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KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011 / SPORTS / 11A
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I never thought I'd lead the NBA in rebounding, but I got a lot of help from my team-mates — they did a lot of missing."
— Moses Malone
www.sports-quotes.com
Q: What are the only four European countries to have won soccer's World Cup?
Charlie Sheen was a star pitcher and shortstop at Santa Monica High School in California, and was offered a scholarship to play at the University of Kansas.
FACT OF THE DAY
— espn.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
A: England, Italy, West Germany Spain.
- www.triviaplaying.com
Jackson still stirs controversy
MORNING BREW
While it is common for many professional franchises to erect statues of their greatest players outside their home stadium, the English Premier League's Fulham Football Club unveiled a peculiar statue on April 3 at its home grounds of Craven Cottage — a statue of Michael Jackson.
BY GEOFFREY CALVERT gcalvert@kansan.com
Jackson last attended a Fulham game in 1999, according to ESPN. But team chairman Mohamed Al Fayed was a close friend of Jackson, who died in 2009. Al Fayed's decision to use his club's stadium to commemorate a personal friend who had no other ties to Fulham is comically absurd. Unsurprisingly, reaction to the statue has been mixed, with some fans claiming their team is now a laughingstock.
Even crazier, in response to criticism of the statue, Al Fayed hilariously called out his club's supporters, saying, "If some stupid fans don't understand and appreciate such a gift, they can just go to hell...they can go to Chelsea, they can go anywhere else."
club executive suggesting that his team's fans root for a rival club, especially over a controversy that has no relevance to the club's performance. I certainly don't think it's smart public relations either.
Nonetheless, the Fulham incident highlights the differences between British and American sports culture. No matter how many fights Wayne Rooney gets into or how many prostitutes he sleeps with, as long as Manchester United is winning and he is scoring goals, fans can overlook Rooney's antics. Despite the statue, Fulham fans will still attend the team's games, and probably mock the statue on the way in. In America, the perception is that a team cannot win if there is controversy surrounding it, hence the fuss over incidents such as
While I think the decision to build the statue of Jackson at Craven Cottage is beyond dumb, I admire Al Fayed's unrestrained zeal in defending the statue. I can't imagine any American owner or
Allen Iverson's "practice" rant. In Britain, Iverson's rant would have caused much less of a fuss.
While I immensely appreciate the fact that my favorite teams' coaches have never suggested that I go to hell, the reluctance of coaches and players to say anything controversial has diluted the entertainment value of sports coverage in America, especially compared to the fodder Britain's newspapers have to work with. Although I don't wish for any controversy surrounding my beloved teams, I'll admit I wouldn't mind a little more brutal honesty when it comes to other American teams addressing the media.
Edited by Dave Boyd
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
TODAY
Softball Double-
header
vs. Oklahoma
4 and 6 p.m.
Lawrence
Baseball
vs. Missouri State
6 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo.
THURSDAY There are no events Thursday.
Tennis
vs. Missouri
4 p.m.
Lawrence
FRIDAY
TRACK & FIELD
Track
Texas Relays
All day
Austin, Texas
Baseball
vs. Nebraska
6 p.m.
Lawrence
Jayhawk men jump in rankings
Following an impressive performance over the weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., in which six men claimed individual titles and 12 others placed in the top three of their individual events, the Kansas men's track and field team is now ranked 12th in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, which was released Tuesday.
Kansas received 126.55 points,putting it ahead of schools like Arkansas and Texas, which are 13th and 14th,respec
tively. The computer-generated poll jumped the Jayhawks 14 spots from their preseason ranking of 26th.The Jayhawks are the fourth Big 12 team in the poll, following Texas A&M (Second).Texas Tech (Third), and Nebraska Ninth).
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Although the Jayhawk women won six events in Arkansas and had three other top-three finishers, it wasn't enough to keep them from falling out of the women's poll after being ranked 14th the previous week.
Geoffrey Calvert
UConn basks in aftermath of finals
BY MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
HOUSTON — Since arriving in Texas last week, Kemba Walker had visions.
Snipping nets. Hearing "One Shining Moment." Confetti floating around him.
While the scene is an annual tradition, Walker accurately imagined himself and his Huskies teammates in the sea of red, white and blue streamers that drifted onto the Reliant Stadium court Monday night after a 53-41 victory over Butler in a game that was more slugfest than slamfest.
"I feel like I'm dreaming," said Walker, who scored 16 points and won the most outstanding player award in front of 70,376 fans.
It was hard for anyone to envision, harder still for many to watch. It was the lowest-scoring championship game since 1949.
pgame since 1934.
Butler forward Gordon Hayward's halfcourt shot clanging off the rim to lose a heartbreaker to Duke was the lasting memory from 2010's championship. This season's title game for the Bulldogs featured a number of misses — 52 to be exact — for Butler fans to stew over until fall.
The Bulldogs shot a record-low 18.8 percent, struggling against
Connecticut's defensive length and takes shots that appeared aimed at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
("Coach Jim Calhoun) just told us wed have to outwill and outwork (Butler)" said Connecticut center Alex Oriakhi, who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds. He helped Connecticut outscore Butler 26-2 in the paint.
The Bulldogs joined Michigan's Fab Five squads in 1992 and '93 and Houston in 1983 and '84 to lose consecutive championship games.
The victory places Calhoun in an elite group of coaches who have won three championships, joining Adolph Rupp, John Wooden, Bob
Knight and Mike Krzyzewski. That might balance his legacy after being involved in an NCAA investigation that will see him suspended three games next season — if he chooses to return for a 40th season.
"I love my coaching. I love my team," he said.
Calhoun's Huskies made Butler work for every basket — all 12 out of 64 attempts.
Connecticut's 19 points after halftime, when it trailed by three, were the fewest by a team since 1960. Calhoun said he told his players in the locker room, "You're too good for this."
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