THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
NEWS
3A
》 ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
Falkenstien keeps eyes on KU Former announcer to watch first game from the stands
BY C.J. MOORE
For legendary announcer Max Falkenstien, his retirement begins this Saturday during the KU football team's season opener.
Falkenstien retired last year after 60 years of announcing KU football and basketball, but he said nothing in his life would change until the first game. But with Falkenstien's popularity, the Jayhawk Radio Network, his former employer, and the KU Athletics Department aren't going to let him go into retirement easily.
"He's definitely making a lot of appearances now. It's really funny because he's retired; however, he's Max and he'll always be part of the family." Angela Haar, ESPN Plus
general manager, said
general manager, salo.
Haar is trying to keep Falkenstein around by giving him a regular spot during football and basketball broadcasts, called "Max's Memories," where he would revisit great moments in KU sports.
KU sports.
Falkenstien came up with the idea to share sports memories this summer and pitched it to Haar over lunch one day. Once Haar finds a sponsor, "Max's Memories" will go on the air.
"People have said, 'Gee, I hope you'll keep a finger in the broadcast in some way shape or form.' So that was an idea that I had that would be fun for everybody I think — to reflect on some great moments out of the past," Falkenstien said.
The Athletics Department is also
keeping Falkenstien involved. Last spring, Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins made Falkenstien a special assistant to the athletics director. As an assistant, he has been making appearances at alumni events, like the KU Kickoff Rally last month in Prairie Village, where he addressed a crowd of 2,300 people.
crowd of 2,300 people.
Saturday, Falkenstien will be greeting alumni in Perkins' suite at Memorial Stadium. Then he'll catch the game from a new vantage point in the stands. "After 60 years, it will be very strange," Falkenstien said.
Kansan staff writer C.J. Moore can be contacted at cjmore@kansan. com.
ART
Edited by Elyse Weidner
Police recover stolen paintings Munch's masterpieces found 2 years after disappearance
BY DOUG MELLGREN ASSOCIATED PRESS.
OSLO, Norway — Police recovered the Edvard Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna" on Thursday, two years after masked gunmen grabbed the national art treasures in front of stunned visitors at an Oslo museum.
Art lovers had feared the priceless paintings were gone for good. Norwegian news media spent the months speculating about the works' fate — whether they had been burned to escape the police hunt, sold to a wealthy collector for private viewing or suffered harm in their hiding place.
"I saw the paintings myself today, and there was far from the damage
that could have been feared," said Iver Stensrud, the police inspector who headed the investigation since the paintings were taken by masked gunmen who raided the Munch Museum on Aug. 22, 2004.
Experts from the Munch Museum confirmed that the paintings, still shielded from the public and the news media, were the real thing.
"I am almost crying from happiness," said Gro Balas, chairwoman of the Munch Museum board.
Norwegians were shocked when two or three thieves in black masks entered the museum and threatened an employee with a handgun, then wrenched the two paintings off the wall and fled. Many museumgoers panicked, thinking they were being attacked by terrorists.
Many people initially thought the
paintings might be offered for ransom. Art experts said it would be nearly impossible to sell such famous pieces of art, although some people speculated an immensely rich, unscrupulous art lover might be a willing buyer.
The two paintings were on an FBI list last fall on the top 10 art thefts around the globe. Among missing works are three Rembrandts, a Vermeer, a Manet and five Degas taken from Boston's Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in 1990 and a Cezanne stolen from England's Ashmoleen Museum in 1999.
Three Norwegian men sentenced to prison in May were convicted of participating in the theft plot, but police said the masked gunmen remained at large.
PROFILE
David Lawrence starts his career as color commentator for the football team Saturday. Lawrence replaced KJ legend Max Falkenstein. Ryan McGeevrey/KRAMSAN
New broadcaster to replace legend
For the first time in years, someone other than Falkenstien will call games
BY C.J. MOORE
David Lawrence and Max Falkenstien are like apples and oranges.
Lawrence, Falkenstien's replacement on the Jayhawk Radio Network as the color commentator, is a former football player that resembles Jesse "The Body" Ventura with his imposing size, bald dome and goatee. Falkenstien looks like everybody's grandpa. Lawrence is going to be a color analyst. Falkenstien brought the color with his legendary stories from being around Kansas athletics for more than 60 years.
Lawrence has the tall task of replacing what many call a legend and will officially take over for the retired Falkenstien this Saturday during the Kansas football team's
season opener against Northwestern State.
"I think there's less pressure, because to echo what Chris (Piper) has said, we're not going to try to be Max," Lawrence said. "We're not going to try to be the icon that he was. I'm going to try to do analysis."
In 1977, Lawrence came to Kansas to play football for Kansas. During his senior season as a Jayhawk in 1981, Lawrence was voted team captain and the Offensive Player of the Year, as well as being selected to the All-Big Eight team as an offensive
Lawrence was a natural fit to replace Falkenstein. He has been with the Jayhawk Radio Network since 1993 as the sideline reporter. He has also been around the Kansas football program in some capacity for the last 29 years.
guard.
After his playing days, Lawrence joined Don Fambrough's staff as a graduate assistant coach. Lawrence did this for two seasons before deciding that he didn't want to live the college coaching lifestyle. So, he made a career change.
"Broadcasting was the best way to stay connected. It's allowed me to stay connected to what I had a lot of fond memories of," Lawrence said.
Lawrence brings his knowledge of the game from coaching to his broadcasts. He coached ninth-grade football at South Junior High School in Lawrence for 17 years, along with his two seasons with the Jayhawks. He plans to study tape each week leading up to every game just like the coaches do and plans to share his knowledge with fans.
During the Crimson and Blue Line radio show before games, Lawrence will have a segment called "Chalk Talk with David Lawrence," where he will share the keys to the game and what he has studied of the opponent that day.
"He's our football expert," Angela Haar, ESPN Plus general manager, said.
said.
Falkenstien never claimed to be a football expert, and Lawrence isn't going to try to be a KU history buff. But, like Falkenstien, Lawrence has a Kansas connection and a love for the Jayhaws.
Kansan staff writer C.J. Moore can be contacted at cjmore@kansan. com.
Edited by Erin Wiley