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SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
www.kansan.com
ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
Baseball loses to football
Fall and football. The two words seem synonymous with one another. This season, everything else in the national sporting world now bows to football.
I love football. But every year its arrival is made so overwhelmingly present that it shadows the professional sport with greater fall importance: baseball.
I understand the hype behind kicking off the National Football League and college football seasons, but the fact is this is play-off time in the big leagues.
I am going a little overboard here, it's not like baseball just drops off the planet once football starts. It is depressing, though, for the baseball fan to watch baseball coverage go from almost constant to thrown in somewhere after football highlights.
Even worse is that the overlap causes the football uproar to crowd the major league season at its peak point.
While the onslaught of commentary keeps us informed about week two in the NFL, the fact that there are merely two weeks left in the Major League Baseball season is barely an afterthought.
I walk through campus and hear the majority of students dishing out this week's fantasy football scores, questioning how Notre Dame managed to beat Michigan and Michigan State or how the Kansas City Chiefs can already be left for dead.
I must remember that this is a college campus and college baseball is not at full tilt the way our beloved major league past time is. I love that we back our football team and want Saturday's games at the top of everyone's conversation.
What I don't hear, however, is that Barry Bonds became a member of the 700 club on Friday, that Ichiro Suzuki is only 22 hits away from breaking George Sisler's 1920 record or that we just might see baseball's two biggest curses in the post season again this year.
It is no one's fault that the NFL starts its season when it does. The
SEE BASEBALL ON 6B
Freshman kickers take starting jobs
After missing 18 of his last 39 field goals, senior kicker Johnny Beck has lost the field goal-kicking duties.
At yesterday's weekly press conference, coach Mark Mangino announced that freshman Scott Webb would take over all field goal kicking for the team.
"I think he's ready." Mangino said. "The position is his now."
Beck will retain his kickoff duties, an area where he's been very successful this season.
Beck will keep this job because of his skill and Webb's questionable leg strength.
"He doesn't have the range that Johnny has," Mangino said of Webb, "but his leg is much stronger than it was in spring football."
Beck was not the only Kansas kicker to lose his job.
Senior punter Chris Tyrell bobbled two snaps Saturday and was replaced by freshman Kyle Tucker, who will be the new starter.
"On the road, we can't mishandle snaps." Mangino said.
Tucker had one punt against Northwestern for 46 yards.
— Jonathan Kealing
Golfers win on their turf
BY ERIC SORRENTINO
esorrentino@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWIRTER
The No.24 Kansas golf team played the role of host and victor yesterday, winning the 2004 Kansas Invitational at Alvamar Golf Club in Lawrence with an 870 three-round total.
"Any time you can win without playing your best golf, it's a good thing," coach Ross Randall said. "The golf course played tough again today and the pin placements were very difficult, and we handled it well."
The Jayhawks opened tournament play with two rounds on Monday. As a team, they shot 292 and 291 and finished with a 583 total after two rounds. The first-day total put the team in second place, one stroke behind the University of Texas-San Antonio.
JAYHAWK TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The Jayhawks did more than make up the one-stroke deficit yesterday, firing a 287 team score to place first with an 870 three-round total, defeating the Roadrunners by 14 strokes.
Senior Kevin Ward continued his winning ways, taking the individual championship for his fourth tournament title since June. He shot a three-round total of 212, including a 69 on the last day
Kevin Ward
Pete Krsnich
Ryan Rainer
Barrett Martens
Tyler Docking
Jason Sigler
Gary Woodland
Joey Mundy
Luke Trammell
John Newcomer
senior 212 1st
junior 220 12th
junior 220 12th (tie)
sophomore 221 17th
sophomore 223 23rd
junior 225 31st
sophomore 225 31st (tie)
freshman 228 37th
junior 230 42nd
freshman 233 54th
advancing him to a playoff for the individual title. Ward won the sudden death playoff against Kansas State senior Matt VanCleave in two holes.
Senior Andrew Price finished fourth with a three round total of 216.
Price said that he expected successful results because the Jayhawks used the course at Alvamar as their practice facility.
"For not hitting as well as I would have liked to and not putting as well as I would have liked, I played OK," Price said.
Six Kansas golfers competed individually without contributing to the overall team score. Among them was sophomore Barrett Martens, who finished in a tie for
17th after shooting a 221 three-round total. Martens' tournament included a second-round 68, the lowest of the day and his career.
"Three of my last six rounds have been in the 60s in qualifying," Martens said. "I just knew that that was going to come out."
Kansas State placed second in the tournament with a three-round total of 877. Texas-San Antonio placed third, shooting a three-round total of 882
The Jayhawks will try to continue their winning streak October 4-5 at the Windon Memorial Intercollegiate in Lake Forest, Ill.
