8A the university daily kansan
sports
friday, april 2, 2004
Ex-Notre Dame player apologizes for comments
The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Paul Hornung regrets suggesting that Notre Dame needs to lower its academic standards to "get the black athlete."
"I was wrong," said the former Heisman Trophy winner. "What I should have said is for all athletes, it is really tough to get into Notre Dame."
"We can't stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we've got to get the black athlete." Hornung said. "We must get the black athlete if we're going to compete."
Hornung, who is white, said he changed his mind after being flooded with telephone calls from friends and media.
Notre Dame spokesman Matthew Storin called Hornung an illustrious alumnus but objected to the comments he made Tuesday night.
"They are generally insensitive and specifically insulting to our past and current African-American student-athletes," Storin said in a statement.
During a radio interview Tuesday, he told WXYT-AM that his alma mate has to "ease it up a little alm bit" on its standards.
Hornung, part of the radio team that broadcasts Notre Dame games, said he hadn't talked with
Notre Dame went 5-7 last season and has had three losing seasons in the last five years for the first time in school history.
the university, but had heard the school's response.
The academic standards have long been discussed as a reason why the Irish no longer win consistently. Notre Dame has gone 15 seasons without a national championship, the school's second-longest drought. The longest
stretch was 1949-66.
"Our records show that admission requirements for athletes have remained constant over those years in which we have had both great success and occasional disappointments with our football teams." Storin said.
But Hornung, who won the Heisman in 1956, believes the academic standards were eased in the late 1980s, when the Irish won their last national championship.
Annie Bernethy/Kansan
Jeremy Mims, Iowa City, Iowa, junior and middle-distance Kansas track runner, said that the low interest in track was due to a lack of awareness. He said track was a competitive sport worthy of more attention.
SUPPORT: Programs' successes bring more fans
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12A
As far as a fan base is concerned, May still wishes for more, especially from the University at large. She said the softball team has a core group of loyal supporters, which has gotten gradually bigger each year, but for the most part, that group is made up of the same people that were around when she used to watch Kansas games as a little girl growing up in Lawrence.
Steinberg also referred to Lew Perkins' record at the University of Connecticut to show that Kansas was headed in the right direction.
He said the recent success of programs such as volleyball and soccer, both making appearances in the NCAA tournament, would do a lot toward helping attendance at those sports' events. Other sports such as track and baseball are also enjoying competitive success, with the national championships of spinner Leo Bookman and baseball's increased winning since the coming of coach Ritch Price.
was grateful for what the softball team did get, such as Arrocha Ballpark, which is new this year.
He said along with allowing athletes the opportunities to interact personally with fans via activities such as community service and autograph sessions, the competitive success of sports programs was central to increasing attendance.
She said she appreciated the loyalty of the fans softball had—she just wished there were more of them and more support from the University.
Steinberg said he hoped to capitalize on this success to promote the sports to fans.
Nevertheless, in terms of promoting non-revenue sports in general, Steinberg said he felt Kansas was poised for a breakthrough.
Success gives programs more visibility and makes people more aware that those programs are out there.
"They won ridiculous numbers of Big East Championships in Olympic Sports," Steinberg said. "That's what we need to do."
But Steinberg sympathized with athletes wishing for higher fan turnouts.
"The gauntlet's been thrown and the coaches and players have responded." Steinberg said.
"Department-wide, we can do a better job of getting the word out there and getting people to come to those sports," Steinberg said.
Jeremy Mims, junior-middle distance runner, agreed that the low fan base of these sports came down to a lack of awareness. He said people simply didn't know when there was a track meet or a swim meet like they did with basketball and football games.
He said he thought the fans
would get out there if the word did too, but sometimes it was hard to do that because of the comparably small space the sports had to work with.
"We're not the basketball team," Mims said. "We can't just say we're going to have a Late Night."
Mims said track had an excitement that many people didn't realize — constant competition and runners facing off not only against other runners, but against their previous times as well. He said all of this presents an exciting experience for fans who want to watch a track meet.
Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director for external affairs, said he was a good example of a fan who didn't appreciate a particular sport until he took the time to watch it.
"I never realized how good a sport soccer was until my son played it," Marchiony said.
He said he had a lot of respect for the athletes involved in these sports because they weren't doing it for the glory.
Mims agreed. He said it would be nice for track to enjoy a larger fan base, but it wouldn't affect the way he ran, because to him track was something he did for himself.
"It's what I do — is run track," Mims said.
— Edited by Louise Stauffer
Teams' Tokyo trip ends
The Associated Press
TOKYO — Derek Jeter walked around Tokyo and couldn't believe what he saw — or didn't see.
Five days in the Orient was an eye-opening experience for the Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who got back home early yesterday after splitting their opening two-game series in the Tokyo Dome.
"I was shocked that there's no trash," the New York Yankees' captain said.
For the most part, players seemed to enjoy the 7,250-mile trip from spring training in Florida. While it was a long way to go for a two-game series and the jet lag was brutal for many, they got a charge from experiencing the response of the Japanese fans.
Tampa Bay had a lower profile, but just as good a time.
"Tokyo is a beautiful city to visit," manager Lou Piniella said.
At the center of everything was Hideki Matsui, the Yankees outfielder who starred for the Yomiuri Giants for 10 seasons. He homered against his old team in an exhibition game Sunday, then hit another in the Yankees' 12-1 rout Wednesday night.
Matsui's presence on the Yankees was a big reason New York owner George Steinbrenner sent the team overseas for the first time since a postseason tour of Asia and the Pacific in 1955. Fans cheered Matsui, chanted his name and bowed to the player they call "Godzilla." He came away with a Kabuto, a traditional helmet of samurai armor, awarded to the series MVP.
Given the love they have for Matsui, fans no doubt would love it if he could stay. But he's a major leaguer now, ready for his second season in New York.
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