega 2 def. Chi Omega 1 (2-15, 21-25, 21-6)
CoRec
Hawks def. Ulamas (25-10, 25-21)
GOLF
California teams lead as Kansas ends season
The Kansas men's golf team finished its秋 season yesterday in a tie for seventh place out of 16 teams at The Prestige tournament in La Quinta, Calif.
The Jayhawks were in fourth place after the first day, shooting 313 and 305 respectively in the day's two rounds. They shot 307 in the final round
WARD
for a two-day total of 92^{r}
for a two-day total of 925. Senior Kevin Ward tied for fifth place individually after shooting rounds of 75, 74 and 74 for a 223 total.
DOCKING
Sophomore Tyler Docking finished in a tie for 28th with a three-round total of 232. Sophomore Gary Woodland carded a three-round
total of 238 to finish in a tie for 45th. Senior Andrew Price finished in a tie for 49th with a total score of 239. Sophomore Barrett Martens finished with a 241 to finish 56th.
California-Davis junior Erik Hill won the tournament after shooting 69 in the final round to give him a three-round total of 217. Notre Dame sophomore Cole Islan finished second with 219, and Texas Tech senior Shaun Melville finished third with 220.
The top three team spots were all taken by California schools. UCLA won the tournament with a three-round total of 904. California-Davis placed second with 913. California-Irvine finished third with 917.
The Jayhawks will be off until Feb. 9 when they begin their spring season at the Taylor Made/Big Island Invitational in Waikoloa, Hawaii.
Eric Sorrentino
Doc Carson to discuss his new book Gone Shopping! An Odyssey of Discovery
With wit and clarity, Doc Carson takes us on a shopping excursion that becomes both an adventure and a quest to understand the human condition.
He will be speaking at Oread Books at the Kansas Union on November 4, at 5:30 PM.
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