University Daily Kansan / Wednesday. February 3, 1988
9
Sports
Ditka one of four elected to NFL Hall of Fame
The Associated Press
CANTON, Ohio — Mike Dikaa said it really wasn't fair to have had as much fun as he did playing football and still be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Chicago Bears coach was elected yesterday along with Fred Biletnikoff, Jack Ham and Alan Page.
"It's mind boggling," said Ditka, who played 12 years in the NFL, as a tight end.
Biltnikoff, a flanker with the Oakland Raiders famed for his timing and exacting pass routes, said, "I can't tell you how excited I am. It's a big, big thrill for me."
Ham, a key performer in the Pittsburgh Steelers "Steel Curtain" during four Super Bowl victories in the 1970s, said. "I'm ectesta going in with some pretty good company."
Page, a cornerstone at defensive tackle on the Minnesota Vikings' fainted 'Purple People Eaters" defense, said, "My) whole career was a highlight."
Ditka is the first pure tight end ever elected to the Hall. Billetnickoff is the fifth Raider to get the honor. Ham is the second player from the Steelers' Super Bowl years to be honored, following "Mean Joe" Greene. Page became the second Viking to make the Hall, joining quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
Ditka, 48, from the University of Pittsburgh, was named NFL rookie of the year in 1961 after catching 56 passes for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns. Three years later, he had 75 catches, a record for tight ends that stood for 16 years.
"The they say there weren't any tight ends in the Hall, but I can think of a handful of great ones," said Ditka. "If I got any recognition, it's because the Bears threw the ball my way and I used to run with it pretty well in my youth."
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound native of Carnegie, Pa., did not miss a start in 84 games with the Bears and earned All-Pro honors his first four seasons. He had 427 receptions for 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns in his career.
After being traded to Philadelphia in 1967, Ditka finished his career with four seasons at Dallas. In 1971, he had 30 receptions and scored the clinching touchdown in the Cowboys' 24-3 victory over the Miami Dolphins in the 1972 Super Bowl.
Bletnikoff, who will run 45 later this month, spent 14 years with the Raiders. The 6-1, 190-pound flanker caught 589 passes, even for 8, 574 yards and 76 touchdowns.
The native of Erie, Pa., caught 40 or more passes for 10 straight seasons, and his 70 catches for 1,167 yards and 10 touchdowns in 19 postseason games were records at the time of his retirement. He played in three
AFL and five AFC championship games, as well as in the 1968 and 1977 Super Bowls.
"I was pretty fortunate to have a career as long as I did and be able to play with some of the great ball players I was able to play with all those years." Biletnikoff said.
"As you get older, you look back on your career and realize that you went through a part of life a lot quicker than a lot of people have an opportunity to. You have a lot of failure and success in a matter of minutes on the football field. You've just got to handle it quicker."
Billetnokoff, now an assistant coach with Calgary of the Canadian Football League, caught four passes for 79 yards to set up three Oakland scores in a 31-41 victory over Minnesota in the 1977 Super Bowl and was named the game's most valuable player.
Ham, 39, missed only four games in his first 10 seasons in the NFL. The outside
linebacker from Penn State finished a 12-year career with $25\frac{1}{2}$ sacks, 21 fumble recoveries and 32 interceptions.
"It's a great feeling to be selected into the Hall of Fame with players who are the all-time great, and especially to follow the all-time great, who I think is Joe Greene," said Ham, who is a salesman for a coal company and also a radio analyst on NPL games.
Ham played in Super Bowls in 1975, 1976 and 1979 but had to sit out the 1880 game because of injuries. He also played in five AFC championship games, the first in 1974 when his 19-yard interception return to the Oakland 9 set up the Steelers' go-ahead touchdown in a 24-13 victory.
Page, a 42-year-old native of Canton, home of the Hall of Fame, became the first defensive player to be named NFL most valuable player in 1971.
Jayhawks' chance to begin streak again starts with OU
By Elaine Sung Kansan sports writer
Kansas basketball fans may find one small consolation in the demise of The Streak: At least the Oklahoma Sooners didn't get a chance to break it.
