THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
SOCCER | 4B Leading scorer back on the field
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
Sitting on the bench gave her a new perspective, but Cressy was eager to return. Her first season goal was on Illinois last Sunday. This year she aims to win the Big 12 Championship.
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Freshman quarterback Jordan Webb throws down the field in the fourth quarter. Webb was put in the game in the fourth quarter, but the Jayhawks fell 6-3 to the Bison Saturday evening.
Gill chooses Webb to start Saturday, Pick disappointed
BY MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com
twitter.com/themattgalloway
After being named the backup just three weeks ago, freshman quarterback Jordan Webb will start the second game of the season this Saturday against Georgia Tech at Memorial Stadium.
Coach Turner Gill ended four days of speculation Wednesday, naming Webb the starter for the team's match with the No. 15 Yellow jackets.
However, we have not seen the last of sophomore quarterback Kale Pick.
"We believe right now is the best time to have Jordan go, and we're going to give him a chance to see what he can do in game action." Gill said.
On Aug. 19, Gill announced Pick won the starting job. But after a shaky performance against North Dakota State in a 6-3 loss last Saturday, he decided the freshman from Union, Mo. was the right man for the job.
"Obviously I'm excited." Webb said. "It's what I've wanted all along. It's what everyone wants, to be the starter. I hope it's something I can run with."
Webb replaced Pick early in the fourth quarter against North Dakota State with the game on the line. Perhaps the coaching staff's decision during crunch time last Saturday was an indication of things to come.
Losing the initial starting battle frustrated Webb, but it also motivated him. The coaching staff hopes that resiliency translates to the field against Georgia Tech.
"I got beat out for a spot," Webb
said. "If that doesn't motivate you, nothing will."
Actually starting the game will be advantageous for Webb, who said there is a huge difference between preparing as a starter and coming in as a substitution.
Webb finished Saturday's game 6-for-11, netting 59 yards. One area of concern is Webb's mobility — he was sacked twice in less than 12 minutes of game time.
"When you come in the fourth quarter, you're cold," Webb said. "You just get a few minutes and you go in. If you're starting, you get in the flow of a game and you get your reads down."
Pick finished 13-for-22 with 138 yards, but an ill-timed interception in the North Dakota State endzone may have cost him his job. He was frustrated after the decision was made Wednesday, but Gill feels comfortable knowing Pick's anger comes from a good place — his intense passion to help the team and be the squad's leader.
"He's disappointed, not happy about it, but in some aspects that's a good thing," Gill said. "I hope a person is not happy when he's not playing. That's a competitor, and I know Kale is a competitor. He wants to play and he thinks he's the best guy for it, and that's a great thing."
Gill still sees playing time in Pick's pick, perhaps as soon as this Saturday, as he needs both his quarterbacks on their toes and ready to step in if needed.
"I'm not going to say he'll come in at this particular time, but I will say there is a good chance he will get some playing time," Gill said.
Edited by Clark Goble
COMMENTARY
Athletes juggle the right and wrong
n a time when media and fans are their
harshest critics, college athletics programs are under serious pressure, which can amount to breaking points with sobering consequences.
From steroids to invalid ACT scores, who is to blame? Well, lately it's been the coaches for bringing in unruly players or athletic directors for not keeping a better eye on their programs. But deep down I think that, while the administrators may be keeping a watchful eye, the fault can be put on the student-athletes. If this weren't the case, Bill Self wouldn't have to continue awkwardly answering questions about when freshman Josh Selby will be cleared to play.
There are stories across the nation of athletes behaving badly, even ruining the reputations of their schools. The perfect example of late is the Heisman Trophy Trust potentially taking back former University of Southern California running back Reggie Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy. After an investigation into the USC football program, it was found that Bush had accepted improper benefits and was even, in fact, ineligible to play his award-winning season. The Trojans are now looking at four years of probation, a two-year bowl ban and a reduction in football scholarships.
