THE UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
SPORTS
9A
COLAIANNI (CONTINUED FROM 12A)
But let's look at the situation from a different angle: Boren's statement eliminated an excuse from university presidents for not having a playoff system in college football.
University presidents have been telling fans for years that a playoff system in college football is not possible because the student athletes would miss more class time. Apparently, Boren took time away from overseeing the students at Oklahoma earlier this week to write a letter about a non-conference game and showed how intertwined college football is with a university. Were there not more pressing matters at hand in Norman, Okla. this week? Oklahoma is now even considering cancelling their game with Pac 10 school Washington next season because of the incident. The saga continues.
Apparently, Boren cares a lot about winning and in college football. So you want fairness,
Borent! Then support a college football playoff system.
If there has been a better example of the hypocrisy of university presidents in regards to a playoff system, I have yet to find one. Fans know how much schools with big-time programs make off of their football teams each season through television appearances, bowl games and merchandise revenue. The numbers are huge. Yet, every once and a while, when fans are outraged that an actual national champion was not crowned because of the flaws in the Bowl Championship Series, they hear the same excuse from university presidents. There would be too much class time lost for football players; we have to care for the student athlete.
It's not even a good excuse. If the presidents instigated a playoff, student athletes would not miss any class time and could still care for the athletes. The games would occur during winter break at most
universities. For example, look at Kansas' Christmas break schedule. It begins on Friday Dec. 16 this year, two weeks after the Big 12 Championship game. The break runs more than a month, until Friday Jan. 19. There is plenty of time within that window to create a playoff system. If it was an eight-team playoff, a team would play a maximum of three additional games to the regular season schedule and conference championship game, all without conflicts with classes.
After what Boren did, there are no more excuses. It is time to end the ridiculous BCS and allow an actual fair system to be put in place.
Colaianni is a McLean, Va., senior in journalism and political science.
—Edited by Travis Robinett
>> BIG EAST FOOTBALL
Three arrested for forging football tickets
BY MARY KATE MALONE
THE OBSERVER - NOTRE DAME
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's office filed charges Tuesday against three New York men related to the sale of counterfeit Notre Dame football tickets.
Arnold Conyers, 27, Dennel Friday, 27, and Timothy Lang, 22, of Bronx, N.Y., were each charged with forgery and could face up to eight years in prison.
They were arrested Saturday and will remain in the St. Joseph County Jail until their arraignment at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the St. Joseph County Superior Court, according to a supplemental affidavit filed by St. Joseph County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joel Gabrielle.
Associate Athletic Director John Heisler sent the affidavit along with a press release to members of the media Tuesday.
Friday and Lang were both caught selling "very good quality" counterfeit tickets before the Notre Dame-Michigan game Saturday, Gabrielle said in the affidavit.
Notre Dame Security/Police plain-clothes officers apprehended Friday, and Lang was caught after Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Bill Kirk witnessed him selling counterfeits.
The tickets Friday and Lang sold matched the counterfeit tickets that NDSP gathered after the Sept. 9 Notre Dame-Penn State game. Altogether, police have recovered roughly 170 counterfeit tickets for the last two home football games.
While Conyers was arrested Saturday, he was charged in connection with counterfeit ticket sales before the Penn State game one week earlier. Gabrielse said Conyers sold three counterfeit tickets Sept. 9 to a football fan who was not aware they were invalid. The fan took a picture of the seller after he bought
the tickets, which allowed police to identify Conyers as he walked near Dorr Road and U.S. 31 Saturday.
Conyers, too, sold "very high quality" tickets. The only difference between the recovered counterfeit tickets and authentic tickets was "a lack of details in the Notre Dame hologram," according to the affidavit.
Neither Conyers, Friday nor Lang admitted to selling counterfeit tickets, though Lang said he knew "something might be wrong" with the tickets he was selling.
All three men have been connected to recent counterfeiting schemes around the country. Conyers was convicted in two separate cases of forgeries involving Madison Square Garden in New York, and the National Football League is currently investigating both him and Lang for forged tickets. Also, Friday told police that he traveled with two men who were under investigation by the NFL.
DUQUESNE
Team tries to regroup after shooting
BY ALAN ROBINSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
PITTSBURGH — With two teammates still lying in hospital beds, Duquesne University's basketball team tried to return to normalcy Wednesday, three days after five players were shot during a terrifying outburst of gunfire that followed a school dance.
Aaron Jackson, a Duquesne University basketball player who was one of five shot early Sunday morning, plays defense with one of his teammates during an off-season skills instruction session Wednesday. With two teammates still lying in hospital beds, Duquesne University's basketball team tried to return to normalcy Wednesday.
Keith Srakocic/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The players went to class, lifted weights and were scheduled to work out later in the day.