Kansas coach Larry Brown and his players will try to start over when they meet the Sooners at 8:08 tonight in Allen Field House.
"It will be a challenge for us," said center Danny Manning. "We'll have to do a better job than we did against K-State."
The Sooners, ranked seventh in this week's Associated Press poll, are 18-2 overall and second in the Big Eight with a 4-1 record. Oklahoma's only conference defeat came two weeks ago against Kansas State in Manhattan.
Kansas, now 12-7, also has been beaten by the Wildcats, in a 72-64 game last weekend that ended the Ninth District court winning streak at 55 games.
KANSAN graphic
Kansas, sixth in the conference with a 1-3 record, did not appear in the AP poll for only the second time this season. The Jayhawks are trying to pull out of a three-game losing streak, the longest since Brown came to Kansas in 1983
But now that The Streak is over, part of the stress that accompanied it is diminished.
"We have to show that we can play well against teams like Oklahoma. "Brown said, "The big question is how we do and how we respond."
Kansas forward Mike Masucci gets his first start tonight when the Javahawks meet the Oklahoma Sooners in Allen Field House.
"We've had a lot of close ball games," Manning said. "You could sense the nervousness. All we have to do now is go out and play hard."
The Jayhawks will need to play hard in order to re-establish themselves in the conference.
Manning said Kansas had to force the Sooners to play defense, one of their few weak points. Oklahoma is known instead for its fast-paced game, and Manning is
well aware of the Sooners' fondness for running the ball up and down the court.
"We can't run with Oklahoma," he said. "There aren't many teams that can. We need to control them and keep it at our tempo."
Brown plans to start freshman Mike Masucci tonight for the first time. Masucci, a 6-10 forward, will replace forward Chris Piper, who sat out during practice this week. Piper is still bothered by a pulled groin muscle.
shots.
Brown also has switched guards in his lineup, using Lincoln Minor instead of Otis Livingston. Minor, who started against K-State, had 10 points and two assists in that game, bringing nearly seven points a game.
Minor already is familiar with two of the Sooners' guards, Ricky Grace and Mookie Blaylock. The three were once teammates at Midland (Texas) Junior College
Blaylock and Grace have the top two averages in the conference in assists, steals and three-point
Harvey Grant, the Sooners' other starting junior college transfer, is one of the leading candidates for the Player-of-the-Year award. He is fourth on the conference scoring list, averaging 23 points a game.
Grant shoots 55 percent from the field and 83 percent from the line, grabs over 11 rebounds a game seventh in the Big Eight in steals.
Four of the five Sooner starters are among the top 10 in steals in the conference, a threat that Minor and guard Kevin Pritchard, also from Oklahoma, must content with.
"I was encouraged by their play last Saturday," Brown said. "I was really pleased with the way our guards handled it. But we'll all have to hold the ball well."
Kansas is still trying to adjust to losing center Marvin Branch and forward Archie Marshall, and Musciu's appearance in the starting lineup is an example of what Brown has had to deal with this.
season.
"If you look at who's playing now and we expected to play, it's kind of crazy." Brown said. "We're dealing with a lot of inexperienced players, and players are not here, and that hurts Danny more than anything."
vear.
Manning said he felt physically stronger this year, although he didn't believe he had worked as hard on the court as he did last
"I get the ball in crunch time. I just haven't gone out and done what I can do," he said.
Brown said that over the last two years, the success of the team in general had been directly related to how Manning had played.
"That's unfortunate, but that's the way it is," he said. "I want to see him more active. I told him he's got to work harder."
Shockers blow out Bradley
The Associated Press
The victory gave the Shockers a 12-7 record overall and a 5-2 league mark and sole possession of the national championship and second place in the MVC at 4-2 and 13-3.
WICHITA, Kan. — Junior Dwayne Praylow scored a career-high 24 points as Wichita State upset 18-1ranked Bradley 116-92 last night in Missouri Valley Conference game.
