THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
LIFE OF BRIAN
PAGE 1B
Basis of rivalry changed by ESPN
BRIAN WACKER
bwalker@kansan.com
The love affair between ESPN and ACC basketball may
well be hitting a romantic crescendo this weekend.
This Saturday, the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils will play host to the No. 15 North Carolina Tar Heels in each team's regular season finale. In a first for the network, "ESPN U: Full Circle" as it has been dubbed, will feature not one, but 10 different media outlets covering one of the games.
In addition to the Dick Vitaleinfed coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 will show the game in its entirety from the "Above the Rim" camera which we are accustomed to seeing during breaks in the action. And ESPNU will show the game from cameras planted within the "Cameron Crazies" student section while seven other ESPN entities will feature pre- and post-game coverage of the game.
(My personal favorite piece of fluff will be a pre-game piece featuring former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards playing H-O-R-S-E with a group of Duke players. People will not have cared this little about what John Edwards is doing since he ran for Vice President.)
But, kidding aside, there is something seriously wrong here. This is all emblematic of what is wrong with ESPN and how it covers college basketball. We've all heard the battle cry of the disenfranchised Big 12 fans: "ESPN has an East Coast bias."
That may be true. But if I were a die-hard Duke or UNC fan — and had the El Camino to prove it
If Mizzou was any good, would Kansas really want this much coverage of the Border War games each year? Sure, it'd be nice to have a little more coverage from the national media, but the chances of the games living up to an entire nation's expectations each time around are pretty slim.
▼ MEN'S BASKETBALL: 75-54
— I'd be pretty pissed at ESPN right now. I'd be mad because the network has transformed a rivalry from one based on mutual hatred between two schools into one based on money and over-exposure.
SEE WACKER ON PAGE 6B
Megan True/KANSAN
The Jayhawks celebrate after hearing the news that Texas lost to Texas A&M. This puts the Jayhawks in a tie with Texas for first place in the Big 12 Conference.
Title in reach
A Texas loss gives Kansas shot at top spot
BY RYAN COLAIAanni rcolaiaanni@kansan.com KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWRIETER
a great win and it gives us a chance. Certainly we are in the game."
Bill Self
Kansas
Basketball
coach
The players on the Kansas bench threw their arms in the air and jumped with excitement when they saw the score on the jumbotron.
Texas A&M defeated Texas and Kansas was tied again for first place in the Big 12 Conference.
"We had our eye on that score a little bit," senior guard Stephen Vinson said. "To see that we were in a tie for the Big 12, there was some excitement on the bench."
"It's where we want to be," Vinson said. "We want to be where we control our own destiny and that's where we are right now. We are just going to try to have a couple good practices and go try and get a ring."
Freshman guard Brandon Rush responded to the news by hugging his teammates with a big smile on his face. Just four days after their 25-point loss to the Longhorns, the Jayhawks were back in the exact same position they were before that defeat — looking to win their 49th conference championship.
"They got a great win and it gives us a chance," Self said. "Certainly we are in the game."
Kansas coach Bill Self got help from his former assistant and friend, Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie.
It was probably the biggest reaction the Kansas players had the entire night. It happened just seconds following the 75-54 victory against Colorado on Wednesday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas forced 11 steals and held Colorado to just more than 18 percent in the first half. Colorado shot 31.3 percent for the game.
The Jahawks won with solid defense.
Colorado missed 22 of its first 23 shots to contribute to the 32-15 Kansas halftime lead.
"I know there were some shots that they missed that they should have made," Vinson said. "But at the same time, we were out their fighting and they didn't have many open looks."
"We played probably as good a defense the first 15 minutes as we've played all year." Self said.
SEE REACH ON PAGE 4B
Megan True/KANSAN
Sophmore guard Russell Robinson races Colorado defense down the court Wednesday night in Allen Fieldhouse. The Javahays defeated Colorado 75-54
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Kemp finishing storied career
Jared Sources/Kansas
Senior forward Crystal Kemp came out of high school as a McDonald's All-American nominee. She has played in all 115 games with Jayhawks since she arrived and started 107 of those games.
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
mphillips@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Editor's note: This is the last of the women's basketball senior profiles, leading up to today's game against Kansas State. Earlier profiles are on Kansan.com.
Crystal Kemp will be the final senior recognized tonight — the last Jayhawk to say goodbye on Senior Night.
It is a fitting finish, the teams' star saved for last, but perhaps there are other motives — other reasons to prolong the inevitable departure.
Perhaps Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson wants to hang on to the first superstar player she coached at Kansas a little bit longer.
Perhaps by reading off a few more of Kemp's impressive stats,
Put simply, Crystal Kemp is Kansas women's basketball. In the coming months, the team will have to craft a new identity for itself. But not tonight. Tonight is Crystal's night.
showher she will get the all-Big 12 selection she deserves, even though she plays at Kansas, an afterthought in the current world of women's college basketball.
And perhaps Jayhawk fans just don't want to let go of the Kansas girl who has been the face of the team for the last four years.
Put simply, Crystal Kemp is Kansas women's basketball.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
SEE KEMP ON PAGE 3B
Out to prove it's not Bramlage
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
mphillips@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Kansas and Kansas State meet tonight at 7 in a nationally-televised game that will draw thousands of fans to the fieldhouse, decide the Wildcats' postseason fate and provide the Kansas seniors with one last chance to defeat their in-state rival.
It wouldn't be difficult to argue that this will be the biggest women's basketball game to be played at Allen Fieldhouse since it played host to the NCAA tournament in 1997.
In case that isn't enough,
there's also Kansas State senior Jessica McFarland's thoughts on coming to Lawrence to play.
1
"I'm not sure there's really any intimidation, since it's Bramlage East," McFarland said Sunday, in reference to the thousands of Wildcat fans who are expected to make the trip to Lawrence tonight. That comment quickly found its way onto Internet message boards.
McFarland told The Kansan on Tuesday that the statement wasn't an insult, but rather a jest with an old friend, Kansas forward Crystal Kemp.
SEE PROVE ON PAGE 6B
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