A / SPORTS / FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Former manager 'Sparky' Anderson dies
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
George "Sparky" Anderson, baseball's first manager to lead teams from both the National and American leagues to World Series titles, died Thursday. He was 76.
Anderson died at his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., of complications from dementia, family spokesman Dan Ewald said in a statement. Anderson's family announced Wednesday that he was under hospice care.
In this undated 1980s file photo, Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson poses for a portrait.
McClatchy-Tribune
Anderson's Cincinnati Reds won championships in 1975 and '76 as one of the dominant teams of its era. Nearly a decade later, his Detroit Tigers won the 1984 World Series. He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 2000.
"There's a difference between a good manager and a great one," Johnny Bench, Anderson's Hall of Fame catcher with the Reds, told The Los Angeles Times in 2000. "The good one will tell you there's more than one way to skin a cat. The great manager will convince
the cat its necessary.
Sparky had the cats carrying the knives to him."
George
L. ee
Anderson
was born in
Bridgewater,
S.D.. on
Feb. 22,
All this made him an unlikely choice to take over the Reds in 1970. But Cincinnati General Manager Bob Howsam had hired Anderson to manage in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization and now turned to him to mold his young and talented team.
His career as an infielder stalled in the Dodgers' minor league system, and he reached the big leagues only after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. He hit .218 in 1959, his only season in the majors. By 1964, Anderson was managing in the minors.
"His work ethic was extremely important. He didn't beat around the bush.He was right to the point."
young and interested.
"Anyone who says they knew about me before Howsam hired me would be lying." Anderson told The Times' Ross Newhan. "Well, I don't know how you measure what you owe someone, but I do know that everything we have in our house has to belong to him. If he doesn't hire me, chances are I never manage in the big leagues."
In 1969 Anderson was a coach with the expansion San Diego Padres for Manager Preston
1934, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 9. A stand-out player at Dorsey High School and a batboy for the University of Southern California's baseball team, Anderson began his professional career at 19, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers' organization.
BOB HOWSAM Former Cincinnati G.M.
Manager Preston Gomez, another former Dodger. Before agreeing to manage the Reds, Anderson had been set to join the Angels in 1970 as a coach for Lefty Phillips, who had signed him with the Dodgers.
"His work ethic was extremely important,"
Howsam told the Rocky Mountain News in 2000. "He didn't beat around the bush. He was right to the point. And the way he developed young players was very important. We needed that type of thing."
But Cincinnati was underwhelmed by the hire. "Sparky
Who? was the headline in the Cincinnati Post.
"I think a lot of (the Reds) thought. 'He's a fly-by-night guy, and what's this character all about?' I wouldn't blame them," Anderson said.
said. The Reds quickly flourished under his leadership, winning 102
games in 1970 and reaching the World Series, where they lost to the Baltimore Orioles in five games. They became known as the Big Red Machine, led by future Hall of Famers Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Bench — and another star, Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Wildcats gear up to get sixth win
In its quest to become a bowl-eligible team, Kansas State vows not to overlook anyone
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
MANHATTAN — Bill Snyder isn't the type of football coach who looks ahead on the schedule and counts wins. He has been around the game too long for that.
His focus is always on the next game, and right now that means putting together a good strategy for Saturday's showdown against Texas.
But before Snyder could begin preparing for the Longhorns, he went against his ways and discussed the future with his players. In particular, he wanted to talk about the Wildcats' final game of the season, at 2-6 North Texas.
Texas.
Addressing his team in the aftermath of its 24-14 loss to Oklahoma State, he issued a warning about that post-Thanksgiving trip: Fans may have long ago counted the game as a victory, but no one in that locker room could do the same. If 5-3 K-State hopes to play in a bowl game, it can't rely on North Texas as a fail-safe for that necessary sixth victory.
Message received.
"We can't look forward to North Texas like that, saying 'Oh, North Texas, that will be our sixth win,' linebacker Blake Slaughter said. "It's a week-to-week thing. Every week you're trying to win the game at hand. I don't know if coach thought we
Message received.
were doing that or not. I don't feel like we were. You've got to go out every week and beat the team in front of you."
team in front of you.
