THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
BASKETBALL
Sophomore center Sasha Kaun sings during Late Night in the Phog last fall. The starting time for Late Night has moved to 7 p.m. this semester.
Late Night not so late this season
BY RVN SCHNEIDER
rschneider@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
What was once a late night tradition for 20 years may turn into a new early evening tradition at Allen Fieldhouse this year.
A new NCAA rule will allow the Kansas men's and women's basketball teams to begin practice at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 at Late Night in the Phog. Previously, practice was allowed to start at midnight on the Friday closest to Oct. 15. The NCAA rule change cited a concern for the travel of fans, student athletes, coaches and recruits in the early morning hours as the reason for the change.
"The likelihood is that it'll start no later than 7 and it'll end by 9:15." Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said.
Marchiony said a decision had not been made on when doors at the fieldhouse would open for Late Night.
The men's basketball team will be featured on ESPNU from 8 to 9 p.m., said Larry Keating, senior associate athletics director.
In previous years, Late Night provided an outlet for campus groups and men's and women's basketball team members to perform in front of a large crowd. Marchiony said the performances would continue in the new, abridged version.
"We'll have some entertainment, but we haven't nailed it down yet," Marchiony said.
"We're close to setting the schedule."
Even though the traditional basketball kickoff is scheduled during Fall Break for the second consecutive year, Marchiony isn't worried about empty seats. "Judging by the attendance last year, I think it'll be just like it always," Marchiony said. "The earlier time will make it family-friendly. We won't have a problem packing the place."
Last year, Late Night filled the fieldhouse capacity of 16,300 people.
Josh Bailey, Lawrence senior, said he had attended Late Nights for many years and understood that families would benefit most from the change.
"A lot of people in the community enjoy it. It's probably better for them to have it early." Bailey said.
While Marchiony said the time change would make the event more accessible to families, Ryan Nugent, Overland Park freshman, disliked the idea of changing a basketball tradition.
"I like it being late, as in, actual midnight," Nugent said. "There was, at least, more of a point to it."
PAGE 1B
Sonya Baldovino, Kansas City, Kan., freshman, said although she preferred the later time. she still planned to go.
- Edited by Jayme Wiley
"Nobody's going to miss it," Baldovino said. "It's still Kansas basketball."
Allen Fieldhouse to showcase its improvements
BY RYAN SCHNEIDER
rschneider@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Construction inside Allen Fieldhouse is wrapping up, with Late Night in the Phog three weeks away.
Boxes and construction material still line the halls
throughout the lower level of the fieldhouse.
Painting was completed on the bleachers and the refurbishment of chairback seats was completed as well.
Additional lights and speakers will be seen hanging from the ceiling.
A new basketball court has
been completed. Crews are currently painting the design, which will be similar to last season. The only difference is that center court will feature a 28-foot version of the new lavhawk logo.
Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said most of the new video board had been installed, but one piece needed to
be added to the bottom before it would be completed. Small digital advertisement display boards will also be installed above all second-level entrances.
Marchiony said the doors of the Booth Family Hall of Athletics would not be used as an entrance at Late Night.
"I think people will have to
stay away from those entrances and use some of the others," Marchionv said.
The work also continues outside the fieldhouse on the Hall of Athletics, which is not expected to be completed until November.
Edited by Jayme Wiley
SOCCER
Aggies out for vengeance after last year's upset loss
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The Jayhawks' journey to the Big 12 Conference title starts now after a disappointing end to a not-so-hot nonconference season.
Kansas soccer coach Mark Francis said his team had now entered the second part of a three-part season.
The team will also play Sunday in a rivalry match against 2004 Big 12 Co-Champion Texas A&M, whose record is 5-1-1.
Tonight, Kansas, whose record is 4-3-1, opens its Big 12 play at home against Baylor, whose record is 2-5-1.
The game was originally scheduled to be played in Waco, Texas, but Hurricane Rita forced the game to be moved to Lawrence.
Nonconference has come and gone making tonight the time to focus on its conference opening weekend one game at a time.
"We haven't even mentioned
"Easy teams can pull upsets, so we've got to take care of Baylor first."
