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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM Sports WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008
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to shred my magazine and have a bonfire or something like that," Steele said.
Steele said everything fell in place last season for the Jayhawks because of a soft schedule and a lack of injuries, which enabled them to a schoolrecord 12 victories and an Orange Bowl trophy. He doesn't think it will be that easy this season.
Kansas coach Mark Mangino said he didn't pay attention to the preseason hype surrounding the football team. Although he realizes expectations are higher for the Jayhawks, it's not going to change the way he prepares.
"Presseason polls don't mean a whole lot," Mangino said in a statement. "The end of the season polls are the ones that tell the story."
He could reference last season to support his point. The Jayhawks weren't ranked in the top 25 in any preseason rankings or magazines but finished the year at No.7 in the Associated Press poll.
With 15 returning starters, including junior quarterback Todd Reesing, a successful Kansas season wouldn't surprise anyone this year — except maybe Phil Steele.
preseason hype
Kansas' rankings from experts and publications heading into the 2008 season
Source National Ranking Big 12 North Ranking
Athlon Sports 13 2
Lindy's 15 2
ESPN.com 17 2
Surefire Scouting 18 2
Phil Steele 30 3
"I think this year's Kansas team probably has more talent than last year's 12-1 team," Steele said. "But I don't think they're going to achieve that record."
Steele said if Kansas was that successful this season, it would most likely start with a Heisman-caliber season from Reesing. Steele added that if the Jayhawks lost only one game again, he would probably be voting for Reesing for college football's most prestigious individual award.
Steele thinks Reesing faces a more daunting task in 2008 with Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and South Florida all added to Kansas' schedule. Reesing seems to realize what he's up against.
"It's not just going to happen, we know that from last year," Reesing
said after spring practice. "We're not just going to show up and beat everybody. The Orange Bowl doesn't mean anything this year."
It wasn't all negative news for Jayhawk fans in Steele's magazine, though. He did name senior wide receiver and kick-returner Marcus Herford a First Team All-American.
Herford averaged more than 28 yards per kick return last season and scored two touchdowns. Steele said he expected Herford to have an even bigger season in 2008.
College football magazine Athlon Sports had Kansas selected the highest of all the rankings so far at No. 13 in the nation. What may be more disheartening to Jayhawk fans is the team that all the polls have ahead of Kansas in the Big 12 North — Missouri.
Celtics win championship, Pierce earns MVP
BY TOM WITHERS
NBA FINALS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners, the Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one — at last — for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — their Big Three for a new generation.
After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green.
Lifted by ear-splitting chants of "Beat L.A." from their adoring crowd, which included Boston legends Bill Russell John Havlicek and JoJo White, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 on Tuesday night.
With the outcome assured, Boston fans sang into the night as if they were in a pub on nearby Canal Street. They serenaded the newest champs in this city of champs, and taunted Kobe Bryant and his Lakers, who drowned in a green-and-white wave for 48 minutes.
as the Celtics, a 24-win team a year ago, wrapped up their first crown since 1986.
This was total domination. The Celtics obliterated the Lakers, who were trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals.
No way. No how. No chance.
Boston's 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher; the Celtics beat the Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA finals.
Pierce doused Celtics coach Doc Rivers with red Gatorade. Owner Wyc Grousbeck, who named his group Banner 17 to leave no doubt about his goal, put an unlit cigar in his mouth — a tribute to Red Auerbach, the patriarch who had a hand in the franchise's first 16 titles.
Garnett dropped to the parquet and kissed the leprechaun at center court, then found Hall of Famer Bill Russell for a long embrace.
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