2B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY JOURNAL
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1,2006
» WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
Quarterback should make for exciting football
Thirty-five freshmen and redhirt freshmen will play their first college football game tomorrow, but all eyes at Memorial Stadium should be focused on just one: Kerry Meier.
After last season's debacle at the quarterback position, some are touting Meier as one of the best freshman quarterbacks that Kansas has ever had. Had he played last year, Kansas could have beaten Oklahoma and Kansas State for sure, and it probably would have beaten Texas Tech as well. That would have translated to a 10-2 record and a Big 12 North title.
But he didn't play last year because coach Mark Mangino decided to redshirt him. As Kansas
tried Adam Barmann, Brian Luke,
Jason Swanson and even Marcus
Herford at the quarterback position.
Meier stood on the sidelines.
Just the thought of having a quarterback who can lead an offense already has me counting down the minutes until tomorrow evening's game. I have heard the hype, and the comparisons to his three older brothers who all played college football, and I have seen him several times in practice. Playing in practice, though, is a lot different than playing in a game. It won't be easy for the Pittsburg native because a lot of pressure is being put on him.
Not since Mangino coached NAIA football at the beginning of his coaching career he has started the season with a freshman quarterback. Kansas has not started a freshman at quarterback in the team's opening game of the season in more than 30 years, according to Mason Logan in the Kansas media relations office. Because freshmen did not gain eligibility until about that time, Logan said it was possible Meier could be the first freshman
in school history to start the team's opening game of the season, but because records do not go back that far, we can't know for sure.
Add the awful quarterbacks last season, and Meier is being asked to do a lot. He shouldn't have to do it all himself, though. He has the entire offensive line returning from 2005, which will help keep him from being sacked.
Most importantly, however, is the return of leading rusher Jon Cornish. Though he was the backup to Clark Green last season, Cornish led the Jayhawks in every rushing category. The double threat of passing the ball and running the ball will be something that Kansas has
not had in some time.
When you watch the game tomorrow, keep your eyes on No. 10. Classified by many as the most important player on the team this year, even hailed as the savior for KU football, he has a chance to be one of the best quarterbacks in Kansas history. You, also, should be excited.
Kerry Meier.
Yes, you can be excited for the drinking and tailgating, but if for nothing else, be excited for one reason.
Kansan sportswriter B.J.Rains is a St. Louis junior in journalism.
MLS
Kansas City soccer team sold,but will stay in area
BY STEVE BRISENDINE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OVERLAND PARK — Almost two years after they went on the block, the Kansas City Wizards have been sold to a local investment group headed by Cerner Corp. executives Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig.
The new owners, who take over operations of the club Friday, promised to keep the Major League Soccer team in the area. Terms of the sale agreement were not disclosed, although Patterson said it was a cash transaction using the owner's personal funds,
The deal was announced Thursday, three days after Overland Park's city council voted to put a $75 million soccer complex on the November ballot. The new ownership group, OneGoal LLC, hopes to have the Wizards' stadium built in that complex.
Even if that doesn't happen, Patterson said at a news conference, he and the other owners are committed to staying in the region.
"It's a done deal" he said. "There are no contingencies. We're entrepreneurs."
Hunt, who has owned the Wizards since the league began play in 1996, said finding a local buyer was a high priority.
"I'm especially pleased to see us consummate this transaction with the end result that the Wizards will stay in Kansas City, in the Kansas City metropolitan area," Hunt said.
Patterson and Illig are co-founders of Cerner, a medical software design company based in North Kansas City, Mo. Patterson is the chairman and chief executive officer, and Illig is the vice chairman.
The Wizards now play in Arrowhead Stadium, also home to the NFLs Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt also owns the Chiefs and two other MLS franchises — FC Dallas and
the columbus Crew — through his family's Hunt Sport Group.
Extensive renovations planned for Arrowhead would have forced the Wizards to look for a new home anyway, and MLS also is pushing for its teams to play in soccer-specific stadiums.
The new owners said Thursday that they hoped to have the new stadium open for the 2009 season and would look for an interim home in Johnson County — on the Kansas side of the two-state metropolitan area — until then.
OneGoal takes over with Kansas City in fourth place in MLS' Eastern Conference, headed into the final weeks of the regular season. The Wizards are clinging to the conference's final playoff spot, one point in the standings behind New England and one point ahead of New York.
Wizards forward Josh Wolff, who earlier this season called the drawn-out sale process a "joke" and a distraction, said he was relieved to
see a deal reached to keep the team in the Kansas City area.
"I'm certainly one that's doubted this process," Wolff said. "I'm elated for the fans and the players. We certainly deserve it. The last two years have been pretty poor, so to have it end — and to have great new owners — is fantastic."
Despite their onfield success in recent years — winning the MLS Cup in 2000 and reaching the finals again in 2004, the same year they won the U.S. Open Cup — the team's low gate figures have been a concern.
The Wizards' average home attendance is 10,313,the lowest in the 12-team league and almost 5.000 fans below the MLS average.
