Sports
The University Daily Kansan
Parting shots Senior sportswriters Kevin Flaherty and Mike Norris get in one last column each, and reflect on their years at the Kansan and what they've seen in KU athletics. PAGE 3B
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Thursday, May 13, 2004
RECRUITING
Top recruit joins Oregon
The 6-foot-6 Hairston, who played at Renaissance High School, announced yesterday his intentions to play basketball at the University of Oregon next season. Hairston said Tuesday night that the final two schools on his list were Kansas and Oregon. Kansas was seen a front-runner for the No. 7 ranked recruit in the nation from the start.
In a recruiting saga that lasted longer than any for this year's top recruits, it was one of the last schools to enter the bidding that eventually landed Detroit's Malik Hairston.
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
nation from the start.
"It was tough," said Hairston yesterday to the Lawrence Journal-World. "It's a great situation at Kansas. Kansas is a great program. They have a great coach in Bill Self. They'll have a lot of success regardless of the recruits.
As for Kansas, Self still has two open scholarships for next season. The most likely candidates for those spots are Alex Galindo, a 6-foot-7 small forward from St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J., and C.J. Giles, a 6-foot-11 power forward from Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Wash. Galindo told Rivals.com he had a good visit to Lawrence this past weekend, and Giles has Kansas high on his short list after getting his release from a commitment to Miami University.
I wish them the best of luck."
Hairston said it was a tough decision for the entire family. His dad favored Kansas, he favored Michigan and his mother favored Oregon. The swinger will fill a large void for the Ducks. Hairston will most likely replace senior Luke Jackson, who led Oregon in March to the National Invitational Tournament semifinals in New York City.
— Edited by Meghan Brune
Frie Braam/Kansan
Athletics director Lew Perkins and coach Bill Self accompanied men's basketball recruit Malik Hairston at a Sept. 20 volleyball game in Horesji Family Athletics Center. Rivals.com ranks Hairston, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound small forward from Detroit, as the no. 6 high school basketball player in the country. The visit, which included a pickup game in front of 300 fans, was Hairston's third official visit of the recruiting season.
AWARDS Volleyball player honored for grades
By Mike Morris
mnorris@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas volleyball's all-time career digs leader doesn't just school people on the court.
Outside hitter Sarah Rome was named the Senior Female Scholar Athlete of the Year on Monday. She had been named first team AllAcademic Big 12 three times before receiving the award.
In addition to being the all-time kills leader at Kansas, Rome finished second all-time in digs and fifth in service aces. She ended her stellar
Rome
playing career after a second round loss in the NCAA Tournament, the first trip ever for a Kansas volleyball team.
good balance."
"She's real conscious about the academic side of it," volleyball coach Ray Bechard said. "She's always created a
Rome, a microbiology major planning to attend medical school, said she hadn't expected the award.
But Rome stood out. She led the team in kills with 3.52 and finished second behind junior libero Jill Dorsey with 3.09 digs per contest. She also became just the second Jayhawk to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.
"I was really surprised," she said. "There are so many great female academic athletes."
She said the balancing act of academics and athletics was tough.
"You had to make time to study because there wasn't a lot of it," she said.
"I'm done," she said. "I'm ready to move on and experience what life has to offer."
Rome will be ending her volleyball career on a high note.
Senior baseball team member Ryan Baty won the men's Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year at the same ceremony.
Edited by Abby Mills
Kansan File Photo
Andrew Price, Lake Forest, Ill., junior, won the Kansas Invitational at Alvamar Country Club, 1809 Crossgate Drive, this year. Price shot 71 in the 3rd round, finishing with a total of 207.
Men's golf readies for regional
By Eric Sorrentino esorrentino@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The No. 25-ranked Kansas men's golf team has been invited to participate in the NCAA Central Regional at Purdue on May 20 to 22.
No. 1 seed, while Texas will enter as the No. 2 seed. The Longhorns are coming off of a Big 12 Conference Championship victory in Hutchinson. Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Baylor and Texas A&M will also be representing the Big 12 in the Regional.
Purdue or Mayfield The Jayhawks received a No. 8 seed in a 27-team field at Purdue's Birch Boilermaker Golf Complex, Oklahoma State will enter the tournament as the
"We are very happy with our seeding heading into the NCAA Regional," coach Ross Randall said. "Being the eighth seed is a direct reflection of the
quality of golf we have played during the spring season. We hope we play well in the regional and show that we deserved the No. 8 seed. If we play good, solid golf, we should in contention to make it to the NCAA finals."
