2B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY JABY KANSAN
sports trivia of the day
Q: When was Kansas' most recent victory in a conference opener, and whom was it against?
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27. 2007
A: Kansas defeated Missouri 35-14 at home in 2003.
The Kansas football team has lost eight of its last nine conference openers.
KU Football media guide
quote of the day
"Always remember ... Gollath was a 40-point favorite over David."
— Shug Jordan, former Auburn head coach
sports calendar
FRIDAY
Women's soccer vs. Baylor, 7 p.m., Waco, Texas
SATURDAY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Softball vs. Iowa Central, 2 p.m., Lawrence
Softball vs. Emporia State, 4 p.m., Lawrence
Cross country, Roy Griak Invitational, all day, Minneapolis.
Women's tennis, ITA All- American Championships, all day, Pacific Pallisades, Calif.
Softball vs. Washburn, Noon,
Lawrence
Women's soccer vs. Texas A&M, 1:30 p.m., College Station, Texas
SUNDAY
Getting a shot
Women's tennis, ITA All- American Championships, all day. Pacific Palisades, Calif.
MONDAY
Women's golf, Sunflower Invitational, all day, Manhattan
Buffalo Bills quarterback Trent Edwards certainly has the Pro Football Hall of Fame pedigree: He was recommended by the late Bill Walsh and drafted by Marv Levy. Now it's time for the rookie quarterback to show whether he can spark a sputtering offense while making his first career start in place of injured J.P. Lewis on Sunday when Buffalo hosts the New York Jets.
MLB
Playoff contenders keep money,crowds coming
BY RONALD BLUM ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baseball has discovered the formula for boom times — parity.
There aren't any dominant teams as the sport prepares for its playoffs next week. Franchises with
.500 records headed into the final month of the season with postseason hopes — which kept fans filling ballparks at record-setting levels.
Even a cellar-dweller such as Tampa Bay may wind up with a dubious distinction — the Devil Rays (65-92) could finish with the
Kick the Kansan
Pick games, Beat the University Daily Kansan Staff, win a $25 gift certificate to Jayhawk and get your name in the paper. Bookstore
best winning percentage for the worst team in the major leagues .(414) since the 1900 New York Giants went 60-78 .(435), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
For only the second time in major league history (the other was in 2000), a season could end with no club playing .600 ball or better and no team with lower than a .400 winning percentage.
Week 5
1. West Virginia @ South Florida ___
2. Alabama @ Florida St. ___
3. Indiana @ Iowa ___
4. UCLA @ Oregon St. ___
5. Kansas St. @ Texas ___
6. California @ Oregon ___
7. USC @ Washington ___
8. Michigan St. @ Wisconsin ___
9. Clemson @ Georgia Tech ___
10. Kent St. @ Ohio(Pick Score) ___
Name: ___
E-Mail: ___
Year in School:___
Hometown:___
tickets have largely gone the way of flannel uniforms and horsehide baseballs, and few owners whine anymore about losing money.
"It's good for baseball," Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "More interest, more towns involved."
In 1960, the last season before expansion, the 16 major league teams drew 19.9 million fans, an average of 16,110. The Los Angeles Dodgers were the only team to top 2 million, and six teams failed to reach 1 million.
With so many teams in contention, baseball will top the average attendance mark that has stood since 1994, before a disastrous $7 \frac{1}{2} -$ month strike caused a steep decrease. All those occupied seats have translated into piles of cash: Baseball estimated this week that revenue will be approximately $5.7 billion this year, an increase of $500 million.
This year, 79 million or so fans will walk through big league turnstiles and the average will be about 32,700. The New York Yankees drew a team-record 4.27 million to support their $200 million payroll. The Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Detroit, Houston, the New York Mets, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco all will top 3 million.
"To think that the average club will draw over 2.6 million, it's stunning." MLB commissioner Bud Selig said this week. "You go back in history and there's nothing like it, absolutely nothing like it."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Only five or six teams will fall shy of 2 million — with Florida and Tampa Bay lagging at the bottom.
