KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 / SPORTS /
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The greatest quest in one's life is to reach one's potential."
Mychal Wynn, motivational speaker
FACT OF THE DAY
Kansas hasn't played on ESPN since hosting Texas Tech in 2008.
Kansas Athletics
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
After going to Mississippi, how many states will Kansas football have played in?
A: 37 (plus Washington D.C.)
Kansas Athletics
Refs' calls should be consistent
MORNING BREW
Two exciting plays, two touchdowns but not quite the same endings. The fans in Lawrence and
The tails in Lawrence and Tuscaloosa, Ala., both erupted in the same way. Players on both home sidelines were fired up and cheering for the six points their team just put on the scoreboard.
Kansas wide receiver Daymond Patterson scored on a stellar 32-yard touchdown reception that was a Top 10 play on ESPN this past week. Patterson broke tackles and juked defenders out left and right on the play.
BY MIKE VERNON mvernon@kansan.com
The play was crucial to the game and one of the most exciting at Memorial Stadium in a long time. Patterson was rightfully excited and decided to add a little punctuation mark to end his thrilling play.
Patterson broke the plane of the endzone upside down after completing a very impressive front flip. He landed safely and went on to celebrate with his teammates just as he should have. That should have been it, but the sideline referee decided to reach into his pocket and grab the little yellow handkerchief that all players crunge to see.
Alabama wide receiver Kevin Norwood also scored on a stellar 36-yard touchdown pass in the Crimson Tide's big game against Penn State this past weekend. Norwood slyly slipped through three Penn State
defenders before breaking out into the open field with no one between him and the endzone.
The play set the tone for the rest of the game, as it was the first score in the contest. Over 100,000 Alabama fans exploded in joy when Norwood broke free. Norwood was also rightfully excited, and decided to add a little punctuation mark to end his stunning display of speed.
Kansas was penalized 15 yards for Patterson's exciting display of emotion.
Norwood flew over the goal line upside down after completing a very impressive front flip. The elated Norwood got up and ran over to his teammates thrilled to put his team on top. This time, the referee decided to keep his hands out of his pockets and away from the little yellow flag.
I have a hard time believing that it just so happened that one of the most prestigious college football programs of all time got the benefit of the doubt when Kansas did not
Alabama was not. Part of it could have been coincidence, but there is a little more to it than just eerily similar plays.
There is a double standard in the world of college football. It is not a coincidence that schools like Texas, Notre Dame and Alabama will often squeak by the rules while others cannot.
Mark Mangino described it best; "Dollar signs."
Edited by Clark Goble
According to a report in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, rookie Xavier Henry is moving closer to finally signing a contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, the team that drafted him 12th in this summer's NBA Draft.
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Henry's three-month long holdout was precipitated by Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley's uncommon insistence that Henry agree to performance incentives to reach the maximum salary for his draft slot. Henry was the only first round draft pick with an incentive-laden contract offer
Bill Snyder doubts defense's maturity
Henry very close to Grizzlies deal
In accordance with the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, teams can pay anywhere from 80 to 120 percent of the amount mandated by the league's rookie pay scale. Heisley offered 100 percent with the remaining 20 percent tied up in performance benefits, but decided upon further review of the agreement to offer the full 120 percent.
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State cant help but wonder which defense will show up Saturday to confront Iowa State.
Will it be the swarming, aggressive unit that forced three turnovers and held UCLA to 120 yards passing while beating the Bruins in the season opener?
Or will it be the defense that let Missouri State amass 447 yards last week?
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The lower-division Bears rolled up almost 200 more yards than the Bruins and took better care of the ball. The Bears threw 42 passes, but Kansas State picked off only one.
"It was a disappointment," said defensive back David Garrett. "That was not us. They had a 99-yard drive against us. That is never
good. Then they had 11 minutes of possession time, which is a whole quarter for their team basically. For us to win the game, we have to keep them out of the end zone and keep our offense on the field. So that was a letdown for our defense and as a team."
The team goal is to get at least three turnovers a game.
UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince, coming off an impressive 2009 campaign, is generally thought of as one of the top passers in the Pac-10. But on Sept. 4 against the Wildcats, Prince was only 9 for 26. A week later, Missouri State's Cody Kirby was 20 of 42 for 281 yards.
"One of our captains spoke of maturity throughout the week for (the Missouri State game) and whether we were mature enough to handle it," coach Bill Snyder said. "I am not so
sure we were mature enough, in all honesty. We really need to more consistent in order to have any degree of success."
Defensive linemen Brandon Harold and Raphael Guidry each had nine tackles, and linebacker Alex Hrebec brought his season total to 20. Snyder said he was pleased with how the defense played for the majority of the first half against the Bears. Until the last two snaps of the first half, the Bears had only 80 total yards.
Despite allowing three touchdowns to an FCS team, there were positives.
Iowa State comes in following a 35-7 smackdown at the hands of No. 9 Iowa. The Cyclones (1-1) got their only score late in the game after Iowa had pulled most of its starters.
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"In the general spirit of the way it was put together I felt we should relent and not have a performance situation," Heisley told the Commercial Appeal. "I don't think I was on the right side of the issue."
TODAY
FRIDAY
Women's Soccer
at Milwaukee
5:00 p.m.