Praylow, who had a previous best of 14 points against Illinois State, broke a 67-67 tie on a 12-foot shot with 12:17 left in the game.
Hawkins, the nation's leading scorer, cut the margin to 76-73 with 9:34 remaining, but Radunovich scored four points and Lew Hill added three to give the Shockers an 83-73 lead with 6:50 left.
John Cooper rebounded a shot by Bradley's Hersey Hawkins and fed Sasha Radunovich on a fast break to make it 71-67. Cooper then blocked a dunk by Donald Powell and made a 13-foot shot.
Hawkins led all scorers with 37 points before he fouled out with more than four minutes remaining.
Radunovich and Hill each scored 21 points for the Shockers, who hit 19 of 23 free throws in the final seven minutes. The Braves had 16 points from Luke Jackson and 12 from Trevor Trimpe.
Wichita State led 45-41 with 2:27 to go in the first half. Hawkins, who scored 28 in the period, made a three-point play, two free throws and a three-point shot to put Bradley up 39-26. The defense, who had 14 points in the period, sank two free throws and added a layup at the buzzer for a 49-49 tie.
Other Top 20 Scores No. 12 Syracuse 92 Providence 71
No.4 Duke 101 Clemson 63
Villanova 64
No.14 Georgetown 58
Intramural growth may force fees up
By Tom Stinson
Kansan staff writer
Kansas' intramural program is growing at such a quick rate that it will cause team entry fees to increase in the future, according to Intramural Coordinator John Johnson.
Johnson said the increase in fees would be caused by the added expenses of officials and personnel salaries that go with the program's growth.
He also said that all team sports in the intramural program grew this year, creating finance problems. Last week, about 320 basketball teams joined leagues, compared to 298 last year and 276 in 1986.
Intramural fees are $20 for trophy league, $15 for recreation A and co-creational leagues, and $10 for recreation B league.
"We will go over our budget in basketball." Johnson said. "But at this point, we can't tell by how much. It will all depend on the number of games played and forfeited during the season. We're really stretching our budget now."
Student Senate funds recreational services and allocated $97,971 per year for two years in March of 1987. Of that, $5,775 goes toward intramural basketball. Basketball gets the most money of any team intramural sport.
Johson said he wouldn't exactly know the amount of the increase until the price had risen.
continued to increase, recreational services would be forced to find alternative means of funding. He said sponsorship by both local merchants and national corporations would be the first method looked into.
In 1895, Senate allocated $33,000 per year to recreational services.
Johnson said the majority of the funds was used for recreational services.
Other methods could include a self-supporting program, with all the costs absorbed by the participant. But Johnson said this would be a last resort.
"We are striving to keep things at a minimum cost to the participant," Johnson said. "We are really pleased with the growth, but as time goes by, keeping the cost down will get more difficult."
Johnson said that if participation
Heavy growth also occurred in volleyball, indoor and outdoor soccer and floor hockey.
this year, but Johnson said the outdoor soccer format went from sevenman to 11-man teams. Floor hockey went from 40 teams last year to 60 teams this year.
Volleyball grew from 121 teams in 1984 to 152 this year. Soccer only grew from 40 teams last year to 44
Football is the most consistent sport, Johnson said. It increased from 199 teams last year to 114 this year, but Johnson said it usually remained around 105 to 120.
"We run into trouble in the personnel aspect," Johnson said. "More teams means more pay for officials and supervisors."
Johnson said increased participation was due to increased enrollment and the installment of instant scheduling in 1885.
With instant scheduling, a team knows its playing time for the entire season at the scheduling meeting. This eliminates scheduling conflicts that can cause a team to quit the program.
NBA stars may be eligible for '92 Olympics
The Associated Press
FRANKFURT, West Germany — Michael Jordan and other highly paid NBA stars could be playing Olympic basketball in 1992, even though international basketball officials realize that the United States would dominate the games.
The governing board of the International Amateur Basketball Federation (FIBA) recommended changes Monday that would open Olympic and world championship basketball tournaments to professional men and women players.
