10A
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2006
1
Cardinals release 2007 schedule
ST. LOUIS — Even as the St. Louis Cardinals are sav�ing their World
Series win, they're looking ahead to next season and released their 2007 schedule on Monday.
The Cardinals will host the New York Mets on Sunday, April 1, in the Major League Baseball's season opening game.
The National League Championship rematch between St. Louis and New York will be spread across four days from April 1-4.
From May 18 to 20, the Cardinals head to Detroit to take on their World Series opponents.
The home portion of the Cardinals' schedule also includes three, three-game series against the rival Chicago Cubs. Those games will be played April 27-29, July 24-26 and Sept. 14-16.
Associated Press
2
San Francisco drops Olympic bid SAN FRANCISCO — Sar Francisco abandoned
its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics after plans for a new bayfront stadium collapsed when the San Francisco 49ers said they intend to move to Silicon Valley.
Los Angeles and Chicago are now the remaining U.S.candidates to hold the games following Monday's announcement by the San Francisco 2016 Bid Committee.
John York, owner of the 49ers, told city officials last week he was breaking off negotiations for a new stadium at Candlestick Point and was considering a move to Santa Clara.
Scott Givens, managing director and chief executive officer of
the bid committee, said the 49ers decision created a "perceptual gap" that hurt the city's reputation in the eyes of the Olympic committee.
"The damage has been done and the damage can't be pulled back,"he said.
The city's Olympic organizing panel was stunned by the news last week and said it would try to find a new location for the marquee events, including the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field competition.
San Francisco Mayor Gavir Newsom said earlier the city would give up the bid if it "couldn't guarantee certain things."
San Francisco's loss can only help Los Angeles and Chicago, one of which will be the American candidate if the USOC decides in December to nominate a city. The candidates have to give a detailed presentation of their plan to the USOC by March 31.The USOC would choose its candidate in April.
Associated Press
The International Olympic Committee will select the host city in 2009.
Madrid, Spain; New Delhi; Prague, Czech Republic; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rome; and Tokyo are among the national cities that also have expressed interest in landing the 2016 Games. The Summer Olympics will be in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
Voters choose top baseball players
3
NEW YORK — Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins won a tight race
for NL Rookie of the Year, and Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander took home the AL award Monday.
Ramirez beat out Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman by four points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America — the closest NL vote since the current format was adopted 26 years ago. The speedy shortstop got 14 of 30 first-place votes and finished with 105 points. Zimmerman received 10 first-place votes and totaled 101 points.
Verlander easily won the AL honor after his closest competitors in a race dominated by pitchers were sidelined late in the season because of injuries. The hard-throwing right-hander, who helped the surprising Tigers reach the World Series, was listed first on 26 of 28 ballots for a total of 133 points.
"I was pretty excited. I was actually outside washing the car. I totally forgot that today was the day it was announced." Verlander said. "It was pretty fun just to be a part of this rookie class."
The 22-year-old Ramirez, acquired from Boston last November in a deal for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell, batted.292 with 17 homers, 59 RBIs, 119 runs and 51 stolen bases. Ramirez also hit 46 doubles and 11 triples.
Associated Press
Voters select their top three choices and points are tabulated on a 5-3-1 basis. Before 1980, writers voted for just one rookie.
DENVER — Kaz Matsu
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Japanese infielder signs with Rockies
trying to resurrect his career in Colorado after floundering in New York, agreed Monday to a $1.5 million, one-year contract with the Rockies.
The speedy hit 21-year-old Japanese infielder hit .267 with 3 homers and 26 RBIs in 70 games for the Rockies and Mets combined last season. With the Rockies, he hit .345 with two homers and 19 RBIs and had a .392 on-base percentage in 32 games.
A seven-time All-Star in Japan, Matsui was the first Japanese infielder to sign with a major league team when he joined the Mets in 2003 for a $20.1 million, three-year contract.
He was acquired by the Rockies on June 9 and spent nearly three months at Triple-A Colorado Springs working on his game before returning to the majors on Aug.23.
In three major league seasons, Matsui owns a .266 batting average with 13 homers and 94 RBIs in 271 games.
Matsui can earn an additional $950,000 in performance bonuses.
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Associated Press
TV influences schedules
K-State will hit the road after just one game at home
BY STEVE BRISENDINE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bob Huggins doesn't mind taking his teams on the road. He just wouldn't mind doing it a little later in the season.
Instead, Kansas State will have just one home game under its belt before traveling to Piscataway, N.J., for Wednesday night's game against Rutgers.
"You sign a contract, you honor a contract," the Wildcats first-year coach said Monday, during a conference call with reporters from his office in Manhattan. "I'd like to play this one probably a little later in the year, though."
Most Kansas State games will be televised this season. That's a perk of hiring Huggins, who took over in March after Jim Wooldridge was fired and brought along the buzz that comes with taking Cincinnati to 14 straight NCAA appearances and one Final Four in 16 years there.
Huggins' road strategy for
future seasons is geared toward keeping the Wildcats on TV and making sure he can get other teams to Manhattan, too.
