BIG EIGHT Nebraska and Colorado fight to stay on top, Page 6. BASKETBALL Jayhawks keep busy this summer, Page 11.
SPORTS IVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1995
SECTION B
A new way to make the games pay
You're flipping through the channels when you stop on the hypnotic blue hum of the Preview Channel. In the upper right hand corner of the screen, an advertisement for the next pay-per-view extravaganza catches your eye.
"See new Big 12 member Texas square off against defending national champion Nebraska in the Big 12 conference championship. It's the Battle of the Cattle, live from Arlington Stadium...only $29,951."
The Big Eight — scratch that — the Big 12 Conference is one step
less to thank you might think. ABC and ESPN already are starting pay-per-view college football for games outside our television market.
SPORTS COLUMNIST
The move after this year to the Big 12 serves no other purpose than to increase television revenue for the schools involved.
Conference officials even squeezed in a Big 12 championship game in for 1996-97. This game would give a team contending for the national championship the opportunity to lose a game and its players a chance to get injured before they even plaved in a bowl game.
If money is becoming the major concern for college athletic departments, then we have a problem. These are the same departments that are trying to tell college athletes that a college education and their own athletic development is more important than a multimillion-dollar salary.
Obviously, the only thing more important than money in college sports is television.
Television creates all this money for college sports, and television could drag those sports down to the level to which professional sports has sunk. Lockouts, strikes, holdouts and franchise relocations in professional sports are the norm rather than the exception, and money is the reason behind it all.
would have to pawn my VCR to afford next week's minute-long Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeely fight. There is no doubt boxing and other pro sports just aren't what they used to be.
I guess we all will have to cherish this final season of Big Eight football. I hope it is as exciting as the 88 previous seasons.
The thing that hurts the most is all the great confrontations we're used to just won't happen as often. The classic rivalries we take for granted every weekend will begin to suffer as scheduling for all 12 teams makes meetings between certain colleges less likely. Colorado vs. Nebraska, Nebraska vs. Oklahoma or even Kansas vs. Kansas State won't be there every weekend.
Nebraska vs. Baylor just doesn't sound as promising.
In years to come, the great matchups of the Big Eight teams will be a thing of the past.
I guess when all this happens I won't care any more. All the great games will be on pay-per-view, and I won't be able to afford them without skipping a house payment. I'll just have to catch the highlights, if colleges don't find a way to cash in on them, too.
Coach Bingham: Bye-bye baseball
Family, frustrations cited as reasons for resignation from KU
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
After 22 seasons as a college baseball coach and eight at Kansas, Dave Bingham surprised many by doing something he says his family cannot financially afford. Bingham resigned as Kansas baseball coach Aug. 4.
He gave many reasons for his resignation, including that he was becoming detached from his job, that he was frustrated with
losing and that he wanted to spend more time with his family. "All of these men walked together."
An of those B i n g h a m said. "I was trying to meet the monster of being a b a s e b a l l coach."
Kansas finished with a 24-33 record last season, following the Jayhawks'
two most successful seasons. Bingham had a 249-225 record at Kansas, including a 45-18 record in 1983, when the Jayhawks advanced to the College World
Dave Bingham
Series and a 40-victory season in 1994.
But after the success, one losing season helped him realize he had not been spending time where he wanted. Bingham now is spending much of his time at home with his family. Because his family can't afford for him not to have a job, though, he is working on finding another one.
Bingham said that one of his options might be coaching at the professional level, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to pursue that option.
Bingham leaves behind his past players and new players, such as junior transfer Aaron Wilmes.
"I've watched KU become real good baseball team," said
Wilmes, a Lawrence native. "He's a very intelligent baseball coach. He's known around the nation as one of the best coaches in baseball at teaching fundamentals."
One player has left the team because of Bingham's resignation. Sophomore pitcher Robert Keens transferred to Texas A&M, interim coach Wilson Kilmer said. Kilmer, who has been the pitching coach since Bingham became head coach, is assuming Bingham's responsibilities until a replacement is found.
"This team has been committed to being a team," Kilmer said. "They've been loyal to the university. I think that speaks
highly of the team."
The search for a new baseball coach will be led by associate athletics director Betsy Stephenson.
"We have had a lot of interest in the position," Stephenson said. "We have not screened any of the applicants yet."
Stephenson said that an advertisement for the position had been placed in the NCAA News and that applications would continue to be accepted until a coach was hired. Kansas is looking for a coach that can help the team compete in the Big 12 Conference, that is committed to academic excellence and that is a good fiscal manager, Stephenson said.
3-4 offense may improve 6-5 record
By Robert Sinclair
Kansan sportswriter
According to Kansas football coach Glen Mason, last year's Jayhawks squad was a lot better than its record would indicate.
"I talk quite a bit about perception," Mason said. "We were 6-5 last year, and we were awfully close to being 8-3. The story of our last season being 6-5 or 8-3 was called third and long; we couldn't defend third and long."
Kansas also lost a couple of heartbreakers late in the game. In two of the losses, the Jayhawks were leading at the beginning of the fourth quarter. They led Texas Christian 21-17 before falling 31-21 on touchdown passes of 50 and 3 yards from Max Knake.