Any such rule changes could not be implemented in time for the Seoul Olympics in September. FIBA Secretary-General Bora Stankovic said the board had called an extraordinary FIBA congress for April 1989 in Munich, West Germany, to put the proposal to a vote.
If the congress votes in favor of the proposal, the NBA players and other professionals would be eligible for the 1990 World Championships in Argentina and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Stankovic said chances were excellent that the full FIBA congress would accept the recommendation.
The governing board met in Munich on Sunday and approved the proposal by a vote of 18-4, Stankovic said. The board has 31 members, but only 22 attended.
FIBA has 173 member federations, and a simple majority of those present at the congress is required to pass the motion. Stankovic said.
The United States, Soviet Union, Cuba and Bulgaria voted against the change. The board
consists of elected officials who do not necessarily speak for their federations. Stankovic said.
"We think there are excellent chances that the congress will accept the board's recommendation," said Stankovic, a Yugoslav whose term as secretary-general was extended by the board until 1996.
"The federations can officially vote only at the congress," he said.
"The move to allow professionals to compete at the Olympics and world championships is primarily directed at opening these events to NBA stars," Stankovic said.
"We of course know the U.S. would win everything for the time being, but we also think that the only way the others can improve is by playing against the best," Stankovic said.
KU women get ready for OU running game
Kansan sports writer
Bv Keith Stroker
The Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball team is in Norman to face the Oklahoma Sooners at 7 tonight. It is a game that will feature two running teams, said Kansas coach Marian Washington.
The basketball shot clock is an item usually not needed when an Oklahoma team is playing.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Kansas Jayhawks 13-0
Coach: Maran Washington
60' 11.6
F-34 Mesho Strougher 58' 7.9
F-35 Cedebrah Richardson 64' 10.3
G-12 Lisa Brady 57' 9.1
G-33 Lisa Dougherty 58' 12.4
Oklahoma Sooners 10-8
Coach Valerie Goodwin-Cobert PPG
- F3-13 Jo Moseley 6"0" 16.0
- F3-15 Tina Ogden 5"11" 4.2
- C3-14 Dale Ivey 6"1" 9.6
- G1-14 Margaret McKeon 5'7" 8.7
- G2-12 Lee Brock 5'8" 3.4
Okiahoma, under the direction of
first-year coach Valerie Goodwin-
Colbert, is led by junior college
transfer Dale Ivey, a quick player
around the basket, and Jo Mosley,
the team's leading scorer.
"Oklahoma likes to run with the basketball and press the entire length of the court," Washington said. "They don't run a set offense. It is two or three passes, then they shoot, everytime."
Washington said Kansas, 13-6 overall and 3-3 in the Big Eight Conference, would have to execute on offense, especially against the press, in order to do well against the Sooners, 10-8 versus two teams. Two teams are tied for third place in the conference, two games behind Nebraska.
The Sooners have a good three-point shooter in Margaret McKeon, who hit five of them in an 82-66 loss at Iowa State on Saturday.
Washington said the team was healthy and ready to face the crowd.
"The crowd at Oklahoma can be bothersome at times." Washington said. "They get very vocal, and we have not had much success down there."
The Sooners lead the series with Kansas 11-7, including a 1-2 record at home. The Jahyhaws have won three of their last four games against Oklahoma, with both teams winning at home last season.
On Jan. 14, 1987, the Sooners won 81-67, and on Feb. 14 of that year, Kansas won 89-73. The Jayhawks' only victory in Norman came on Feb. 26, 1986, 77-72.
Kansas senior forward Lissa Dougherty needs just two points to become the fifth-leading scorer in Jayhawk women's history. Dougherty has 1,043 points, just one behind Shebra Legrant, who played two seasons for Kansas ending in 1981. Dougherty also is only the second women's player in Jayhawks history to score 1,000 points and have 200 assists in a career. The first was four-time All-American Lynette Woodard.
The game will be broadcast live on KJHK. 90.7 FM.