4B
LA
842
8B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2004
LANGFORD: Greene falls short in HORSE contest
CONTINUED FROM 1A
Game One
My hopes immediately rose as Keith missed a three-pointer from the wing, and I followed this by draining a baseline jumper.
What made the shot even sweeter was that Keith missed it, giving him an early H. I immediately had images of me being carried off the court on my photographer, Jared's, shoulders in triumph.
With some momentum, I swished a three-pointer at the top of the key. This was the shot that Langford referred to the entire game as the easiest
shot in basketball, but he missed it. My fear earlier was that I would show up and be swept out of the gym within five minutes, not even getting a letter on him.
But here was the 5-foot-10 Ryan Greene leading big bad Keith Langford with an early H-O.
Of course, it was only a matter of time until Keith put my dreams to rest. He banked a three from a good two feet beyond the arc. Unless you practice this shot, like he probably does, it's all based on luck.
Then, after getting me on another banked three and tak-
Jared Scares/KANSAN
kansan sports columnist Ryan Greene and KU guard Keith Langford share a laugh after Greene failed to make a shot. Langford beat Greene 3 games to 0 at the Horesji Center.
ing over the lead, H-O to H-O-R, Keith tried to get into my head. See, Langford's weakness is his right hand, just as mine is my left. I set up to try a short, left-handed bank shot, telling him he would have to do the same with his right hand.
When I said this, he immediately went to the top of the key, telling me that he would wait his turn because I could never make my shot attempt. I drained it, but again, so did he.
Jared Soares/KANSAN
A few minutes later, Keith had the H-O to H-O-R-S lead. In an attempt to nail down game one, Keith iced two corner threes.
It should come as no surprise that just moments later, Keith put game one on the rocks.
To my surprise, so did I. Why is it that when I'm putting on a shooting display like this, Coach Bill Self is nowhere in sight? Talk about your injustices.
Game Two
This time around, I decided to do like Keith said and focus on simplicity.
Once again I had an early H-O lead on K-Freeze. Even though Keith's second letter came after I hit a three-pointer in the corner about four feet beyond the line and behind the backboard, he still wasn't sweating.
My next attempt was a bank shot from the wing, and with a bounce on the rim even more unbelievable than Michael J. Fox's in Teen Wolf, it went in. Keith made it, but it didn't look as cool as mine. I still believe he should have received a letter here based on style points, but whatever.
You know, as a sportswriter, after you've covered enough games, you learn how to determine the true turning point of a contest.
Kansan sports columnist Ryan Greene, left, attempts a shot during a game of H-O-R-S-E against KU guard Keith Langford. The best of 5 series took place at the Horesji Center.
The turning point for this H-O-R-S-E series came with the second game tied, H-O to H-O.
Keith pulled up to the top of the key and stroked three consecutive bombs. This was a shot I was draining with ease just minutes earlier, but now I
duffed it three times. Keith took the second game and broken my spirits in the process. Maybe it's a good thing coach Self wasn't watching. Langford 2, Greene 0
miracle three to put Valparaiso over Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, this was the single greatest shot I had ever seen."
Game 3
"O other than Bryce Drew's
It should come as no surprise that I once again took a two-letter lead, this time with a long three and another Teen Wolf miracle.
Keith then must have been pretty peeved, because he went back to the straight-away three that sunk me in game two.
This game, I was able to get Keith to H-O-R, as I swished
I found it appropriate to tell Keith "hey, that's a bitch move." Note to self. Never call Keith Langford a bitch.
This time, he hit it twice, and I subsequently missed it twice.
an improbable shot behind the backboard and over the shot clock, but my second lead of the game was short-lived. Keith then began to hit shots like there was no tomorrow.
Here was the guy who scored 22 points in the first half against Arizona in 2003. I hit an impressive four shots to stave off elimination, trailing H-O-R to H-O-R-S.
But then Langford got philosophical on me, sort of.
As Keith strolled to set up the winner, he busted out this line: "Yall ever heard of Jim Harbaugh?"
Being a lifelong Michigan Wolverines and Chicago Bears fan, of course I knew who he was. At first, I thought Keith was just blurting it up, but then he mentioned Jim Harbaugh's nickname, "Captain Comeback."
With the verbal steam already rolling, he put Jared in front of him and stroked a 30-foot three, splashing nothing but nylon.
Other than Bryce Drew's miracle three to put Valparaiso over Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, this was the single greatest shot I had ever seen.
It was fitting that this was the only shot all afternoon that I air-balled.
one game, but hearing him tell me I was a lot better than he thought I'd be was decent consolation.
My goal coming into this contest was to beat Keith just
But let's face it, I still pulled three Boston Red Sox-sized chokes.
HAIRCU
BLOWDRY
COLOR
Langford 3, Greene 0
What made the experience even better was Keith's nature after our contest.
I knew he wouldn't talk trash on me. Instead, he exuded that quiet cool that has become his signature.
During the next 10 or 15 minutes, we talked about everything from free throws to the Syracuse game to the NBA.
Keith tried to give reason to why a straight-away three is easier than a free throw, ultimately settling on the explanation that there is no explanation.
He also talked about how had he gone 9-for-10 from the free-throw line instead of 5-for-10 in Kansas' 81-78 loss to Syracuse, there's no guarantee he'd still be at Kansas right now — but instead possibly donning an NBA uniform.
Some reporters may argue that basketball stars are nothing more than walking, talking clichés with nothing to say. It's amazing what some of them have to say when the talking is done on a basketball court.
Greene is a Vernon Hills, Ill. senior in journalism.
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