2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2005 CORRECTIONS - Yesterday's University Daily Kansan contained an error. In the column, "Game spurs speculation over team's next season," quarterback Brian Luke's name was misspelled. Luke's year was also misidentified. He is a junior. - Yesterday's University Daily Kansan contained an error. The caption for the story, "Ninth-inning play vexes Kansas," said the pictured game took place Saturday. The game took place Sunday. ATHLETICS CALENDAR WEDNESDAY - Baseball vs. Wichita State, 7 m., Hogund Ballpark * Softball at Nebraska, 6 m., Lincoln, Neb. - THURSDAY - Schmidt or Ortegen 4, 6, 10, Omma, Niel *Softball at Creighton, 2 p.m., Omaha, Neb.* + Softball at Creighton, 4 p.m., Omaha, Neb. - Track at Kansas Relays, all day, Memorial Stadium FRIDAY - Baseball at Texas Tech, 6:30 p.m., Lubbock, Texas - Track at Kansas Relays, all day, Memorial Stadium - Women's golf at Texas, all day, Austin, Texas SATURDAY SATURDAY Saturday ♦ **Softball** vs. Oklahoma, 2:00 p.m., Arrocha Ballpark ♦ **Baseball** at Texas Tech, 2:00 p.m., Lubbock, Texas ♦ **Women's Rowing** at Cincinnati, TBA, Cincinnati, Ohio ♦ **Track** at Kansas Relays, all day, Memorial Stadium ♦ **Women's golf** at Texas, all day, Austin, Texas INTRAMURAL SCORES SUNDAY SUNDAY ULTIMATE FRISBEE ◆ Men's Pinkies tied Vanguard of the Proliteriate 9-9 Ben Parrot def. Kappa Sigma 15-3 ◆ CoRec NSCS def. Destroyers 8-0 3-ON-3 SOCCER ◆ Men's Fiji 1 tied Amini 4-4 ◆ Women Kappa Delta Green tied The Jays 2-2 ◆ CoRec Grasskickers def. Oliver 6 6-2 Wolverines def. Title IX 2-0 FOOTBALL Two KU players placed on defensive award watch list Kansas sophomore defensive back Charles Gordon and junior linebacker Nick Reid have been named to the 2005 Lott Trophy Watch List. The award is given annually to the nation's top defensive player. Forty-two players are on the watch list. Gordon and Reid were both first team All-Big 12 selections last season and Gordon was named an Associated Press third-team All-American. The award is named for Football Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott. Last year was the first year the award was given, and Georgia's David Pollack took home the hardware. The award also takes into account off-the-field factors including integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community involvement and tenacity. The Lott Trophy is the only college football award that includes both on-field and off-field performance. Gordon had a nation-leading seven interceptions last season. Reid ranked second in the conference in tackles and was one of just three players in the conference last season to record more than 100 tackles with 109. Both players were named team captains at the spring game on Saturday. The award will be presented Dec. 11 at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, Calif. Tigers ready to pounce in Big 12 MEN'S BIG 12 GOLF BY TIM HALL thall@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTSWRITER The Kansas men's golf team will face off against the best teams in the Big 12 Conference on Friday, April 29 in Trinity, Texas. The Jayhawks have practiced every day since they returned from Holly Springs, N.C., last week. With three tournament titles this year, the team could finish strong at Whispering Pines. Here is an in-depth look at some of the teams the Jayhawks will be teeing it up with. Colorado The Colorado Buffaloos have endured a season of struggles. The team is currently ranked. 781b in the nation in the Golf Week poll. The Buffaloes' last tournament was the Courtyard by Marriott Intercollegiate in Holly Springs, N.C., which was also the Jayhawks' last tournament. Colorado finished in 11th place with a three-round total of 584 four shots behind Kansas. Junior golfer Edward McGlasson has been the top performer for Colorado all season long. He has led the team individually in the team's five tournaments. In those tournaments, Colorado has not placed higher than fifth. Their best tournament was the Stevinson Ranch Invitational, a tournament which the ment which the Jayhawks won — Ryan Colaianni Missouri The Missouri Tigers will head to the Big 12 Championships in Texas next nation by Golf Week. The Tigers are playing their best golf of the season, winning their last two tournaments. Mizzou won the Belmont Invitational in Franklin, Tenn., on April 5. The Tigers were led by junior Chris Mabry, whose three round total of 199 (14 under par) broke the tournament and Missouri record by five strokes. Junior Ben Scott also won an individual title at the Matlock Invitational in Lakeland, Fla. The Tigers have not had two dif- week ranked 74th in the ferent individual tournament champions in a season since the 1982-83 campaign. The Tigers won the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind., on Sunday for their second consecutive tournament title, beating Purdue by eight strokes. Scott led the way for the Tigers—he finished the tournament in third place with a three-round total of 212. The victory gave Missouri its second multiple-victory semester in school history. With two straight team victories and a full head of steam, the Tigers are the hottest group heading into the Big 12 Championships. Kansas State Nan Cleave and junior golfer Ben Kern. Cleave holds a season stroke average of 72.43 and Kern is averaging 73.63. This season Cleave has finished in the top 10 seven times and the top five four times. The Wildcats have failed to win a golf tournament this spring. They Van Cleave came close at the Stevinson Ranch Invitational in late March with a tie for second place finish, their best finish of the season. The Jayhawks won the championship at Stevenson that week. The Wildcats ended their regular season on Sunday, playing in the FirstEnergy Intercollegiate in Akron, Ohio, at the historical Firestone Country Club. Kansas State entered into the final round on Sunday in a tie for fourth place, and that is where they finished. Van Cleave led all Wildcats for their seventh straight event with a total score of 217, one over par for the tournament. Kansas State's regular season is officially over and it will have 10 days to prepare for the Big 12 Championships. Edited by Nikola Rowe NFL Coach leaves legacy of