On Tuesday, police arrested Brandon Baynes, 18, of Penn Hills, on five counts of criminal attempted homicide. Prosecutors also filed charges of aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, and weapons counts against him and William Holmes, 18, also of Penn Hills, who remained at large.
Even as team members tried to return to their routines, their thoughts were with their hospitalized teammates.
The Dukes were encouraged that junior forward Sam Ashaolu, the player most badly injured during the early Sunday morning shootings, was taking what coach Ron Everhart called the first "baby steps" of his hoped-for recovery.
"He's fighting like hell," Everhart said.
Ashaolu, who has one bullet and fragments of another in his head, has squeezed teammates' hands during their frequent visits at Mercy Hospital, and he seemed to respond to their words of encouragement. The 23-year-old Ashaolu remained in critical condition but
had a restful night following two difficult nights.
He was shot barely three weeks after arriving on campus following a circuitous journey to an NCAA Division I scholarship that took the Toronto, Ontario, resident through two high schools, a prep school and two junior colleges.
Stuard Baldonado, a junior forward shot in the back and left arm, had a bullet removed from a patch
of muscle just below the skin in his back and already has begun his rehabilitation. He could be released from Mercy Hospital within a couple of days.
Baldonado, 21, spoke by phone to his parents, who live on a small island off the coast of Colombia, and an aunt flew in from Germany to sit bedside. Teammates said he was walking in good spirits.
Business Career Fair
Thursday, September 21 12:00-5:00pm
Kansas Union Ballroom
ERNST & YOUNG Quality In Everything We Do
Abercrombie & Fitch
Aerotek
AIG
Alg Inc.
Allibs, Gibbs & Houllk L.C.
Allstate Insurance Company
American Electric
CEDS
Ameriprise Financial
AMI Residential
KPMG
Lawrence Chamber of Commerce
Legacy Financial Group
Liberty Mutual
MarketSphere Consulting
Marks, Nelson, Vohland, & Campbell
Maxim Healthcare Services
McGladrey & Pullen
Missouri Department of Revenue
Tips from the KU School of Business
Before Attending the Event:
Identify several companies you would like to speak with and research them.
Maxim Healthcare Services
McCladrey & Pullen
Missouri Department of Re-
mutual of Omaha
Navigant Consult
New England
Northwest
Group
Northweste.
Agency
Payless Sho-
Peace Con-
Peasoni
Pepsi Bc-
Persep
Phillip
Price
Bombardier Aerospace Learjet
Buckle
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.
Case New Holland
CBIZ and Mayen Hoffman McCann P.C.
Cerner Corporation
Cassino Aircraft Company
Cingular Wireless
College Pro Painters
Command Transportation
COUNTRY Insurance & Financial
Services
Daimler Chrysler Financial Services
Defense Finance and Accounting
Service
Deloitte Touche Thmatsu
Deloitte Consulting
& J Gallo Winery
EL Lilly and Co
EMBARQ
EnCana Oil & Gas Inc.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Emst & Young, LLP
Farm Bureau Financial Services
Farm Credit
Farmers Insurance Group of
Companies
FBI
Federal Deposit Insurance Corpo-
ration (FDC)
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Feerrellgas
Fort Dodge Animal Health
Freightquote.com
Frito-Lay
Grant Thornton LLP
H&R Blocks
Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Hertz Corporation
High POinte Financial Group
Hills Pet Nutrition
Hormel Foods Corporation
IRS
John Hancock Financial Network
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
Kennedy and Coe, LLC
KeyBank Real Estate Capital
Koch Industries, Inc
Kohl's Department Stores
Undergraduate Business Council KU Career Fair
Land, & Campbell
Inservices
Bullen
Department of Revenue
of Omaha
Agent Consulting
New England Financial - Benchmark Financial, LLC
Northwestern Mutual Financial Network/ Brase Financial
Group
Northwestern Mutual Financial Network/Hames
Agency
Peley Shearless
Payce Corps
Pearson Government Solutions
Psilist Bottling Group
Perceptive Software, Inc.
Phillip Morris, UA
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Kansas
City, MO)
Mal
Pulte Homes
Raytheon Company
Burlington, LLC
Security Benefit
Shaw Industries
Shewin-Williams
Social Security Administration
Spirit Aerosystems
Spirit Nextel
State Farm Insurance Companies
Car
State Street
Steek 'n Shake
SWR Transportation
TWMO Building Products, Inc
Target Distribution Center
Target Corporation
Teach For America
TEKsystems
The Farm, Inc. DBA TFI Family
Services
Insurance Corp-
Bank of Kansas City
The Farm, Inc. DBA TFI Family
Services
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Health
Travelers
US C Customs & Border Protection
Union Pacific
United States Navy
University of Kansas
University of Kansas, School of
Business
University of Tuba
USDA Farm Service Agency
Waddell Reed
Walgreens
Waterway
Weils Farm Financial
Wester Energy
Wolseley North America
KU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
The University of Kauai