Volume 125 Issue 111
Thursday, April 25, 2013
COMMENTARY Raising the bar for coach Weis
kansan.com
Let's put it this way: The Jayhawks won one game against a team whose mascot was the Jackrabbits. They won as many Big 12 games as Missouri has Final Four appearances. They allowed 56 points against Kansas State, and the number was only that low because the Wildcats stymied their offense early in the fourth quarter. Bill Synder could have entered the game himself and at least gotten a first down before his body crumbled.
Let's hope Charlie Weis enjoyed his first year coaching Kansas football, where as long he didn't pull a Mike Rice or a Bobby Petrino, his first season would be considered a success. Because that passive fan attitude is as good as gone.
Even so, the love for Weis has been almost unconditional.
Every time he is introduced as he is watching a game at Allen Fieldhouse, the crowd erupts in applause. When confronted about his record Kansas fans are quick to defend him.
"Look at what Turner Gill left him with. Wait until he recruits his own talent."
"We could have won against TCU, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Texas Tech last year."
For the most part, these statements are true. Gill left the program in bad shape. He didn't ever appear to truly connect with the players and struggled with recruiting. And it is accurate to say that Kansas was competitive in all five of those games against superior opponents.
However, this acceptance of mediocrity ends now.
If Weis fails to drastically improve upon last year's record, the same people who are currently defending him will be the ones demanding his firing papers. That is just the way collegiate athletics works. The fans think they are being generous by giving a coach one year of leeway before releasing the hounds a year later.
No one is asking Weis to turn the team into a Big 12 contender overnight. However, simply being competitive in about half of the games will no longer be sufficient. And Weis certainly needs to avoid those games that are not competitive. Getting blown out again by the likes of Oklahoma and West Virginia will cause Weis to meet the same fate as most of the pour souls on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice"
Weis has tools at his disposal to make improvement happen. Jake Heaps, unlike Dayne Crist before him, appears to value the idea of the completed forward pass. Justin McCay gives the team a dynamic receiver who can actually create separation in the passing game. The running game, the strength of last year's team, should continue to be an asset.
His recruiting class is nothing to sneeze at either. Weis, realizing he needs to win now, brought in a class of solid junior college players, led by defensive tackle Marquel Combs. No longer can you say that he is saddled with Gill's feeble attempts to build a football team. This is clearly Weis' team now.
The low expectations ended with the conclusion of last season.
We will see if Weis and his players can rise to the occasion.
Edited by Elise Reuter
BATTER UP
Senior infielder Alex DeLeon runs around the bases after he muscled a pitch over left-center field in the Javhawks' 7-1 win over Baker. The Javhawks are now 25-15 overall and 9-6 in the Big 12.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
OUT OF THE PARK
Jayhawks hit their way to a 7-1 victory against the Baker Wildcats
TREVOR GRAFF
tgraff@kansan.com
The three-run shot, DeLeon's team-leading sixth of the season, carried high into the trees beyond the left field wall.
Kansas senior first baseman Alex DeLeon's three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth jump started the Jayhawks' 7-1 victory over the Baker Wildcats in Hoglund Ballpark last night.
"I wasn't looking for any one pitch," DeLeon said. "I was just looking for something up in the zone that I could get into the outfield. I ended up getting a slider that was up and I put a good swing on it."
DeLeon's shot might be the longest hit in Hoglund Ballpark this season.
The scoring quickly turned in favor of the jayhawks, who scored seven unanswered, beginning
"Well, the ball was still going up when it hit the trees," senior shortstop Kevin Kuntz said. "I just put my head down when he hit, because it probably one-hopped Watson over there. I think it was a curveball too. He did a good job of just staying back and using his hands."
The Wildcats opened the game's scoring with a run scored off of a sharply hit single to left field from senior third baseman Bryan Kindle.
Senior shortstop Kevin Kuntz scored Tharp on an RBI single before DeLeon's three-run homer broke the game open in the fourth inning. The Jayhawks rounded out their scoring night on a wild pitch that allowed freshman first baseman Marcus Wheeler to score.
The Jayhawks struggled with the lower velocities thrown by Baker pitchers.