The fans are there, Patterson said. It's just up to the club to put them in the seats.
in this community, there is a huge soccer fan contingent and fan base," he said. "We have to make sure we reach out to that group, and
we have to reach out to the corporate side of Kansas City. When we build a new stadium, we believe we'll fill it."
MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who attended Thursday's news conference, had said the Wizards would likely be sold and moved — with Philadelphia as the most likely candidate for a new home — if a local buyer could not be found.
"I was trying to manage expectations," he said. "This was something that took a long time to put together, and I'm very pleased that it happened. It took a lot of hard work."
With the league expanding into Toronto next season and hoping to add three more clubs by 2010, Philadelphia is still a leading candidate to get a team, Garber said.
"We're still very bullish about Philly," he said. "It had the potential of being a move team, and now we'll focus our efforts there on the next level of expansion."
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
As for his own quarterback,
"He is a smart player who doesn't make a lot of mistakes and he gives his team a chance to make plays," Mangino said. "We don't want to let him get into a rhythm."
Mangino said besides winning the game, hed set no specific goals for Meier.
"We just want him to go out there and do all the things we ask him to do," Mangino said. "We will not ask him to do things he is not prepared to do at this time."
At wide receiver, Mangino has named three starters after a training camp battle that saw at least six different players competing for starting spots. Seniors Dominic
Mangino has been high on his receivers throughout training camp. He's consistently referred to the group as one of the team's most improved units. Meier said he noticed vast improvement in the wide receivers since the beginning of camp.
www.pipelineproductions.com
Roux and Brian Murph, along with sophomore Dexton Fields, will see the majority of receiver minutes Saturday.
The group that we have right now has a whole lot of talent," Meier said. "I think they have improved at catching the ball, knowing different coverages and just knowing the game of football. Their speed is night and day from what it was last year."
Kansan senior sportswriter Ryan Schneider can be contacted at rschneider@kansan.com.
Darrell Stuckey will also miss next week's game against Louisiana-Monroe, Mangino said Wednesday night. Mangino had previously said that Stuckey would miss Saturday's game against Northwestern State with an undisclosed injury.
Edited by Elyse Weidner
VOLLEYBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Saturday will be the first time Kansas has played Maine and Rutgers.
FOOTBALL NOTES:
Stuckey out again:
Injured redshirt-freshman safety
After Maine, the Jayhawks will face the Big East's Rutgers. Lora Yankauskas, senior outside hitter, who was a preseason All-Big East selection, leads the Scarlet Knights.
"When you see different styles of volleyball, east coast and west coast, I know it sounds weird, but it really is different," she said. "The speed of the game — there a different kind of tempo."
After the Temple Classic, the Jayhawks return home to the Horejsi Family Athletics Center to host the Jayhawk Classic. Kansas will play Brigham Young on Thursday.
Kansan sportswriter Drew Davison can be contacted at ddavison@kansan.com.
Edited by Shanxi Upsdell
athletics calendar
TODAY
Volleyball vs. Temple, 6 p.m., Temple Classic, Philadelphia, Pa.
Soccer vs. Cal, 6:30 p.m., Cal,
Invitational, Berkeley, Calif.
SATURDAY
Cross Country, Bob Timmons
Invitational, 9 a.m., Rim Rock
Farm
Player to watch: Senior Benson Chesang, a two-time defending Big 12 Conference champion, wl
Volleyball vs. Maine, 9 a.m., Temple Classic, Philadelphia, Pa.
Football vs. Northwestern State, 6 p.m., Memorial Stadium
Volleyball vs. Rutgers, 2 p.m., Temple Classic, Philadelphia, Pa.
start his last season as a Jay hawk. Saturday's Bob Timmons Invitational at Rim Rock Farm will provide a home course warm-up for this season's Big 12 Championships that will also be held at Rim Rock in late October.
CROSS COUNTRY
SUNDAY
Opening meet to judge status of team
sportsbrief
Soccer vs. Saint Mary's, noon, Cal Invitational, Berkeley, Calif.
The women's 6k run will start at 9 a.m. It will be followed by the men's 6k run at 10 a.m.
The Kansas cross country team kicks off its season this Saturday at Rim Rock Farm during Timmons Invitational.
Coach Stanley Redwine will use this meet to judge where the team is both mentally and physically at this point in the season.
"We are excited and will be able to see where we are and where we can end up," he said.
Confidently, the team will start its season at Rim Rock Farm this weekend and it there at the Big 12 Championships, which Rim Rock will be hosting this year.
"The race now is to get used to the course against competition." Redwine said.
Not participating in the meet will be senior runner and two-time Big 12 Champion Benson Chesang. Redwine said that he does not want to wear the senior out early in the season.
Other teams participating in the invitational are UMKC, Oral Roberts, Kansas State, Friends University, Missouri-Rolla, Bethany University, Butler County CC, Garden City CC, Grinnell College, Haskell Indians Nations University and Neosho CC.
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