THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 10A
FOOTBALL
Buzz surrounds youthful receivers
Mangino: Season could be time of growing pains
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWRIVER
The word buzzing around this year's wide receiver unit is potential.
Kansan file photo
The unit returns only one player who had an impact on last year's team, but has a number of players who could have big years for the lavwhaws.
Senior Mark Simmons is the only returning starter at the position. He collected 553 yards last season and grabbed three touchdowns.
Mark Simmons, senior wide receiver, looks downfield after catching a pass during a game last season. Simmons will lead this year's group of wide receivers, which is deep but also young.
Simmons leads a young and inexperienced group. Kansas coach Mark Mangino said he knew there would be speed bumps along the way, but said he was excited about the players at the position.
"We have some young kids. We're going to go through some growing pains," Mangino said. "They might drop a couple balls here and there or miss a block but when it's all said and done I think that's going to be a really good group for us."
Besides Simmons, the other main target is expected to be junior college transfer Brian Murph. Murph impressed coaches and teammates during the spring game, with seven catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. He's also had an impressive preseason camp so far.
Beyond Simmons and Murph, Mangino said he was hoping that either sophomore Marcus Henry or freshman Marcus Herford, who took a redshirt last season, would emerge as a legitimate threat for the Jayhawks.
Herford is playing his first season at wide receiver after working as Kansas' scout team quarterback last year. Herford was recruited as a quarterback, but Mangino said he was pleased with his work and progress so far.
"He's working on his ball skills everyday," Mangino said. "He's a good, hardworking young man. We're hoping that he'll be ready to make a major contribution. He's certainly on that path."
Another player that could have a big impact on the wide receiver unit is Charles Gordon, junior cornerback. Gordon will spend most of his time at the cornerback position but did catch 15 passes last season for 150 yards as wide receiver, and will see some time at the position this season.
"If we don't have some of the young kids ready to play at the receiver position, it's hard to ignore Charles as a playmaker on offense," Mangino said.
Even if Gordon does see significant time at wide receiver, Simmons knows that it is his job to be a leader for the young players.
"Most of our players don't
SEE RECEIVER ON PAGE 8A
Kansan file photo
Former left fielder A.J. Van Slyke falls to try and catch a fly ball during the series finale against Texas last season. Van Slyke recently suffered a season ending injury after charging the mound during a minor league game as a member of the New Jersey Cardinals.
BASEBALL
Ex-Jayhawk home with clipped wing
By BJ RAINS
brains@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Former KU baseball player AJ Van Slyke arrived home in St. Louis to begin his first offseason as a professional baseball player about a month earlier than planned. And he didn't have a good reason.
"I was leading off the inning, and the count was 2-0, so I was pretty sure he was going to throw a strike," Van Slyke said. "I didn't think he wanted
The former left fielder for the Jayhawks and 23rd-round selection of the St. Louis Cardinals ended his rookie season early when he tore his labrum, a ring of fibrous tissue in the shoulder, in a bench-clearing brawl last month.
After trying to hit him with the first two pitches, Van Slyke figured he was done. He expected Martinez to groove a fastball with his third pitch.
The incident occurred on Sunday, July 24, while Van Slyke was playing for the New Jersey Cardinals. In the first inning, he belted a two-run homer against the Vermont Expos. When Van Slyke came to the plate in the third inning, Expos pitcher Carlos Martinez threw the first pitch high and tight to Van Slyke, just missing his face. When the second pitch just missed the back of Van Slyke's head, he said he became irritated.
"I knew he was trying to hit me," Van Slyke said. "I asked the umpire to do something about it, but he did nothing. Our coach came out and asked him to issue a warning, but he didn't. The umpire did absolutely nothing about it."
to walk me, so I was expecting one out over the plate."
Martinez, however, drilled his third pitch into the right bicep of Van Slyke, which, he said, caused him to snap. Van Slyke threw his bat down and charged the mound, inciting a bench-clearing brawl between the two teams.
As Van Slyke charged Martinez, Expos catcher John Poppert took off his mask and threw it at Van Slyke, hitting him in the back. That didn't stop Van Slyke, though, and he soon started pounding Martinez on the mound. When Poppert reached the mound and jumped on Van Slyke's back, the three fell to the ground, dislocating Van Slyke's shoulder.
"It was dislocated, but I didn't know it," Van Slyke said. "My adrenaline was pumping, and I knew it hurt, but I had no idea it was hurt that bad."