Lawrence, Kan.
Football
vs. Southern Miss.
7:00 p.m.
Hattiesburg, Miss.
Women's Tennis
KU Tournament
All Day
Lawrence, Kan.
SATURDAY
Henry will sign the deal, according to the report, as early as Thursday.The Grizzlies' second round pick, Greivis Vasquez of Maryland, has undergone the same dispute and will also sign soon.
Women's Volleyball
vs. Texas A&M
6:30 PM
Lawrence, Kan.
Women's Tennis
KU Tournament
All Day
Lawrence, Kan.
SUNDAY
Women's Soccer Missouri State 1:00 p.m. Lawrence, Kan.
Women's Tennis KU Tournament All Day Lawrence, Kan.
By Tim Dwyer
MONDAY
Men's Golf
Kansas Invitational
All Day
Lawrence, Kan.
TUESDAY
Men's Golf Kansas Invitational All Day Lawrence, Kan.
MLB
WEDNESDAY
Women's Volleyball
Nebraska
7:00 PM
Lincoln, Neb.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yanks take back first place
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Dan Johnson hit a pair of two-run homers Wednesday night, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees and back into first place in the AL East.
The teams with the baseball's top two records flip-flipped positions in the standings for the third straight night. The first two games of the important series went extra innings, with the Rays winning 1-0 on Monday and the Yankees regaining the division lead by a half-game with an 8-7 win on Tuesday.
The finale was filled with plenty of drama, too, even though the Yankees and Rays are far from
Both of Johnson's homers came off Phil Hughes (16-8), who retired two of Tampa Bay's most dangerous hitters — Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria — before giving up a two-out single to Matt Joyce and Johnson's second homer of the night in the seventh.
finished. They'll play four more games in New York next week, with Tampa Bay holding an 8-6 edge in the season series.
The Yankees had taken a 3-2 in the top of the seventh on Curtis Granderson's two-run homer off Chad Qualls (1-0).
Randy Choate and Grant Balfour worked a scoreless eighth for the Rays. Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth, earning his franchise record-tying 43rd save in 46 opportunities by striking out Alex Rodriguez on three pitches
Rays starter James Shields scattered eight hits over 61-3 innings, walked two and struck out eight before departing with a 2-1 lead Johnson gave Tampa Bay with his two-run homer off Hughes in the fifth. Johnson has five homers since being called up last month from Triple-A Durham, where he was the International League MVP with 30 homers and 95 RBIs.
with the potential tying run on base.
The Yankees went back on the top in seventh after plate umpire Lance Barksdale — over the objections of the Rays — ruled that Qualls' first pitch struck Derek Jeter on the left arm and Granderson followed with his 18th homer.
Colorado avoids sweep
DENVER — Troy Tulowitzki had his third multihomer game in a little more than a week, setting a career high with seven RBIs to help the Colorado Rockies beat the NI. West-leading Padres 9-6 Wednesday and avoid a series sweep.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Padres began the day with a 1½-game division lead over the second-place San Francisco Giants, who hosted the Los Angeles.
Angels Dougers on Wednesday night.
Tulowitzki has four multihomer games in his career, three in an eight day span. He has 11 homers in his last 13 games.
W i t h
Tulowitzki hitting a pair of three-run homers and an RBI single, and Jorge De La Rosa giving the beleaguered bullpen a break by pitching into the eighth, the Rockies climbed within $2\frac{1}{2}$ games of San Diego. They also closed within $2\frac{1}{2}$ games of Atlanta in the NL wild-card race.
Adrian Gonzalez nearly matching Tauwitzki's offensive production. The first baseman hit two homers, including a three-run shot in the eighth that wiped out half of a 9-3 deficit. He finished with five RBIs and increased his season total to 29 homers.
Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 23 chances.
De La Rosa (8-4) snapped a string of short outings by Colorado
Tulowitzki is making a late MVP push, as well, despite missing 33 games with a broken wrist.
starters, giving up five runs and six hits in 7-1-3 innings.
Colorado starters have been awful of late, overtaxing the bullpen. That cost them dearly Tuesday night when Edgner Escalona's failure to cover first base on a grounder to Todd Helton in the ninth inning led to the decisive run in a 7-6 loss.
Clayton Richard (12-8) gave up a season-high eight runs and 11 hits in three innings.
Colorado won the final game of a three-game seri
overtaking the Padres.
2 final game series — not exactly what the team had in mind when the slumping Padres arrived at Coors Field on Monday. The Rockies were riding a 10-game winning streak and had designs on
NL MVP candidate Carlos Gonzalez finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, increasing his NL leads in batting average (.341) and RBIs (106).
Tulowitzki is making a late MVP push, as well, despite missing 33 games with a broken wrist. He went 3 for 5 to raise his average to .325, second to Carlos Gonzalez. During a 10-game homestand, he batted .375 with nine homers and 21 RBIs.
In the eighth inning, though, the Padres elected to walk Carlos Gonzalez with a runner on second and pitch to Tulowitzki. It's a strategy that worked as right-hander Ernesto Frieri retired Tulowitzki on a hard lineout to left.
Richard gave up a three-run homer to Tulowitzki in the third. An inning later, Richard was pulled with the slugger stepping into the batter's box.