8A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2006
INTRAMURALS
Pistols shooting for fieldhouse
Despite losing record, players are optimistic
BY HEATHER RIFFEL
hriffel@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Editor's note: This week's team profile features Olathe juniors Cody Kennedy and Ryan Colston, members of The Pistols men's intramural basketball team. The Pistols are currently 0-2.
Riffel: How did your team get its name?
Riffe: What are your team's expectations for the season?
Kennedy: Out of love for "Pistol" Pete Maravich, Cactus Jack and gun safety — you won't want to be around when we go off.
Colston: They are to take our show time to the fieldhouse.
Riffel: How did your team form?
Kennedy: The sun aligned with the outer planets and called together a group of pure athleticism.
Riffel: How does your team celebrate a victory?
Colston: With class, dignity and integrity.
Riffel: What does your team do to prepare for a game?
Kennedy: There's 5 a.m. film sessions, positional meetings and Campbell's Chunky New England Clam Chowder with Mama McNabb.
Riffel; What makes your team different from other intramural teams?
Colston: We are out there to have fun and maybe win a few times. We really don't have a big man, so we all just take turns and pretend to shut down their center.
Riffel: What are you studying at the University of Kansas?
PISTOLS LINEUP
Kennedy: Sports manage-
Cody Kennedy, Olathe junior
RyanColston, Olathe junior
Jarrod Gravatt, Lee's Summit Ma. Junior
David Nofsinger/KANSAN
junior
Devin Archie, Olathe
junior
Summit, Mo., senior
Colston: Elementary education.
ment.
Riffel: What is your favorite bar?
Kennedy: Well, JR and I used to love to go to the Moon Bar.
Riffel: What is your favorite restaurant?
Kennedy: McDonald's, which is probably why I'm single.
Colston: Little Caesars.
Cheap. Good. Do you think that's good enough for a spon-
Ryan Colston, Olathe junior, left, and Cody Kennedy, Olathe Junior, right are members of the intramural basketball team The Pistols. sorship? good Or how?
Riffel: What would be your favorite high school memory?
Kennedy: Colston once got me suspended when he covered me in marinara sauce. That's skill.
good. Or how about the time that you got an ear infection from getting Blue Raspberry Jell-O stuck in your ear?
Colston: Yeah, that was
— Edited by Lindsey Gold
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NCAA to rule on coach's violations
BY ERICA RYAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State, awaiting a decision on possible penalties for NCAA rules violations under former basketball coach Jim O'Brien, could have to pay him millions of dollars for firing him under a judge's ruling Wednesday.
O'Brien claimed the university improperly fired him in June 2004 for loaning $6,000 of his own money to a recruit.
Ohio Court of Claims Judge
Joseph T. Clark ruled O'Brien broke his contract by giving the loan and failing to inform university officials, but the error was not serious enough to warrant firing. The university violated the contract by firing him without compensation, the ruling said.
The 55-year-old O'Brien sued for $3.5 million in lost wages and benefits. The award, which could reach nearly $9.5 million, will be determined after another hearing.
O'Brien said he was pleased
with the decision, but disappointed in the way the dispute had to be settled.
The NCAA is expected to decide within the next few weeks whether to penalize the school for violations committed during O'Brien's tenure. Earlier this month, the NCAA found seven violations in the basketball program and one each in the football and women's basketball programs.
O'Brien, who coached the Buckeyes for seven years and led them to the Final Four in
1999, testified he gave $6,000 in $50 and $100 bills to Aleksandar Radojevic, a 7-foot-3 prospect from Serbia. He said he gave the loan in 1999 because the player's father was dying and the family had no money for medicine or the funeral.
O'Brien argued the loan did not violate NCAA bylaws because he knew Radojevic already had lost his amateur status by playing professionally.
Radojevic never played for the Buckeyes because the NCAA declared him ineligible
for accepting about $9,000 to play for a team in his native country. University attorneys said the loan broke NCAA rules and O'Brien's contract because Radojevic hadn't yet been ruled ineligible.
In his lawsuit, O'Brien contended he was fired before an investigation had determined if he had violated his contract by breaking NCAA rules. A provision of his contract said the NCAA had to rule on alleged violations before he could be fired for that reason.
OLYMPICS
Downturn of events for speed skater Ohno
TURIN, Italy — Apolo Anton Ohno managed to stay out of trouble. With no medals on the line, that's all he needed to do.
"It was just total instincts," Ohno said. "I just let it go."
Ohno shook off a disappointing start to the Turin Olympics by leading the Americans into the relay final with a vintage short track performance Wednesday night: He put his team out front with a gutsy pass of two skaters and gave an emphatic pump of the fist when he crossed the finish line ahead of everyone else in the chaotic 5,000-meter race.
He also advanced comfortably from the preliminary heats of the 1,000 — an expected result, but one that couldn't be taken for granted after Ohno's mishap on the first night of short track.
The 23-year-old skating star cost himself a chance to defend his Olympic title in the 1,500 with a boneheaded move in the semifinals. Already in position to advance, Ohno bumped the leader in a turn, wobbled and bobbled before regaining his balance, and wound up missing the final.
The Associated Press
NFL
Haslett heads to Rams as defensive coach
One frustrating day as a television analyst convinced Jim Haslett he wanted another NFL coaching job.
Haslett was hired as defensive coordinator by new St. Louis Rams coach Scott Linehan about three weeks after he got fired by the New Orleans Saints. During the break, Haslett tried TV work during Super Bowl week but was dismayed that it took 5 1-2 hours to finish a 1-hour show for FoxSports.
The Associated Press
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Spring Breck
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Sure, we've got sun. We also have once-in-a-decade snow. The brand-new Imperial Express Superchair, North America's highest lift. And a one-of-a-kind town that parties two miles high. But don't forget your snorkel - hot tubs are always in season here.
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