Volume 125 Issue 115
kansan.com
Thursday, May 2, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY & SUNSHINE
COMMENTARY History made off court for the NBA
It took until Monday, April 29th, 2013, but the world of sports finally started catching up to the world outside of it.
Current NBA player Jason Collins declared to the world that he is gay.
Collins isn't the first gay player in major league sports. Far from it. Statistically speaking, there have been hundreds of gay players that have competed in professional sports.
However, until Monday, all of those players had to remain closed, at least until they retired. The pressure to live up to "masculine" stereotypes both within the locker room and outside of it caused these players to feel the need to lie to other people about who they really were. Sometimes, it caused them to have to lie to themselves.
Collins' courageous act changed all this. No one wanted to be the first openly gay active player in sports. Doing so would place the spotlight on even the most anonymous player. Collins used to be that anonymous player; now he is a household name.
Sports needed this. The world always seems to think that sports is exempt from reality, as if it possesses a cheat code that keeps it from facing the issues that honest Americans face every day. Nothing could be further from the truth, and ignoring those issues never made them subside. It simply bottled them up.
Not everyone concurs with this sentiment. Ex-Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward postulated that the NFL was not ready for a gay player. It may be a newsflash to Ward, but the NFL has gay players that take the field every Sunday. Asking them to remain closeted does not change or suppress their sexuality. Rather, it asks them to do something no person should have to do, and that is pretend to be someone you are not.
Ward's views seem to be an anomaly. Equally as important as Collins' declaration has been the public acceptance of it. Athletes such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have publicly supported Collins, implicitly supporting all athletes who are questioning whether to come out of the closet.
Actions speak louder than words, and this fight is not over just because prominent figures vocalized their support. It remains to be seen how Collins will be treated when the novelty of his story wears off, and he laces up his sneakers to fight a battle on the court rather than off it. Hopefully, these words of support aren't simply the product of public relations teams seeking to capitalize on an obvious opportunity. It's the reaction when the cameras are off that will be the most telling.
If that reaction is anything but a continual flow of support, sports will fall behind the times once again. More and more people have begun to see sexuality for what it is: one characteristic that contributes to, but does not define, a person.
Monday represented a monumental moment in both sports and the gay rights movement. Nevertheless, there is still much to be done.
But it certainly is a step in the right direction.
— Edited by Megan Hinman
BATS AT BAY
Senior third baseman Jordan Dreiling runs to third after a Connor McKay double. Dreiling finished 1 for 3 with a run scored.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
KANSAS WINS BIG
The Jayhawks were able to keep Baker off the scoreboard on Wednesday
TREVOR GRAFF
tgraff@kansan.com
Kansas baseball blanked the Baker Wildcats in an 8-0 victory, its second win over the Wildcats this season, at Hoglund Ballpark.
A Jayhawk youth movement led the way with six underclassmen taking the field in Wednesday's starting lineup. Freshman first baseman Marcus Wheeler took full advantage of his opportunity in the lineup. Wheeler finished the day hitting two-of-three at the plate with a two-RBI double in the sixth inning.
"I was just trying to be aggressive," Wheeler said. "I knew I had guys on second and third, so I had to get the job done. I got an early
fastball and let that one go by. The next pitch was a changeup. I got it with the end of the bat and luckily it stayed in play."
The Kansas freshman doesn't often get the opportunity to grace the first base side of the Jayhawk lineup.
"It took us a while to get going,
"I just try to make sure I come out strong." Wheeler said. "I'm glad I got the opportunity to play and help the team get the win."
but at the score at the end of the game is really all that matters", Wheeler said.
The Jayhawks struggled to dial in the bats early in the game. Kansas hitters couldn't plate a run in the first five innings of play. Wheeler's two-RBI shot was the catalyst the Kansas lineup needed as they scored three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.
"That was quite a bomb," senior right-handed pitcher Tanner Poppe said. "It probably went 460 or bounced off Naismith I don't
DeLeon added to his season home run total with a towering ball hit into the trees beyond the right-center field wall. DeLeon's big fly is his seventh of the season and padded his three-for-five day at the plate.