Selig can be prone to overstatement, but this time he's right. Doubleheaders with discounted
- The contest is open to current KU students only. Those selected as winners will be required to show a valid student I.D.
- Contests must submit their selections on the form printed in the University Daily Kansan or to KickTheKansan@kansan.com
- Entry forms must be dropped off at the Kansan Business Office, located at the west end of Stafler Flint, which is between Wescoe Hall and Walston Library, or they can be e-mailed to KickTheKansan@kansan.com. Entries, including those that are e-mailed, must be received by 11:59 p.m. the Friday before the games in question. No late entries will be excepted.
- The winner is the contestant with the best record. Winners will receive a $2 gift certificate to Jayhawk Bookstore.
- The winner will be notified by e-mail the Monday following the games. If a winner fails to reply to the notification by e-mail before midnight Tuesday, the Kansan has the right to select another winner. Only one person will officially be the winner each week.
- The winner will be featured in the weekly "Kick the Kansan" selections the following Friday. Contestants are allowed to win as many times as possible.
- Any decision by the Kansan is final.
"The more teams we can keep in the mix, the more fun it is for everybody," Mets pitcher Tom Glavine said. "Fans want their teams to have a chance. Players don't want to go into places where it's going to be a layup that you're going to win two of three or sweep. We all like to play in an atmosphere, and we all like to play in games that matter."
- Any decision by the Kansan is final*
* Kansan staff members are not eligible
MLB standings
ALEAST
ALLENST
Boston 94-64
NY Yankees 91-67 (3 GB)
Toronto 81-77 (13 GB)
Baltimore 67-91 (27 GB)
Tampa Bay 65-93 (29 GB)
ALCENTRAL
AL CENTRAL
Cleveland 94-63
Detroit 87-72 (8 GB)
Minnesota 77-81 (17.5 GB)
Chicago 69-89 (25.5 GB)
Kansas City 68-90 (25.5 GB)
NLEAST
AL WILDCARD
NY Yankees 91-67
Detroit 87-72 (4.5 GB)
Seattle 73-74 (7.5 GB)
Los Angeles 92-67
Seattle 83-74 (8 GB)
Oakland 75-84 (17 GB)
Texas 75-84 (17 GB)
ALWEST
NY Mets 87-71
Philadelphia 86-72 (1 GB)
Atlanta 83-75 (4 GB)
Washington 72-87 (15.5 GB)
Florida 68-90 (19 GB)
NL CENTRAL
NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs 83-75
Milwaukee 81-77 (2 GB)
St. Louis 74-84 (9 GB)
Cincinnati 71-87 (12 GB)
Houston 70-88 (13 GB)
Pittsburgh 68-90 (15 GB)
NL WEST
Arizona 88-70
San Diego 86-71 (1.5 GB)
LA Dodgers 85-72 (2.5 GB)
Colorado 80-77 (7.5 GB)
San Francisco 70-88 (18 GB)
NL WILDCARD
San Diego 86-71
Philadelphia 86-72 (0.5 GB)
Colorado 85-72 (1 GB)
Atlanta 83-75 (3.5 GB)
Wilwaukee 81-77 (5.5 GB)
Los Angeles 80-77 (6 GB)
GAMES
Texas 16, LA Angels 2
Boston 11, Oakland 6
Detroit 9, Minnesota 4
Cleveland 12, Seattle 4
Toronto 8, Baltimore 5
NY Yankees 12, Tampa
Bay 4
Chicago 3, Kansas City 0 Cleveland 12, Seattle 4 Cleveland at Seattle, late (doubleheader)
AMERICAN LEAGUE GAMES
Pittsburgh 5, Arizona 1
Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 2
Florida 7, Chicago 4
Houston 7, Cincinnati 6
Washington 9, NY Mets 6
St. Louis 7, Milwaukee 3
Colorado at LA Dodgers, late
San Diego at San Francisco,
late
NATIONAL LEAGUE GAMES
MLB.com
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