Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Thursday
October 14, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
Stacie Frain, a member of the Kansas rowing team, teaches junior high school while studying for her Master's Degree.
Big 12 Football
SEE PAGE 3B
Texas A&M quarterback Randy McCown looks to continue his success this weekend against Kansas.
SEE PAGE 4B
Major League Baseball
The Atlanta Braves used strong pitching to defeat the New York Mets again in Game Two of the NLCS.
SEE PAGE 5B
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Basketball family mourns Wilt's death
By Matt Tait
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Chamberlain: died of an apparent heart attack
The Kansas basketball family lost one of its most famed members Tuesday. Yesterday, Kansas coach Roy Williams spoke on the loss of that member — Wilt Chamberlain.
The former Kansas center died suddenly of congestive heart failure Tuesday at his Bel Air, Calif., home, said Chamberlain's assistant, Sy Goldberg. Goldberg told The Associated Press yesterday that Chamberlain had lost 30 to 40
pounds during the last few weeks and that his health had deteriorated rather quickly during the last month.
"This is a huge loss for the Kansas basketball family." Williams said. "Over 11 years ago when I came here I wanted to make sure people understood that past players would be important to our program. What he did in the game of basketball will never be touched."
The news of Chamberlain's death reached the nation late Tuesday
afternoon. As Chamberlain's fans and family alike came out one after another to mourn their fallen hero, Williams transcended both lines as a boy, Williams rooted for Chamberlain, and as a man, Williams became a part of his basketball family.
"He was always one of my heroes," Williams said. "I always rooted for him against Bill Russell, and I didn't like the fact that people blamed one man for not winning championships."
Members of Kansas' current basketball team, some who met Chamberlain two years ago, expressed their sympathy as well.
"It is a loss. It was an honor to meet him because of what he did at the University of Kansas and in the NBA," said senior forward Nick Bradford. "Any time we lose someone in the Kansas family, it is difficult. We mourn for his family, and we recognize his accomplishments."
Williams, who worked under legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith for 10 years, also talked of Smith's comments about coaching
See LATE NIGHT on page 2B
Jayhawks set Final Four as season goal
The women's basketball team talks after Media Day. The goal announced at Media Day was that the team would be shooting for the Final Four this year. Photo by Kate Levenson/KANSAN
By Melinda Weaver
By Melinda Weaver
sports@kansas.com
Kansan sportswriter
Anticipation and aspiration filled the Naismith Lounge in Allen Fieldhouse yesterday as the women's basketball team met to discuss the coming season.
The message throughout Media Day was the same — the team would like to make it to the Final Four, and it thinks that is a legitimate goal.
"We have a solid returning nucleus," said Jennifer Jackson, junior point guard. "Everyone is healthy, and we are very focused. We know that our goals are high, and it will take a lot of work. It takes a 12-month commitment to get to the Final Four, and we feel like we have accomplished that. We're bigger and stronger, and I don't think our goals are unrealistic."
The team has a special reason to desire a trip to the Final Four this season, more so than in the past because this year it will be held in Philadelphia, where coach Marian Washington was raised.
"It would be especially special to go to
the Final Four this year because it is in Coach Washington's home town," said Casey Pruitt, sophomore guard. "She could play in front of her home crowd and her mom. And the regional is in Kansas City, so we would have local support. We can have the place full of our fans."
However, Washington pointed out that getting to the Final Four took a seasonlong commitment.
"Everything has to fall into place to make it to the Final Four," Washington said. "We have to get a good seed, which has been a problem for us in the past. It really hurt us last year to have to play Purdue on their home court in the second round. The girls have to realize that they have to work hard every game to earn a good seed."
Last season, the team had similar goals after making a Sweet 16 appearance in 1997.
See TEAM'S on page 3B
Women see streak end as Wildcats snare 3-1 win
Sports@kansan.com
By Shawn Hutchinson
Kansas middle blocker Amanda Reves gathers herself while waiting for a set from Molly LaMere. The Jayhawks fell 3-1 to Kansas State in Manhattan yesterday. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
Kansan sportswriter
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Within the dim atmosphere of Ahearn Fieldhouse, the Kansas volleyball team was left in the dark last night.
The Jayhawks saw their three-match winning streak snapped in a 3-1 loss to No. 13 Kansas State in front of a crowd of 5,011. The loss dropped Kansas to 13-5 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12 Conference. K-State improved to 13-2 overall and remained the only undefeated team in the Big 12 at 7-0.
Ray Bechard said. "They keep bringing heat, and I think it wears you down after awhile."