human spirit BY JENNA FRYER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Sam Mills, an undersized linebacker who became a Pro Bowl player with New Orleans and Carolina and was later an assistant coach for the Panthers, died yesterday after fighting cancer for nearly two years, the Panthers said. He was 45. Mills, who was diagnosed with cancer of the small intestine in August 2003 but continued to coach Carolina's linebackers between chemotherapy treatments, died at his home. "Sam was one of the finest people you will ever meet. You would never know that he was a player who made Pro Bowls and had all this attention because he treated everybody the same no matter who they were," Carolina general manager Marty Hurney said. "He never had a bad thing to say about anybody and had a great ability to laugh at himself. "He was the type of guy you want your kids to grow up to be." A five-time Pro Bowl selection, the 5-foot-9, 225-pound Mills spent the final three seasons of his 12-year NFL career with the Panthers, beginning with their inaugural season in 1995. There is a statue of him outside Bank of America Stadium, and he is the only player in the team's Hall of Honor. Mike McCormack, Carolina's first team president, is the only other inductee in the Hall. "Words are inadequate to express what Sam meant to the Panthers organization." Carolina owner Jerry Richardson said. "We were privileged to have him as a member of our family, and we are devastated over this loss." Mills spent his first nine NFL seasons with the New Orleans Saints, following three seasons in the United States Football League. He finished his career with 1,319 tackles while starting 173 of 181 games. He joined the Panthers' coaching staff upon his retirement. "He's definitely the best coach I ever had." Panthers linebacker Will Witherspoon said. "I got to talk to him the last couple of weeks and I knew that he wasn't doing well, but he never wanted to bring that up. "He always wanted to focus on how I was doing. There's nothing better than the fact that he concentrated more on other people than he did himself." Mills was an undersized linebacker out of Montclair (N.J.) State who tried — and failed several times to catch on with NFL and Canadian Football League teams. He gave professional football one last shot with the debut of the USFL in 1985. Every day, Stars coach Jim Mora asked his assistants who the best player on the field was. Every day, they told him "Sam Mills." "I don't need a 5-9 linebacker," Mora kept saying. Mills ended up as one of Mora's favorite players and when Mora went to the Saints after the USFLs demise, he brought Mills with him in 1986. Mills went to his first four Pro Bowls with the Saints and was elected to Louisiana's Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of New Jersey's Sports Hall of Fame. "Sam was a member of the Saints family and the community here in New Orleans, and those times will be forever cherished and never forgotten," the Saints said in a statement. "He was embraced not only by our organization but the whole community who loved his spirit, his positive attitude and his drive and determination. "He never backed away from a battle and took on each and every challenge with the heart of a champion." Mills moved on to the Panthers in 1995, and figured prominently in the franchise's first win, against the Jets on Oct. 15, 1995, at Clemson, S.C., when he intercepted a shovel pass and returned it 36 yards for a key touchdown. He led the team in tackles in 1995 and 1996, when the Panthers won the NFC West and made a surprise run to the NFC title game. Mills was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, hours before he showed up at the stadium to coach the Panthers' linebackers in their preseason finale. It was a devastating blow to the team, which, had learned two weeks earlier that linebacker Mark Fields also had cancer. Carolina restructured its coaching duties the next week to take some of the responsibilities off of Mills during his treatment. Originally given just a few months to live, Mills battled the cancer and didn't miss a single game that season. He scheduled treatment for off days to cut down on his time away from the team, and he often had to coach from the press box that year to preserve his strength. "The club basically gave me the option as to how much I wanted to be around," Mills said. "Hey, I am a football coach. That is what I am. As long as I have the power in me to go ahead and continue to coach, I'd like to continue to coach." He was an inspiration to the team that season as Carolina won the NFC championship and went on to the Super Bowl. Players wore his No. 51, along with Fields' 58, under their jerseys that season, and Mills gave an emotional pregame speech during their plavoff run. He flew to Houston on the Thursday before the Super Bowl, one day after a round of chemotherapy, and joined Fields for a news conference. Sweating and holding on to the podium for balance, he said "You have your good days and your bad days. I am just glad I am having days, you know?" Mills continued his treatment all of last season. He was honored by the NFL in March with the Johnny Unitas Tops in Courage Award. "Although it can be said that he left his imprint on the NFL as a player, it is his legacy as a human being that serves as an example for all of us to follow," said Bill Kuharich, Kansas City's vice president of pro personnel, who was with Mills with the Stars and Saints. Mills is survived by his wife, Melanie, and four children: Sons Sam III and Marcus and daughters Larissa and Sierra. 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Parade assembly at 10:00 in Watson Park (7th and Kentucky Streets) 12:00-4:00—Celebration in the Park with the Nig inst has into is ESI sea Douglas County Water Festival In South Park (12th and Mass.) features informational booths, games, and more! Speakers on alternative transportation and living include Reid Nelson. alternative transportation and living include Reid Nelson Karl Birns, Dustin Jensen, and Laura Adams (speaking about the Ad Astra Student Cooperative housing!) Bands: T'n E, Bradford and Ardys, The Yards, and The Mark Lyda Combo More Earth Day events: www.LawrenceRecycles.org