Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
More photos from the Jayhawks 34-17 loss to Texas A&M and Late Night with Roy Williams.
Monday
October 18, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
MLB Playoffs
SEE PAGE 8B
Robin Ventura drove home the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning, and the New York Mets avoided elimination for the second consecutive game.
SEE PAGE 5B
Intramurals
Intramural flag football wrapped up its season yesterday with six division championship games.
SEE PAGE 6B
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Jayhawks lose momentum and game
Kansas leads Aggies through first half, falls to curse of big plays
by Mike Miller sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
COLLEGE STATION. Texas — For the second straight year, Kansas gave
plays that made him a star. The 34-17 loss to Texas A&M was both frustrating and encouraging for Coach Terry Allen, who saw his team take a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter, then watched the Aggies score 14 points in the final two minutes of the first half and take control of the game.
Texas A&M scored 52 seconds later and had a seven point lead at halftime.
Texas A&M all it could handle. But for the second straight week it was the big plays that did in the Jayhawks.
An Aggie touchdown with 1:52 left in the first half was followed by a Mitch Bowles fumble on the ensuing kickoff.
"It's kind of hard when you get to the point when you're encouraged when you lose by 17 points," Allen said.
The game was a blowout loss like the other four Kansas losses this year, but with a twist. The early 10-point lead was because the Jayhawks came out and asserted themselves both offensively and defensively. After a scoreless first quarter, the 'Hawks held advantages in time of possession and
total yards. They didn't punt until their fourth possession, and by that time, it was 10-3.
Then the big plays hit.
Then the big blips in Maryland, Colorado, San Diego State and Kansas State games, big gains hurt Kansas by disrupting its rhythm and seizing the momentum.
The two late-first quarter touchdowns were followed by a 78-yard touchdown from Texas A&M quarterback Randy
See SMITH'S on page 2B
Kansas junior Kenny Gregory soars toward the basket during the Jayhawks' warm-ups before the annual Late Night scrimmage. Photo by Roger Nomer/KANSAN
Commercial breaks highlight at Late Night
Kansan sportswriter
Of the many skits during Late Night with Roy Williams, the skits' "commercial breaks" were a take-off of the MasterCard commercials that state, "Some things are priceless. For everything else, there's MasterCard."
By Melinda Weaver
Some things are priceless — like touching Jeff Boschee's shavenly head, slapping heads with preseason All-American Lynn Pride and, for Kansas fans, realizing that it is finally time for basketball season.
Though Late Night had several skits mimicking popular movies and musical acts of 1999, the MasterCard commercials were a favorite among fans.
"There were a lot of skits, so it was really hard to pick a favorite, but I really like the MasterCard commercial with Jeff Boschee," said Jayne Hagdon, Lee's Summit, Mo., sophomore. "I thought it was so cute when the little kids came out and rubbed his head. I am a big Boschee fan."
am a big boss. The skits were based around a simple framework: as Kansas yell leader Brad Shepard awaited the coming of the new millennium with his shopping cart of food and gallons of bottled water, he decided to flip through the television channels.
Movie highlights included Star Wars, in which Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Terry Nooner, tried to help
Midnight
See SKITS on page 3B
Madness
kansas forward Nick Bradford plays Austin Powers in a skit during Late Night with Roy Williams on Friday night. The Blue team defeated the Crimson team 54-31 in front of a capacity crowd in the scrimmage that followed. Photo by Eric Sahrmann/KANSAN
Midnight scrimmage pits freshmen-laden Blue against Crimson
By Matt Tait
sports@kanson.com
Kansas sportswrite
Last week, Kansas coach Roy Williams said that the men's basketball team would experiment with new offensive styles this season. If Friday night's Late Night with Roy Williams was any indication of what style that might be, Kansas fans better be prepared to watch their Jayhawks run.
When the clock struck midnight Saturday morning, the 1999-2000 basketball season officially began. The Jayhawks split their team into two seven-man teams, the Crimson and the Blue, and played a 30-minute scrimmage before a capacity crowd at Allen Fieldhouse.
the fieldhouse and illuminated the late Wilt Chamberlain's retired jersey. Chamberlain's "Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk" speech from his 1988 jersey retirement ceremony was played as well.
But perhaps the most impressive and touching moment of the entire night was just minutes before the scrimmage. The spotlight shined to the south wall of
The tribute received a standing ovation from fans and coaches, and was followed by a brief moment of silence in Chamberlain's honor.
Once play began, the Blue jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead with several fastbreak layups. The Crimson team settled down before the end of the first half, but the Blue team led 33-20 and won the game 54-31.
"I think we got more than something out of it," Williams said. "I see that depth we have as something we can use to our advantage."
brook bavarian The Blue squad consisted of senior Nick Bradford, junior Kenny Gregory, sophomores John Crider and Jeff
See FIRST on page 3B
Jayhawks have the heart, talent to beat Missouri
The Kansas football team sent a message Saturday morning.