One of the common arguments regarding these issues is that the athletes are 18. They're young and naive, making them possibly more vulnerable in controversial situations, especially when money is fanned in their faces. But if this is true, then why are there so many athletes not giving into temptation?
Jayhawk Nation had a laugh when it turned out that Derrick Rose from Memphis had an invalidated SAT score a month
BY KATHLEEN GIER kgier@kansan.com
after Kansas beat Memphis for the 2008 National Championship. The school was stripped of its national championship appearance and was quickly abandoned by then-coach John Calipari.
And the University doesn't exactly have a clean slate either. From Selby to accusations that former forward Darrell Arthur had grades changed for him in high school. Unless you know everything about a program, you can't possibly know their dirt little secrets.
Amid the drama and suspicion surrounding the sudden resignation of Lew Perkins, I wonder what more there is to this story so close to home. I wish to focus on the positives he brought to this campus He was indeed athletics director for a Jayhawk NCAA National Championship in 2007 and an Orange Bowl appearance in 2008, not to mention signing a ten-year contract with coach Bill Self.
Q.
Kansas has gladly been known as a traditional team. There have always been Kansas natives on the team for as far back as I've been following the school. And it wasn't until last year that Self bad his first one-and-done player, Xavier Henry. I am proud of the integrity of the athletes and I hope they keep it up. The college system does not ruin players; it's the narrow desires of fame and fortune they seek before their due time.
Edited by Leslie Kinsman
Prison ball is a dodgeball based game with a few minor changes that make the game a little different.
CLUB SPORTS
"It's fast paced. It's crazy," two-year prison ball veteran Mike Pitt said.
The balls fly on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. at the Amber Student Recreation Fitness Center on the indoor soccer court. The Prison Ball Club began in 2008, and has seen steady growth since the club's inaugural season. McGonigle estimates that an average of 35 people show up each week. Around 200 different people will show up at least once during a semester.
Prison Ball Club recognizes steady increase in members, interest in dodgeball-like game
What do you get when you mix 35 to 40 college students with 25 light, round and red rubber balls? A high-intensity fast-paced game known as prison ball.
BY MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
To start a game, two teams take the court splitting it down the middle. Basic dodgeball rules apply except for one change: If players get hit, they aren't out of the game. Instead, they go to a jail located in the opponents goal. The way to get out of jail is to catch a ball thrown from the far side of the court by a teammate. The tweaks in the rules make it a quicker game.
"It's more of a continuous dodgeball game," club president Miles McGonigle said. "Generally people have more fun with it."
Prison ball is a game in
which players must be aware. They have to constantly be on the lookout for balls that end up near all areas of the body.
Everyone has their favorite shot, and McGonigle is no different.
"When you hit someone right in the chest, and it makes that hollow "thump!" sound, you know you got that guy really good," McGonigle said.
Prison ball regular Joe Bond said that the first time you play can often be the most intense. He said he knows from experience.
"This huge kid just rocked me in the face, and I was like,
"Oh my God, that was awesome";
Bond said.
Although face shots are a part of the game, the players try to keep everything friendly. Before the competitors take the court for the first time McGonigle requests that no one intentionally aims for anyone's face.
"For the most part, it's all about coming out, having fun and enjoying the sport," McGonigle said.
Just about everyone has experienced dodgeball in their middle or high school gym class, and McGonigle feels that this isn't much different.
"It's gym class but at a college
level." he said.
The regulars love the game and are convinced that if anyone comes to try it once, they will be hooked. McGonigle and Bond have made friends through playing. Each player really seems to look forward for those two hours on Wednesday nights where they can put their troubles and homework aside and focus on not getting hit.
"It's the pinnacle of my week." Pitt said.
Edited by Clark Goble
Adam Bubler/KANSAN
n Wednesdays
Adam Buther/KANSAN
Zack Harding, freshman from West Des Moines, takes aim and flings a dodgeball at an opponent. Prison ball games are played on Wednesdays.