The last time Kansas golf was in action was at the Big 12 Conference Championship. The Jayhawks finished in a tie for fifth.
SEE GOLF ON PAGE 10P
Softball splits Big 12 tourney games
By Jonathan Kealing
ikealeng@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
The Kansas softball team used its seniors as it defeated Texas Tech handily 5-1 yesterday, and then narrowly lost to Texas A&M, 1-0.
Kansas' record is now 32-27-1 and 1-1 in the double-elimination Big 12 Conference Tournament. Texas A&M is 32-18, 1-0 in the Tournament. Texas Tech and Kansas faced each other in a play-in game to determine which team would join the six top-ranked teams in the regular tournament. Kansas' victory ejected the Lady Raiders from the tournament.
Wallach
Pierce
The Jayhawks were led on the field today by their seniors. The team's five batting seniors accounted for six of the team's 11 runs. Senior center fielder Mel Wallach went 2-2 against Texas
Tech and 1-3 against Texas A&M. She led the team in hits today with three.
sports commentary
"You always expect to need good senior leadership when things get tough at the end of the season." Bunge said. "We got good senior leadership today."
Also getting multiple hits today were senior catcher Dani May, sophomore second baseman Jessica Moppin and sophomore left fielder Heather Stanley, all with two.
Senior Kara Pierce pitched the Tech victory and the loss to Texas A&M. With the two games, her record is now 18-12.
SEE SOFTBALL ON PAGE 10B
Shane Kucera
skucera@kansan.com
Forget the peanuts, buy me alcohol
Attendance at Hoglund Ballpark, the home of Kansas' baseball team, compared to other college baseball parks has always been a bit off.
Each Jayhawk home game draws only a couple hundred fans while Nebraska, Baylor, Southwest Missouri State and Stanford all average more than 4,000 fans per game.
A simple solution to this problem would be to sell alcohol at home baseball games.
NCAA bylaw 31.1.14 titled, "Restricted Advertising and Sponsorship Activities" restricts the advertisement, sales and promotion of alcoholic beverages during NCAA governed championship events. This bylaw covers only NCAA governed events, so it is up to the institutional policies that govern each facility to determine whether or not alcohol should be sold during regular season and nonchampionship games. To make it simple, if the University of Kansas would like to sell alcohol at Hoglund, the NCAA will not stop them.
D. J. Whetter, P.A. announcer at Hoglund Ballpark, fully supports the sales of alcoholic beverages at home games.
Some may argue that selling alcohol at baseball games may create an unsafe environment or could lead to rowdy crowds. When was the last time you saw a fight break out in the bleachers or a riot erupt after a baseball game? These problems with drunk fans may exist with the NFL and in soccer matches in England, but it's not a problem with baseball.
Take for example baseball's championship series. These games are about as intense as it gets for Major League Baseball fans. Even when the notorious Steve Bartman interfered with a ball in the midst of drunken fans at Wrigley Field and potentially cost the Cubs the pennant and the World Series, there was no riot in the stadium. Not a single person was injured. Plain and simple, alcohol induced violence is not a problem at baseball games.
Kansas should follow in-state opponent Wichita State and sell alcohol at home games. The only direction attendance could go is up.
games." "I think you'd definitely get more fans at the ballpark," Whetter said. "There's nothing better than a hot dog and a beer at a baseball game."
Selling beer would also allow Kansas to have bigger and better marketing promotions. The crowd this season at quarter hot dog night exceeded a thousand. Selling alcohol could possibly have this effect on the crowd for every home game.
Allowing students to drink at Hoglund could draw in new fans that stay away from games because they can't have a cold beer on a hot day. Just ask anyone on the deck of The Crossing, 618 W. 12 St., if they like to have a beer during a nice afternoon.
Besides drawing bigger crowds, the sale of alcohol at baseball games could generate much needed revenue for the program. Hoglund Ballpark's electronic scoreboard does not even function, and improved attendance could possibly generate money to help with these sorts of problems.
Kucera is a Omaha, Neb., sophomore in journalism.
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TALK TO SPORTS: Contact Henry C. Jackson or Maggie Newcomer at SPORTS@KANSAN.COM
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