As the University's students still were in bed with hangovers from post-Late Night partying, Terry Allen's team was about to do something remarkable.
It not only beat the spread against No. 13 Texas A&M, but it led the Aggies 10-0 in the second quarter. Even though the Jayhawks fell behind 24-10 in the third quarter, they had a chance to tie the game late after Dylan Smith threw to tight end Sean McDermott on a 28-foot touchdown pass.
And while most students spent the weekend talking about freshman Drew Gooden's dunks at Late Night, how excited they were to see him, Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison take the winter and how we're going to the Final Four, I was thinking about something else — watching the Memorial Stadium goal posts go down this Saturday after a big win against Missouri.
Chris Fickett sports editor sports@kansan.com
Not only did the Kansas football team tell its fair-weather fans Saturday that football season wasn't over, it also sent Missouri a message that it must give a better performance than it did against Iowa State in order to beat the Jayhawks.
With running backs David Winbush and Mitch Bowles healthy, Kansas football showed its doubters that Terry Allen is not the problem. Winbush's and Bowles' running opened up the passing game. And with Smith protected in the Kansas backfield, he arguably had his best passing performance, throwing only a handful of incomplitions in the first half.
There were problems, though. In case you were among those suffering from post-Late Night depression, Kansas lost the game, 34-17.
Had a questionable roughing the-kicker penalty not been called late in the first half, Kansas could have gone into the locker room at halftime tied or better.
in Kansas' running game had had enough gas in the tank for the fourth quarter, the Jayhawks could have used play-action passing more effectively. Instead, A&M's "wrecking crew" defense adjusted well, shut down Bowles and Winbush, and Smith was running for his life in the Kansas backfield.
If Quincy Roe, Muhammad Abdul-Rahim and rest of the secondary had found a way to stop getting beaten deep, Chris Taylor's 78-yard touchdown reception and 41-yard catch, which set up the Aggies' second touchdown, might not have happened.
nighther have happier. But Terry Allen is a good coach, and if he has the right personnel available, he knows how to use it. His game plan Saturday almost gave Kansas a victory against a top-ranked opponent.
The Tigers are not nationally ranked. Plus, we hate them.
we have Allen and the Jayhawks will look at the film this week and see a lot of what they did right and also what they did wrong. The team will hit the weight room, scrimmage and run laps.
And come 4 p.m. Saturday, Kansas will have held off the Tigers in the fourth quarter, and Kansas fans will be storming the goal posts.
After all, it will be the closest thing to a bowl game that Jayhawk fans will see this year.
rickett is a Palos Heights, Ill., senior in journalism.
Weekend skid brings soccer team's winning streak to close
By Chris Wristen sports@kansan.com kansan sportwriter
AMES, Iowa — The Kansas soccer team's bid for a conference tournament berth hit a roadblock this past weekend as it dropped two games.
as it dropped.
After having its three-game winning streak snapped by No. 4 Nebraska after a 8-1 defeat on Friday night, Kansas was shut out by the Iowa State Cyclones 2-0 yesterday.
The Jayhawks and Cyclones were scoreless for 39 minutes before Iowa State found the net twice in just more than a minute and carried a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Krista Odenwald drove down the left goal line and slid a shot inside the near post and beneath Kansas goleaker Betsy Pollard. Seventy-one seconds
later, Janelle Beil chipped the ball over Pollard's head and into the back of the net from 20 yards out. The Cyclones had one final chance in the waning seconds of
the half when they fired a bullet to the near post, but Pollard made the save.
Coach Mark Francis was not pleased with the way his team performed.
way his team performed. "We played terrible," Francis said. "The first 30 minutes we played very well, but the rest of the game we played (very poor). They definitely wanted it a little bit more than we did."
The second half was fought evenly, and the Jayhawks (8-7 overall, 3-5 in the Big 12 Conference) were unable to score. The Jayhawks best opportunity was in the 58th minute when sophomore Melanie
The Jayhawks will try to get back in winning form when they battle the Texas Longhorns at 4 p.m. Friday at SuperTarget Field.
Despite being outscored 10-1 during the weekend, the Jayhawks are confident they will bounce back next weekend in their final shot at a tournament berth.
Edited by Darrin Peschka
Schroeder fired a shot that was cleared by Iowa State goalkeeper Hayley Mercer. Kansas fired two more shots off rebounds, but both were stopped by the Cyclones.
C
Yesterday
BOX SCORES
lowa State 2, Kansas 0. Iowa State (Krista Odenwald, Janelle Beil); Shutout by Hayley Mercer). Records: Iowa State 10-
5, 3-4 Big 12; Konsas 8-7, 3-5 Big 12.
Educ
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Nebruska 8, Kansas 1. Nebraska (Meghan Anderson 2, Jenny Benson 2, isabelle Morneau, Sharla Nonen, Kelly Rheem, Najah Williams). Kansas (Natalie Hooyeld).