SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY. OCTOBER 21. 1994
Soccer club in must-win situation
By Kent Hohlfeld Kansan sportswriter
From now on, the Kansas soccer club must win the rest of its games to keep its season alive.
The team will compete in the Great Plains Conference tournament Saturday and Sunday at the YSI athletic complex at 25th and Wakarusa streets.
Kansas State, Iowa State and Oklahoma also will compete in the tournament. In the semifinals, K-State will play Oklahoma at 3 p.m. Saturday, while Kansas will take on Iowa State at 4 p.m. The winners advance to the championship game at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The Great Plains Conference is made up of 10 Midwestern teams divided into two divisions. The top
The winner of this weekend's tournament gets one of the region's two automatic bids to the National College Club Soccer Association Championships in Phoenix. The other automatic regional bid goes to the winner of the Rocky Mountain Conference.
Kansas soccer coach Mark Salisbury organized the Great Plains Conference, which is in its first year. The reason for organizing the conference was to provide a format for awarding one of the region's three tournament bids, Salisbury said. In previous seasons, bids were awarded on the basis of records.
two teams from each division play for the conference championship.
"Last year we did well in our tournaments," said Chris Lewis, graduate student. "But we still had to wait last
year for the bids to come out."
The NCCSA tournament is made up of 16 club teams from around the nation. The 16 bids are split among six regions. Kansas' region has two automatic bids and one at-large bid.
The at-large bid seems to alternate between Rocky Mountain teams and Midwest teams, Salisbury said. Last season's at-large bid went to Missouri.
"Since a bid went to Missouri last year, it'll probably go to a Rocky Mountain Conference team this year." SaliBSury said.
He said that fact added to the importance of this weekend's tournament.
"We've basically got to win the conference to get a bid," Saliabury said. "I don't think we can count on getting the at-large bid."
Kansas finished with a regular-season record of 6-1, which left the team tied with K-State for first in its division. The team won its first three games before dropping a 4-2 decision to K-State in Manhattan.
Kansas rebounded by finishing the season 3-0-1 but had problems scoring goals.
"Scoring has been a problem for us," said Matt Jones, fifth-year senior. "We've had to switch the lineup around to give us more scoring opportunities."
Those changes paid off in a 1-0 victory against K-State Saturday in Lawrence.
"Last weekend was an important turning point for the team," Lewis said. "This weekend we're looking to score more."
Soccer field
To get to the soccer field from 23rd and Iowa streets, head west on 23rd and walk to wakauwa Drive. Turn right and follow. Wakauva Drive into the YSI fields.
SECTION B
Micah Laaker / KANSAN
Jayhawks to challenge Sooner tradition
Brian Vandervleet / KANSAT
Kansas senior quarterback Asheli Preston tosses the football ball during warmups at a practice this week at Memorial Stadium. Preston will start over Mark Williams tomorrow. Against Iowa State last week, Preston completed seven out of 13 passes for 126 yards and rushed for 24 yards.
One victory since 1984 doesn't cloud Kansas' hopes against Oklahoma
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswrite
When the Kansas football team plays in Lawrence at 1 p.m. tomorrow, it will face more than just the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Jayhawks also must contend with 91 years of tradition.
Kansas has won only 24 out of 91 games in Division I-A's longest uninterrupted series.
Since the time that Kansas coach Glen Mason
arrived at Kansas in 1988, the Jayhawks have won only one game.
INSIDE
"When I first got here, it was a joke." Mason said about the series. He said he remembered the 1988 game. "I don't think their first team came out for the second half."
But in 1992, Kansas
INSIDE More coverage of the Kansas-Oklahoma game, including a chart of starting players. Page 3B.
defeated Oklahoma 27-10 and went on to win the Aloha Bowl. Since that victory, Kansas has been considered as an upper-division Big Eight Conference team and bowl contender, just as the Sooners were in the past.
Kansas has a 4-2 record overall and a 1-1 Bight record this season. The 'Hawks are coming off a healing victory against Iowa State after an emotional loss to Kansas State.
Oklahoma is 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big Eight, and has lost two consecutive games. The Sooners' 45-7 loss to No. 2 Colorado caused people in Oklahoma to question whether the Sooners failed to play hard at the end of the game.
"Our football team did not give up against Colorado and it won't give up against Kansas," Oklahoma coach Gary Gibbs said.
