Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Although the Kansas soccer team is out of Big 12 contention, it will try to achieve a winning record this weekend in Mississippi.
Nebraska's practices have been more intense this week as the Cornhuskers are coming off a defeat against Texas last Saturday.
Friday
October 29,1999
Section:
B
Page 1
SEE PAGE 3B
College Football
SEE PAGE 8B
Kansas Rowing
The Kansas rowing team will compete in the Head of the Iowa regatta Sunday in Iowa City, Iowa.
SEE PAGE 5B
Contact the Kansam
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Sports Desk: (785) 864-4810
Sports Fax: (785) 864-0391
Sports e-mail: sports@ansan.com
A history of Big Red heartache
A host of Kansas defenders stack up a Nebraska running back in last year's game in Lincoln. The Jayhawks return home this season for the face-off against the eighth-ranked Cornhuskats at 6 p.m. tomorrow. KANSAN file photo
Kansas has lost last 30 in series by big margins
By Mike Miller sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
This Halloween weekend, the Kansas football team will face the curse of the Big Red. It's been 30 years since Pepper Rogers and 'his Jayhawks beat Nebraska 23-13 in Lincoln. Since then, it's been one massacre after another — with a few exceptions.
Nebraska eked out a 10-9 win in 1973. And 1993 was a scream for Jayhawk fans until Nebraska squeaked out a 21-20 victory.
Outside of those two games, the 'Huskers have had their way with the Jayhawks like Jason, of the Friday the 13th movies, had his way with those naughty camp counselors — they just kill the Jayhawks again and again. Nebraska has slaughtered the 'Hawks by an average of 38 points and hasn't allowed a point since Terry Allen's been at Kansas.
What makes the Cornhuskers scary is that they can intimidate teams before they step on the football field.
"Nebraska, man. The name speaks for itself," running back David Winbush said.
KANSAS VS.
NEBRASKA
When: 6 p.m. tomorrow
Where: Memorial Stadium
TV: Fox Sports Net," Sunflower
Cable channel 45
Radio: 105.9 FM; 1320 and
980 AM
That's been part of the Jayhawks' problem this season. They've been outscored 60-26 in the first quarter this season, falling behind in all but three of their games.
"That's the most paramount thing for us to do," Allen said. "Stop Nebraska on their first drive. If Nebraska comes out and rolls down the field and scores the first couple of times, game over."
Allen said the early moments of the game would be a key for success against Nebraska. The Jayhawks will have to have the correct mindset before the game.
"They do a great job of not allowing people to believe that they can be beat," Allen said. "In order to beat them, you have to believe."
Believing is a start. What would help even more is stopping the Nebraska running game. The 'Huskers are No. 8 in the NCAA in rushing yards per game, and Kansas is ranked 76th in rushing defense. The Nebraska defense is even better ranked third overall.
See TEAM on page 2B
'Hawks look to capitalize on Texas' sour mood
Kansan sportswriter
By Shawn Hutchinson
It's safe to say that the Jayhawks' next opponent won't be in the best of moods.
The Kansas volleyball team, 15-7 overall and 6-5 in the Big 12 Conference, will face the No. 9 Texas Longhorns tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns still are simmering after a 3-1 loss on Wednesday at No. 16 Texas A&M, dropping Texas' record to 15-4 and 9-2.
"I'm sure they're going to be very focused," said Kansas coach Ray Bechard. "It's an opportunity for us to compete against a Top 10 team, and we could become a better team because of it."
Kansas snatched its second straight win on Wednesday against Missouri at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The Jayhawks dominated every facet of the match, winning 15-5, 15-2 and 15-13.
"I definitely felt that everybody was on the same level, and everyone was working together," said Kansas junior outside hitter Amy Myatt. "It was just flowing."
The Jayhawks hope to keep the flow against the Longhorns, a team that Kansas faced on Sept. 22 at the Horejsi Center. In that match, Kansas jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first game and held off a late Texas rally to win, 16-14.
The Longhorns then relied on their powerful duo of middle blocker Erin Aldrich and outside hitter Kathy Tilson, who combined for 34 kills in the match. Texas won the next three games, 15-9, 15-3 and 15-8.
"I think Aldrich is probably the premier player in the league right now because she is so athletic," Bechard said. "Tilson kind of had a breakout performance against us, and she's been very hot ever since."
Defensively, the Jayhawks have been hot themselves. During their two-match winning streak, the Jayhawks recorded 47 digs against Iowa State and 40 against Missouri.
■ Kansas needs one more Big 12 victory to set the record for most conference wins in a season. The current Jayhawks are tied with the 1991 sound, which went 6-7 in Bie 8 Conference play.
"We played really well, especially defensively," said Kansas sophomore setter Molly LaMere. "We've been working on it a lot in practice and it's starting to show."
Kansas senior middle blocker Amanda Reves is just three kills shy of taking sole possession of second place on Kansas' all-time kills chart, after picking up 13 against Missouri. Cyndee Kanabel (1990-93) owns second place with 1,122 kills.