Edited by Paige Worthy
Joshua Kendall/KANSAN
Senior golfer Kevin Ward putts on the 17th green Tuesday during the 2004 Kansas Invitational at the Alvamar Golf Club. Ward took first place individually in the two-day tournament, which the Jayhawks hosted and won overall.
Receiver keys attack
Brandon Rideau celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the game against Northwestern last Saturday. Kansas will take on Texas Tech this Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Kit Leffler/KANSAN
BY JONATHAN KEALING
jkealeng@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
Last weekend, Northwestern's defense shut down the Kansas running game That didn't bode well for the Jayhawks ii
the eventual loss, but it gave the receivers an opportunity to shine.
Senior wide receiver Brandon Rideau hauled in two touchdown passes in the game, putting him at the top of the team in individual touchdowns this season.
Those three touchdown receptions
RIDEAU
place Rideau in a three-way tie for third among Big 12 receivers.
In addition to his touchdown receptions, Rideau leads the team in total catches as well as total yards. Rideau has racked up 164 yards and pulled down 16 passes, averaging 10.2 yards per catch.
"I feel like I've been growing, getting comfortable with playing in the game," Rideau said.
Before the season started, Rideau and junior receiver Mark Simmons were expected to catch the vast majority of passes.
In addition, with the graduation of quarterback Bill Whittimore, the team was expected to depend on the passing game more than it did last year. Whittimore's replacement, sophomore quarterback Adam Barmann, is built more like a pocket passer and is more
comfortable in that role than as a runner.
"We like to throw the football," Barmann said after Saturday's loss to Northwestern.
In Saturday's game, the Jayhawks rushed just 26 times while attempting 51 passes.
"The game started slow for me, but once the game got going, situations got a little more tough, a little more challenging," Rideau said.
Rideau thrived off of those challenges. Both of his touchdowns in Saturday's game came in the fourth quarter as Kansas was trying to mount a comeback from a 13-3 deficit.
Rideau's catches came just five minutes apart. The second propelled the Jayhawks to its only lead of the game, 17-13.
This weekend, Kansas will take on Texas Tech, a team that loves to pass the ball. The Red Raiders' style of play has been compared by some to the high-scoring intensity of a video game. Last weekend, Texas Tech beat Texas Christian. 70-35.
Rideau said he wasn't worried about the Jayhawks' ability to keep up with the Red Raiders.
He also said, however, that the receivers were going to depend on the running backs and the offensive line to get things started and to help keep the Texas Tech defense off balance.
"With the type of offense we run, we can match throwing the ball, have a shootout all of the game." Rideau said.
"I just want to help my team win and get to a bowl game," Rideau said.
Recruiting: a whole new ballpark
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
Recruiting athletes to the University of Kansas could be a little trickier this year.
The University did away with Crimson Crew, the organization designed specifically for the recruitment of football players, before the start of this athletic season and just before the NCAA enacted stricter recruiting regulations for all universities nationwide. The new reforms will directly affect the recruiting process for all athletic programs at the University.
The NCAA adopted the new reforms after the organization's board of directors met on Aug. 9, 2004, in the aftermath of a recruiting scandal at the
University of Colorado. In the Colorado case, several women accused the football program of using sex and alcohol to entice potential athletes. The reforms involve tighter regulations about the treatment of recruits during visits.
Under the new regulations, only KU Ambassadors or current athletes can recruit prospective athletes, said Kara Milligan, former Crimson Crew director. Organizations that recruit only athletes, such as Crimson Crew, are no longer allowed.
Without the help of Crimson Crew, the University has to adjust to a new recruiting process, said Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director.
"With Crimson Crew we knew what was going to happen," said Marchiony. "Whenever you change the process you
have to concentrate on it to make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row."
--with new NCAA rules.
The football program will be most affected by the elimination of Crimson Crew because it recruits the most athletes, Marchiony said. Milligan said the men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the volleyball team, usually had current players host potential recruits.
The University is not the only school that has to make adjustments to comply
Marchiony said the new policy would not affect the number of athletes the University could bring in or the quality of the athletes' visits.
"It will change the process of what we do when they are here," Marchiony said. "Rules change all the time. We just have to adjust."
"Everybody is in the same boat," he said.
The policy changes didn't directly affect the University until the Kansas-Tulsa football game on Sept. 4, the first opportunity for Kansas recruits to see a game during a visit.
The new rules require schools to use standard cars to transport recruits to and from the airport and offer meals that are similar to what are offered on campus. In the past, some schools have chosen to pick recruits up in expensive cars and treat them to high-priced dinners. The NCAA also banned private planes and expensive hotels from the treatment afforded to recruits.
Edited by Paige Worthy