Afton Sauer
Sophomore defender
A&M's name," Francis said. "In fact, I think that is the first time I've said A&M in the past two weeks. We're looking at Friday's game. We've got to get a win. Any game on the road in the Big 12 is tough."
Baylor, like Kansas, enters tonight's match after a Sunday defeat. The Bears fell 4-1 to the No. 3 Portland Pilots to end their nonconference run.
Baylor managed just two shots on goal in the defeat. Sophomore midfielder Margaret Kaderli scored the lone goal for the Bears, her first of
"Easy teams can pull upsets, so we've got to take care of Baylor first," said sophomore defender Afton Sauer.
the season.
Leading the Baylor offense is senior midfielder Tiffany Boshers. Boshers has collected three goals and two assists for eight points.
Allowing 15 goals in its first eight games, Baylor will start sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Holder. Holder racked up 14 saves against Portland alone and has 56 on the season. That lowers the average number of goals scored against her to 1:91.
Her 19 shots on goal leads the team.
Baylor soccer coach George Van Linder's Bears lead the all-time series against Kansas with five victories, three losses and one tie, but have picked up only one home victory this season.
A not-so-friendly rival, Texas A&M, sits at the closing end of this Big 12 weekend.
"They're a good team," senior forward Caroline Smith said of Baylor. "They're a good test for us."
SEE AGGIES ON PAGE 5B
Kansan file photo
Sophomore defender Aton Sauer dribbles past a UC Irvine defender during the game last Friday. Sauer scored the lone goal during the loss against Purdue last Sunday. Kansas will take on Baylor today at 4 p.m. at Jayhawk Soccer Complex. The game was moved to Kansas due to Hurricane Rita.
VIEW FROM PRESS ROW
KELLIS ROBINETT
KROBINETT@KANSAN.COM
Networks snub Kansas football
It's a shame that Kansas' next football game against Texas Tech won't be evised.
The Red Raiders' pass—happy offense versus the Jayhawks' tough defense would have created an entertaining match up.
The teams' records are also enticing. Kansas is undefeated, and with Texas Tech playing Division IAA Indiana State tomorrow, the Red Raiders will surely be 3-0 entering the game.
But the networks decided to air Texas at Missouri, Baylor at Texas A&M, Iowa State at Nebraska, and Kansas State at Oklahoma instead.
Making the situation more frustrating for Kansas and Texas Tech fans is the fact that an extra Big 12 Conference game will be televised next week.
Normally, three Big 12 football games are televised each week, with Fox Sports Net typically airing games at 11:30 a.m., ABC at 2:30 p.m. and TBS at 6 p.m. Next week ABC will telewise two games, Texas at Missouri at 11 a.m. and Iowa State at Nebraska at 2:30 p.m.
"There's no way to know," he said. "It's just a week-to-week deal."
Bob Burda, assistant commissioner of the Big 12, said ABC might use that privilege in two weeks, because the conference race will still be unclear and the network might need all the time possible to make its selection.
"There are a few weeks where there are four or so great Big 12 match ups," he said. "In those cases, networks take longer to announce their games."
Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said the networks were always unpredictable in what games they decided to air.
He said that networks never approached Universities about televising football games. The only time the two are in communication is when the networks inform the home school that its football game will be televised at a specific time.
"A lot of it has to do with marquee appeal," he said. "Networks are always looking for teams that are on a roll or looking for an upset."
Larry Keating, senior associate athletics director, said the networks usually picked which games to televise 10 days in advance, but two weeks a year ABC waits until six days before game day to make its announcements.
All four of next week's Big 12 games were announced at the regular time, and the two televised games that seem to be less intriguing than the Kansas at Texas Tech match up are Baylor at Texas A&M and Kansas State at Oklahoma.
Putting Baylor on TV can be explained, because FSN is obligated to televise each Big 12 team at least once a year. The network most likely wanted to show a Baylor game before the Bears' 3-0 record came back to earth, and the fact that Baylor upset Texas A&M last year probably helped the cause as well.
But Kansas State at Oklahoma being on TV is a head scratcher. Oklahoma is 1-2, and Kansas State has looked like anything but a quality team, with narrow victories over Florida International and Marshall.
SEE NOBINETT ON PAGE 5B