VOLLEYBALL Improved serving could help bring the Jayhawks to victory against the Cyclones tomorrow night PAGE 6B
2004
nn/KANSAN
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2004
Rrian Lewis/KANSAN
www.kansan.com
Students proud of hometown teams
Rasim Aroglu is a dedicated fan of his home country soccer team Galatasaray Spor Kulubu, which means Galatasaray Sport Club. Aroglu uses his computer to keep tabs on his team. "I called my friend who is in Turkey right now," he said. "And I changed my background to a long of the team."
BY FRANK TANKARD
fankard@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWITHER
While students in a nearby room of Battenfeld Scholarship Hall were watching "Monday Night Football" earlier this week, Pablo de Palacios checked a score on his roommate's computer.
"Oh, mv team just won," he said
Oriente, his favorite soccer team, had beaten archival Blooming in the 115th meeting of the clubs from de Palacios' hometown, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
"In Santa Cruz, we have two big teams, and every time they play, it's a team," he said. "It's like KU-K-State."
Before coming to the University of Kansas, de Palacios, a junior, would watch Oriente's games from el Tahuichi, the stadium, with his dad and two brothers.
Now, like other international students at the University, he checks the results of his hometown team on the Internet. From 4,400 miles away, it's the closest he can get.
Rasim Aroglu, Nicosia, Cyprus, freshman, said that when fans back home celebrated a victory in the 100th anniversary match of his favorite soccer team, Galatasaray of the Super League, last week with a parade, he w
celebrating on his own.
"I called my friend who is in Turkey right now," he said. "And I changed my background to a logo of the team."
Aroglu said he had fallen out of touch with his other favorite team, Genclik Gucu of the small Cyprus Super League, because he couldn't find results on the Internet.
"It's harder to follow." he said.
Paul Trigoso, Lima, Peru, junior, said he listened to the Peruvian national team's soccer games live on Internet radio, then watched video of the goals when they were posted online after the match. He meets with other University students from Peru when the national team plays.
"If Peru's playing, some of the Peruvians get together in a room and listen to the game and hope that they win." Trigoso said.
De Palacios said getting together with his Bolivian friends to listen to their national team wasn't always easy.
"Every time they play, we say we're going to get together," he said. "But we only did it once. It's kind of hard to go somewhere where there's a computer."
De Palacios said he and Trigoso, who are roommates, have a friendly rivalry when their teams play.
"The last Peru-Bolivia game, Bolivia
won." he said. "Hell, yeah."
Some international students have adopted American teams to cheer for in the absence of their hometown teams.
Mauricio Antezana, a junior who is also from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, calls himself a Kansas City Chiefs fan, and he watches college basketball and football. He roots for one college team in particular.
"The layhawks, of course," he said.
Other international students were already American sports fans before coming to the University.
Xiaobang Yue, Chengdu, China, junior said he grew up watching the NBA.
"The NBA was on TV just like twice a week," he said. "I watched it every time. Now I pick some of the games to watch if I'm free."
For Trigozo, however, seeing Peruvian soccer on TV is nearly impossible. He remembered the one time the Peruvian national team was shown in Lawrence.
"The only time I saw a game was when we were playing in the America Cup, which has nothing to do with the United States," he said. "On channel 72 they showed Peru versus Argentina. We watched it."
Edited by Rupal Gor
No place like home
BY JONATHAN KEALING
jkealeng@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIETER
The last time the Kansas football team won a Big 12 Conference game away from Memorial Stadium, Terry Allen was coach, Al Bohl was athletics director and basketball coach Roy Williams was preparing to lead the Iayhawks to back-to-back Final Fours.
Kansas' last road victory came Oct. 6, 2001, against Texas Tech. Allen coached his Jayhawks to one of the team's three victories of the season, squeaking by the Red Raiders 34-31 in overtime.
Since Mark Mangino came to Lawrence, the team has lost 10 consecutive Big 12 road games. Some have been close, like the team's 35-32 loss at Baylor in 2002 and the 50-47 loss in overtime at Colorado last season.
Then there are the other games. The team lost 45-7 at Nebraska in 2002 and 42-6 at Kansas State last season, and there were more losses that were not as lopsided but still were ugly for Kansas fans.
Things appear to be shaping up differently this season. Before the loss to Oklahoma, Kansas' two road losses came by a total of nine points. Mangino attributed the improvement to a change in the team's attitude.
RELATED NEWS
The Kansas football team sees Saturday's game as a "must-win" for its bowl hopes. See story on page 3B.
He said the defense played especially well against Nebraska.
The Jayhawks have led several times on the road this season. Finishing the game has been a problem for this year's players.
"If you look at all the games we played this year, we played a pretty good first half every single game," sophomore free safety Rodney Harris said.
Even against No. 2 Oklahoma Kansas was able to stay close early in the game, trailing by four at halftime.
"We just couldn't get the win," he said.
Mangino said his previous teams did not perform consistently. That is not a problem with this year's players, he said.