"You've got to get on television," he said. "We're going to do what we need to do to get on television, but we're also not going to play anyone that's not a home-and-home situation."
The Rutgers game, scheduled in August, was the last one added to Kansas State's 2006-2007 schedule. It completes a home-and-home deal that began in 2004.
Huggins won't get into such agreements with just anyone, though.
"We're going to try to go to areas where we recruit," he said. "We're not going to go on the road just to go on the road."
This season, Kansas State starts home-and-home agreements with Cleveland State and California and a two-for-one deal with Xavier — two games in Cincinnati and one in Manhattan.
Besides Rutgers, the Wildcats will also complete home-and-home agreements with three other road games: New Mexico on Nov. 21, Colorado State on Dec. 2 and North Dakota State on Dec. 9.
Wednesday's game will be
Rutgers' season opener. Kansas State beat William & Mary 70-60 on Saturday in Huggins' debut, and on Monday, Huggins was still not thrilled by a 10-point victory against a mid-major program that won only eight games last year.
"We've got a long way to go to get where we want to go defensively, and we've got some work to do on rebounding the ball," he said. "We got good shots, our execution wasn't terrific, but we got good shots. We've just got to start making some."
The Wildcats are still learning,
Huggins' offensive scheme, though,
"Remember when you were back in kindergarten, first grade, when you were reading, 'Run, Sally, run?' he said. "That's about where we are."
Huggins also said he wants senior swingman Cartier Martin, who played only 12 minutes and scored five points against William & Mary because of early foul trouble, to shrug off his 2-for-9 shooting performance on Saturday.
"I just told him after the game that he needs to keep shooting." Huggins said. "He's unquestionably our best shooter. He just needs to keep shooting the ball until it starts going in."
>> NFL
Injuries plague Chiefs key players
BY DOUG TUCKER ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Injuries to Pro Bowlers and key starters continued to mount for Kansas City on Monday when tight end Tony Gonzalez, having perhaps his finest season, was declared out this week and possibly longer.
Coach Herm Edwards said the seven-time Pro Bowler sustained a sprained left shoulder in the closing minutes of Sunday's 13-10 loss at Miami. More will be known with test results today, but he will definitely miss Sunday's game against Oakland, Edwards said.
Also out for at least one more week for the Chiefs (5-4) are Pro Bowl left guard Brian Waters and starting right tackle Kevin Sampson. Still questionable are two defensive starters who were unable to play at Miami, linebacker Derrick Johnson and safety Greg Wesley.
Quarterback Trent Green, in the meantime, could be cleared to begin full-time practice this week for the first time since he sustained a severe concussion in the season opener on Sept. 10.
Charlie Riedel/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez will be out for at least the rest of the week after suffering a shoulder injury in Sunday's game. Gonzalez, a seven-time Pro Bowler who is having one of his best seasons, is one of many key Chiefs players who has been injured this season.
"They're going to get the tests tomorrow. They'll read his evaluation tomorrow and they'll let him know if they'll hurt him start participating in team stuff." Edwards said.
If Green does get cleared to play, it will force a decision about whether he or Damon Huard will start.
But no matter who the quarterback might be, the Chiefs would be terribly weakened if they have to go any length of time without Gonzalez.
He will probably be replaced by backup Jason Dunn, an accomplished blocker whose receiving skills hardly compare.
Gonzalez had averaged more than 100 yards receiving and almost 17 yards per catch in the three previous games, victories over San Diego, Seattle and St. Louis that kept the Chiefs in the playoff hunt.
The 6-5, 250-pounder caught six balls for 84 yards at Miami and was
The Chiefs' career leader in touchdown passes and yards from scrimmage, Gonzalez trails only Shannon Sharpe all-time for receptions by a tight end.
keying a second-half rally when he was injured while fighting through a double-team making sure Huard's pass was not intercepted.
"He's getting more tests today and we'll find out tomorrow or the next day the extent of how long he'll be out. This weekend he's definitely out." Edwards said.
"It is a shame, a guy like that, he's having a terrific year for you and has been a staple in the last month and really getting involved in the offense. We're going to have to find another way now. He's going to be missed this week, obviously. But we just got to find a way to get the ball, when we decide to pass, to other players."
If Green gets the go-ahead this week, might he start on Sunday in place of Huard, who has gone 5-3 in his absence and played quite well in holding the offense together?
"We'll see where he's at," Edwards said. "I can't answer that until I know the extent of what he's going
to participate in and how he's feeling in practice. He hasn't done anything live yet, so we'll just kind of see."
At this point, it's not possible to know how effective Green, a two-time Pro Bowler, might be after such a long layoff.
"You can't answer it. You can answer it in practice as to how he looks in practice," Edwards said. "But until he actually goes in a game, no one's going to know."
"Whenever (Green) has a chance to play again, you anticipate for him to play well. But he's going to be little rusty. You know that."
Huard had perhaps his worst game at Miami, but understandably so. The makeshift offensive line with Chris Bober starting for Waters and Kyle Turley in for Sampson, was dominated. He was sacked three times and hit the ground on at least four other plays while connecting on 15 of 38 passes for 201 vards.
The Chiefs did not make a first down until late in the second quarter.