Volleyball notes
Kansas setter Molly LaMere makes the ball to middle blocker Anne Krémer in
Wednesday night's match against Missouri. Photo by Eric Sohmann/KANSAN
Edited by Ronnie Wachter
Jayhawks steal media limelight from Big 12 foes
By Matt Tait
Kansan sportswriter
day.
While some coaches had praise for the Jayhawks, Nebraska coach Danny Nee thought otherwise. Nee was one of the coaches who spoke up about Kansas being the focal point of the Big 12 in the previous years.
DALLAS — Some things never change. And that adage held true yesterday at the Big 12 Conference men's media day as the Kansas Jayhawks were the hot topic of the day.
"I think (people in the media) judge the league by Kansas, and when Kansas is not in the Top 10, you tell us the Big 12 is down, and when they're in the Top 10 you say the league is up, and I think that's (unfair). Nee said. "I just feel that there are a lot of good coaches and a lot of good players in this league."
Kansas coach Roy Williams said that the reason teams talked about Kansas was because the Jayhawks had been the league's best in the past few seasons.
"Let's be honest about it, we've been the team that you want to beat, and I like that," Williams said. "I really do, because that
means we're winning some of those games.
we're winning some of those games.
"I said when I was at North Carolina that I wish we'd have one game that we lost where the other fans would not storm the court, and that's what happens a lot of times when we lose, people storm the court. But I hope that goes on for the rest of my life."
Other coaches and players from around the league were more reserved than Nee when they talked about playing at Allen
Fieldhouse and Kansas' freshman class.
New Baylor coach Dave Bliss said that having to play at Allen Fieldhouse was one of the reasons he was not looking forward to joining the league.
Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy commented on two of Kansas' three freshmen, Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, both of whom are from Iowa.
"Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison are extremely good players, I'd say Top 20 in the nation, and I wish them both the best of luck," Eustachy said. "I think Iowa's a
See KANSAS on page 2B
Sorry 'Huskers: wins and losses lead to thrills
I lived in Nebraska for two years.
Don't give me that look. How was I supposed to know that Creighton University was in Nebraska? They don't put that in the brochure. My dad said it sounded like a good school. I said, 'Why not?' The next thing I knew was in the land of the Cornhuskers.
Office pools in Nebraska aren't won by picking more college football winners correctly than anyone else. You pick what you think will be the score of the Nebraska game at end of each quarter. They've never done it any other way.
It is difficult to understand the phenomenon that is the Nebraska football fan. Tomorrow, with as any 'Husker road game in any given city, they will pour into Lawrence by the thousands. For most fans, cheering for a team means three hours during the week to escape from reality. In Nebraska, Cornhusker football is reality. Other teams do not exist.
In 1996, when Nebraska lost to Arizona State — its first loss in three seasons — the entire city of Omaha came to a standstill. The next day, many stores didn't open. The streets
And everyone watches every 'Husker game. Everyone. Men, women, children, families, quilting groups, single moms — the blind listen to the radio.
James sports columnist
spots@kanan.com
virtually were empty. Newspapers and television stations ran advertisements for domestic abuse hotlines because they were afraid of what depressed fanatics might do (no joke). The city was mourning the loss of a loved one.
When my roommates — Joe, Darrin, Jake, Derrick — and I arrived in Nebraska two years earlier with visions of medical school dancing in our heads, we weren't Big Red fans. After being bombarded by two years of 'Husker mania, we absolutely loathed everything about the school in Lincoln.
As the final seconds ticked away in the finals, and 200 Creighton students stormed the court, clinging to the players and jumping up and down like maniacs, one of my native-Nebraskan friends looked at me and screamed "This is the greatest feeling in the world."
Last year, I reunited with my Creighton buddies in St. Louis and watched our beloved Bluejays basketball team make a Cinderella run through the Missouri Valley Tournament and land in the midst of March Madness.
We used to joke that if Creighton exploded, killing everyone on the entire campus, we still would have to turn past the "Husker injury report and game-time weather update to read about it in the Omaha World Herald.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
After the Arizona State loss, we waited for our friends, who were Nebraska natives, to come by so we could shine like Sun Devil alumni. We had waited two long years for that day, and we had our moment to gloat. But we couldn't.
That event changed me. It changed the way I think about sports. I had always wanted my favorite sports teams to heap championship trophy upon championship trophy. But at that point, I realized that the most amazing feeling in sports is to experience an upset.
Our buddies were crushed. Absolutely and completely crushed. To this day they still don't talk about it.
Before kickoff tomorrow at Memorial Stadium, Kansas fans will look up at the scoreboard and it will read Jayhawks 0, Cornhuskers 0. And, if only for a brief second, they will dream about beating Nebraska.
No matter what happens tomorrow, as you are walking away from the stadium, and the Big Red fans yell at you, don't say anything. Just smile and know that at least you had the opportunity to experience something special and amazing. Something they probably never will.
What if we don't have any turnovers?
What if a couple of breaks go our way?
James is a Hugoton senior in journalism.