Unaware of his injury, and at the bottom of a huge pile, Van Slyke continued to punch. He was stepped on and kicked by many members of the Expos bullpen, who were first to arrive at the mound.
Van Slyke was pulled from the pile by an Expos coach. As he walked back to the dugout, he realized what had happened to his shoulder.
Van Slyke's father, Andy Van Slyke, who was elected to three all-star games and won five gold gloves during his 13-year professional career, said he was disappointed by his son's decision to charge the mound.
"I was disappointed because I don't think that was the right thing to do," the elder Van Slyke
SEE WING ON PAGE 8A
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Aggies look to forget last season's shortcomings
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTWRITER
At the midpoint of last year's season, the Texas A&M Aggies were feeling pretty good. The team compiled a 6-1 record and
had Baylor on the schedule for its next game.
McNeal
A funny thing happened after that. The Aggies dropped a 35-34 overtime thriller to last place Baylor and then went on to take
three of their last four games, including a 38-7 loss to Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl.
Aggies coach Dennis Franchione said he knew how tough
the big 12 conference was, and also knew that no game was a guaranteed
victory. He tried to stress that fact to his team after the Baylor loss.
"You can't bask in a win too long and dwell on a loss too long," Franchione said. "If you feel sorry for yourself too long or feel too good about yourself too long, somebody is going to plant
a hickey on you pretty solid and a
huckey can't let that happen."
This season, the Aggies return 14 starters, and are a dark horse pick to win the Big 12 South division.
Fans in College Station, Texas are excited about senior quarterback Reggie McNeal. Last year, McNeal set a single-season school record with 2,791 passing yards and rushing yards by a quarterback with 718 yards. He also finished seventh nationally in total offense.
The scary thing for teams in
the Big 12 is Franchione said he felt McNeal was the most improved player on the team from last year's squad. Coaches voted McNeal the most improved after the spring game and offseason workouts.
"He is a better leader than I have ever seen him," Franchione said. "He has depth and understanding of the offense that is as good as it has ever been. It's the total quarterback in all areas that I think led our coaches to
THE COLUMN
SEE AGGIES ON PAGE 8A
JIMMY CHAVEZ
jchavez@kansan.com
At the time of the conference's inception, this was the case in the South division. Although, there were some good teams at that time. Texas and Texas A&M captured two of the Big 12's first three conference championships. But every year, it was Nebraska, Kansas State and later Colorado that garnered top billing in the media.
Nebraska was always in contention for the National Championship. Even once lowly Kansas State firmed with a national title in 1998, before committing a Missouri-esqe choke job in the Big 12 Championship against Texas A&M.
Since 2000, the balance of power has shifted and now it's the South that attracts the national attention, especially every October when Texas and Oklahoma clash in Dallas' Cotton Bowl.
The time is now, 'Hawks
The reasoning is simple. Currently, it's no secret that the North division is in a slump.
The North has seen a stretch of seasons where there was no clear favorite. That's where Kansas enters the picture.
Mark Mangino's tenure has brought significant improvement and a buzz that created a cult following. Students who once ignored football and counted down the days to Late Night, a fact that distrubs this Texan boy, are salivating as they count down to the football season opener in 11 days.
Fans have reason to believe that the program is close to turning the corner. Some even talk about a North division championship. The past couple years that kind of prediction was only a reality in your copy of EA Sports' NCAA Football.
Last year's 4-7 record quieted that thinking some, but the belief is still there. Yet, you get the feeling that this team is gathering a chip on its shoulder, because as usual, all the so-called experts have determined that Kansas football will remain in the conference cellar.
Mangino has to love it. He already said the team looked near perfect during training camp. This is almost unheard of coming from a coach who has always been conservative when evaluating his team. That alone should be reason to get excited. The status of the North is another. This year, it's still anyone's title for the taking. An argument could be made for every team.
Football season is fast approaching and around these parts, things are fixing to get interesting.
For many years, Kansas' football program has been outshined by its school's storied hoops tradition. It's a stigma that the 2005 Jayhawks, a team with some of the best senior leadership in school history, wants to change. This year, more than any other, could be the one that determines the future order of things in the Big 12 North.
For the Jayhawks, this has to be the year, because if not, it could be a struggle in the future. If successful, this team could establish Kansas football as a player in coming years.
Of course many of you will say that all of this is a nice dream and will ask the question "Why?"
For a change, though, every one should ask "Why not?" So
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