NTRAMURALS Beta Theta Pi wins the greek flag football tournament. Page 4B BASEBALL Indians headed to Series. Page 5B
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1995
'Late Night and other sports notes
SECTION B
From the Lots of Things on My Mind Department, here are some thoughts I would like to share. Please take some of this with the grain of salt left over from my crow last week.
Was it just me, or did anyone else notice that only about 10 percent of the 14,300 fans at the Kansas-Kansas State volleyball game on Saturday night actually watched the match? Planning "Late Night with Roy Williams" to follow volleyball is something the athletic department should do every year, but was the crowd doing the wave just because it was bored?
Here is my analysis of the "Late Night" scrimmage. Junior center Scot Pollard should fill Greg Ostertag's shoes nicely if he can stay out of foul trouble.保育 guard Ryan Robertson looks like a 14-year-old but plays like.
a 20-year-old, Robertson easily outshone fellow newcomers Paul Pierce and T.J. Pugh, although I think Pierce will be a starter by mid-December.
ASSOCIATE
SPORTS
EDITOR
Why didn't junior guard Jerod Haase leave the game after committing his fifth foul early in the second half? Maybe next
The Atlanta Braves don't have a chance in the World Series. Despite having All-World pitcher Greg Maddux, they are baseball's version of the Buffalo Bills — dominant all season, but coming to a screeching halt in the big dance.
year Roy could tell the fans about any rule changes for the Crimson and Blue game. I was confused.
With the signing of Dwight Gooden on Monday, the New York Yankees have built themselves quite a collection of players that have been suspended, including Darryl Strawberry and Steve Howe. Ironically, all three have National League Rookie of the Year trophies in their homes — Howe's from 1981, Strawberry's from 1983 and Gooden's from 1984. The way the Yankees are going, Pete Rose should put in an application for manager.
To predict that Nebraska will win by 23 points at home against Kansas State on Saturday is ludicrous. I think the Cornhuskers will win, but not by more than two touchdowns. At least the Wildcats will get their first true test of the season after almost losing to Oklahoma State last week.
Sadly, a game between a 7-0 Kansas team and a 7-0 K-State team Oct. 28 doesn't look too promising. I hope the Jayhawks won't be 6-1, but they could be if running back Jerald Moore of Oklahoma has anything to do with it.
Saturday's game against the Sooners really will tell us how good the Jayhawks are, and because Oklahoma merely tied with Texas last week, the Sooners will be ready to kill.
The fact that the Kansas women's soccer team is 5-0 against first-year programs and 0-7 against established teams isn't bad at all. Consider that, unlike the women's crew team, also in its first season but more experienced, the soccer team is made up mostly of freshmen and newcomers. A tip of the cap goes to Kansas women's soccer coach Lori Walker and her team for such a great start.
After I praised the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, they lost to the Bears. This week I'm impressed by the St. Louis Rams, who will extend their lead in the NFC West with a victory against the Steve Young-less 49ers on Sunday.
FY1: The Rams could beat the 'Niners even if they had Young.
Ho hum, here comes another NBA season. The lack of defense, hit-and-miss officiating and glorification of the slam dunk really rub me the wrong way. To top it off, look at the Houston Rockets' new uniforms — a cross between hip-hop gear and a bad accident involving cravings.
Baseball scores big league coach
Kansas, Randall add ex-pitcher Boddicker as part-time assistant
By Dan Gelston Kansan sportwriter
Wanted: A collegiate coach with major league experience. World Series wins and All-Star game selections a must. Twenty-win seasons and Gold Glove fielding preferred. Experience and good communication needed to help develop players at Kansas.
Contact: Bobby Randall, Kansas baseball coach.
There are few pitchers in the past 15 years who have established those kind of credentials, but one who did has landed with the Kansas baseball team.
Mike Boddicker, who pitched for four teams in a professional baseball career that spanned 14 years, was named by Randall as a parttime Kansas baseball assistant coach yesterday.
He will work primarily with the outfielders and help with the pitching staff.
"This is a good situation for me."
Boddicker said. "I enjoy the teaching aspect and being able to share my experience with the players.
After he was released by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1993, Boddicker knew he wanted to stay involved with the game, but not at the professional level.
"I was tired of travel and the hotels," he said. "I could still be playing, but it was time for me to be closer to home and spend time with the family."
