6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY RAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008
RAINS (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
BEST SPORTS COMEDIES OF ALL TIME:
Honorable Mentions: "Happy Gilmore," "BASEketball," "White Men Can't Jump"
5. "Dodgeball" - The king of corny lines. The thought of even making an entire movie about dodgeball is funny in its own right.
4. "Major League" A hilarious team of baseball misfits somehow reaches the World Series.
3. "Slap Shot" – One of the few movies made about hockey. The Hanson brothers take over in this hilarious hockey satire.
2. "Bull Durham" - A great combination of America's two favorite pastimes—baseball and sex.
1. "Caddyshack" - Easily the best sports comedy ever made and probably the most quoted.
BEST SPORTS MOVIES OF ALL TIME:
Honorable Mentions: "Friday Night Lights," "Remember the Titans," "Major League," "Blue Chips"
5. "Cinderella Man" - A feel-good story set during the Great Depression about a boxer's struggle to keep his family afloat. A tear-jerker that gets me every time.
4. “Rudy” – Not one person suggested it when I asked my friends, but Rudy is one of my all-time
favorites. Another tear-jerker,
Rudy suggests nothing is impossible.
3. “Bull Durham” – Not only is it a great sports comedy, but it's a great sports movie too.
2. "Caddyshack" – "It's in the hole!" Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield star in a Cinderella story featuring links, lies, ladies and gambling.
1. "Hoosiers" - A small-town drunk turns a high school basketball team into a top contender for the state championship. Based on a true story, this classic case of redemption is a sports fan favorite.
Since Bull Durham appears to be most people's choice for one of the best movies ever, I will leave you with some words from Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) in the 1988 classic.
"I believe in the soul ... the small of a woman's back, the hanging curveball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve, and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days."
—Edited by Nick Mangiaracina
www.EasyWebVacations.com
in doubles and third in slugging percentage. Hile continues to play a large role for the Jay Hawks as they travel to Carbondale, IL, for the Southern Illinois Invitational this weekend where they will face Northwestern, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois and Bradley.
Hile starts as the designated hitter when she is not catching and she said she enjoyed just being a part of the game.
Hile said she noticed the work Pottert put into even the little things, like blocking the ball.
"In college ball, even the littlest thing, you really have to focus on that," Hile said.
Edited by Madeline Hydem
"It's always hard for me to just sit
SOFTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
back and watch," Hile said. I always want to be a part of it no matter what I have to do."
The Jayhawks prepare to face off against the Northwestern Wildcats this weekend. The Wildcats are ranked fifth, according to the espn.com USA Softball College Top 25 poll. Hile said she was especially looking forward to facing one of Northwestern's pitchers, sophomore Lauren Delaney.
"She threw the ball hard. It was kind of a shocker, but it got me ready for the next level," Hile said.
Hile said that she faced Delaney in summer ball when she was a junior in high school.
Hile said her expectations coming into her freshman season were just to have fun and win. She has contributed a lot to early success of the team, as she is tied for the team lead
Pittsburgh Pirates first base coach Lou Frazier wears protective headgear during an exhibition baseball game against Manatee College at spring training Wednesday in Bradenton, Fla.
MLB
Players, coaches wary of wearing helmets
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY PAUL NEWBERRY AP NATIONAL WRITER
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Glenn Hubbard trotted on the field Wednesday wearing a helmet — and feeling downright ridiculous.
"You know what it feels like?" he asked before a spring training game. "Look at that kid over there."
Hubbard pointed toward a young batboy standing at the edge of the Atlanta Braves dugout, his head dutifully covered by a helmet.
"That's what I feel like," Hubbard said, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice. "A batboy."
Actually, Hubbard is the first base coach of the Braves, a job he's always done with nothing more than a cap on his head. But last year's tragic death of minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh — the victim of a line drive to the neck — prompted the major leagues to take action.
Now, the coaches standing along each foul line in the majors must wear some sort of protective headgear. So Hubbard and Atlanta's third base coach, Brian Snitker, carried out their duties during an exhibition game against the University of Georgia wearing "skullcaps" — baseball slang for the flapless helmets that catchers wear along with their masks.
"It's like the one I used to wear in high school and college," said Snitker, a former catcher. "It seems a little tight. It doesn't feel like it's shaped to my head anymore. But it's one of those things if we've got to do it, we've got to do it."
Hubbard wasn't so maganianous about the mandate from higher up. He even threatened to adorn his helmet with advertising, like a NASCAR racer.
"We should have a choice in these
NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION is excited to announce the 2008-2009 Orientation Assistant Team!
