TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3B
Stadium request ignores graduation
JEAN SHORT MADNESS
RYAN GREENE
rgreene@kansan.com
Last summer, I was playing NCAA Football 2004 with a buddy of mine on PlayStation 2.
We were in Chicago, and my friend had never visited me at school. He chose his alma mater, Syracuse, as his team, so of course I followed suit by picking Kansas.
The game was set at Memorial Stadium.
At the beginning of each contest, the "camera" pans around for a 360-degree view of the field.
In the background was the famous hill, topped by the Campanile. My friend's reaction was classic.
"Whoa, that looks sweet as hell," he said. "If I went to a game, I'd just chill up on the hill and drink."
The setting at Memorial
Stadium, with the open end and the rolling hill, makes it one of the nation's most scenic college football atmospheres.
But if rumors and speculation of late turn out to be true, that beautiful view could be no more.
An article in Thursday's The Topeka Capital-Journal quoted coach Mark Mangino after Wednesday's practice saying, "We're pretty close on some really good news."
That news involves a brand new football facility constructed at the foot of the Campanile hill, or otherwise known as the open end of. Memorial Stadium.
It will look reminiscent of what is in place at Colorado and Oklahoma State.
The facility would include meeting rooms, training rooms and a weight room.
Later in the article, Mangino spoke of the "plights" of how things are now.
The Jayhawks have been practicing lately at Memorial Stadium because of the cruddy condition of their practice fields behind Hoglund Ballpark.
They also have their meetings before practice at Anschutz Pavilion.
"It's a little bit of a pain in the butt to come (to the stadium), and out of the way," Mangino told the Capital-journal. "But the facility here is great because we've got lights, and there's no divots, no ruts."
Speculation has it that Lew Perkins wants the entire estimated cost of $25 million to be donated.
One donor who is being rumored is the Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams, a Kansas graduate and former Jayhawk football player.
But what is so wrong with the way things are right now?
Is it really that much of a hassle to take the short bus ride across campus to Memorial Stadium? Would it really be all that difficult just to install lights and new sod at the current practice fields? Does just the moderate success KU has seen in football during the past two years really warrant a massive overhaul such as this?
But the biggest beef with this project has absolutely nothing to
No, no and no.
do with football. True, nothing is final yet, but the athletics department is forgetting about a tradition at Kansas that is 50 times bigger than football.
Now this donation would be a great thing if it really does come through, but can't it be built over by where the current practice facilities already are?
Graduation.
A facility by the foot of the hill would ruin something that affects almost every Kansas student, not just 100 or so football players — the graduation "Walk down the Hill."
Just imagine what a mess it would be to have the graduation ceremony around a big, ugly construction site, or better yet, around a big, obstructive building.
Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that Lew Perkins has the power to lobby donors for project such as these, but Mr. Perkins, someone who is not even a KU graduate, needs to choose the times when he puts athletics in front of established University traditions.
Greene is a Vernon Hills, Ill., senior in journalism.
Steelers, Eagles evoke gridiron's days of yore
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PITTSBURGH — He wasn't yet born the last time the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl.
That isn't preventing rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from bringing back the memories of the greatest times — and the greatest teams — in franchise history.
In a fitting throwback to the days when the Steelers won four Super Bowls in six seasons, Roethlisberger is off to the best start by an NFL rookie quarterback since Pittsburgh's Mike Kruczek was 6-0 in 1976.
The Steelers are 6-1 after ending New England's 21-game winning streak with a dominating 34-20 victory Sunday in which Roethlisberger improved to 5-0 as a starter.
"Everybody's antennas across the country are starting to go up a little bit," wide receiver Plaxico Burress said, referring to the Steelers' new-found notoriety.
That's largely because of a
22-year-old quarterback who plays like he's much, much older.
With former Eagles running back Duce Staley coming off his fourth 100-yard game, it all adds up to arguably the biggest Eagles-Steelers game since 1947.
Wide receiver Hines Ward doesn't think the Steelers will have any problem matching the intensity they showed against the Patriots when they meet the Eagles.
"We've got a great running game, two dominant wide receivers and a young, confident, cocky quarterback back there playing his heart out," Ward said. "We're a hard team to beat."
Cowher also doesn't think the Steelers will become distracted as they try to return to the playoffs after missing them last season and four of their previous six seasons.
"We aren't going to squander what we have created for ourselves," he said. "We'll be ready to go, trust me."
Sophomore Shelby Noonan leads from the diving board
BY NORA KELLM
nkellam@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWITHER
Stepping onto the diving board for the first time her freshman year of high school, Shelby Noonan never imagined what diving had in store for her. After winning state all four years of high school, Noonan came to Kansas on a diving scholarship last year.
Placing third in the Big 12 Conference last year, the Edmond, Okla., sophomore has been a leader on the Kansas swimming and diving team since she arrived in Lawrence. Noonan was the
only Kansas diver to make it to Conference Championships and has bigger ambitions for this year.
"This year I really want to make zones
NOONAN
again. I want to place higher and make it to nationals — which is a pretty big goal," said Noonan.
Noonan's mom and biggest fan, Cierra Cathcart, said Noonan had worked hard to get where she was.
"She has loved the sport for years and continues to build on the quality of her of her dives as she improves her performance. Coaches have told me that she has such determination to do it right," Cathcart said.
This season is quickly moving in the right direction for Noonan. She placed second in the one- and three-meter events in Kansas' season opener against Texas. Competing against Texas A&M, Noonan led the Jayhawks as she finished third in the three-meter event and fourth in the one-meter event.
Noonan is an asset for
Kansas, not only for her diving performance, but the positive energy she brings to the team.
"Shelby is an amazing diver, but most importantly, such a leader, even though she is only a sophomore," teammate Lisa Tilson said.
Noonan is the youngest of three girls and said her sisters were an important part of her life. Leslie is the oldest and is serving in the military in Iraq.
"Through weekly e-mails, I keep her updated, but it is really hard knowing she is in Iraq," Noonan said. "But the girls on my team have given me a family away from home."
week with the team makes it hard for Noonan to be home-sick. But when she does, she has her team.
"The sophomore class is so close, they support me in everything I do." Noonan said.
Noonan does not have a favorite dive but prefers the springboard to the platform.
"KU doesn't have a regulation platform. That was one of the many attractions of KU for me," said Noonan.
The Kansas diving team trains on regulation platforms only when it has the opportunity at away meets.
"We try and utilize the other schools" facilitates when we
can," Noonan said. "It is a challenge, but we get by."
Noonan is a double major in special education and psychology. Her love for children draws her to local day care centers where she likes to spend some of her free time, she said. One day Noonan said she hoped to work at a children's hospital.
Noonan is looking forward to competing.
"Our freshmen are really strong this year. We are working hard and ready for a great rest of the year," Noonan said.
- Edited by Johanna M
Maska
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Continued on Page A20
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