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TENNIS Kansas gets a boost from a talented transfer from Down Under, Page 38.
SPORTS ERSITY DAILY KANSAS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1995
SECTION B
Sports Facts
By Jeffrey Auslander Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas men's rugby club is ready to continue its rise to becoming one of the best rugby teams in the nation.
Many of the Kansas players last week took part in a Heart of America select team that defeated No. 2 ranked Air Force 48-19. The victory displayed that Kansas rugby may be ready to surpass its No. 8 national ranking last year.
Team captain Hayden Krizman Lawrence junior, said that beating such a good team got Kansas started off on the right foot.
"It's always goal to beat a team that is highly targeted," Krizman
said. "It was a great way to kick off the season and get a lot of momentum going into it."
The team started practice Tuesday night and will play its first game on August 30 against the Kansas City Rugby Club.
As many as 75 players are expected to try out for the team. The team will practice at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Shenk Complex, 23rd and Iowa streets.
A big issue for the team is the lack of recognition it has received in the past. Many players believe that this
team deserves to be a varsity sport.
Krizman said that varsity status would help out the program in every aspect.
"The nicest thing about it being a varsity sport is that we would get so much more recognition, and that would lead to a better program," Krizman said. "Right now it's just a bunch of dedicated guys out here who love the sport and will come out here and give what it takes."
Mills, who has had a part in Kansas rugby for 15 years, said that the team definitely deserved varsity status.
"We have traveled all over the world and carried the good name of the University of Kansas with us," Mills said. "We would like a good look from the University, but we do
appreciate every bit of help they give us."
Dan Karl, St. Louis, Mo., Junior,
isn't too optimistic about the team's
chance to become varsity.
"I think our club has been here the longest, but it isn't going to happen." Karl said. "The University doesn't want rugby associated with the college that deep."
kugby has changed a lot during Mills' 15 years at Kansas, and that may be reason for a change in its status.
"The program has improved because the athletes have become student-athletes and they are very dedicated." Mills said. "It's not as much of the party attitude you used to hear about rugby players."
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Kansas senior Jenny Larson (10) reaches up to block a shot in a match with Kansas State last season. Larson wants the Jayhawks to advance to the Big Eight Tournament, which will be held in her hometown of Omaha, Neb. this year.
Volleyball player ready for senior year
Bv Bill Petulla
Kansan sportswriter
Jenny Larson not only is the backbone of the young Kansas volleyball team but also might be one of the Big Eight Conference's best players.
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The senior finished last season on the verge of breaking several Kansas volleyball all-time records and was selected to the 1994 Phillips 66 Academic All-Big Eight Conference team.
But, this soft-spoken leader has put individual goals aside this year and is focusing on the team.
"I'll do anything I can to help the program and mold the younger players," Larson said.
The Omaha, Neb., native did not start playing competitive volleyball until she was 13. It was then that she learned the game from Millard North High School volleyball coach Deb Grafentin.
*Coach Grafentin brought a camp into our
junior high and that's when I was first exposed to real volleyball," Larson said.
Larson went on to graduate from Millard North as a two-time member of all-metro and all-state teams. She chose Kansas over nearby volleyball powerhouse Nebraska because of academics and the college atmosphere.
"When I came to visit here, I fell in love with the campus," she said.
Luckily for Kansas, Larson shucked the Cornhuskers and began a record-filled career. She ranks fifth in Kansas history in block assists and ninth in solo blocks. Larson is also on the verge of breaking into the top 10 in kills, attempts and service aces.
Hard work and dedication have been the trademarks that Larson has left on the court leading up to her last and most promising year.
"Jenny came back this year in incredible shape," Kansas volleyball coach Karen Schonewise said. "She's very focused for her
senior year."
When Larson is away from the volleyball court, she enjoys sunbathing and traveling with her family. She listens to a variety of music and watches television on Thursdays for her favorite sitcom, "Friends."
After graduation, Larson would like to work in sports administration.
"My major is sports management, and I definitely know I want to do something involving sports," said Larson, who admitted her family was greatly involved in athletics.
To make the trip even sweeter, the tournament will be in her hometown.
She would feel as if something was missing from her college career, however, if the team did not make the Big Eight Tournament. In Larson's first three seasons, Kansas never has played in the tournament, which only takes the top four Big Eight finishers.
"I would always wonder what it was like, and I'd be disappointed, especially since it's in Omaha," she said.
The Kansas Football team elected their captains for the 1905 season earlier this week. The captains, oil seniors, are quarterback Mark Williams, wide receiver Ashundul Saith and outside linebacker Keith Rodgers.
"I load more by example than I do by just more words," Rodgers said. "I'm not much of a rah-rah kind of guy, but I'll do my job as well so I possibly can to help the defense."
Williams, a 6-foot-1. Concord, Calif., native, is currently listed on the starting quarterback. Smith is not only a 5-6 wide out but also the team's incumbent kickoff returner, leading the Big Sight Conference with a 20.4-yard average. Rodgers, who battles from Lanexa, is the only returner from last year's defense to start in every game. He also has played in every game of his career.
