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SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008
sports trivia of the day
Q: Who was legendary pitcher Nolan Ryan's catcher when he threw the sixth no hitter of his career on June 11, 1990 as a member of the Texas Rangers?
A: Current Pittsburgh Pirates manager John Russell. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves during his nine-year career as a player.
—pittsburghpirates.com
sports fact of the day
In 2002, John Russell was named Minor League Manager of the Year after he led the Edmonton Snappers to a Pacific Coast League championship. Baseball America also called Russell the Best Managerial Prospect in the minor leagues.
—pittsburghpirates.com
sports quote of the day
"Every time you put this uniform on, it's a nice feeling. But this is probably as good a feeling as I've ever had."
—Pittsburgh Pirates manager John Russell after his team's first spring training practice
on tv tonight
Men's College basketball:
-North Carolina at North Carolina State, 6 p.m., ESPN
-Marquette at St. John's, 6 p.m., ESPN2
-West Virginia at Villanova, 7 p.m., Metro Sports
-Kansas State at Nebraska, 8 p.m., ESPN2
NBA:
NBA -Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns, 8:00 p.m., ESPN
East dunks West
ASSOCIATED PRESS
East All-Star LeBron James of the Clevland Cavaliers dunks over West All-Star Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks during the fourth quarter of the NBA All-Star Basketball Game Sunday in New Orleans. James was named the game's MVP as the East won 134-128.
OBITUARY Sports visionary dies Tuesday at age 89
DENVER — Bob Howsam, the man who gave baseball its Big Red Machine and gave Denver its beloved Broncos, died Tuesday in Sun City, Ariz. He was 89.
Howsam had been having heart problems, said his son, Robert Howsam of Colorado Springs.
NBA
He built a reputation as a visionary who pioneered the use of film to hone a hitter's swing, expanded the use of artificial turf and orchestrated blockbuster trades — such as the one that brought Joe Morgan to the Reds in 1971.
Howsam's career bridged two sports and several leagues, and even his short-time jobs produced success: Between co-founding the Broncos in 1959 and joining the Reds in 1967, he was general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals when they won the 1964 World Series over the New York Yankees.
But his guiding principle was that the fans came first, his son said.
"He loved the fans. They made his life," the son said.
A Denver native, Howsam started his sports career in 1947 as owner of the Denver Bears of the Single-A Western League.
Comeback Kidd returns to Mavericks after fourteen years
Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Back then, Kidd was supposed to
DALLAS — Jason Kidd is a member of the Dallas Mavericks. Again. Finally.
The long-discussed, once-scuttled and ultimately reconfigured deal to bring Kidd from New Jersey back to the team that drafted him was finalized Tuesday. He was reintroduced in Dallas 14 years after the Mavericks made him the No.2 pick.
help turn around one of the worst franchises in sports. Now, as one of the league's best point guards, he's seen as a crucial piece in the Mavs' pursuit of a championship.
"There's no bigger reward than to have that championship trophy in your hand," said Kidd, who lost in the NBA finals twice with the Nets. "That's why I'm here. Because Dallas has its eye on that prize."
The eight-player deal, in the making since before the All-Star break
and talked about a lot longer than that, sends Kidd, forward Malik Allen and guard Antoine Wright to Dallas.
The primary piece headed to New Jersey is point guard Devin Harris. The others are center DeSagana Diop, swingman Maurice Ager, forward Trenton Hassell and retired forward Keith Van Horn. New Jersey also gets two first-round draft picks and $3 million.
New Dallas Mavericks basketball players Jason Kiddo, Antoine Wright and Mark Allen hold up their new jerseys after being traded from the New Jersey Nets during a news conference in Dallas, Tuesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Van Horn and Hassell replace Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George in an original trade proposal. Stackhouses' presence in the deal was muddled by plans to get him back to Dallas — within the rules, although in a way the league frowned upon — and George used his veto power to block his involvement.
"It's been the most amazing, interesting trade we've ever done, and we've done some doozies here," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said. "I've never seen anything like it, but all's well that ends well. We got the right guys."
Kidd wasn't the answer in Dallas a decade ago, and he was shipped to Phoenix after 2½ seasons. Five years
New Jersey hasn't made a long playoff run since, and Kidd started talking trade a year ago, when he almost went to the Los Angeles Lakers. He went public with his lat-
later he was traded to the Nets, who went to back-to-back NBA finals in 2002-03.
HALL CENTER SCHOLAR AWARD 2008-2009
THE HALL CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES is looking for KU undergraduates with strong academic credentials who have demonstrated significant engagement within the university community. Hall Center Scholars interact with the well-known authors, scholars and public intellectuals who speak in our Humanities Lecture Series. The $500 award is sponsored by the Friends of the Hall Center. The
deadline for applications is March 24, 2008.
For more information please contact Hall Center Associate Director Jasonne M. Grabher at 864-7823 or jasonne@ku.edu.
est trade demand last month.
"He's a once-in-a-lifetime type of guy to play with and coach," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "He's had an unbelievable impact on everyone in this organization and we wish him nothing but the best."
Thorn said he first noticed it in December, an indirect reference to an incident in which Kidd sat out a game against the New York Knicks with a migraine, a move some considered a one-day walkout to force a trade.
Cuban, who was a Mavericks season ticket holder the last time Kidd was in Dallas, is essentially gambling that the one-and-a-half seasons he'll have Kidd is worth more than the four-and-a-half seasons left with Harris running the offense.
Nets president Rod Thorn saw the same problem on New Jersey's end. He said as the Nets struggled this season, Kidd lost some of the intensity that defines him as a player, making the trade imperative.
"In any business there's lulls," Cuban said. "Everybody was waiting for the postseason to start. You can't just say, OK, turn it on in the postseason.' I think Jason ... being that iconic All-Star will spark a lot of people."
"Over the course of time it became very evident that his heart wasn't in it," Thorn said. "The kind of player he is, if his heart's not in it then he's not the same player, and it became evident to me that his heart wasn't in it anymore. It just wasn't going to work."
Kidd, of course, is a proven commodity, but he turns 35 next month and is a decade older than Harris.
This is the third big trade involving a Western Conference power as the teams prepare for the stretch run.
"We understand the competition is fierce, but we're not afraid of the competition," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.
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