MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2005
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH.
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 13B
Sports offer humorous surprises
Funny how things never work out the way they were planned.
Almost as if one person was working full-time to counteract every prediction the other person made.
Most of last year, and a good part of this summer, were full of predictions-gone-wrong and outcomes-hard-to-believe.
In case you missed it, Palmeiro just returned from a 10-game vacation, levied for testing positive for steroids.
Let's review.
Funny.
Under oath and waving fingers, Baltimore Orioles first baseman, and potential half-of-famer, Rafael Palmeiro told Congress and the rest of America that he never took steroids.
Already under scrutiny, Palmeiro's future status in the hall
is even more questioned, despite being one of four in the elite 500-homers and 3,000-hits club. He may face perjury charges to accompany his suspension.
Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams returned to his team after deciding that football was a higher priority than marijuana.
His teammates are having difficulty warming up to him since his return. He is also supposedly practicing as the Dolphins' fourth-string running back, even though he sees the ball slightly more than the typical fourth-stringer.
ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
Evidently, Kansas wanted a piece of that screw-with-people' heads action as well.
Funnv.
Earning a trip to its first bowl game under coach Mark Mangino in 2003, Kansas football looked to have improved
immensely for the 2004 season.
Funny.
Although the Jayhawks started a vast majority of the games looking like the team of new, they disappointed us all by following a bowl game season with a 4-7 campaign in 2004.
Adding to the humor was former running back John Randle. The All-Big 12 honorable mention rushed for 540 yards and six touchdowns last year.
He also urinated in public and picked up a battery charge to go with it.
To top off this salute to a disappointing 2004 is Kansas basketball, starring departed junior guard J.R. Giddens.
Loaded with seniors, talent and heart, the 2004-2005 basketball season was supposed to exceed the performance of every one before it. A team with an ability to win, unrivaled by those before it. The season began exactly that way — on a tear. 20-0 in the first month and a half.
Funnv.
How fast that feeling of success and superiority can leave you. Kansas finished the year on a 3-7 free-fall, losing to Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Oh, but the surprises kept coming.
Three-point specialist and drama creator, Giddens not only caused confusion with a sub-par sophomore season, but added to this unbelievable list when he punched his own ticket off the basketball team.
The fight outside the Moon Bar was not a surprise. Dissepecting tradition at the university he played for was.
The page turns and fall 2005 is upon us. Surprises are not always negative, and often lead to reform and improvement. More good than bad occurred last year in the world of Jayhawk sports, but it's the jaw-droppers that stick with us.
Maybe the Jayhawks got it all out of their systems last year. Maybe this crazy world of athletics will straighten up, follow predictions and quit confusing us.
Funny. I just can't believe that.
Bauer is a Winfield senior in journalism.
NFL BRIEF KC man defrauds several Chiefs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A suburban Kansas City man was charged with using a securities fraud scheme to bilk investors — including former Kansas City Chiefs players Dan Saleaumua, Deron Cherry and Tracy Simien — out of more than $900,000 over a 10-year period.
A state grand jury issued a 19-count indictment against Kurt J. Holdeman in June. The charges were announced Friday.
Holdeman, 45, of Raymore,
appeared in Jackson County
Circuit Court last week and is
free on $20,000 bond.
Prosecutors alleged in court records that Holdeman lied to investors in his company, Mesa Data Services, falsely claiming that the company was about to be purchased by electronics retailer Best Buy Co.
VOLLEYBALL
The Associated Press
Players tour Brazil; 3 visit home during exotic summer trip
BY MATT WILSON
mwilson@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRITER
A trip to Brazil this summer for the Kansas volleyball team, turned out to be much more than your average vacation.
three Jayhawks, it was a chance to go home.
The team was in the South American country for eight days this summer. During stops in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the Jayhawks played Brazilian club teams, which gave them a chance to hone their skills on the court against foreign competition.
For the players and coaches, however, the experience was about more than just volleyball. It was a chance for most of them to see another culture and another way of life. For
"Our parents can never come to our games here, and there they could watch," said Paula Caten, senior outside hitter from Canarana, Brazil. "Our teammates could see our families' reactions too and see how they feel about being able to watch us.
Caten, along with Jana Corea, junior outside hitter from Macapa, Brazil and Josi Lima, senior middle blocker from Sao Paulo, Brazil, are all alumni of Pinheiros Club of Sao Paulo. When Kansas played against the trio's former team, it presented the rest of the players with an opportunity to see where their style of play originated.
For Andi Rozum, senior setter, the game helped her and her American teammates discover where their Brazilian teammates' personalities were shaped.
"It helped us understand where Josi, Jenna, and Paula come from," Rozum said. "It was important for our team chemistry.
Correa agreed.
"Our teammates got to know our culture better," Correa said. "Since the trip, they understand us better. The team got closer."
Being good teammates became something that the team could experience through their daily activities,rather than having it forced upon them by coaches.
Bechard said the most important times were not those
"We always talk about how we need to be good teammates," Correa said. "But when we were there, it wasn't just talking, it was happening."
Team chemistry is a common theme among the squad. If there is one thing that they can take from the trip, the team members said it is the time spent together and the bonds that were formed with one another.
"We got to know each other a little better," coach Ray Bechard said. "Our players from the United States were taken out of their comfort zone and placed in a different environment, a different culture."
in competition,but when the team could be a family.
"The bonding took place more off the court than on the court." Bechard said.
"The players gathered a new appreciation, not only for the culture in Brazil for our American players, but I think the players from Brazil really respected how the Americans went down there with an open mind and really asked questions and learned."
Emily Brown, sophomore opposite hitter, said she enjoyed the exposure to Brazilian culture as well. She also said the language issues they encountered brought the team closer to each other.
"We were the only ones speaking English, so we were
forced to stay together, which was not a problem for anyone," Brown said. "The more time we spend together the better."
The development of good relationships among the Jayhawks is an important part of the big picture. The goal remains to compete for a conference championship this season, something that is not lost on the players and coaches.
Correa said the experience would have a huge impact on the team's performance this season.
"After this trip, everything is much better," Correa said. "We are a better team now."
"I think it brings us a little ahead of where we might normally be at this point," Bechard said. "I'm excited about that."