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2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
INSIDE SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2004
Kansas athletics calendar
TODAY
Volleyball vs. Texas Tech at home at 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Soccer vs. Nebraska at home at 5 p.m.
- Soccer vs. Nebraska at home on 10/27*
* Tennis at Hurricane insurance at Tulsa, Okla, all day*
* Tuesday, Oct 31, all day*
SATURDAY
Minn., TBA
Women's Golf at Texas Tech, all day
Vercely County Rivervale for Rocky River Incorporated in Minneapolis,
*Women go to Texas at tech.*
*Football vs. Texas Tech at home at 2:30 p.m.*
Cyclist doubted
REGENSDORF, Switzerland — Olympic cycling champion Tyler Hamilton declared his innocence yesterday while awaiting results of backup tests for possible blood doping that could cost him the gold medal.
"I have always been an honest person. I am devastated to be here tonight. My family is devastated. My team is devastated. My friends are devastated." Hamilton said, adding that he would "fight this until I don't have a euro left in my pocket."
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
for Hamilton. Follow-up tests were started Tuesday and will be finished Wednesday, although it isn't clear when the results will be announced, Hamilton said.
Cycling's governing body said tests at the Athens Olympics on Aug. 19 and at the Spanish Vuelta on Sept. 11 showed evidence of blood from another person, according to a spokesman for Hamilton's team, Phonak.
Bending it like, well, Beckham
If found guilty of a violation at the Olympics, Hamilton would lose his gold. Three athletes had gold medals revoked for doping during the Aug. 13-29 Olympics; a record 24 athletes — none American — from various sports were cited for drug-test violations at the Athens Olympics.
He said he didn't find out about the result of the Olympic test until Saturday and learned about the other Sept. 16 — the day he pulled out of the Vuelta, citing stomach problems. He acknowledged Tuesday that that move was partly because of the blood test.
Hamilton's gold was one of four medals won by American cyclists at the Athens Games — the team's best showing since winning nine at the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Cycling's governing body, UCI, used a new blood-screening machine in the tests that detects blood transfusions, human growth hormone and synthetic hemoglobin. Until now, there has been no foolproof test for detecting blood transfusions.
Hamilton denied ever receiving a transfusion which can boost an athlete's performance by increasing the amount of oxygen-transporting red blood cells in his system. He said he would be afraid of contracting AIDS from a blood transfusion.
Olympics. Hamilton's father said from the family's home in Marblehead, Mass., that he and his wife Lorna spoke to their son by phone Tuesday.
"They've tried to bring down Lance Armstrong for years, and now they're trying to bring down Tyler," Bill Hamilton said. "I think it's a witch hunt. It will be proven, mark my words, that this is totally bogus."
Real Madrid's David Beckham, center, celebrates his goal against Ossuna during a Spanish league soccer match yesterday at Santiago Bernabu stadium in Madrid, Spain. Beckham's club Real madrid waned 1-0.
Football's oldest team struggles
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAMPA, Fla. — Just 20 months ago, his Tampa Bay Buccaneers were celebrating a Super Bowl title, and Jon Gruden was being hailed as a coaching genius. Now all the talk is about whether the Bucs are simply capable of getting the ball in the end zone and winning a game.
Gruden's team is 0-2 for the first time in his career, and the league's youngest coach is battling a growing perception that his team is in ruins.
"I don't have very many friends today, OK," he said. "You find out who your real friends are when you get beat in a humbling, humiliating fashion."
The Bucs have lost four straight games dating to 2003, a rollercoaster year that began with the Super Bowl in January and ended with a 7-9 season
marked by Gruden's ugly spat with receiver Keyshawn Johnson and the coach's rift with former general manager Rich McKay.
Johnson was benched with six weeks remaining in the season. McKay was finished before the end of the year, too, as he left for the Atlanta Falcons.
McKay is the man who helped Tony Dungy build Tampa Bay into a contender. Gruden got the team over the hump, but now some fans fear he and new general manager Bruce Allen have gone overboard in putting their stamp on the roster.
Although Gruden, 41, rejects the notion he has a preference for older players, the Bucs have gone from having one of the league's youngest teams three years ago to the oldest this season, with an average age of nearly 28.
Free-agent departures and a shortage of high draft picks — it cost two No. 1s
and two No. 2s to pry Gruden away from the Oakland Raiders in 2002 have been a factor. But the truth is, Gruden and Allen are mainly responsible.
There are plenty of subplots to Tampa Bay's season: the departures of Warren Sapp and John Lynch, Keenan McCardell's holdout, and questions at quarterback. But the main storyline is the extreme makeover that appears to have left the Bucs a shell of the team that dominated the league not too long ago.
"You have to look at whatever angle you see here," defensive end Simeon Rice said. "Right now, you could have a coach that looks like a genius or an imbecile. The story is out there. It's in our power to really take this game, our own personal game, to the next level and do big things."
The Bucs signed 13 free agents who
were at least 30 the past offseason and left training camp with 16 overall, tied with New England for second-most in the league behind Carolina's 18.
One of the newcomers, 38-year-old receiver Tim Brown was released by the Raiders after being told he was no better than the fifth- or sixth-best receiver in Oakland. He's starting in Tampa Bay, even returning punts, because of injuries and McCardell's holdout.
The coach benched quarterback Brad Johnson during Sunday's 10-6 loss to the Seahawks, hoping second-year pro Chris Simms would give the team a spark.
spark.
"They're playing hard, but we're just not getting it done right now offensively." Gruden said. "It's a play here, it's a play there, and we're not that far away. But I'm confident that we can stay together."
Mizzou needs tricks, not talent, to win
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — A few trick plays helped the Missouri offense get rolling again.
One game after a disappointing 24-14 loss at Troy, the Tigers showed off the swinging gate, a flea flicker and a tailback pass in a 48-0 victory against Ball State on Saturday.
In fact, the trick plays may have been Pinkel's response to criticism that he was guiding the offense in the wrong direction. The coaching staff has encouraged quarterback Brad Smith to develop as a passer this season, even though he had run for 2,435 yards and 25 touchdowns the past two seasons. He had just 99 rushing yards in Missouri's first two games, compared to 183 in the first two games of 2003.
"I just thought that you guys might want to see it," coach Gary Pinkel joked to the media after the game. "That's why we put them in."
Against the Cardinals, Smith had more time and space to operate, allowing him to run for 83 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He continued to rely heavily on his arm, too, going 18-of-32 for 213 yards and two touchdowns. He has thrown for at least 200 yards in all three games for the Tigers (2-1) after reaching that mark just twice in 2003.
Tailback Damien Nash, who also had three touchdowns against Ball State, said offensive showing against Ball State should be the norm.
State should expect this week in and week out," Nash said. "We have to expect big plays every day."
Missouri used a dominating second quarter — including two touchdowns in a 17-second span — to take a 28-0 halftime lead. Smith noticed an aggressive instinct that wasn't present at Troy, when Missouri opened a 14-0 lead and then let the victory slip away when the Trojans scored 24 unanswered points
"We wanted to just come out and finish them off," Smith said. "We've been in that position before as an offense, like 'What are we going to do now?' Anytime we can do that for our team, it's a positive."
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