THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
VOLLEYBALL|4B
KAILU
Women suffer first season defeat
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2010
Winning streak of 7-0 ended on Tuesday with a sweep by Middle Tennessee State. Coach and players say it was disappointing, but offered learning experience to improve play.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WALK IN LEW'S SHOES
Sean Lester speaks to the media about becoming the interim athletics director after the retirement of Lew Perkins Tuesday. Earlier this year, Perkins announced he would retire after this school year, but on Tuesday he announced his immediate retirement.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Athletics given new director
Sean Lester to fill Perkins' void until a permanent athletics director is selected
WHO IS SEAN LESTER?
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
twitter.com/UDKbasketball
Even Sean Lester was taken aback by his selection as interim athletics director at the University of Kansas.
"When you get a call to go visit with the chancellor, you don't know what it's about," Lester said. "Then when she asks you that question it's a little surprising. I look forward to meeting with her later so we can talk more about it."
Lester said that sometime before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little called him into her office. It was during this meeting that Gray-Little told him that Lew Perkins was retiring effective immediately and offered Lester the position as interim athletics director.
Lester worked with Perkins since 1996, save for a brief stint as a sales manager for Clear Channel Communications. He made the move to Kansas in September 2003 when Perkins was hired as athletics director. Since that time, he has served as senior associate athletics director.
"Everybody in the department knows how much Sean has done since he has been here and knows how much Lew has leaned on him and knows what a huge role he has played in everything that's been going on with our department," coach Bill Self said.
"Both men have great work ethic. Sean's work ethic is off the charts."
Enthusiastic praise was the tone of the day when it came to Lester, from Self and Price to Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director of external relations.
- Born in Storrs, Connecticut
Coach Ritch Price has worked alongside Lester for the last "four or five years" while Lester has been the sports supervisor for the baseball team. Price said it's easy to see similarities between Lester and Perkins.
"I think one of the great things that both men bring to the table is that both of them bring great passion to their job," Price said.
Lester
- Received a bachelor's degree in English from Eastern Connecticut State.
"The athletics staff will not miss a beat," Marchiony said. "We have a terrific staff here. We're excited about the future. We've all worked with Sean for several years, and we're excited to move forward."
Received a master's degree in education and concentration in sports management from the University of Connecticut.
"Right now my focus is just
Lester will likely be a candidate to be the next athletics director, but he insists that is not his primary focus.
Began career at the University of Connecticut Athletic Department.
PAGE 1B
Moved from Connecticut to Kansas in 2003 to join Perkins' stan
on leadership within the department." Lester said. "I would love to be an AD somewhere. No question about it. And if that's Kansas, it's Kansas. But right now my mission is interim AD for the University of Kansas."
- Lives in Lawrence with his wife and two young children.
Lester and Self both mentioned the chancellor's plan to find a new athletics director, but neither offered any particular details. Self said, regardless of what happens, he was looking forward.
"Part of me is also very excited about the future and about the direction in which we're going." Self said. "And Sean is obviously the first step in that."
- Edited by Emily McCoy
Football fans expect better, the players do too
FOOTBALL
Jayhawks plan for cheers not jeers as they prepare to win on Saturday
Senior running back Angus Quigley watches the final moments of Kansas' 6-3 loss to North Dakota State. It was the first time since 2003 that the Jayhawks lost their season opener. Ryan Waggoner/KANSah
BY MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com
twitter.com/themattgallowy
As the game wound down, the only cheers that emanated from Memorial Stadium's crowd of more than 48,000 were from the minority of Bison supporters and jaded Jayhawk fans when junior tight end Tim Biere was benched.
In the closing moments of the Kansas football team's 6-3 loss to North Dakota State on Saturday night, the home of the Jayhawks turned into a house of boo birds.
"We heard it," said senior running back Angus Quigley. "We try to turn the other cheek on boos because those are our fans. It always hurts because we would hope the fans have a little more faith in us as a football team, but we played terrible."
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Quigley, a team captain and sixth-year senior, is witnessing how the more positive-minded Turner Gill regime is dealing with its first adversity. Still, he and many of the fans remember the Orange Bowl victory just
a screen pass to senior wide receiver Johnathan Wilson went for negative yardage.
