Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Tuesday
Aug. 31, 1999
Section:
B
Venus Williams, who beat Lindsay Davenport last weekend, rolled to a first-round victory at the U.S. Open.
Golf
SEE PAGE 2B
Tiger Woods is starting to live up to comparisons with golf great Jack Nicklaus.
Page 1
SEE PAGE 4B
Pro Football
Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator, Fritz Shurmur, who led the Green Bay Packers defense in the 1996 Super Bowl, died of cancer yesterday.
SEE PAGE 4B
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Manning returns to Lawrence
By Melinda Weaver
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Danny Manning has had plenty of previous basketball success in Lawrence, but when he returned to his home court at Lawrence High School yesterday, he could not win a game of horse.
Manning, who led Lawrence High to the state championship in 1984 and Kansas to a NCAA title in 1988, was in Lawrence to kick off a Sallie Mae scholarship drive during an assembly at Lawrence High School.
The new scholarship will be distributed to more than 650 high schools in the Washington, Philadelphia and Kansas City areas that excel in academics and athletics.
"We set up the program in areas where
Sallie Mae has a significant corporate
Mia Hamm of the 1999 Women's World Cup Soccer Champions, Manning, Malik Rose of the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and Dawn Staley of the WNBA's Charlotte Sting were all chosen to represent Sallie Mae in the program.
presence and chose athletes to represent those areas," said Al Lord, chief executive officer of Sallie Mae. "It was easy to select (Manning) for this area. There are very few individuals who have been able to do what Danny has done."
Danny Manning:
Returns home to speak.
Unlike many athleters who enter professional sports
without a college degree, Manning attended college and completed his degree in four years.
Manning, who spends his summers in Lawrence, was approached by his agent to represent the Kansas City area schools, and he gladly accepted.
"I think it's a great idea to help students whenever they need money to move on to college," Manning said. "This is a great idea and a great program. It helps lighten the financial load that students face in college."
"You should do what you want to do and follow your own heart, but college gives you the option to do that," Manning told a gym full of Lawrence
High students. "This is the challenge I am going to give you — be the best you can be. College can help you accomplish your goals."
The program donates $25,000 to the winning school and $5,000 to three runners-up in each district. The scholarships can be distributed any way the school sees fit.
"There is a vacuum of awards for schools who do well at academics and athletics," Lord said. "There are awards for students but not schools. We find that students who are successful at both academics and athletics become good
citizens and should be rewarded."
Manning was a student who was successful in both areas. He learned the importance of academics from his family, who threatened to keep him from playing basketball when his grades were too low.
"They always stuck to that rule," Manning said. "I tested them a couple of times, but they always persevered."
Manning played an academic and athletic role in the assembly when he played a game of horse with Lawrence High students and a teacher.
Teacher Art Sloan and student Joe Mellinger were eliminated, leaving a competition between student Danni May and Manning.
On his return to his home court, Manning was defeated by May, who participates in both basketball and volleyball.
"It's always nice to come back, but it's not nice to get beat," Manning said.
- Edited by Mike Loader
Former walk-on leads with consistency
Kansas wide receiver Michael Chandler slides into the end zone after catching a second-quarter 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Zac Wegner. Chandler led the Jayhawks in receiving with four catches totaling 38 yards. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
Chandler shrugs off hearsay, plays well
By Mike Miller
By Mike Miller sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The guy voted the toughest player on the Kansas football team might also be its most consistent player.
career that Chandler, a former walk-on, has caught four passes in one game, giving him 46 career receptions.
Senior wide receiver Michael Chandler caught four passes Saturday, including a 14-yard touchdown, which tied running back David Winbush for the team high. It marked the third time in his
"He's the old man, experienced and all that," said wide receiver Termaine Fulton.
Chandler's string of fourteen games with at least one reception was snapped in last season's final game against Iowa State — the highest mark of any receiver on the team.
He also was voted one of the Jayhawks' offensive captains this season, along with quarterback Zac Wegner.
Not bad for a guy who was shot just six months ago.
When three masked men broke into Chandler's apartment the morning of Feb. 27, one of them fired a
gun at Chandler.
"I look over my shoulder occasionally, and now I look through my peephole," he said.
But Chandler, who was recovering from ankle surgery at the time, did his best to ignore rumors about why he was shot and recovered in time to begin practice in August.
"I could sit here just like everybody else and speculate why it happened, but I don't know." he said.
What Chandler does know is how to catch footballs. And Saturday he caught some when it really counted.
Two of his catches went for first downs, including one with 20 seconds left that set up the Jayhawks' second touchdown.
See CHANDLER page 2B
Soccer junior transfer injured in Kansas debut
By Chris Wristen
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Less than a minute into her Kansas debut, highly touted junior transfer Hilla Rantala fed a picturesque lead ball to a teammate, fired a shot just off the mark and then went down with an injured ankle. The injury knocked Rantala out of the remainder of Friday's 2-1 loss to Colorado and all of Sunday's 4-1 win against Wyoming. Many wondered if the result of the Colorado game would have been different if Rantala's injury hadn't occurred.