"Obviously the velocity wasn't what we're used to playing in our league," coach Ritch Price said. "There were so many off-speed pitches. I was just disappointed
with an RBI single from junior centerfielder Tucker Tharp and a sacrifice fly from sophomore second baseman Justin Protocio.
in the number of strikeouts. We should've had a two strike approach every time we stepped in the box."
Kansas hitters struck out nine times but reached base via the walk eight times and were hit by pitches in four at-bats on the night.
Kansas senior right-handed pitcher Tanner Poppe continued to battle tightness in his throwing shoulder. In two innings pitched, Poppe recorded three hits and three strikeouts giving up one run on 37 pitches.
"I was disappointed in his effort," Price said. "He's a little sore and he's a really important guy to us. Obviously we've had two disappointing starts from him over the last couple of weeks. We've got two huge games against Wichita State coming up that are just as important as the weekends."
Coach Price said after the game that the Sunday spot in the rotation will remain in flux entering the weekend. He did say, however, that junior right-handed pitcher Frank Duncan could reenter the rotation depending on his role as a reliever over the weekend.
The Jayhawks start another critical weekend Big 12 series against the West Virginia Mountaineers Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Beckley, W.Va.
Edited by Elise Reuter
TRACK AND FIELD
Senior jumpers lead team to victory
COLIN WRIGHT cwright@kansan.com
The Kansas women's track and field squad has been breaking records and winning awards both during the indoor and outdoor season. Senior horizontal jumpers Andrea Geubelle and Francine Simpson have helped the Jayhawks
get where they are today.
Geubelle, who hails from University Place, Wash., has plenty of hardware to boast but isn't satisfied ve
Geubelle
While she captured the individual NCAA indoor championship titles in both the long jump and the triple jump last month, she has her eyes on the team NCAA outdoor Championship.
what everyone sees as the season."
"Winning an indoor national championship would have been awesome," said Geubelle. "But outdoor is just track season. That is
Simpson's hometown is Chapelton, Jamaica, and she is making a name
for herself in the
Simpson
long jump. Simpson has the farthest jump in school history in the long jump, with a leap of 21"10.75" last year at the Big 12 outdoor championship.
"I feel great so far," said Simpson. "I've been training hard, I'm happy with how things are going right now. My main focus for the outdoor season is to stay healthy."
They both have aspirations of becoming professional track and field athletes when their careers at the University come to an end after this season.
The teammates share a unique relationship by both refusing to lose and cheering each other on when they face each other in the long jump. They are often roommates when they travel to meets as well, always spending time with one another.
"No matter what, she's my teammate," said Geubelle. "She's become like a sister to me. To see her win, I'm excited about that, but I'm not happy that I just lost."
For Simpson, the feeling is mutual. "I love Andrea. She's a great person, I love working with her, and I'm happy that I'm here."
The women's team, which has been ranked in the top-five in the nation by the U. S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for all of the indoor and outdoor seasons, and has received NCAA runner-up finishes at the 2012 and 2013 indoor championships. They also finished fourth at the 2012 outdoor
NCAA championship.
"It puts a target on our backs," said Geubelle. "There's a much higher standard held at practice now. It's just, were working hard every day to hopefully achieve No. 1 because it doesn't come all the time."
To show how dominant they are, the two best long jumps in the NCAA in the 2013 indoor season belonged to Geubelle and Simpson. They placed first and third respectively at the NCAA indoor championships to earn 16 points for the Jayhawks and have a goal to make it a one-two finish at the NCAA outdoors next month.
The ultimate goal for the seniors in their remaining time is to claim the NCAA team outdoor championship, and they are outspoken about that dream becoming a reality.
"You kind of feel it at practice," said Gebelle. "Everybody is just working really hard to hopefully stand up to that expectation. We have everything that we need to win it."
The Big 12 outdoor championships are May 3-5 in Waco, Texas, on the Baylor University campus. The NCAA outdoor championships will take place at the University of Oregon's campus in Eugene, Ore., on June 5-8.
Edited by Tyler Conover
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior Andrea Geubelle sprints down the lane before her final jump in the in the triple jump during last year's Jayhawk Classic at Anschutz Pavilion. Geubelle broke her previous record with her jump moving her into ninth place top-10 of the all-time NCAA list in triple jump, at 13.91 meters at the Tyson Invite.