6B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2007
》 ROYALS LOYAL
Any day at the 'K' a memorable one
BY DANIEL MOLINA
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
DMOIAL@KANKSAN.COM
Now that "second winter" has come and gone, the time is ripe to head east on Interstate 70 and catch a Royals game. It's an annual tradition for most baseball fans in the Kansas City area, yet the stadium has traditionally struggled to lure college students from Lawrence.
It took me a while to pin down the reason why so few KU students make the trek to the Truman Sports Complex, home of Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium. Try to rule out the home team's horrid performance. Kansas City's lackluster play has gotten so much media attention the last few years it almost became "cool" to be a Royals fan at one point.
The second and most probable reason a majority of Jayhawks haven't flocked to the Kauffman, or the "K," routinely is that it really is the hidden beauty of Major League Baseball.
You don't have to be a baseball purist to enjoy the subtle simplicity of the place. You don't even have to enjoy baseball. Like social interaction? How about social interaction set in a stadium that rivals our own campus in terms of outdoor appeal?
Whatever the case, a day at the "K" is worth it. My Kauffman memories number almost 60, the team's total wins from the last five years.
I've gone when the first-inning score looked more like a perfect record for a football team than a score that would give a Royals fan any glimpse of hope for the following eight to come.
I've gone when the brutal midday sun and Midwest humidity damn near melted all the cheap John Buck
jersey giveaways.
I've gone when the wind chill in the teens shivered the life out of everyone in the stadium, players included. This was the only time in my life I have ever envired "Sluggerrr" and his warm costume
There is one common thread in each of those experiences: not once did I leave the ballpark upset or feeling like I wasted two and a half hours. How could you when you just witnessed America's pastime being played by some of the world's best - OK maybe not always - players in one of the most beautiful parks in the nation?
The scene set at Kauffman, even on the worst days, is picturesque. The fountains frame the outfield and are arguably the most distinguisable feature. Every park has its own special feature. Fenway has the Green Monster. Wrigley has its ivy vines, Kaufmann has its fountains.
There are also the two vehicles beyond left field. They would be out of place in any other venue but are strangely right at home in the "K." The Ford F-150 sits atop a perch that never stops spinning, while the Dodge Durango that is sit uated by the visiting team's bullpen has a "Hit it here!" sign that taunts right-handed hitters.
In a nutshell, the park oozes that good ol' Midwestern charm. When the dust settles on the upcoming planned renovations, I'm sure some part of me will miss the old "K."
Ever since I can remember, Kauffman has been a humble place, not too high on itself to show off a gazillion scoreboards that display random and useless statistics. ("Oh look, Mike Sweeney is 7-for-18 with runners in scoring position and a full moon in the sky!")
Whatever the end product of the renovations, let's hope the product on the field gets revamped as well.
Molina is an Olathe sophomore in journalism.
Edited by Katie Sullivan
Limited shirt sizes disappoint
>>'HORN BORN, 'HAWK BRED
BY TRAVIS ROBINETT
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
TROBINETT@KANSAN.COM
stood in the fairly long T-shirt line had two options: large or extra large
Ah, the good of' University of Kansas football spring scrimage, where the tackling isn't too hard and the T-shirts are free of charge. But are they too large?
Seriously, good luck fitting into one of the complimentary T-shirts you get from the Athletics Department. Fans who
What about people like me, the victims in this case? My metabolism is abnormally fast. I stay skinny no matter what I eat. The weight-gaining impaired should be able to wear a free T-shirt that fits. After all, this is the United States.
"We've found most people want shirts that are a little bigger," Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said. "That's what we stuck with."
How hard would it be to make some mediums, or smalls for the kiddos? It's not about the money, Marchiony said, but that too many options may slow down entrance to an event, with people taking more
time to choose a shirt size.
Marchiony is right to an extent. Some people I talked to love the shirt sizes, but they were all males.
Yeah, people like Breanne Russell.
"My preference is large," Richie Schlozman, Overland Park freshman, said. "I can imagine there are people who they wouldn't fit, though."
"I use them as night shirts, or give them away to my dad," the Topeka senior said. "They are even too big for him."
Of the seven T-shirts I've collected at KU sporting events, five are folded up somewhere in the back of my closet, while the other two are decorative pillow cases for my living-room couch (thanks for the tip.
Mom). For me, wearing one makes me look like a ten-year old playing dress up with big-people clothes.
"We want to make everyone happy, but sometimes that's not possible," Marchiony said. "Most people are just happy to receive a free shirt."
"If they'd fit, I'd wear them more," Russell said. "I'm not angry, just kind of like 'kee'."
But if the sizes were more diverse, I guarantee you'd see those free T-shirts more often around campus.
Robinett is an Austin, Texas senior in journalism.
Edited by Joe Caponio
>> RUNNING
Kenya takes first individual, overall in Boston Marathon
BY JIMMY GOLEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — The runners were soaked, the pavement slippery, and Robert Cheruiyot knew exactly where trouble was waiting along the Boston Marathon route.
So 48 hours before the start of Monday's race, after his more traditional training was complete, the defending champion headed to the course to test the traction of the finish line. It was at the end of the Chicago race, 26 miles and 384 yards in, that he slipped — nearly costing himself a race, if not a career.
"I don't want myself to think about falling down in Chicago," Chernuiyot said after overcoming from a concussion from that slip and the remnants of a noreaster to win his third Boston title. "It
is like telling someone something very bad."
Cheruiyot, who also won in 2003, earned his third Boston title standing up. He outkicked countryman James Kwambai on the way into Knennie
Square to win in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 13 seconds — slower than the course record of 2:07:14 he set last year but enough to win by 20 seconds.
"When the lion is chasing
Russia's Lidiya Grigoryeva captured the women's crown in 2:29:18, winning by 20 seconds and sending Latvia's jelena Prokocuka to her second consecutive second-place finish. Grigoryeva, who set the course
"When the lion is chasing the antelope, he doesn't look back. He has to eat."
ROBERT CHERUIYOT Boston Marathon winner
Kenya took the top four spots in the men's race and its 15th victory in 17 years. The top American man was Peter Gilmore, in eighth place.
the antelope, he doesn't look back. He has to eat," Cheruiyot said. "So when I run, I don't stare at my time."
record in Los Angeles last year, veered to the stands to grab a Russian flag just before crossing the finish line.
Top American hope Deenaa Kastor fell back after stomach problems diverted her from the course for a minute near the midpoint, Kastor, the defending London champion, American record-holder and Olympic bronze medalist, still finished first in the U.S. national championships, a race within a race that carried a $25,000
bonus.
"It's hard to deal with a disappointing performance when you've prepared for so much better than you did out there," she said.
Cheruyiot spent two nights in a Chicago hospital in October after slipping on the finish line as he raised his arms to celebrate his victory. He couldn't sleep for more than a month, had trouble with his back, along with headaches that persisted until six weeks ago.
"I thought maybe it was the end of my career," Cheruiyot said after arriving in Boston.
On Saturday, as he prepared to defend his title, he accompanied a TV crew to the finish line, bending over to touch the nonskid surface. By the time he came that way again Monday, the skies had cleared, the winds had settled and he passed over it with ease, holding his arms to the side and blowing a kiss to the crowd.
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