Hali Baker
Elizabeth Bartkoski
Rachel Burchfield
Megan Do
Steven Elliott
Matt Enriquez
Leslie Fischer
Rachel Glover
Jennifer Harness
Katie Harr
Antwan Winkfield
Around baseball, coaches seemed to be a bit wary of how the helmets feel and make them look, but certainly understanding that something had to be done after Coolbaugh's death, even if flapless helmets still leave the ears and neck exposed.
things," he said. "My choice would be not to wear it. I'm only wearing it because it's a major league rule."
Ellen Jardon
Alicia Kranker
Jacque Lumsden
Nathan Mack
Jennifer Mayer
Sam Millikan
Darian Nave
Arnold Phommavong
Brendan Shaw
David Turvey
Garrett Van Gotten
There are parallels to the 1920 death of Ray Chapman. He was struck in the head by a pitch and is
Indeed, coaches who take the field when their team is batting are as vulnerable as anyone in the stadium. Positioned along the first and third base lines, they try to keep
"How can you not appreciate Major League Baseball being concerned with our safety?" said Mike Gallego, a former infielder and now third base coach of the Rockies. "I mean, it's a safety precaution. And I know my wife and kids are happier that I have it on. There's no doubt, it's very dangerous out there."
still the only big leaguer to be killed in a game, leading to the development of batting helmets. Baseball is now trying to come up with some sort of headgear, specifically designed for coaches, that would hang down lower in
"How can you not appreciate Major League Baseball being concerned with our safety?"
MIKE GALLEGO Rockies third base coach
WELCOME TO THE NSO FAMILY! Contributing to Student Success
the back to provide more protection for the neck.
Paid for by KU
It's a tough balancing act, which can potentially turn painful when someone sends a vicious liner
one eye on the hitter while also passing along signals, instructing baserunners and monitoring the defense.
Coolbaugh, who was coaching first for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, died last July after being hit with a line drive right below the left ear, causing a key blood vessel to burst.
The issue is especially sensitive for the defendingNL champion Colorado Rockies, since the Drillers are one of their minor league affiliates.
down either foul line or a broken bat goes flying through the air. Coaches don't have a glove to protect themselves, and since most are older explayers, the reflexes tend to be a little slower than they were in their youth.
down the line so he can pick up balls hit to the outfield and have the runners in his line of sight if he needs to wave them home. He usually stands with his back to the plate until right before the pitch is thrown.
"You try to slow things down," he said. "You go over it first in your mind, then just kind of let your instincts take over. Sometimes I'm right. Sometimes I'm wrong."
Luis Alicea, Boston's first base coach, said it's easy for the mind to drift between pitches, especially when no one's on base. Coaches wind up looking toward the fielders instead of the hitter. They stroll in a little closer to the plate than they need to be.
Third base coaches are especially at risk, since they tend to move even closer to home plate when there are runners on base, perhaps no more than 50 or 60 feet away from the hitter. Snitker, for instance, likes to ease
Coolbaugh's death certainly made them take another look.
"What came to mind was being more aware of the situation, paying more attention, really making sure that your eyes are locked in on the hitter at all times, because sometimes you get a little lax and you look around and I think you lose focus of where you're standing," Alicea said. "At all times, you're in danger."
No matter how many precautions they take, coaches get used to the idea of being hit by the ball several times a season. They never forget the ones that hurt the most.
"I got hit right here during spring training," Hubbard said. "Marcus Giles, a right-handed hitter, hit one of those line drives. It caught me right in the thigh."
First Prize - $600 Second Prize - $400 Honorable Mention - $100
Awards will be offered in both graduate and undergraduate divisions.
Entry Deadline: March 24,2008,5 pm
For contest rules and information, visit: www.lib.ku.edu/snyder
Jose Cruz, who works first base for the Houston Astros, said he's amazed Coolbaugh was the first to die in the coaching box.
"It's too bad they waited until someone was killed," Cruz said. "A lot of the guys have come close to getting killed."
Glenallen Hill didn't need baseball to issue a mandate on helmets. The Rockies first base coach put one on right after Coolbaugh was killed
"Even though it's a small upgrade, percentage-wise in protection for the coaches, it's an upgrade" Hill said. "It took me about three days of just getting used to having it on. But after three days, it was just fine."
Everyone seems to agree on one thing: Baseball shouldn't stop at protecting the coaches on the field.
What about the guys in the dug-out? What about the fans sitting in the lower decks? What about the umpires?
"I know the fans along the foul lines and above the dugouts are pretty exposed," Hill said. "Every year someone gets hit. Every time a ball shoots over the dugout or gets pulled down the line, there's a sick feeling that happens to my stomach, and it's (the same) every single time. Every single time."