In the seventh, senior third baseman Alex DeLeon hit a deep ball that caromed off the wall in left field for an RBI double, while sophomore right field Connor McKay added to the scoring with an RBI single making the lead 5-0.
even know. It was a good shot."
even know. It was a good shot.
For DeLeon it was a simple as see the ball and hit the ball.
"I got a good piece of it," DeLeon said. "It was a good pitch to hit, and the wind just carried it out."
Kansas senior right-handed pitcher Tanner Poppe was focused from the start of the game for the first time in quite some time. Poppe's ongoing battles with a shoulder injury have resulted in several short outings of late for the Girard, Kan., native.
"This is the first time I've felt completely 100 percent all year," Poppe said. "It was nice to go out there. My arm felt good. It was just nice to go out there and feel good for once."
Poppe's struggles early in the
year often centered on lack of command and high pitch counts.
"That was my biggest issue leading up to today was just throwing strikes and commanding the off-speed pitches," Poppe said. "I was able to do that today so that was a step forward in my progression to get back to everything I did in the past."
Poppe pitched seven innings with seven strikeouts allowing a lone hit in his shutout appearance.
The Jayhawks return to Big 12 play for a home series against the Baylor Bears. The series starts Friday night at 6 p.m. in Hoglund Ballpark.
Edited by Hayley Jozwiak
BELL LAP
Track squad ready for Big 12 championship
COLIN WRIGHT
cwright@kansan.com
Track squads have high expectations for Big 12 Championship
The Kansas track and field team travels south to Waco, Texas, this weekend for the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The women have a goal of sweeping the conference after winning the Indoor Championships in February, and the men have individuals who have aspirations of becoming conference champions at the meet hosted by Baylor University.
The women, who currently rank No. 2 in the nation, have been ranked in the top-five of the NCAA for the last twenty weeks according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Their narrow victory over the rest of the league in Ames, Iowa, at the Big 12 Indoor Championships brought the university its first male or female track and field title since 1983.
The women will be led by a handful of athletes who will look to pick up valuable team points in the field. Junior Natalia Bartnovskaya, who holds the school record in the pole vault and an NCAA Indoor Championship under her belt, will have a chance to win her first conference title.
Simpson
Horizontal jumpers Francine Simpson, Sydney Conley and
Andrea Geubelle will all have an
opportunity to win the long jump competition. The three Jayhawks have the three farthest jumps in the conference this season.
be led on the track by senior Kyle Clemons and sophomore Michael Stigler. Clemons has the fastest 400 meter time among Big 12 athletes this year, while Stigler holds that honor in the 400 meter hurdles.
The men will
hockey team are sophomores Kenneth McCulin and Michael Hester. Their season-best time of 3:05.93 is the seventh fastest time in the nation this outdoor season.
Joining that duo on the 4x400
McCuin
On the track, the women will try to repeat as champions in the 4x400 meter relay. The team of Denesha Morris, Paris Daniels, Taylor Washington and Diamond Dixon won the event last year in a time of 3:28.10 on their way to qualifying for the NCAA meet.
Daniels, a senior sprinter, will attempt to win the 200 meter dash at the Big 12 Outdoor meet for consecutive years. Her season best time of 22.76 is the fastest 200-meter time in the conference this season.
Heather Bergmann, Jessica Maroszek and Alena Krechyk, who hold the school records in the javelin, discus and hammer throw respectively, will look to gain points in the throwing events in helping the women compete for the conference title.
The Kansas women defeated the University of Texas by just 2.5 points at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in February, and there is a good possibility that the team championship will be decided in the final race once again, the 4x400 meter relay.
With the NCAA Outdoor Championships more than a month away, both the men and women's track and field squads are solely focused on the Big 12 meet this weekend, hoping to bring more hardware back to Lawrence.
— Edited by Tyler Conover
The 2013 Big 12 Outdoor Championships are this Friday through Sunday at the Hart-Patterson Track Complex on the campus of Baylor University.
TARA BRYANTKANSAN
Junior distance runner Josh Munsch starts Saturday's Glenn Cunningham men's mile run at the Kansas Relays. Munsch competed against two Olympians in the event and finished in fifth place with a personal best time of 4.02.9.