The Wildcats would benefit from becoming eligible for a bowl as soon as possible. Their only remaining home game is this weekend against the 4-4 Longhorns. A difficult game comes next at No.14 Missouri, 7-1, followed by more manageable trips to Colorado, 3-5, and North Texas. But victories are never guaranteed on the road.
And who knows? It could take two more wins for one of the eight bowl games affiliated with the Big 12 to select K-State.
the big 12 to select it. "Bowl eligible is one thing, while having the opportunity to go to a bowl is another," Snyder said. "We have a lot of teams in our conference that will be bowl eligible. There is no guarantee that six wins will put you into a bowl game."
Snyder wants his team to understand that and begin playing with a sense of urgency.
Despite back-to-back losses, the Wildcats still have enough time to play their way into a respectable bowl game. But only if they treat each week with high intensity. There can be no looking ahead.
"We want that sixth win," senior quarterback Carson Coffman said. "We'll get it at some point. Hopefully it's this week."
Don's Auto Center
Lawrence's local repair shop | 11th & Haskell | 841-4833
TENNIS
Jayhawks head to California for tourn
The competition will be tough for the Jawhaws - they face San Diego State, UC Irvine, Auburn and Washington, which comes in ranked No. 23 in the nation.
the Kansas tennis team will compete in the San Diego Fall Classic this weekend, wrapping up its fall season.
The Jayhawks will have their full lineup intact, aarity this season, and expect strong play across their lineup. Throughout
the season, some of the team's better players have been off at larger invitations during tournaments. The Jayhawks will also look to continue their strong doubles play.
Sophomore standout Victoria Khanevskaya is 8-2 on the year in singles. She will be looking to make it to her fourth consecutive singles final.
Once the tournament comes to a close, the Jayhawks will begin practicing for the spring season, which opens with a meet against Drake University in early February.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Missouri linebacker fights through injuries
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Will Ebner has quit asking why. He merely wonders what part of his body — which he has worked so hard to hone into 230 pounds of taut tendons and muscle
will break.
And when. And how Ebner will fight off the pain that is a nearly constant companion as he plays through it. Because that is what Will
Ebner does.
As he did through a torn labrum in his right shoulder as a freshman, a men tornusice in his right knee as a sophomore and now as a junior with a broken bone at the base of the little toe on his left foot.
"If it isn't Will Ebner, he's probably not playing," coach Gary Pinkel said.
— MCCLATCY-TRIBUNE
Kansas traveling to Tenn. for 'Hooch'
The first day of competition, the Jayhawks will enter two boats in the Novice Eight race and three boats in the Varsity Eight. The team also plans to enter two boats each in the Novice Four and Varsity Four faces as well as multiple boats in the Championship Double category.
This weekend, the Kansas rowing team will wrap up its fall season at the two-day Head of the Hooch race in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Rowing has competed in two regattas so far this fall, the Head of the Oklahoma in early October and the Sunflower Showdown — a race against Kansas State — on Oct. 23.
The second day of racing, there will be single boat races in the morning. The day will finish up with Kansas entering three boats in both the Open Eight competition and the Open 4x.
— By Lauren Newman
ROWING
KU UNIVERSITY THEATRE
The University of Kansas
7:30 p.m.
November 11, 12, 13,
18, 19, 20, 2010
2:30 p.m.
November 14 & 21, 2010
STAGE TOO!
Performed in the Original Pronunciation KU CRISIS DIV
General admission seat tickets are on sale in the KU ticket office. University Theatre, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS, and online at www.kutheatre.com. Tickets are $18 for the public, $17 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff, and $10 for all students. All major credit cards are accepted. The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Act Fee, funding is also provided by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a national agency. The University Theatre's 2010-11 season is sponsored by the KU Credit Union For more information on A Midsummer Night's Dream and an original Example of Original Pronunciation, visit http://www.youtube.com/embed/O2DY-Dc6 and http://www.youtube.com/embed/O2DY-Dc6.
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