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NBA TITLES
Michael Jordan won an unprecedented ninth scoring title with an average of 29.6 points, the first time in those nine seasons that the Chicago Bulls star failed to average at least 30 points.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
Utah guard John Stockton's nine-year run as
Stockton's nine-year run as the NBA's assists leader came to an end as he finished second to Indiana's Mark Jackson. Jackson averaged 11.4 assists — one more per game than Stockton.
Michael Jordan
Chicago's Dennis Rodman, who missed the final 13 games because of a knee injury, won his sixth straight rebounding title with a 16.1 average.
BOWLING GREEN HIRES NEW COACH
Dan Dakich, an assistant at Indiana, was picked as head basketball coach at Bowling Green State University. He replaces Jim Larranaga, the Mid-American Conference
coach of the year, who left Bowling Green for George Mason University.
Bowling Green won a share of the Mid-
American Conference this season.
TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 1997
NUGGETS COACH
After a season that saw the team go 21-61, the Denver Nuggets are going to clean house, sources said.
The club scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. MDT today, but didn't disclose the subject. Dick Littles, who had a 17-52 record after taking over as head coach early in the season, will be fired, sources said, along with assistant coaches Gene Littles, Jim Browell and Kip
Motta.
The firings have been expected since Allan Bristow was hired as vice president of basket ball operations in February.
No more soccer hooligans in Poland, police demand
WARSAW, Poland — Police are demanding that a Warsaw soccer stadium be closed after 37 officers were injured in clashes with soccer hooligans this weekend, a representative said yesterday.
Police arrested 76 people after rioting broke out between fans of two first-division Warsaw teams, Polonia and Legia, on Saturday at Polonia stadium.
Warsaw police have asked the provincial governor to temporarily close the stadium, police representative Andrei Przemski said.
Kansas senior Anne Clark watches as the ball rolls wide of the hole. The Kansas women's team is in sixth place going into the final day of the Big 12 Tournament, which is today at Alvamar Country Club. Kansas teens off at 8:50 a.m.
Considering the rising soccer violence, national police chief Marek Papala also said he would ask local authorities throughout Poland to inspect all soccer stadiums.
The Polish Soccer Association also said it would require all soccer fans accompanying their teams on road games to carry identity cards during matches.
SECTION B
Those responsible for violence will be banned from entering stadiums, association representative Zbigniew Kalinski said.
Steve Punne / KANSAN
New marathon features rock music, famous names
Advertising a rock 'n' roll band at every mile, the first major new marathon to be produced in the United States in more than a decade, will debut June 21, 1998 in San Diego.
"It will be a fast, entertaining event, not only for elite athletes but for the masses," said Steve Scott, the American mile record-holder and one of the founders of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.
"Our goal is to create the fastest loop course in the country," said Frank Shorter, the 1972 Olympic gold medalist in the marathon and the 1976 silver medalist, and another founder of the event.
Other founders include Germany's Uta Pippin, three-time women's winner of the Boston Marathon; actress, marathoner and triathlete Alexandra Paula, formerly of Baywatch, and Frank Marshall, a filmmaker whose credits include Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple and Back to the Future. Marshall also is a marathoner, with a best of 2 hours, 45 minutes, 20 seconds.
Barkley warns Minnesota to expect a Houston sweep
MINNEAPOLIS — Charles Barkley already is trying to unnerve the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Barkley, whose Houston Rockets will meet the young Wolves in a first-round playoff series that begins Thursday at The Summit, called Minnesota's Chris Carr to say that the Rockets plan to sweep the best-of-five series.
"He said there's a train coming down the track, and it was going to run over the Timberwolves," said Minnesota's Doug West after yesterday morning's workout.
The Wolves were 0-4 against the Rockets during the regular season and 11-31 against teams with winning records. Minnesota also is making its first trip to the playoffs. The Rockets won consecutive NBA titles in 1994-95 and are led by three of the league's top players: Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clvde Drexler.
Barkley and Carr were teammates in Phoenix last season. Carr said they talked often, and they already had had one memorable conversation this season.
In a 96-94 Houston win at the Target Center on Dec. 10, Carr went to the foul line with a chance to tie the game with 0.8 seconds remaining. Before his first shot, Barkley walked up to him and told him not to choke.
He did, missing the first before intentionally missing the second.
The Associated Press
Golfers slip to sixth
Kansas focuses on its final day of tournament
By Kelly Cannon Kansan sportswriter
Kansas women's golf completed another strong day yesterday at the Big 12 Tournament at Alvamar Country Club, but it wasn't enough to hang on to fourth place.
After shooting a second-round total of 320, the women dropped to sixth place behind Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Missouri.
"We played well today," head coach Jerry Waugh said. "The difference was not very much, but in the game of golf, that is the story. We were one putt, shot or penalty away from a good round."
Kansas scored 311 on Sunday, which put the team in fourth place.
Waugh, however, did not think the team would move up yesterday.
"We missed several putts and had penalties that could make a difference in score," Waugh said. "But I didn't think we would move up. The Big 12, with the addition of the Texas schools, is a very strong conference. In our position, we're doing well."
Kansas was led by sophomore Mandy Munsch, who, after a score of 82 on Sunday, came back with a score of 76.
Munsch is tied in 20th place with Kansas' Susan Tessary.
"The score she posted (Sunday) could have been used in any tourney," Waugh said. "It was a good solid score, but we had four others who shot in the 70s. We have never done that before. But she came back today and shot a 76."
After Sunday, when she scored a hole-in-one, Tessary had shot an 80.
"I feel pretty good about my play," Tessary said. "I'm hanging in there. I feel my game is on an up-slope, and I'm trying to keep it pars and bogeys. I feel good about my standings."
