TOMORROW The Student Recreation Fitness Center celebrates its one-year anniversary. SPORTS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2004 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Not about the Benjamins www.kansan.com Perkins says money helps, but students behind athletic success BY MIRANDA LENNING mlenning@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTWRIER In the midst of a nine-month controversy over his contract, Athletic Director Lew Perkins has been working to take the athletic department to new levels. Three Jayhawk teams rank in the top 21 in the country — men's golf, volleyball and soccer — and the football team went to a bowl game last year for the first time since 1995. The University Daily Kansan sportswriter Miranda Lenning sat down with Perkins to talk about what has happened outside of the controversy. Q: The athletic department has achieved great success since you got here. What have you done to get these programs where they are? A: All of the success is attributed to the kids and coaches. I am here to be supportive and to give them the financial support they need. But the fact that we have done so well on the fields and on the courts is really a tribute to the coaches and the kids. coaches and the kids. We have brought a different attitude here: We talk about winning. When people feel good about themselves, they do better. I think that is the thing that we have done to help the student athletes. Our coaches are happy right now — they know that if they need something we are going to get it for them. We have a better academic situation, a better training situation, so all of those things help the mindset that we are tr- ing to achieve. I think that is what we have been able to do to help. O. What exactly do you do as an adult? have been able to do to help. Q: What exactly do you do as athletics director? What do you do to promote the University on a national level? A: First, I serve on a lot of national committees. I speak to a lot of people; last week I was in Tucson, Ariz. We do a lot of proactive things to get ahead of what everybody else is doing. I spoke with seven or eight universities in the SEE PERKINS ON PAGE 8A Landon Harness/KANSAN Athletics Director Lew Perkins watches the final minutes of the football game against Texas Tech Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. Kansan sports columnist Ryan Greene putts on the 10th hole of Alvamar County Club. Greene challenged KU senior golfer Kevin Ward to a round of golf. Ward shot a 69 and Greene finished with a 95. Golfer bests Greene on greens Ward follows through on a swing during his round against Greene. The two played at Alvamar Country Club. Jared Soares/KANSAN When God invented golfers, he did not come up with Kevin Ward. Kevin's sweet swing looks as though it benefited from divine intervention, but the truth is that it came from years of practice, toil and perseverance. Either way, Kansas senior golfer Kevin Ward makes golf look easy. When he tees off, his Titleists consistently go about 320 yards down the middle of the fairway. SPORTS COMMENTARY In the fairway, every swing is perfect. On the green, if his putt is within 15 feet, it's automatic. It's like watching someone play Tiger Woods on Playstation 2. Unlike my HORSE competition with Keith Langford, I knew there was no way I could take Kevin. Instead, what I saw during 18 holes and three hours was RYAN GREENE rgreene@kansan.com Kevin is a top collegiate golfer, and I play maybe four times a year. So one can only imagine what happened when I went to Alvamar Golf Club to go 18 holes with KU's top duffer. insight into one of Kansas most intriguing student athletes. So without further ado, it's time to head to the first tee. Pre-Game Kevin Ward is to Alvamar Golf Club, Kansas's home course, what Norm Peterson was to Cheers. Everyone knows his name. That happens after playing there five times a week for the past four years. No matter who is on the course, they greet him with a warm smile and encouraging small talk. When we got into our cart, I knew this was his turf. The dead giveaway was that he has a key that starts any of the carts, any time he wants. Plus, he knows the course's cart paths like people know their neighborhood's streets. It was obvious that Kevin Ward was at home at Alvamar. 1st Hole Kevin whips out a Taylor Made R7 driver, which has removable weights and lets you control the path of your ball. Of course, it only works if you have the textbook swing to match it, which Kevin does. He backs up the hefty retail price when he rocks his first drive about 300 yards right down the fairway. Having not played in about a month, my first drive was surprisingly decent going about 50 yards shorter than Kevin's, but straight. to my old ways of hitting everything off the tee to the right. Kevin sort of did the same, but much longer. Kevin's second shot leaves him about 200 yards out from the green, but with an interesting decision. Does he punch it out into the fairway and sacrifice the stroke? On the day's first par five, I revert Or does he try his luck and slap it through the tree in front of him? Kevin opts for the latter, and pulls his first of many Tin Cup moments of the day, sticking it right in front of the green. Even more ridiculous was the exchange we had after the hole. He got a five to save par, while I bogeyed with a six. Greene: "You know, if I had any kind of a short game, I wouldn't be that bad." Ward: "I hear ya. Me too" Who ever said Kevin Ward isn't a modest guy? SEE GOLF ON PAGE 8A
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Wakin' in the lake Ginny Weatherman/KANSAN Matt Ostmeyer, Stilwell senior, surfs off the wake of his boat Sunday at Clinton Lake. Ostmeyer is the KU Wakeboard Club president. Check out the club Web site at www.kuwakeboard.blogspot.com for more information about wakeboarding and surfing. Fantasy football engages all types of football fans BY FRED A. DAVIS III fdavis@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTSWITHER A small group of 20-something males are huddled around a computer, some jotting last-second notes, the others furiously flipping magazine pages. The guy at the computer clicks his mouse one last time and passionately declares: "Ghetto Children are now on the clock!" Welcome to the deranged, yet never dull, world of fantasy football. For an activity once associated with number-crunching, stat-crazed geeks and die-hard fans, fantasy football is now as prevalent and widely accepted as missed Kansas field goals. Thanks to the Internet and the popularity of the NFL, fantasy football's rapid growth over the last 15 years has culminated into a billion-dollar industry. In 1989, SEE FANTASY ON PAGE 8A Photo Illustration by Kit Leffler/KANSAN --- 46 1