The injury was diagnosed as a sprain to her right ankle. Fortunately for the Jayhawks she is expected to return for this weekend's road trip to Utah where Kansas takes on Utah and Weber State.
"It didn't help us," coach Mark Francis said. "It definitely did not help us."
One for the record books
Kansas lakes like the first debut for this year's five freshmen — Bridget Goyen, Brianna Valento, Nikki Wahle, Mervi Kukittinen and Lindsay Hunting — went more smoothly than Rantala's. Francis was pleased with the performance of his freshman and believes they made an impact.
they made it," he said. "I think by bringing in new guys, they're hungry." Francis said. "When you put them in they want to prove a point. It's their opportunity to prove themselves and I think they really made the difference."
Junior midfielder Colleen Colvin scored her sixth career goal, placing her in a tie for fifth on the school's all-time goals list and jumping her to fourth in career points with 16.
Plenty of changes were made to the Kansas women's soccer record book in Sunday's victory over Wyoming.
Sophomore defender Natalie Hoogveld recorded a rare backsave — clearing a Wyoming shot on the goal line after it got past goalkeeper Betsy Pollard — in the first half of action.
Junior forward Meghann Haven's two assists gave her sole possession of second place on Kansas' career assists chart. Haven also became the third player in team history to record two assists in a single game.
As a team Kansas recorded five assists in the game (Haven (2), Cynthia Dahle, Kyle Watts, Melanie Schroeder). That tied the Kansas single-game assists record. Dahle's assist raised her school record career points total to 22.
Also making her mark on the record book Sunday was junior midfielder Johanna Larson who notched two goals, twing a Kansas single game record.
"It's a more positive attitude." Larsson said. "We really push each other. We've gotta keep playing 100 percent for 90 minutes and we did that."
Larsson attributes the team's success to their attitude.
—Jennifer Rousch
Kansas midfielder Katie Lents blocks her Wyoming opponent from the ball while she passes to a teammate. The Jayhawks hope to add another win to their record when they travel to Utah on Friday. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Chiefs offense will be mired in mediocrity again this year
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
A new coach will not mean a new direction for the Kansas City Chiefs.
One might think that it's time to shake things up after missing the playoffs with virtually the same team that was a league-best 13-3 the year before. Maybe it's time to tinker with the offensive scheme or find a new running back?
After last year's utterly disappointing 7-9 season, coach Marty Schottenheimer called it quits, and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham took charge.
Not so, says Cunningham. Instead, he has stressed getting back to the basics that made the Chiefs one of the most "successful" teams of the '90s.
"I've been in this division longer than anybody on our staff and I know what works," Cunningham said.
Hmm... I guess that depends on your definition of works, but go on Gunther.
definition of work in surgery
"You have to be able to run the foot."
In defense of Cunningham, it should be noted that defense and ball control made the Chiefs one of
you have to be a ball, play tough physical defense and win on special teams. That's what the Chiefs were known for."
Unfortunately, the Chiefs were not known for winning in the playoffs.
Prater columnist sports @ kansaen.com
From '90 to '97 the Chiefs achieved an impressive regular season record of 86-42, but in the playoffs they managed just three wins and seven losses.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but elite teams generally measure success in the post-season. That's why Duke and Kentucky will be remembered as the best college basketball teams of the '90s, even though the Jayhawks have won the most games.
the best regular season teams in the league from '90 to '97.
But honestly, does anyone really think that if the Chiefs had played with more discipline and made it to the playoffs, they would have advanced?
The Chiefs biggest problem in the '90s has been, and will continue to be, offensive firepower.
When the Chiefs brought in the West Coast offense in '93, Schottenheimer modified it to fit with his ball-control mentality. That's like hiring Picasso to paint your picture and asking him to make it look natural.
The '97 Chiefs were the most mediocre 13-3 team in the history of the NFL.
The West Coast offense is predicated on keeping defenses on their heels by spreading the ball around with sharp passing and unpredictability.
The Chiefs' offense has been anything but unpredictable. Any fan who has watched the Chiefs this decade knows that first down is a run and third-and-four means a swing pass to the halfback.
Even with one of the strongest offensive lines in the league, the Chiefs' lack of creativity, a proven running back or a take-over guy at quarterback. That will keep them mired in mediocry.
Last year's team suffered because the discipline that had made the Chiefs so consistent in the '90s spiraled down the drain in a vortex of turnovers, mistakes and stupid penalties.
Here's four reasons that the Chiefs will have their legion of dedicated fans thinking that they've got it turned around: the Bears, the Lions, the Chargers and the Ravens. Those early season opponents should have the Chiefs off to a strong start.
But when it comes to money time, the Chiefs will once again be bogged down in the mud of predictability.
Prater is a Lawrence graduate student in Journalism