Boddicker lives in Overland Park and spent the past two years coaching at Avila College in Kansas City, Mo., and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Lenexa.
When a coaching vacancy arose on the Kansas staff, both Randall and Boddicker saw an opportunity that was too good to pass up.
He turned down repeated offers by the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians last year to become a minor league coach.
"I've known him for a very long time," Randall said. "I've always had great respect for him, and he has a great reputation. Professional baseball wanted him desperately."
ommendation from a future Hall of Famer that got Randall's attention.
There were more than 75 applications for the job, but it was a rec
"George Brett approached me at an event we were at," Randall said. "I told him I was going to be the coach at Kansas, and he wanted me to consider Mike for a job. He knew he was interested in coaching and was a good baseball man."
Boddicker brings with him impressive credentials. He broke in with the Baltimore Orioles as a late season call-up in 1980, but he didn't join the club for good until 1983. He joined a staff that included seasoned veterans like Jim Palmer, Scott McGregor and Mike Flanagan and responded with 16 wins. Those wins included two complete game victories in the postseason in which he didn't allow an earned run and helped lead the Orioles to a World Championship.
He then went on to post eight more double-digit victory seasons. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox in the middle of the 1988 season and was a key contributor to two Eastern Division titles in 1988 and 1980. He spent two years with the Kansas City Royals and three months with the Brewers.
Flanagan, who is a coach with Baltimore, is not surprised that
Boddicker ended up coaching.
"He certainly had the ability to do it," he said. "He has the gift to be able to relate how he had success. He had a clear understanding of what had to be done on the mound, and I think that can relate that to his players."
That experience is a big plus for the team, Kansas senior Josh Kliner said.
"He brings a lot of credibility to the program," he said. "With the rest of the coaching staff, we've got a lot of knowledge and experience."
Boddicker said his mait goal was to get the players to relax and enjoy the game. He wants to stress that sometimes the game is not always as important as what it leads to.
"The people that you meet and the friends that you make is what I took from it," he said. "I still keep in touch with my college teammates. I want them to enjoy the game."
100 MIKE BODDICKER P
**BODDICKER** The new coach's major league stats. Page 2B.
Special teams play role in Kansas' football success
By Robert Sinclair
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas sophomore place kicker Jeff McCord, however, has had better years.
One of the most overlooked aspects of the Kansas football team's success this season has been senior punter Darrin Simmons' career year.
Nevertheless, these two players share a common bond as integral parts of the Kansas kicking game. Although beyond that, the two kickers don't have much in common.
"I'm not happy with McCord's extra points," Kansas football coach Glen Mason is quick to point out. "He just needs a little bit more consistency because he's got a load of talent.
"I couldn't be happier with Darrin Simmons."
Going into the game against Oklahoma on Saturday, Simmons is second in the nation with his average of 46.8 yards a punt. The Jayhawks also are second in the nation with their net average of 43.6 yards.
Even though his average is the reason for his national recognition, perhaps the best part of Simmons' game is his knack for pinning Kansas' opponents inside the 20-yard line — he has done it on 21 of his 29 punts.
On top of that, 13 of his 29 punts have been launched for 50 yards or more — seven for 55 yards or more—and he had a career long 62-yard punt against Houston.
"It's nice that I'm having a good year
in terms of the team's having a good year," Simmons said. "I could have the worst season in Kansas history and it wouldn't bother me as long as we ended up 11-0."
Although it would be an exaggeration to call McCord's season the worst in school history, the place kicker wasn't kind in his self-evaluation.
"Terrible, with my four kickoffs out of bounds and three missed PATs. I really think that's terrible," he said. "I don't think I'm doing my job."
Luckily for McCord, his missed extra points haven't come back to haunt him. However, his game against Houston was probably a career low.
After making his initial field goal attempt in that game, McCord missed his next three as Kansas squeaked out a 20-13 victory. Those remain his only misses of the season. He has successfully converted on seven of his 10 attempts.
"I do take a lot of responsibility for that," McCord explained. "But rather than making me feel terrible personally, I feel bad for the team because I let those guys down."
"Through my system of beliefs, being a follower of Christ, I shouldn't really care too much about it. It's over; it's done with," he said. "But if I walked off the field with a smile on my face after I missed the game-winning field goal, the guys aren't going to like that too much."
McCord doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, though.
As it is, McCord said he doesn't have
too many friends on the team.