And after Kansas blew a 17-3 fourth quarter lead at home against Oklahoma, Mason felt some defensive changes needed to be made.
ABOVE: Junior Ben Rutz is listed as the Jayhawks second-string quarterback as the Kansas football team prepares for its season opener against Cincinnati.
RIGHT: Junior offensive tackle Scott Whitaker hits a tackling dummy during football practice yesterday. The offensive line is trying to rebuild after the loss of three starters.
"The Sunday after the Oklahoma game, when I watched that film I thought, "We've gone this route long enough and tried enough things," Mason said. "You don't pay off in effort, you pay off in results. We weren't really getting the results that we should have gotten, and I think it was very frustrating for everybody."
"We're definitely going to try and open up the offense a lot more this year," he said.
So frustrating, in fact, that Kansas changed their defense, their offense, brought in new coaches and changed many of the remaining coaches' responsibilities.
In addition to personnel changes, Kansas changed its offensive philosophy. During the off-season, Mason had said his team would pass more this fall.
"We've worked a lot harder on the passing game. We'll throw the ball more than we did in the past," he said.
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Junior tight end Jim Moore (16 receptions for 242 yards and 3 TDs) said he was excited about playing a bigger role in the new offense.
Behind the quarterback is a deep and talented running-back corps led by senior L.T. Levine (803 yards, 11 TDs) and junior Henley (599 yards, 4 TDs). Senior wide-out Ashundu Smith (22 receptions for 426 yards and 3 TDs) anchors a young but talented bunch of wide receivers.
This year Kansas will run a pro-style offense that will focus more on passing than on running the option. Perhaps this is because the Jayhawks lost both of their all-conference offensive guards — Hessley Hempstead and John Jones — as well as running quarterback Asheli Preston.
Senior quarterback Mark Williams (21 of 30 passing for 336 yards last year) is returning to lead the Jayhawks, but junior college transfer Ben Ruzt may get a shot to play.
"We're going to try and use the running backs a little bit more out of the backfield and also use the speed that we have on the outside. It's going to be a lot better for me because it will give me a chance to see the ball more."
Not only is there a new offensive attitude this year, but also the defense has undergone major restructuring.
David Gibbs and Mike Hankwitz came to the Jayhawks from Colorado. Gibbs coaches the defensive secondary, and Hankwitz is the defensive coordinator, which is the same position he held seven of his 10 years at Colorado.
Hankwitz and his experience with Colorado's 3-4 defense has prompted Mason to switch from the 4-3 defense. This change was necessary because of a lack of depth on the defensive line.
Kansas lost four defensive linemen, including tackles Sylvester Wright and Darnell Britt and ends Harold Harris and Steve Harvey. The rest of the defense also suffered its share of losses in linebacker Don Davis and defensive backs Kwamie Lassiter and Gerald McBurrows.
The defensive line will be anchored by
Perhaps the biggest loss to the squad was that of all-conference candidate Ronnie Ward. He led the team in tackles despite missing final three games and will miss the season because of a shoulder injury.
sophomore nose tackle Brett McGraw and sophomore tackle Dewey Houston, who comes over to the defense after playing tight end. Outside linebacker Keith Rodgers (third on team with 77 tackles) is another potential all-conference candidate who started every game last year.
All eyes will be on the secondary, where
junior Tony Blevins is returning from a knee injury and moving from cornerback to free safety. Blevins said he was ready for the new season and excited about the changes.
"The enthusiasm is returning to the defense," he said. "Being 6-5 should not satisfy anyone. If it does, we can't call ourselves football players."
MAY
The Kansas baseball team ended a 24-35 season with a loss to Kansas State in the Big Eight Conference Tournament.
Neil Dougherty was named as the new men's assistant basketball coach, replacing Steve Robinson, who left Kansas to become men's basketball coach at University of Tulsa
SUMMER IN BRIEF
A few charge could not propel the Kansas men's golf team into the top 15 teams at the NCAA Championships, and the Jayhawks were cut from the final round of competition.
Kansas tennis players senior Nora Koves and freshman Karliana Abaroe were named All-Americans after competing in the NCAA tournament.
JUNE
Kansas junior jumper james Splittorff and senior third baseman Brent Wilhelm were selected in the Major League Baseball draft. The Minnesota Twins drafted Splittorff while the Chicago White Sox chose Wilholm.
At the NCAA Track and Field Championships, Kansas senior Michael Cox placed fourth in the 1,600-meter run and was named an All-American for the fourth time.
Angela Aycock, a senior on last season's women's basketball team, earned a spot on the U.S. World University Games Team.
Kansas sophomore guard Jerod Kassus was selected for the 1995 UGA Mens' World University Games Team.
Kansas women's basketball coach Marien Washington announced she filed a 610 million defamation of character law suit against basketball announcer Dick Vitale and several staff members from Dick Vitale's Basketball in October 1994.
Kansas senior center Greg Ostortzg was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft.
JULY
Kansas senior tennis player Kabecra Jensen joined brothers Luke and Murphy Jensen on the Kansas City Explorers of the World Team Tennis league.
Renovations to the west side of Memorial Stadium to replace and waterproof the concrete stands began.
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