"They're relentless and they pressure and pressure you." said Kansas coach
has been converted to house a rowdy volleyball environment with little lighting and surprisingly good acoustics. That seemed may have bothered the Jayhawks, who came out flat in the first game by digging themselves into a 4-0 hole after four attack errors.
Ahearn Fieldhouse, which once served as a basketball arena,
Kansas recovered by going on an 11-6 run and took the lead at 11-10 when K-State senior outside hitter Dawn Cady committed an attack error. Cady responded with four kills down the stretch as K-State scored the next five points to win the first game, 15-11.
After that, Kansas sophomore setter Molly LaMere picked up an ace, senior middle blocker Anné Kreimer added a kill, and Cady followed that up with an attack error, and the Kansas bench
points to the
The Jayhawks came back with a
vengeance in game two. Kansas junior
outside hitter Nancy Bell had four kills,
as the Jayhawks ran to a 12-10 lead.
The Jayhawks, though, came out an entirely different team after the break, losing game three 15-8 after trailing 12-3, and losing game four, 15-9.
erupted as the Jayhawks won game two, 15-10.
"I think we need to have a positive attitude after this," Bell said. "We know they're nationally ranked, and we came
in here and fought hard."
The Jayhawks were dominated by K-State's outside hitters Cady and sophomore Liz Wegner. Cady had a match-high 29 kills, while Wegner chipped in 20.
"We did a decent job on Wegner." Bechard said. "But with Cady, if you
block her, she just swings harder the next time. She just symbolizes their
entire team. She's tough and she never savs die."
kansas won't have long to recover. The Jayhawks will next be in action tomorrow, when they take on the No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies at 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse, prior to Late Night with Roy Williams.
Edited by Allan Davis
Let's all put Wilt's death in perspective
The problem with sports is the same thing that's wonderful about it. It's that the good has been stretched too far. This has become even more obvious after Wilt Chamberlain died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack.
Listening to and reading what people said after Chamberlain's death, you would have thought they were talking about Robocop. They called him "invincible," and "indestructible." Even "larger than life."
With all due respect to Chamberlain and his loved ones, give me a break.
Invincible? Popeye after a spinach meal is invicible.
Indestructible? The Roman empire in its prime was indestructible.
Larger than life? God, maybe.
But Wilt Chamberlain? Come on. He was more than seven feet tall. A heart can't
pump blood to more than seven feet of human being for much more than Chamberlain's 63 years.
Look at the record book and you'll have no problem seeing he was a spectacular athlete; averaged more than 50 points twice during an NBA season; scored 100 points one game; led the league in assists one year; played professional
Sam
Mellinger
sports columnist
spots @kansan.com
volleyball and held several track records while at Kansas.
Roy Williams said that Chamberlain was his "hero" as a boy. Someone who had played with Chamberlain said he "wasn't supposed to die." What if Chamberlain had never scored more than 75 points in a game? Still not supposed to die? 50 points?
I don't mean to pick on Chamberlain or trivialize his death. From everything people say about him, he tried to use his celebrity status for good. Much of his effect on people probably had to do with his sheer size. When he came to Kansas a few years ago for his jersey retirement, his physical dominance only added to his already substantial mystique.
"He made Eric Chenowith look like a point guard," former North Carolina coach Dean Smith once told Williams.
That day he stayed at Allen Fieldhouse well after the Jayhawks beat KState just signing autograph after autograph after autograph. Bob Frederick, athletics director, timed Chamberlain.
Why is someone with superior athletic ability thought to be a superior being? Maybe nobody on this planet can drive a bus like you. Nobody notices. Maybe you're the best chemist in the world. Nobody cares.
"Three hours and 18 minutes," he said.
"There was not one person in the fieldhouse that day who wanted Wilt's autograb but did not get it."
But hit a baseball over a fence 70 times in a season, and you're a hero. Score 100 points in one game, and you're "not supposed to die."
Chamberlain obviously had a huge impact on millions of people, most of whom never met him. And that's what I'm getting at.
But like I said in the first sentence, this is the same thing that's wonderful about sports, it's just gone too far sometimes. The right athletes give us people to look up to. They give us an example of achievement to strive for.
Taken in moderation, athletics can show us what hard work can help us accomplish. It can also show us what can happen if we take what we have for granted.
But when you start thinking someone is invincible because he can dunk a basketball, you're not taking it in moderation. No, say someone is indestructible, larger than life or not supposed to die, and you're downing the entire bottle.
Sports are a great way to leave reality once in a while. Football fans can forget their bosses, their deadlines and their debts for a few hours every weekend. That's wonderful. But start saying that Brett Favre is indestructible because he led another fourth-quarter comeback last Sunday, and you've gone too far.
Mellinger is a Lawrence senior in journalism.