"I'm kind of a loner. Our punter hangs around with the quarterbacks a lot; he practices with the quarterbacks," McCord said. "I've really never played another position."
Simmons doesn't just hang around with quarterbacks. He actually was a quarterback and started in junior college.
"I don't think they view me in the same way as they view him because I play quarterback," Simmons said. "I'm not the type of person to stand around and watch things."
He hasn't been listed on the depth chart yet, but Simmons does help out during practice by working with both the offense and the defense and by throwing to wide receivers and defensive backs.
"I miss it a lot," Simmons said.
"Everybody wants to play quarterback. Everybody wants to play on offense and be the guy handling the ball every down. But I know that my role on this team isn't to play quarterback. My role is to be the punter."
Not everybody wants to play quarterback, though. McCord is just fine where he is.
"I'd always rather they score because it's easier to hit an extra point than it is a field goal," McCord said. "All things combined, it's really interesting seeing how things are going this season.
"I'm glad I'm a part of it because I'll be able to walk away from here and have a lot of stories to tell people."
Tom Leininger / KANSAN
Kansas senior punter Darrin Simmons 46.8 yard punting average is second-best in the nation. The former quarterback has 13 punts of 50 yards or more.
BRIEFS
Kansan sports wants basketball predictions
The Kansan is asking for its readers to look into their crystal basketballs and predict what the 1995-96 men's and women's college basketball season will bring. Letters from readers will be included in the Kansas Basketball Preview, which will be in the Nov. 15 edition of the Kansan.
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and between 100 and 150 words in length. Please include the author's name, hometown, year in school and phone number. Letters must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Nov. 6 to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. Drop them off in Jenni Carlson's mailbox, or they may be faxed to 864-5261.
The sports editors reserve the right to accept or reject any letter.
Women's golf shoots short of team goal
By Spencer Duncan Kansan sportswriter
The desire was there but was not enough to lead the Kansas women's golf team to its goal.
The Jayhawks went to the Sunflower/Marilynn Smith Invitational in Wichita with the hope of a top five finish. After two days of competition, however, the team fell just short of its goal, finishing seventh and 12 strokes out of fifth place.
"We all could have played a little better." Kansas junior golfer Missy Russell said. "But I thought we didn't do too bad considering the conditions."
During the two-day tournament, the team had to fight winds estimated at up to 40 mph. The winds hindered the team's chances of improving their first day
On Monday, Kansas shot a two round score of 646 at the par-72 course, putting the team in seventh place and 23 strokes out of first. The team was only two strokes from pulling into the top five.
scores.
Heading into yesterday's competition the team hoped to fire itself into a better position. It never happened.
"We really had a lot of mixed emotions," Kansas sophomore Lori Lauritsen said. "A lot of us really shot high the last day."
Each team member shot their highest total of the tournament in round three yesterday. The team was unable to improve on its two-round total and finished 43 strokes behind tournament champion Southern Methodist University. The Jayhawks shot a three-
Lauritsen and sophomore Beth Reuter finished tied for 35th and 47th respectively, while junior Anne Clark, who shot a total of 257 and finished in 52nd place, closed out the team's scoring.
The Jayhawks will have two weeks off before they head to Beaumont, Texas, and complete the fall season. The only goal for the team until then is to concentrate on making improvements.
"Our team has really been up and down," Lauritsen said. "We are looking to be more consistent so we can win."
Leading Kansas' effort was freshman Mandy Munsch who shot rounds of 80, 78 and 85 and tied for 12th place. Munsch has placed in the top 25 of every tournament this fall.
Sunflower/Marilynn Smith Invitational
Team Results
1. Southem Methodist, 951
2. Nebraska, 958
3. Missouri, 967
4. Campbell, 980
5. Wichita State, 982
7. Kansas, 994
11. Colorado, 1,011
14. Kansas State, 1,044
Individual Results
1. Jennifer Hubbard, Southern
Individual Results
Methodist, 233
2. Heidi Wall, Nebraska, 238
3t. Jen Broggl, Illinois State, 240
3t. Amber Paulos, SMU, 240
3t. Martha Shooter, Campbell, 240
13. Mandy Munsch, Kansas, 243
15. Lori Lauritzen, Kansas, 250
47. Beth Reuter, Kansas, 255
49. Missy Russell, Kansas, 256
52. Anne Clark, Kansas, 257
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