Mason said the statistics showed that Oklahoma did not quit. Colorado rushed for 203 yards in the first half and 70 yards in the second half.
"That's not indicative of a team quitting," Mason said. "I think it was a combination of things. Colorado played exceptional and Oklahoma didn't execute the way they wanted to."
Mason said the Jayhawks would be facing a balanced offensive attack. The Sooners rank fourth in the Big Eight in passing and fifth in rushing.
"You have to be able to switch gears," Mason said. "You have to be able to make a lot of adjustments in your defense."
The Sooners' rushing game is led by running backs Jerald Moore and James Allen, nicknamed "Thunder and Lightning", respectively,
for their running styles.
"We just got done with an option football team," Kansas senior linebacker Don Davis said in comparing Iowa State to Oklahoma. "I'll be a little bit different because Oklahoma has a little more talent."
"You've got to beat the guy over you, pursue to the football, and you've got to gang tackle," Mason said.
Mason said the Jayhawks would have to play team defense to stop Oklahoma's quick backfield.
Allen said Kansas had displayed the pursuit needed to slow down a running game.
"I don't think there is a quicker team than Kansas," he said. "And, they don't quit until the whistle blows."
Another worry for the Kansas defense is Oklahoma quarterback Garrick McGee.
"He has the ability to make a big play in the option," Mason said. "He has the ability to throw the play-action pass, and he has the ability to traditionally drop back to pass."
Gibbs said that he was very impressed by the Kansas offense.
"They're very strong and physical offensively," he said. "They play an assault brand of football and right now they're playing very well."
Swimmers to battle Missouri
'Hawks to begin season with Tigers
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas swimming and diving team doesn't have to live off crumbs of competition anymore — it will get a fear tonight
The Jayhawks open their regular season and Big Eight Conference schedule at 7 tonight in Robinson Natatorium, their home pool, when they go head-to-head against the Missouri Tigers.
Tonight's meet marks the final home meet for the Jayhawks in 1994. They will not compete at home again until Jan. 21 when the women's team faces Georgia. By traveling, the team will compete against teams they have never seen, said Gary Kempf, Kansas swimming coach.
"You just take opportunities that are presented to you," he said.
The team has competed in two meets during the fall season. They won the inaugural Open Water Invitational at Lone Star Lake and swam against each other Friday in their annual Crimson and Blue Intrasquad meet.
"We won our 19th intrasquid in a row," Kempf said jokingly. "I thought they swam well, and their attitude was good."
But tonight marks the first competitive meet of the young season.
Jeff Wilson, senior co-captain, said,
"Intrasquid helped us get into the racing mode."
Kristin Nilsen, freshman backstroker, agreed that the team was ready to swim. "We've all been practicing, giving 100 percent each time," she said.
Erika Rasmusson, senior diver, said the diving team was continuing to build its confidence in practice. In addition to the more experienced divers' development of difficult routines, the freshmen are improving rapidly, she said.
The Jayhawks will face an ever-improving Missouri team. The Tiger's women's team had its best season in 13 years last year, ending with a record of 6-7. The men finished the year 4-6.
COMMENTARY
Even though Missouri has several of the top swimmers in the conference, Wilson said Kansas' superior depth would lead to a victory. "I see it being a little closer than last year," he said. "But I don't see it as being that much of a race."
"They've really come a long way in the four years I've been here," Wilson said. "It's a good first real meet for us to ease into the season a little bit more."
Use of Native American mascots —Respect or racism?
Changing people's perceptions not the job of sports teams
The Florida State Seminoles, the Washington Redskins and the Atlanta Braves all have successful histories associated with them. Unfortunately, they all share one nick in their statues traditions. Some say the Native-American community is negatively portrayed by their mascots.
In our current politically correct world, this opinion is very unpopular. But don't immediately refute the statement because it isn't socially acceptable.
Mascots shouldn't change, people should. But a sports team can't make that change.
But that doesn't mean we should change them.
There is no question that the stereotypes are inexcusable, and sensitivity by colleges and professional teams is necessary. However, changing nicknames will not eliminate the negative social stereotypes.
If Florida State changed its nickname to the Beach Lovers, don't think for a minute that the "Tomahawk Chop," a cheer Native Americans have condemned vehemently, would end. As annoying as it may be, Florida
GERRY FEY
State fans would continue to wave their arms and chant that song.