Tessary thinks a lack of pressure helped Kansas the first day.
"The first day we shot a 311, and that was just great," Tessary said.
"We had no pressure, and we knew we were capable of that or better. We could
have done that all year. We are keeping it under control," she said.
Despite practicing at Alvamar, Tessary said she didn't think Kansas had an advantage against the other teams.
"We really don't play there often, we just practice there." Tessary said.
"I am comfortable with it and a little familiar with it. It may be an advantage for the older players, but for the freshmen and sophomores on the team, it's not that big of an advantage," she said.
Waugh said he wanted Kansas to finish in the top half of competition.
"I would like to see them finish in
first," Waugh said. "But realistically, our goal is to finish in the top half, sixth or better. We'll have our work cut out for us."
Also in the tournament, Kansas emerged triumphant in Saturday's long drive competition. The teams competed to see who could drive the ball the farthest.
Kansas and Texas were tied for the lead, but Kansas won in a playoff.
Tessary was the individual second place winner with a drive of 260 yards.
The tournament will conclude today at Alvamar. Kansas tees off at 8:50 a.m.
Kansas baseball to take on Texas
Third-baseman Chad King waits for the ball in a pick-off attempt at a game earlier this month. The Jayhawks play Texas at 3 p.m. today at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium. Kansas is looking forward to playing against the Longhams and their tradition on its home field.
By Harley V. Ratliff
The Longhorns, arguably one of college baseball's most storied baseball programs, begin a three-game series with the Kansas Jayhawks at 3 p.m. today at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
Kansan sportswriter
Heading up the Chisolm Trail and hauling several cattle wagons' worth of baseball tradition, the Texas Longhorns arrive today in Lawrence.
Geoff Krieger / KANSAN
The two teams will play a doubleheader today and will conclude the series at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
The Jayhawks (27-16, 11-10) enter the series coming off a disappointing weekend against Missouri. Kansas dropped two of three games to the Tigers, including a 12-11 loss on Saturday.
"We had two times this weekend where we just didn't execute on all cylinders," Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall said. "We're disappointed because we didn't play the ball that we are capable of."
While the losses hurt, the Jayhawks still remain in the top half of the Big 12 rankings and in good position for postseason play. The top six teams in the conference will be eligible to play in the league tournament in Oklahoma City.
"We're in an OK position right now," Randall said. "I would rather be where we are at than the five teams that are ranked below us. But we've got to keep winning."
After spending the last two weekends on the road, the team was relieved to return home for a Big 12 series, Randall said.
He said that the constant travel had been
wearing on his team.
"When you play at home, you get a lot of things going for you," Randall said. "But you also have to be able to win at home — that's crucial."
The task of taking on Texas, even at home, will be no easy chore.
Although they have failed to live up to preseason expectations, the Longhorns still carry an intimidating mystique.
The Texas program has won four national titles, and new head coach Augie Garrido is considered one of the best in
the collegiate baseball business.
Garrido, the legendary California State Fullerton coach, ranks eighth on the alltime win list and has won three national titles.
But Randall said his team was more focused on getting the job done than it was on Longhorn tradition.
"Certainly Texas is rich in tradition," Randall said. "They are one of the premier programs. But we're more concerned with playing the best we can and never laying down."
Ryun saga continues: Part Two
This past weekend Jim Ryun paid me a visit.
In 1981, I met Ryun and former Kansas track greats Glenn Cunningham and Wes Santee at the Kansas Relays. It was a private meeting, and
For those who do not know, last week I wrote in a column that when I was 5 years old, Ryun refused to give me an autograph unless I paid for it.
Cunningham and Santee signed a poster of mine. Ryun would not sign it unless he was paid.
SPORTS EDITOR
This column did not sit well with Ryun, his friends or his family. I was flooded the next day with responses from Ryun's acquaintances calling
me a liar. But I also received replies saluting me for my column.
The column even brought about an unnecessary story in the Lawrence Journal-World.
The column stirred more response than either Ryun or myself would have liked or expected.
So on Saturday, the former Kansas All-American who ran the mile in less than four minutes and who is a Republican congressman from Kansas, looked me up at the Kansas Relaws.
While sitting in the press box at Memorial Stadium, I heard a distinctly familiar voice behind me asking for someone to point me out.
Within minutes, I was introduced to Ryun.
He said that he had never refused anyone an autograph.
Ryun sat with me for a few minutes, and the two of us talked about the column.
I told him that I would never make up something like that, and that to this day I have on my wall a poster without his signature.
I assured him that he could deny it, but it did happen.
He denied it
It was at that moment that we agreed to disagree.
"I guess that we just have different interpretations of what happened that day." Ryan said.
He did not offer to sign the poster because it was clear to me that he wanted to spend as little time as possible with me. I don't think that going back to my house to find the poster was on his agenda.
But he did pull from his bag an autographed picture.
"Go with God, Spencer." it read.
It is signed by Jim Ryun and has the Bible reference John 3:3-8 written on it. (You will have to look that one up yourself.)
Ryun said that he wanted there to be no more confusion, and, without charge, he handed me the autograph I had waited 16 years for.
I give Ryun a lot of credit.
Although I am sure that there was a part of him that felt he had to find me and give me the autograph, there was nothing binding him to do it.
The congressman did not have to take time out of his schedule to talk with a 21-year-old student columnist.
He hunted me out, he talked to me in private, and he gave me the autograph without a photographer in sight.
That took some class.
Although Ryun and I always will disagree on what happened in 1881, I will remember forever that Ryun did try to make amends.
But I did meet him that day in 1981, and he did refuse to sign my poster.
So although I have a newfound respect for Ryan —despite his denial of the incident —I wish he could have explained his signature's absence.
Comments? E-mail Spencer at
sports@kansan.com