"I think they're all really good football players," Kansas football coach Glenn Mason said. "Obviously Keith Rodgers and Ashundal Smith have been around here for a long time. Mark Williams has really improved as a player since he's been here and really dedicated himself to being the quarterback of this football team."
Also this week:
**Five players who originally joined the team as walk-on were given full scholarship status Tuesday. The players are sophomores with wide receiver Matt Vandree, freshman offensive tackle Jason Glindow, redshirt freshman tight end Shane Reeley, freshman tight end Bean McGermatt and sophomore defensive back Mancalito Jones.**
Kansas football fans will have an opportunity to meet players, acquire autographs and have pictures taken with team members at the annual Kansas Football Kickoff '95. The event will take place at 6 p.m., on Aug. 31 in the Anchorage Sports Pavilion.
Mama on the new scholarship player: "We advertise that this is a great place to come and prove yourself. If you come and work hard enough, hang in there and do the right things, you have a great chance of winning a scholarship."
Manon on newly redshirted defensive back Tony Browne: "He was about 86 or 90 percent and would probably be that way until the Big Right portion of the schodile. We talked about it and decided it would be best to have Tony at 100 percent for a whole year."
compiled by Kaneann sportewriter Mohert Bincair.
Ed Kowalski/KANSAN
Former Jayhawk Rex Walters sheds light on NBA dispute
I write this column despite the risk that I might lose my credibility.
But in the interest of correctness, I must let readers know that I was wrong in my column on Monday.
until on Monday I said that agents influenced National Basketball Association players to decertify their union in order to keep a rookie salary cap from going into effect.
In an interview after talking to New Jersey Net Rex Walters, I can still say that the NBA situation was caused by greed and money trees. But Walters, a Kansas guard from 1991-93, gave me his point of view.
"There's so much greed out there, and it's getting ridiculous," Walters said. "What are teachers getting paid? What are garbage men getting paid? It's ridiculous how much money we're making."
Walters can't believe the greed that exists in NBA, and he still can't believe how much money he makes.
money we're making Walters fears that the same thing that happened to Major League Baseball could happen to basketball. But Walters believes that if fans could understand the situation, they would not become so angry.
Walters said he had been studying the new proposal and talking to teammates, his agent and the head of the players' union. Here is how Walters sees the NBA situation.
I have a cough this Walters said. "I don't know how the fans are supposed to know what's going on."
The Beginning:
would not become so angry.
"I have a tough time understanding it,"
During the 1994 NBA preseason, the players and owners did not have a collective bargaining
SPORTS REPORTER
agreement. The players agreed not to strike, and the owners agreed not to lock the players out through the season and the playoffs.
They made it through the season, and fans witnessed the Houston Rockets make one of the greatest playoff runs ever. The Madden
The Middle:
The Mule:
The owners and the NBA players' union agreed to a proposal on June 21 that would effectively end free agency, Walters said. The players still had to ratify the agreement even though their union had agreed. Walters said that the players got information on the deal on June 22 and had to vote on whether to accept it on June 23.
"If you've ever read a contract, you know that's ridiculous," Walters said.
The players rejected the deal.
According to Walters, the original proposal contained a clause that said that if a team signed a free agent and that his salary caused them to exceed the salary cap, it would have to pay a luxury tax of 50 percent of the salary. Walters said that every team is near the salary cap. That means that if a player signed for $3 million, the team would have to pay $1.5 million more just to get a
player. No team would pay $4.5 million for $3 million dollar player.
Walters was skeptical about the original proposal because all but one of the owners agreed to it. He said that normally there were more no votes when proposals were made.
A smaller issue that also bothers players is the amount of money they receive from NBA products. Walters said that players receive less than 1 percent of the profits from NBA products.
But the reason the items sell is the players.
But the reason the items sell is the players. Walters said that because the player representatives from the union accepted this deal, players stopped trusting them and wanted to find another avenue that would create a more acceptable deal. Led by Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing, players decided that they wanted to decertify the union and let a court decide what each side deserved. Walters said that the NBA could continue playing games while a court decided what was right.
He is concerned that the NBA continue playing games.
"The only people that really suffer are the fans," Walters said. "I understand their stance, but if they were in our shoes, I truly believe they would see it the way we do." Nows
After the players rejected the original proposal, the owners decided to lockout the players from practice. Another proposal has been made that does not include a luxury tax and allows for teams to sign free agents to contracts that would cause their team to exceed the salary cap by $1 million. A rookie salary cap was included in both the original and new proposals.
Now:
Walters said that it looks like a good deal. Even if the players ratify this proposal, the owners might not. If that happens then the players cannot decertify their union and cannot go to court. Walters wants to have options and is unsure how he will vote. He said the players would vote on Aug. 30 or Sept. 7.
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