"Home or road, you're going to get the same enthusiasm out of them," Mangoino said.
The team has broken down in the second half, when the offense quits putting points on the board or the defense spends too much time on the field.
Against Oklahoma, the Kansas
the field during the third quarter.
"Fatigue's always going to be a factor in football," Harris said. "You're going to get tired. No one's Superman out there."
While the Jayhawks recognize their problem winning road games, no one can find a reason.
Many of the players said they approached road games the same way they do home games.
"I look at it as: same field, 100 yards," said junior defensive end Charlton Keith. "The environment really doesn't matter."
Harris said he thought the crowd conditions might play a small part in a team's ability to win road games, but he did not pin the team's problems there.
Against Oklahoma, the Kansas defense-spent more than 10 minutes on Edited by Bill Cross
He said it was important from a mental perspective for the team to get its first road victory.
Texas defeat won't affect confidence
In the eyes of an athlete, nothing is more important than the big-game victories. The natural high that players experience when they know they have accomplished greatness is a feeling unparalleled to that of any other.
"It's very important for the psyche of our team." Harris said.
For junior tackle Matt Thompson, the struggles come down to accountability.
Unfortunately, on the other end of this euphoria, is that the heartbreak can be as slight as one measly little goal knocked in by an opponent in double overtime.
"I haven't been accountable for myself on the road, and I haven't played my best games on the road," he said. "We're definitely looking to play a complete game this week."
The women's soccer team continues on in an extremely successful season, but even it was affected by those tiny mishaps.
Winning its first Big 12 title was directly in reach, as Kansas dominated Oklahoma and Oklahoma State before going up against those pesky Texas teams.
that sweet relief grew as Kansas defeated Texas A&M, the preseason pick to win the Big 12. This was the first time the Jayhawks had beat the Aggies, and the opportunity of winning the Big 12 could not have looked better.
Going into the game against Texas on Sunday, the Jayhawks (7-1 in the Big 12 before Sunday) seemed likely to defeat the Longhorns (5-3-1 in the Big 12 before Sunday).
The Jayhawks had just received their highest ranking in school history, at No. 6, from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. It was serious cloud-nine material.
But the one predictable facet to sports, as we well know, is that they are always unpredictable. Just like that, Texas found a way to score on the Jayhawks' three-time Big 12 defensive player of the week, senior goalkeeper Meghan Miller.
This is where the unfair and heart-breaking side of sports sets in.
In no way are these soccer ladies out of it. A victory this Friday against Iowa State will give the Jayhawks a share of the Big 12 Championship. The unexpected loss to Texas will do little, if anything, to affect these girls' confidence win a game.
But it's that frustration that can hurt an athlete. A co-championship is absolutely nothing to.scoff at, but when the players know how closely they've come to being the best and come up short, it's a pain that athletes know more than any other group.
is there a rule written somewhere
ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
that success must always be counteracted by some degree of failure at exactly the wrong time?
Looking back at the season that the soccer girls have racked up, they've proven that they know how to win their games. The six-game winning streak directly preceding Sunday's loss shows the hard work, drive and sheer talent this team has to get a victory.
Miller and senior Rachel Gilfillan have emerged as leaders and both have had stellar seasons.
Miller holds the school record of 11 shutouts as a goalkeeper, while Gilfillan has recorded seven goals this season. There's also the point-scoring junior powerhouse Caroline Smith, who has tallied seven goals. Leading the rest of the talented squad, they were at the brink of making more history as the sole holders of the Big 12 title.
But it's that one goal — with less than two minutes left on the clock — in that decisive game that can turn champions into co-champions and force them to share the glory when they are so close to having it for themselves.
The same story rings true in the lives of every athlete in every sport. Sadly, it is close to impossible to get away from it
It is not, however, capable of taking over a great season. Just because women's soccer must now share its Big 12 Championship if the team wins this Friday's game, it doesn't take away from what the team has done and what it could do in the postseason.
Although it is rare for a team to escape the fate of an untimely loss, it is not rare for it to happen only once in a season.
Bad breaks just happen, but highly successful teams, such as this year's women's soccer squad, find a way to roll with them and roll out of them.
Bauer is a Winfield junior in journalism
Heard Hill
How do you feel about the women's soccer team having such a successful year?
successful year? Compiled by Jennifer Shea
KELLER
Mike Keller, Leawood freshman
"I think that they are doing fantastic, I am proud of them being from KU."
SPENCER
"It is awesome that they are ranked so high. Hopefully they can move up to No. 1." — Ashley Bass, Olathe junior
"It is great to see another sport succeed on this campus other than just football and basketball. Way to go, girls."
Matt Spencer. Derby sophmore
"It is good to see a women's sport do well. Good luck on the rest of the season." Sol Ramirez, Paraguay junior
BASS
"This is good for the school, and it brings recognition to women's sports."
— Kim Briggs, Kansas City, Kan., senior
RAMIREZ