Sports
University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, March 28. 1989
9
Steve Traynor/KANSAN
KU wants revenge on Creighton team
Spectators sit through the delay in the Kansas-Benedictine baseball Maupin Stadium. The Jayhawks, who have won six games in a row, are game. The game was canceled because of rain last night at Hoglund- 11-12 this season.
by Mike Considine Kansan sportswriter
Tonight's game against Creighton comes at the right time for the Kansas baseball team, Jayhawk coach Dave Bingham said.
"We had a little success against them (on March 22), and were hoping to be a better team (tonight)." Bingham said after last night's game against Benedictine College was canceled because of the pandemic, and helped a little bit of confidence since then. It will be an important game.
Creighton, which was 12-7 before last night's game against Mount Marty College (S.D.), defeated Kansai and became the first game was a 14-inning marathon.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments the week of May 8 on an NFL motion alleging that Doty's declaration of aaining impasse does away with the league's labor antitrust exemption.
Since then, the 11-12 Jayhawks have won six consecutive games.
Doty's new decision reprinted that section, prompting Dick Berthelsen, the union's general counsel, to sue them vocally a Xerox of last year's ruling."
Senior leftfieber Steve Dowling said the doubleheader loss to Creighton should help motivate the Jayhawks.
Dowling said Kansas' hitting had improved in the last six games. "We figure that we are also also
"We figure that we started sluggish, but when we start swinging the bat the way we can we can basically play with anyone," Dowling said.
We figure that we started sluggish, but when we start swinging the bat the way we can we can basically play with anyone.
In his decision, public made yesterday, the Minneapolis-based federal judge denied the union's request for a contract that owned the owners' "scaled Plan B."
Doty was presiding over an anti- trust suit filed by the union at the end f a 24-day strike in 1987.
Steve Dowling Kansas outfielder
He based his decision on his July 1988 ruling. At that time he held that the outright free agency the union was seeking could hurt the competitive balance and subvert the collective bargaining process.
Judge denies union motion to terminate free agency
The Jayhaws starting pitcher will be junior Steve Reenk, 2-2. Bingham said Renko pitched well in Friday's victory against Northern Iowa.
Union officials were quick to point out that Doty did nothing to change the wording of last year's decision, in which he said, "The court finds it probable that the players will prevail at trial and that at least some of the players are likely to sustain irreparable harm if they are not immediately permitted to sign with other NFL clubs."
Bingham said he thought Kansas was becoming more competitive because some main players had been from minor injuries and illnesses.
"Our game plan is for him to get in six or seven good innings and turn it over to our bullpen," he said.
The Associated Press
Third baseman Mark Hummel has been hampered by a shoulder injury, and shortstop Lance Leitner has a torn elbow. He played Sunday against Tarkio College.
NEW YORK — Judge David Doty has told the NFL players Association that he won't end the new system of free agency, under which 130 players have changed teams in the past six weeks.
"The court would have to depart from its previous rulings in order to grant plaintiff's motion." Doty wrote. "The court declines to do so."
But the federal judge did not specifically validate the new system as a way for the league to satisfy antitrust concerns. "The judge didn't mention that subject at all."
Under the new system, each team is allowed to protect 37 players. The others on the roster become unconditional and receive no payout if whether they are under contract.
As of yesterday, 130 of the 619 unprotected players had changed teams. They averaged 78 percent leading to Management Council figures.
But Doty noted that more than 1,000 players still were subject to the compensation and right of first choice that had bound them to their teams.
Doty's ruling came on the less liberal Plan B, which would have allowed teams to protect 40, 42 or 44 players, depending on their records.
The union is seeking free agency for all players at some point in their careers.
Doty made mention of that issue when he wrote, "The new system is similar in that the majority of NFL players are subject to the same restraints contained in the previous system."
For example, All-Pro defensive end Bruce Smith of Buffalo, a protected player, was tendered a $7.5 million, 5-year contract offer by Denver on Friday. With the current system, he will revert back to the Bills if they decide by Friday to match the offer; if not, the Broncos will owe the Bills two first-round draft choices.