"I think it's crazy," said junior
wide receiver Daymond Patterson. "Sometimes people have bad games... The fans or people on the outside don't know what we go through and the hours we
"It's unfortunate that we didn't go out there and play to the best of our abilities as a team."
put in. For them to boo, I felt bad because Tim is a good guy."
CHRIS HARRISE
Senior cornerback
Even with a win still in reach,
many frustrated fans booed when
three seasons ago. The fact that the fans have heightened expectations could be a silver lining to the boos he heard Saturday.
"If they're booing. it
means they have better expectations for us," Quigley said. "If they didn't boo, the stadium would have been empty. They would
Senior cornerback Chris Harris recorded four tackles and had the defense's only sack — an 11-yard loss that stopped a Bison drive on third down. The only way to silence the critics is by meeting and exceeding expectations, Harris said.
have just left if they didn't care.
COMMENTARY
"You never want to hear boos, especially on your home field," Harris said. "It's unfortunate that
we didn't go out there and play to the best of our abilities as a team. We have to go out this week and do better."
The Jayhawks have an opportunity to silence the critics as soon as this Saturday when nationally ranked Georgia Tech visits Lawrence. Though the team surprised everyone in a negative way by losing to the Mountain Valley Conference's Bison, they
have a chance to pleasantly surprise their fan base against the defending ACC champion Yellow Jackets.
"It would definitely change the mood around here," Harris said. "It would add some confidence to this team. We just have to go out there this week and get better at our job."
Edited by Kelsey Nill
Perkins has a legacy of success and drama
BY NICOLAS ROESLER
proesler@kansan.com
The last year of Lew Perkins career was such a flasco, we could call him Luke.
Regretfully, the chance to call him that has passed, along with Perkins' time here at Kansas.
Yes, Kansas Athletics is worthy of envy. The whole company. And mostly because of Perkins.
Sure, he wasn't a famous rapper, but he was a superstar. Perkins was the reason that Kansas Athletics grew into a program to be envious of.
Perkins built football facilities that could recruit players from all across the country. He remodeled Hoglund Ballpark and renovated Allen Fieldhouse into one of the most technologically advanced college basketball venues.
In all, Perkins' upgrades and reconstructions totaled close to $150 million.
Anyone can walk around campus and see the results of his work. Coach Bill Self gave his respects at a press conference yesterday, saying that despite the difficult decisions that faced Perkins, his presence will not be forgotten.
Self said that Perkins made decisions that took a special kind of strong-willed person, and if Perkins hadn't made those improvements when he did, the face of Kansas Athletics would never have reached what it is today.
Despite the fact that last year was full of drama worthy of a CW series, all students and alumni should respect Perkins for how he handled everything. But more importantly, for the legacy he created here as the athletics director.
Coach Ritch Price said that all athletics at the University will miss Perkins. Price said that what Perkins did for the budget of the Athletics Department allowed virtually all sports to grow.
The respect from fans could be seen at competitions from baseball to football when people would chant "Lewl" as he walked by. Price said Perkins was unique because he got to know the student athletes. He traveled with them during NCAA tournaments and would even share meals with them.
I remember in 2007 seeing Perkins walking on South Beach during the Orange Bowl, joking around with the football players while he smoked a cigar in his bathing suit and sun hat. The guy was fun. The guy was full of energy. The guy was just a laugh to look at.
"He has a relationship with them," Price said. "I think there are a lot of athletics directors in the country where student athletes have never even met the athletics director"
He was bigger than half of the football team and could hit them on the shoulder with no fear of a payback punch. He was Lew. And he was bigger than you.
Just like the memories I have of him at the Orange Bowl, alumni and students alike should only hold Perkins in the fondness of their memories.
Speculations of why he retired at this point are bound to explode, and I question the timing as well. But don't let the accusations stain his legacy here.
Self said Perkins was leaving content with his decision and excited for the future. Let's try to look forward with excitement as well.
— Edited by Alex Tretbar
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