As for the white man parading around Florida State's stadium dressed as Chief Osceola, that obviously is offensive. Because the school can control his actions, and he is not a Native American, he shouldn't be allowed to perform again. But colleges can't control an entire society's actions or negative perceptions.
And this buying date may be later.
As for the names themselves, we must keep them in perspective. The Native-American names and images are used to instill fear in opponents. They were never meant to be degrading and should never be taken in that context.
If someone mentioned a new name such as the Washington Officials in conversation, referring to NFL football's Redskins, it wouldn't stir up images of Super Bowl rings or the famed RFK Stadium. It would just remind people of a mascot controversy.
Tradition is a huge part of athletics, especially in college, and nicknames are an enormous part of that. By changing a name, a school loses the tradition associated with it.
It's just a team name, so let's keep it at that.
they will remember the Redskins mascot just as well. So nothing gets accomplished except for destroying a city's tradition.
The debate will continue in this PC age but why? It is only a team name.
Even if fans remember Washington's tradition after a name change.
As it is flow, everyma become offensive to some social group. Even the Miami Dolphins, with a seemingly innocent porpoise on their helmets, are getting letters by the hundreds from animal rights groups to change their mascot.
Maybe teams should solve the problem by using colors as nicknames. I don't think anyone would be offended watching the Cincinnati Burt Oranges and the Houston Navy Blues battle on the football field. What a yawner.
We should be sensitive in naming newly formed teams and careful not to offend any group of people. However, it would be over-sensitive to continue changing current teams' nicknames
As it is now, every mascot has
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Let's change people's attitudes, not something as trivial as a name.
Gerry Fey is the Kansas associate sports editor.
Braves, Redskins only perpetuate racial stereotypes
This isn't a sports story.
It's a story about people — people who want to be treated equally, people who never have been treated equally by our government and people who shouldn't be reduced to stereotypes for the sake of sports teams.
Too often though, offensive stereotypes abound among sports mascots.
Take last year, when a student at Florida State University sold official National Championship Seminole "scalps." The endeavor, which ended when police arrested the student for solicitation without a permit, represents a blatant example of racism. To laugh that
all Seminoles scalp their enemies is a grotesque exaggeration.
But one does not have to go that far to be offensive. St. John's University found its traditional Redmen mascot
COLLEEN McCAIN,
NATHAN OLSON
to be sufficiently offensive and changed its mascot to the Red Storm.
The world didn't end with the mascot change. Fans still are loyal to the Red Storm. In fact, the mascot probably will not be missed in 10 years. At least it won't be missed in the way former coach Lou Carnesecca will be, which is exactly our point.
Mascots have only a tangential relationship to tradition. Notre Dame is renowned for its great players and coaches, not for its mascot. Fans don't base their loyalties on a team's mascot. They don't leap out of their seats when the person dressed as the mascot does a little dance. Their support and enthusiasm are centered around a team's performance.
That's why tradition will survive even when Native-American mascots are gone. And that's why those mascots should be gone and forgotten. Mascots such as Redskins and Seminoles serve only to perpetuate negative stereotypes that have existed for centuries.
No one believes that eliminating offensive mascots will solve the problem of racism. But at least it would be a step in the right direction. It would show that schools and professional teams no longer sanctioned outright racism.
Another argument in favor of these mascots is that it's only a game. It's not that important. If sports are unimportant, then why don't teams just change their mascots?
The mascots are important to the people whose heritage is degraded. For that reason alone, the mascots should be changed. It's not worth offending an entire race for the sake of a sports team.
Using animals as mascots can't be compared to using a race of people as mascots. Using a panther as a mascot does not stereotype all panthers nor does it perpetuate discrimination against panthers.
The argument against racially stereotyped mascots has nothing to do with political correctness. Racism and discrimination simply are unacceptable.
No one would think of naming a team the Detroit Darkies or the Kansas City Kikes. Such names are completely offensive, just like the Redskins and the Fighting Illini.
Yesterday's University Daily Kansan printed a photo from the University of North Dakota. In the photo, students wore shirts that spelled out "Sloux Suck." Though the students meant the message for the team, the implications affect an entire race.
We shouldn't let this sad story continue.
Colleen McCain and Nathan Olson are Karen staff reporters.
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