Boggs trade unlikely for KC Royals
The Associated Press
HAINES CITY, Fla. — The Kansas City Royals have talked with the Boston Red Sox about a trade for Wade Boggs, the five-time American League batting champion embroiled in controversy over a broken love affair, according to General Manager John Schuerke.
Schuerholz, in an interview with the Kansas City Star on Sunday, confirmed that talks had taken place but would not identify the Royals who moved. He also said chances of a deal were slim.
The Royals executive, who described Boggs' personal problems as "somewhat disconcerting," said the Royals main interest was improving their pitching depth.
“As good a hitter as he is, I don’t think he can save games. An aquerhoel said of Boggs, ‘It’s not going to be easy.’”
that the focus of our balluck ought to be in the area of pitching depth, not conditional hitting.
"I think if we make a deal that's viewed by the world as a substantial deal, that it ought to include some element of relief pitching. That's why I think it's unlikely anything will happen."
Boggs has been the subject of many stories about his relationship with Margo Adams, who went public after their breakup last year, suing him for wages she said she lost because of time she spent with him. Penthouse magazine has published a number of accounts of her account of the four-year affair.
Boggs has given a number of interviews about the case, including a tearful one aired last week on ABC-TV in which he and his wife, Debe, discussed it with Barbara Walters. Red highlights from the high-profile interview on the "20/20" program, have stepped up efforts to trade Boggs.
There have been reports that the Royals
considered sending outfielder Danny Tartabul and pitcher Floyd Bannister to Boston for Boggs and pitcher Wes Gardner, who was 84 with two sayes for the Red Sox last year.
Other reports speculated that the trade might involve three or four teams, including the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners as well as the Royals and Red Sox. But Scherholz denied that teams other than the Royals and Red Sox had fiured in the talks.
Boggs, 30, has a career batting average of .356, and he is in the last year of a three-year contract paying him $1.75 million this season. He will be eligible for free agency at the end of this year, and Schuhrholz said the Royals are not out of line for him unless his contract was extended.
Alan Nero, agent for Boggs, said that unless a no-trade clause was put into his contract, Boggs would want a three-year deal worth $9 million.
"That might take a roomful of lawyers and a month of Sundays to do," Schuerholz said. "But although that's a concern, it won't deter us. Our owners are never backed out of a trade because they can't."
Although Schuerholz termed the controversy about Boggs' private life "somewhat of a concern," he said, "It's also a concern for us and for you. It's not just for us and for the team that has the best chance to win."
"Everything's been said and written about his personal problems," he said. "They are somewhat disconcerting, and sure, they're thought about, but so is the ability to hit .350 every year thought about and to play much-improved defense over the last several years."
"We have to be sensitive about those concerns of our community but have to do our job of providing the best team so we can fly a flag in left field and have another parade."
Same game, same rules, new perspective
New Zealander takes softball seriously now; coach says her catching tops his expectations
by Laurie Whitten
Kansan sportswriter
For the first time in the 22-year-old catcher's life, she's had to learn to take softball seriously.
New Zealander Tania Rhind said playful football in Kansas required a lot of adjustment but not because she had to learn new rules of the
"In the States, the rules for softball are exactly the same as in New Zealand." Rhind said. "It's the strategies that are different.
"Here, you eat, sleep and breathe football. You go to school and then spend half a day, every day, training and lifting weights. Back home, it's so laid back. You train three days a week, and the season only lasts from the first of October to the beginning of April."
Rhind, who was a member of the New Zealand women's national team for four years, said she decided to come to Kansas after being recruited by Coach Kalum Haack last August in Houston.
She had been watching her boyfriend, Grant Mills, a Houston resident, pitch in a softball game when Haack walked up to her and began to question her about New Zealand softball.
"Coach Haack introduced himself to me and started asking me questions about women's softball back home," Rhind said. "Softball is a sport in New Zeeland, and he knew a couple of guys who play there."
"We started talking about pitching and catching and about the program at Kansas. I had heard good comments about Coach Haack and the varsity there, so I was interested in what he had to say."
