4B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2006
SERENITY NOW
Close losses haunt Kansas, hurt recruiting options
Let me start by saying one thing: I like Mark Mangino. I really do. The job he's done turning around the Kansas football program has been great, and it looks as though it has the chance to do something special in the years to come.
But let me repeat one thing: it looks as though it has the chance to do something special. This does not guarantee future success.
The ground breaking of the football facility is great. A near-packed stadium helps, and television exposure is the cherry on top when trying to attract top-flight recruits to your school. Guess what else works? Victories. Especially close ones — over good teams.
BY FRED A. DAVIS III
KANSAN COLUMNIST
FDAVIS@KANSAN.COM
After two consecutive excruciat-
ingly tough losses, fans and media alike are making excuses for why Kansas has lost these games. Adam Barmann has been thrown under the bus by fans and even his coach. Mangino's been blamed for his time management and offensive coordinator Nick Quataro's play-calling resembled an early "Tecmo Bowl" video game — he kept calling the
same four plays.
While Barmann played poorly, to blame him for what happened Saturday is ludicrous. We all know Barmann isn't the fleetest of foot, but the kid has never been billed as a dual-threat. How does he go from torching Nebraska to flaming against Texas A&M Simple, he never had a chance to begin with. He didn't get the reps in practice and it showed on Saturday. Also, against Nebraska, Barmann moved around and out of the pocket much more than he did against the Aggies. It's clear, the kid plays much better with a moving pocket or rolling out than he does just sitting back. The coaching staff has to know this, yet they kept the same, tired game plan against the
Aggies, rather than mixing it up as they did against the Huskers. Result? Anybody within 100 miles of Kivisto field knew what the Jayhawks were going to do.
More glaring than the coaching staff's gaffes is the fact Kansas has squandered a valuable opportunity to contend for the Big 12 North title. You may have found that notion laughable before the season started, but after Nebraska, that loud, deep-forth-the-belly chortle turned into a nervous chuckle. After Texas A&M, all one can muster is a painful smile about what could have been.
you will have been.
For the third year in a row, close losses continue to haunt the Kansas Jayhawk football team. In fact, in games decided by eight points or less, Mangino's squads are 6-11. This year?
2-3. Last year was rough, and it was 2004 that especially sticks out if you remember that nasty Northwestern loss, followed by stomach-turners to Texas Tech and Nebraska. The combined points of those three losses was 10. Someone please pass the Mylanta. At the rate Kansas is barely winning and losing games this year, the team should suggest to those with high blood pressure to consult their physicians before watching Jayhawk football.
This is not a plea calling for Mangino to be fired or asking that he reconsider his offensive game plan. Okay, maybe the latter. The Hawks sit at 3-3 overall — the third year in a row — and are 0-2 in the conference. They have six winnable games left with three of those at Memorial
Stadium, I say six because although Missouri is the best team in the Big 12 right now — that's right, the best — KU vs. MU is always a good game no matter what the records are.
Chances for a Big 12 North title are slim and none, and slim just walked out the door. However, making history is possible, and that's what two consecutive bowls would do for Kansas — make history. And what happens when you make history? People start looking at you closer — say, a top-flight recruit or two.
Kansan sportswriter Fred A. Davis Ill can be contacted at fdavis@kansan.com.
》THE TRUTH
Edited by Brett Bolton
No need to be a sports fan to pay respects to baseball legend
There are tons of knuckleheads in the world of sports who suck up unwarranted media attention and segments on Sportcenter. Whether they are getting run over by motor vehicles or just morphing into gun-toting, bullet-spraying, strip club-visiting thugs like the Indiana Pacers' Stephen Jackson, the sports world is littered with bad guys who make even worse decisions.
That's why when the good ones come along, you have to appreciate them. Last Friday, one of the truly great people in sports, legendary baseball figure John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil, died at the age of 94.
Born in 1911, in Carrabelle, Fla., during one of the most hateful and violent racial eras in American history, O'Neil never let that hate or bitterness consume him. Instead, he preached an opposing sermon of love, compassion and forgiveness.
A celebrated Negro League Baseball player, O'Neil was a three-time all-star with the Kansas City Monarchs. He was also a manager
for the Monarchs as well as a scout for the Chicago Cubs and the first African-American coach in Major League Baseball.
But a catalog of accomplishments did not define O'Neil; building relationships with people and a positive outlook on life did.
He was a public relations dream, an attention grabber the moment he walked in the door. O'Neil's positive affinity for life, his infectious smile, charismatic nature and aura could melt the coldest hearts. He possessed a grandfather's knowledge and guidance that no one could resist.
O'Neil garnered national attention for his narration of a segment during Ken Burns' 1994 PBS documentary entitled Baseball and he never left baseball consciousness after that. O'Neil was equipped with timeless stories about Baseball Hall of Famers such as Satchel Page, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Jackie Robinson and countless others.
O'Neil was not just a Kansas City icon, but an American symbol for progress toward racial harmony. He was a shining example of what America could be when negative things are placed in the backseat and we can embrace the good things about life.
Serving as the unofficial spokesman for the Negro Leagues, he helped numerous Negro League ballplayers get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Being denied entry into the Hall of Fame earlier this year never deterred O'Neil. There was never a hint of resentment in his voice, only the usual smooth, tranquil dosages of Buck being Buck.
O'Neil, the former ambassador of
the Negro League Baseball Museum, 1616 E. 18 St., Kansas City, Mo., will revisit the halls of the building that he made famous this Friday. Visitors can view O'Neil's body from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the public funeral will take place Saturday at Municipal Auditorium, 301. W. 13th St., Kansas City, Mo. It will be the next-to-last opportunity for the thousands of friends, family and acquaintances who O'Neil influenced to say goodbye. I urge you to go and pay your final respects to a man who had the gift of gab, a man who never let those negative experiences of segregation and hate influence his life. Go say goodbye, not because you are a sports fan — because I am the first to admit that I don't care for baseball — but because you are a Buck O'Neil fan.
Kansan sportswriter Dejuan Atway can be contacted at datway@ kansan.com.
Edited by Jacky Carter
Charlie Riedel/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Buck O'Neil stands with a statue of himself in this Feb. 11, 2005, photo at the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. O'Neil, baseball's charismatic Negro Leagues ambassador who barnstormed with Satchel Paige and inexplicably fell one vote shy of the Hall of Fame, died Friday. He was 94.
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*Source: Centers for Disease Control
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Study information by PPD, Inc. 0722051432