Here, you eat, sleep and breathe softball. You go to school and then spend half a day, every day, training and lifting weights. Back home, it's so laid back.'
— Tania Rhind
Kansas softball player
Rhind arrived at KU on a full scholarship in January. She said she didn't know what to think of either the climate or the people.
"Grant has taught me a lot about catching, as well as the mental side
"The first thing I noticed was the snow," she said. "I've never stayed in snow before because it is really hot in New Zealand. I'm more of a beach person. I like to swim and be outdoors. Here, you're really restricted."
Rhind said her boyfriend, her family and Haack each had supported her during her stay in the United States.
"I also had to adjust to the college scene. I think the people here are more forward than they are back home. But I soon met some really great people who made my stay at college," she said, the team made me feel welcome."
of playing," she said. "He's helped my being here, because I can phone him and talk to him when I need support. The same goes for my family. They're so proud of what I'm doing."
Four of Rhind's sisters played softball in New Zealand, and one played a season in Canada.
As for Haack, Rhind said his coaching was unlike any she had received back home.
"He's really unique," she said. "He's very intense, and a perfectionist in this game, which is great. The biggest difference I've seen already is that he cares about the game and the players."
Despite Haack's coaching, Rhind said she found it hard to change from the way she was accustomed to catching
"I catch myself slipping into something by habit from time to time, but when you've played as long as I have, it's hard to change your style," she says.
After watching Rhind earn all-tournament honors in the San Jose Invitational two weeks ago, Haack said the 5-foot-5 sophomore had excellent fundamental skills and already had exceeded his expectations.
"I recruited Tania because I knew that the best softball in the world was in New Zealand," he said. "Her strength has turned out to be in her ability to read batters and work well with pitchers.
"She's a very,very smart ball player."
kansas softball catcher, Tania Rhind, South Auckland, New Zealand, sophomore, was named all-tournament catcher during Spring Break at the San Jose Invitational in California.
Interim coach enjoys new job
The Associated Press
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Interim Michigan coach Steve Fisher, in demand since leading the Wolverines to four NCAA victories in 12 days, apologized yesterday for ignoring messages on his answering machine.
"The phone last night rang nonstop," Fisher said.
He said that he couldn't return the 23 messages left on the machine.
"We had to let the thing record," Fisher said.
Members of the media have wanted to talk to Fisher since Michigan's surprising 92-47 victory against Wisconsin in Saturday's 102-65 victory against Virginia put Michigan, 28-7, into the NCAA Final Four.
The NCAA Final Four
That's an accomplishment Fisher's predecessor, Bill Frieder, didn't achieve in nine seasons at Michigan. Fisher was named interim coach March 15 when Frieder took the coaching job at Arizona State.
Fisher wishes he could keep talk about the victory against North Carolina, which had beaten Michigan twice in past tournaments, and the other victories against Virginia, South Alabama and Xavier.
But he said he realized that the
"We will have our hands full, there's no question about that." Fisher said. "However, we do feel we are as good as Illinois. We haven't proved it the two times we played them."
Michigan lost both regular season games against Illinois, including the season finale at home.
"But we have good players who . . . they believe can be anybody in the country," he said. "And by the way they have been playing the last two games, I think they have reason to believe that."
team had to concentrate on beating Big Ten postseason tournament champion Illinois Saturday in Seattle.
Chiefs sign Runager two other free agents
The Associated Press
The Chiefs have signed 12 players left unprotected by other clubs under the new free agency system.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Veteran punter Max Runager and two other unprotected free agents have signed with the Kansas City officials, the National Football League team announced yesterday.
Besides Runager, the players whose signings were announced yesterday were tight end Billy
Griggs, formerly of the New York Jets, and offensive tackle Dave Smith, formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Runager, 33, spent last season with the Cleveland Browns, averaging 40.3 yards on 48 kicks. He was an eight-round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1979 and went on to play in Carolina. The Eagles released him after five seasons, and he spent the next four with the San Francisco 49ers. For his career, he has a 40.7 yard average on 640 punts.